Trevor's Birding

An air conditioned Thornbill

4 Comments »28th January, 2009; Category: Bird Behaviour, Garden birds, Thornbills

Yellow-rumped Thornbill, Canberra

We are in the midst of a heatwave this week. On Monday it reached 40C (104F), yesterday 45C (113F) and it looks like another 40+ day today.

Our poor garden birds – along with birds everywhere, suffer greatly during such extreme temperatures. I try to keep the supply of water in the bird baths up during these times, something they much appreciate if the constant stream of birds is anything to go by.

During the worst of the heat yesterday I was working in my office. I was being kept cool by the gentle flow of cool air from our evaporative air conditioner. This type of cooler needs an open window to create a flow of cool air into a room. The window alongside of me was ajar a few centimetres.

I was suddenly aware of a Yellow-rumped Thornbill cooling itself in the flow of air escaping from my office. He twittered in appreciation for about five minutes, wings held out to catch the refreshing air, before flying off to catch afternoon tea.

It was a lovely interruption to my afternoon of writing.

Related articles:

Magpies in the heat
Birds in a heat wave
Yellow-rumped Thornbills
Time for a bath – visitors to our bird bath

A visit to Katoomba

No Comments »27th January, 2009; Category: Magpies and Currawongs

The Three Sisters, Katoomba

On one of the days we spent in Sydney this last Christmas – New Year holidays we went as a family up into the Blue Mountains. We stopped for lunch at the village of Leura before going on a few miles to Katoomba. It is almost obligatory when passing through this area to visit Echo Point and have a look at the mountain scenery, and the Three Sisters in particular as shown in the photo above.

For those not familiar with this rocky outcrop, click on the image to enlarge it. The people half way down on the extreme left of the photo will give you an appreciation of the scale of this much photographed natural feature. As we left my son and I had a debate. What is the most photographed natural feature in Australia? For sheer numbers this lookout would have to be in the top five or ten I contended. Right up there with Uluru and Sydney Harbour.

While we were there I saw or heard very few birds. With the huge numbers of tourists present I’m not surprised. I did see several Sulphur-crested Cockatoos in the valley below, a few Welcome Swallows swooping around nearby and a solitary Crested Pigeon on the lawn near the tourist centre. Near the pigeon I saw a Pied Currawong eating an apple abandoned by a tourist. This area has a very rich range of bird life; they just have the sense to keep away from the busy tourist spots.

Pied Currawong, Katoomba

Australia Day 2009

2 Comments »26th January, 2009; Category: Garden birds

Laughing Kookaburra, Lane Cove National Park, Sydney

Happy Australia Day to all of my readers.

I’ve included a photo today of that iconic Australian bird, the Laughing Kookaburra. It is one of our most recognisable and well loved birds, and its distinctive laughing call is familiar to almost everyone in this country as well as many people who have never been to Australia.

Even though it was a public holiday I didn’t go out birding. It was too hot, reaching 40C (104F) under our veranda this afternoon. Instead I spent some of the morning working on a project on the back veranda until the heat chased me inside to air conditioned comfort. I spent some of the day in front of the television watching South Africa beat Australia in the cricket game here in Adelaide.

The birding all day was rather slow in our garden. The heat does that to the bird life. I’d forgotten to fill the bird bath this morning and so there was little action there. A few Galahs flew over during the cooler part of the evening. Several Little Ravens were calling loudly nearby. The Australian Magpies seemed to be keeping a low profile today – we didn’t even see them. The regular patrol undertaken every day by our local White-winged Choughs never happened, and even the bossy New Holland Honeyeaters seemed subdued. At one stage a small group of Mallee Ringneck parrots flew past noisily, but they didn’t hang around for long.

It does not bode well for the birding over the next week. The forecast is for a heatwave – that is, temperatures over 35CÂ (95F) – for at least the next 5 days and perhaps even a week.

Time to attend to some indoor projects, methinks.

Sydney Fish Markets

1 Comment »25th January, 2009; Category: Gulls and Terns

A Silver Gull eyeing off our lunch

During our stay in Sydney over last Christmas and New Year we went on various excursions around the city. Our son and daughter in law suggested that we have lunch at the Sydney Fish Markets. We were willing to see these markets, a place we had not previously visited on trips to Sydney.

After catching the train into the city we caught the tram to the markets. We wandered around the various markets jostling with the many hundreds of other people with the same idea. Sydney between Christmas and New Year can be very busy. We eventually decided on a place to order lunch. The ladies lined up for about an hour to get our lunch while my son and I “hovered” near a table where the people had almost finished eating. The many picnic tables were not coping with the huge crowds of visitors. Eventually our tactic paid off, just minutes before our food was ready.

Picnic area of the Sydney Fish Markets

While we were waiting and during our delicious seafood meal I was on the lookout for any birds. The most obvious were the Silver Gulls keeping an eye on our lunch. Strutting along between the rows of tables were several White Ibises, also on the lookout for a free meal. Several Australian Pelicans waited patiently in the water nearby while Rainbow Lorikeets darted overhead. There were quite a few Common Mynas, Noisy Miners and Rock Doves in the area, and several Pied Cormorants drying their feathers on a boat in the harbour.

Silver Gull at the Sydney Fish Markets

A Large Flock of White-winged Choughs

2 Comments »24th January, 2009; Category: Bird Behaviour

White-winged Choughs, Botanic Gardens, Canberra

At the moment I am working outside in the cool of the evening on my laptop. I’d just sat down to do something with no thought about birding when I was distracted by a flock of White-winged Choughs in our garden.

Normally we have a family groups of about 8 regularly patrolling the grounds, feeding and minding their own business.

I was attracted by the extra noise being created by this flock this evening. I looked up and counted at least 16 birds flying past, all making quite a racket. This number is a little unusual as normally family groups around here number from about five to a dozen, rarely more.

All I can assume is that two neighbouring groups have met where their territories cross over. That was the probable cause of the noisy and larger than normal group. Whatever the reason, they have now moved on and I can no longer hear them. Their territories can cover many hectares.

The photo above was taken a few weeks ago a long distance from here in Murray Bridge. It was taken during a visit to Canberra Botanic Gardens.