Sad demise of a Tawny Frogmouth
12 Comments »22nd July, 2008; Category: Garden birds, Nocturnal birds, Owls Frogmouths and Nightjars
The Tawny Frogmouth of Australia is one of my favourite birds. I first became acquainted with this lovely bird while on numerous camping trips with my young family back in the 1970s. Its gentle ooom-ooom-ooom call near our tent was strangely soothing. It is one of the iconic sounds of the Australian bush when all is quiet.
From time to time we also hear one calling near our home. When we have the television off, of course. It is a lovely sound to drift off to sleep to, and where we live there is very little traffic on the road passing our home late at night. From time to time we will catch a sight of this secretive bird during the day, perched on a branch trying for all the world to look just like the branch. Many times an individual has crashed against a glass door or window trying to grab a moth that has ventured towards the light.
It is with deep sadness that I report therefore that my wife found a dead Tawny Frogmouth drowned in our swimming pool. Somehow it had been trapped by the water – not that there is much water in it at the moment; the water almost completely disappeared during the long hot and dry summer and with water restrictions I haven’t been able to fill it again. The winter rains have not been sufficient to refill it to normal levels, even with part of the roof rainfall being directed straight into it.
It was a sad day indeed. Such a lovely bird.
I did take a few photos, but they would be a rather morbid addition to my collection of photos on our photo gallery.
Australian Owlet-nightjar does exist
The Australian Owlet-nightjar DOES exist*.
This enigmatic little owl-like bird can be so frustrating. I have heard it calling many times in many places. It often calls at night from somewhere in our garden – but I’ve spent fruitless hours looking for glimpse of one. My only really good sighting occurred a few years ago in my neighbour’s garden. You can read about that here.
Finally I tracked down where our resident bird was roosting. It has taken up residence in the hollow of a tree branch about thirty metres from my office window. Almost every morning at about 10:30am this bird sits in the entrance of the hollow and will gives its chirr-chirr call once or twice before disappearing back into the hollow.
In the last week it has taken to calling once during the afternoon as well just on dark. On one occasion I was able to sneak outside, slowly aim the camera around the corner of the house and take a photo of it sitting in the entrance way. The photo below is not brilliant, but it is the best I’ve managed so far. I have thought of setting up a hide much nearer – in the form of a car with just a peep hole for the camera. Click on the photo to enlarge the image.
* John Tongue – please take note.
Australian Owlet-nightjar
Australian Owlet-nightjar in our garden
12 Comments »15th January, 2008; Category: Garden birds, Nocturnal birds, Owls Frogmouths and Nightjars
The Australian Owlet-nightjar is a relatively common bird throughout much of Australia. With an overall size of 21-25cm it is our smallest nocturnal bird. In fact, the first time I saw this birds I was amazed at how tiny it really was. This individual was perched in full sunlight on a branch of a tree in a neighbour’s garden. This is something they will do occasionally. Normally they roost in the hollows of trees.
Despite being widespread in Australia, I suspect few people will have ever seen one, mainly because of their nocturnal habits. Their size may account for them often being overlooked too. I suspect that quite a few people may have heard this species but have no idea what was making the call. Its chirr-chirr call is a sound many Australians will have heard when out at night, especially in more rural areas, or when camping out bush away from traffic noises. Another common observation of this species would be a fleeting glance of one flying through the headlight beams of cars travelling country roads at night. Most people probably would dismiss it as a very large moth.
Resident in our garden?
At present I am thinking that this species is resident in our garden. Over recent weeks I have heard it calling on many occasions, often an hour or so after sunset. I usually head outdoors, torch in hand, trying to track it down. The fact that their eyes do not reflect torchlight makes the quest just that little bit harder.
More puzzling, however, is hearing the call during the daylight hours, usually just the once and quite close to the house. A little research indicates that they sometimes do this. It has happened three or four times in the last week or so. Whenever I go out pursuing this lovely bird trying to get a photo, I have no idea where to start looking – apart from the obvious tree hollows nearby. It’s all very frustrating.
