Trevor's Birding

Juvenile Australian Magpie

No Comments »12th April, 2010; Category: Baby birds, Bird Behaviour, Magpies and Currawongs

Juvenile Australian Magpie, Victor Harbor, South Australia

We recently had a weekend in Victor Harbor on the south coast of South Australia. We stayed in our caravan with a group of friends in their caravans. While sitting around talking at one stage a juvenile Australian Magpie came hopping around our feet, begging for food from the adults nearby. They were looking for any scraps of food that may have fallen from our picnic tables.

A little later this young bird flew in and landed on the annex of our friend’s caravan about 3 metres from where I was sitting. If you look closely at the photo above you can just see the corner of the annex. The bird looked at me, noticed that a camera didn’t look very tasty, and flew off.

Juvenile Australian Magpie, Victor Harbor, South Australia

Rainbow Lorikeets feeding

2 Comments »11th April, 2010; Category: Bird Behaviour, Flowers, Parrots and Lorikeets

Rainbow Lorikeets, Victor Harbor, South Australia

We recently spent a few days in Victor Harbor on the south coast of South Australia. We stayed in the caravan park close to the beach. The park boasts many fine mature trees, including some eucalyptus trees which were heavy in flower. The local Rainbow Lorikeets were flocking in large numbers to feed on the nectar in the flowers, making a constant racket as they fed. During the day this was not much of a problem, though it did get on the nerves a little as it went on hour after hour.

The main problem came at first light, just when one is trying to get that last few minutes of sleep. A Rainbow Lorikeet screeching to his friends a few metres above your caravan is an unsettling alarm clock.

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Rainbow Lorikeets, Victor Harbor, South Australia

Crested Pigeon resting

No Comments »10th April, 2010; Category: Bird Behaviour, Garden birds, Murray Bridge, Pigeons and Doves

Crested Pigeon, Murray Bridge, South Australia

A few days ago I took a series of photos of one of the Crested Pigeons resident in our garden. This bird was sitting in one of our bird baths. Normally they just sit on the edge and take a short drink, but this one must have felt the need to sit in the water. I don’t think there was much water in it, but it still looked rather comical.

Subsequent photos show the bird in various poses before it decided to fly off.

Crested Pigeon, Murray Bridge, South Australia

Crested Terns, Victor Harbor

2 Comments »7th April, 2010; Category: Gulls and Terns, Seabirds, Shorebirds, Waterbirds

Crested Terns, Victor Harbor, South Australia

Crested Terns are found in abundant numbers around the coast of Australia. They are one of our common terns and can gather in large numbers on beaches, islands, rocky outcrops, estuaries, tidal rivers and sometimes even some way inland along rivers.

They breed in large colonies, often on off shore islands. Their nest is a scrape in the sand or on rock.

In the photo above there is a single Australian Wood Duck perching on the rock on the far left hand side.

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Caspian Terns
Wood Duck Family
Wood Ducks in Wittunga Botanic Gardens

Crested Terns, Victor Harbor, South Australia

Masked Lapwing, Victor Harbor

6 Comments »6th April, 2010; Category: Bird Behaviour, Lapwings, Shorebirds

Masked Lapwing, Victor Harbor

Masked Lapwings are birds that are easily recognisable to many Australians. They are found throughout the eastern half of the continent and the northern parts too, where suitable habitat exists. They are common in parks, ovals, grassed areas, swamplands, and the edges of watercourses, dams and lakes. They are notorious for their habit of fiercely and noisily defending their territory by swooping anyone who dares to come near to their nest on the ground or the young.

While they are known to also inhabit beach areas, I haven’t often seen this species right on the beach like the one shown in the photo above. Mind you – this one is actually walking on the piled up seaweed along Encounter Bay at Victor Harbor.

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