Trevor's Birding

Some birds seen in Ouyen, NW Victoria

2 Comments »27th June, 2010; Category: Pigeons and Doves, Trip reports

Peaceful Dove, Cleland Wildlife Park

Road trip to Sydney, May 2010

On the first day of our recent trip to Sydney we reached Ouyen in north-west Victoria in time for lunch. We found a park near the main street and as my wife prepared some rolls for lunch I wandered over the road to buy some treats from the local bakery. It’s an indulgence of ours. Country bakeries in Australia are usually very good, and this one was no disappointment.

While having lunch I tried to make a list of the birds heard and seen. We were a little distracted by the mice (House Mouse) wandering around the shelter shed in the picnic area. They seemed oblivious to our presence less than a metre away. I guess they thrived on the bits of food dropped y happy tourists like ourselves. We were only there for about twenty minutes, and seeing there was little time for an intensive bird search, my list is rather small. The highlight would have to be several Peaceful Doves in the bushes nearby.

Species seen:

Click on the names to go to other articles about each species.

There were no Galahs at Galah

No Comments »25th June, 2010; Category: Garden birds, Nests, Parrots and Lorikeets

Galahs at nesting hollow

Sydney Road Trip May 2010

Earlier this year we travelled to Sydney to visit family. Along the way I naturally looked for birds as we travelled along. Because we were on a tight time schedule I wasn’t able to do much birding, nor was I able to get many photos.

From home in Murray Bridge we travelled east through Lameroo, Pinnaroo and then over the border into north-west Victoria, heading for Ouyen where we stopped for lunch. Just west of Ouyen there is a locality called Galah. I don’t know the history of this “town”, or even if there ever was a town there. All you can see today is about 2 farm houses, some mallee scrub and a tall wheat silo for the surrounding farms. The railway line runs past the silo.

Interestingly, on many trips along this road, I cannot ever remember seeing any Galahs in the locality called Galah. I’m sure there are some around; I’ve just never seen any there. Just so you don’t feel left out, I’ve included a photo of two Galahs I took some time ago. These two were cleaning out a tree hollow ready for nesting – in my garden. Perhaps I should rename my garden “Galah”.

Happy birding

Trevor

This article last updated in August 2015.

Australasian Grebe, Lake Roberts, Lameroo

1 Comment »23rd June, 2010; Category: Trip reports, Waterbirds

Australasian Grebe, Lameroo, South Australia

Road trip to Sydney, May 2010

On the first morning of our recent road trip to Sydney we stopped at Lameroo near the eastern border of South Australia, just over an hour’s travel from our home in Murray Bridge. We briefly stopped for morning tea and to change drivers. Our favourite stopping point in this delightful country town is at Lake Roberts on the eastern edge of town. This is an artificial lake and is next to the golf course. The picnic grounds also incorporate a small caravan park.

Over a number of visits here in recent years I have recorded some interesting bird sightings. One can usually record several of the mallee species, such as various honeyeaters. The lake usually contains a reasonable level of water and this attracts a range of water-birds too. On this occasion there was a solitary Australasian Grebe in breeding plumage (photo above).

This species of grebe can be found throughout Australia, including Tasmania, wherever there are suitable conditions. They can be found on small farm dams, small lakes and ponds, larger bodies of fresh water such as wetlands and sometimes on larger reservoirs and rivers. Although this individual was in breeding plumage, I didn’t have the time to investigate if there was a nest nearby. If there was, it was probably located in the reeds at the southern end of the lake.

Lake Roberts, Lameroo, South Australia

Species list (each bird listed is linked to another article for further reading):

White-browed Babblers

7 Comments »21st June, 2010; Category: Bird Behaviour, Garden birds

White-browed Babbler

White-browed Babblers are a resident breeding species in our garden. Hardly a day goes by without them coming quite close to the house and scratching around in the mulch or leaf litter under the trees. At other times they hop all over nearby trees, searching under the bark for ants, beetles and spiders.

Usually they come in a family group of between five and eight, sometimes more. they move through the garden in a loose flock, constantly calling to keep in contact with each other. They are quick movers, hopping quickly through the foliage, along the ground, across branches or wherever they are feeding at the moment. If one looses close contact with the rest it with fly low and fast to make contact with the group again.

Because they are always on the move I have had a challenge getting good photos of them. On this post I have two reasonable photos but they are still not great. I guess I’ll just have to keep on trying.

White-browed Babbler

Crested Pigeon in a bird bath

No Comments »19th June, 2010; Category: Bird baths, Bird Behaviour, Pigeons and Doves

Crested Pigeon, Murray Bridge

I’m not sure if I’ve shown these photos before. Never mind if I have. I was sorting through a few photos taken a few months ago and came across these of a Crested Pigeon IN our bird bath. It wasn’t content to sit on the edge of the bowl – it had to actually get into it and sit in the water.

When I checked a few minutes later I discovered that there wasn’t much water there anyway, so the bird was probably giving me a hint: “Fill ‘er up, mate!”

So I did.

Crested Pigeon, Murray Bridge