UPDATE: I finally got to see one in our garden – and get a photo what’s more. To read about click here.
Further reading:
- Great Birding Moments – Spotted Nightjar – an article and photo about a close encounter with another nightjar species.
- Spotted Nightjar
- Birds in Backyards: Australian Owlet-nightjar – this article includes a photo, a painting and a map of distribution.
The photo below shows a related species, the Spotted Nightjar. (Click on the photo to enlarge the image.)
Spotted Nightjar
Great Birding Moments #32: my first Powerful Owl sighting
13 Comments »8th December, 2007; Category: Great Birding Moments, Nocturnal birds, Owls Frogmouths and Nightjars
Powerful Owl
2007 Australian Capital Territory trip report #14
During the weeks before departing on our holiday in the eastern states in September, I had read of reports of various birds present in the Canberra region. I had subscribed to the local birding newsgroup, Canberra Birds, on the internet. One of the birds that interested me was a Powerful Owl in the Australian National Botanic Gardens. I also knew that this was one of the places we were definitely planning to visit. As the day approached I had a great deal of excited anticipation. You see, I’d never seen a Powerful Owl ever before. Everyone was saying how easy it was to see this individual roosting in one of the trees near the Visitor Centre of the gardens.
Powerful Owl
I was determined to find this bird all by myself; a foolish notion in retrospect. The gardens are extensive and there are literally thousands of suitable trees or bushes where this bird might have decided to roost. Finding it was probably right up there with the proverbial needle. Pride does funny things to you. It also prevents you from seeing some really interesting birds.
Near the end of our visit my wife struck up a conversation with one of the volunteers doing some weeding. When I came around the corner with my binoculars at the ready he instantly, in a flash of recognition, realised I was a birder. “Have you seen the Powerful Owl?” he immediately interrogated. When I replied in the negative he gave me some simple instructions as to where to find said bird. It was less than 50 metres from where we stood. I found it easily. Another “lifer.”
I do not think my pride suffered any major dents that afternoon.
When in doubt – ask.
Lesson learned.
Related Articles:
- Great Birding Moments – my archives of other great birding moments.
Bird Word: Nocturnal
2 Comments »4th September, 2007; Category: Bird Word, Glossary, Nocturnal birds, Owls Frogmouths and Nightjars
- Nocturnal: active at night, such as owls. (The opposite is diurnal, or active in the day time.)
I should go out birding more at night.
After all, if I want to actually see nocturnal birds, as opposed to merely hearing them, I have to make the effort to get out there in the wild of the night.
Owls and Frogmouths
From time to time – usually on those occasions when there is absolutely nothing on television (which is an increasing phenomenon these days) and we are just sitting reading or talking, we are aware of the night sounds outside. We will occasionally hear a screeching Barn Owl or the soft “ooming” of the Tawny Frogmouth. I have yet to get good shots of these two species.
Australian Owlet-Nightjar:
Another nice one to hear is the Australian Owlet-Nightjar, an occasional visitor to our garden. I actually got a really good view of one of these one beautiful afternoon a few years ago. It had settled on a dead limb of a neighbour’s tree and was quietly sunning itself. It was much smaller than I thought it would be.
Southern Boobook Owl
It has been many years since the last Boobook visit to our garden. This would have to be a favourite of mine; the haunting “boo-book” call echoes far in the Australian bush at night. My daughter hears one and sometimes two calling near her home in Clare in the mid-north of South Australia.
Spotted Nightjar
This well camouflaged species I’ve often seen while driving at night. I thought I would never get to photograph this species until a while back when a friend showed me where one was regularly roosting. Read about the Spotted Nightjar here, along with a photo.
Spotted Nightjar
When our children (who are now adults) were little we often went camping. A big part of any camping trip was to go out for a walk after dark with several bright torches. We would search for possums, owls and frogmouths, and any other animals getting out and about under the cover of darkness.
Must start doing that again.
Further reading:
- Spotted Nightjar
- Great birding moment – Spotted Nightjar
- Barn Owl
- Owls, Frogmouth and Nightjars – links to articles from my archives.