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Birding in South Africa

4 Comments »5th February, 2008; Category: Birders, Blogs, Good Birding Sites, Non-Australian birds

Africa is one place I would love to go birding one day. Seeing all the animals would be wonderful also. Perhaps. Perhaps one day I will get there. I guess a large number of my readers would also love to go there for a visit to go birding. If you have already been there, share some of the highlights with my readers by leaving a comment or two.

Meanwhile, most of us will have to be content with seeing videos and reading books about the wonderful and exotic fauna of Africa – or we can regularly access Casper’s website called Birding in South Africa.

I’m jealous. Casper lives a short distance from the Kruger National Park!

Oh – and he offers free accommodation to all birders.

Now – where did I put my passport?

The benefits of the Birding-Aus newsgroup

No Comments »4th February, 2008; Category: Birders, Birds

It has been quite a while since I last promoted the newsgroup Birding-Aus. Currently there are about 790 members and this is growing steadily.

Birding-Aus is an information centre for everyone with an interest in Australia’s wild birds, their conservation and behaviour.

Mailing list

One of the great strengths of Birding-Aus is its mailing list. Once you have joined the list you will receive a number of emails each day specifically about Australian birds. In many cases this includes news about where to find good birding spots, where to see certain birds, news about rare or unusual sightings and discussion on various issues, including the conservation of birds and bird habitats. Once registered, you can contribute your own comments, sightings and ideas.

Archives

Another strength of Birding-Aus is the archives facility. Anyone can access the wealth of information contained in the archives. Most messages contributed to the mailing list have been archived for all to use. With several dozen messages daily and these dating back to early 1995, this is an amazing resource to Australian birders. My on contributions date back to early 1998.

Requests for information

A third great strength of this group is the ability to submit RFIs (Request for Information). This can be done for almost any topic relating to Australian birds and there will sure to be a response or two or several dozen, depending on the topic. Using this facility I have had people phone me for help or offering help, people sending me maps and other information, invitations to visit people, invitations to go out birding with other birders and heaps of useful information.

Link:

  • Birding-Aus – join the mailing list or search the archives here.
Noisy Miner

Noisy Miner

Koalas do not fly like birds

6 Comments »3rd February, 2008; Category: Animals, Bird Behaviour

Koalas are generally quite docile animals.

It is not unusual to see them sitting or dozing up in a eucalypt tree. They prefer not to be on the ground as they probably feel most vulnerable there. When on the ground they are often quite slow moving.

Imagine my surprise then, to see a koala RUNNING across the freeway last week on my way to Adelaide. In fact, it was surprising that the poor creature was not killed. A six-lane freeway with a concrete barrier in the middle is not the place for a Koala. The transport authorities have placed many weld-mesh “ladders” over this barrier at regular intervals every few metres to assist the Koalas crossing the road. It is pleasing to see that not many koalas actually do get hit. Considering all of this then, it is a pity that Koalas cannot fly like birds; the freeway would not be such a barrier to them then.

I’ve only witnessed two interactions between birds and Koalas over the years. The first was on the Mornington Peninsula south east of Melbourne. A Koala was asleep in a tree. A honeyeater (I forget the species) was busily collecting the Koala’s fur and taking it to line its nest. As it picked each beak full, it looked like the honeyeater had whiskers!

Koala and Magpie

Koala and Magpie

The other incident is shown in the photo above. This sleepy Koala was being harassed by the Magpie for having the temerity to be in its territory. The photo was taken in the Wittunga Botanic Gardens in the Adelaide Hills.

Further reading:

Caring for injured or orphaned birds

26 Comments »2nd February, 2008; Category: Baby birds, Caring for birds, Frequently Asked Questions
New Holland Honeyeater

New Holland Honeyeater

I frequently get asked questions about caring for injured or orphaned birds. Some people leave their questions on an appropriate page of this site, while others ask their questions privately using my contact from here.

I am no expert

I often explain to people with this questions that I am certainly no expert in this field. I have no experience and very little knowledge in looking after injured or orphaned native birds or animals. I usually try to direct them to relevant help from elsewhere.

Legislation

Every state of Australia has its rules and regulations as to what members of the public can and cannot do where helping injured wildlife is concerned. As a general principle, never try to look after an injured animal or bird unless you are skilled to do so and have the necessary permission from the relevant authorities in your state.

Steps to take:

  1. The welfare of the animal or bird is most important: make sure that the bird is safe from further harm. Keep little children, cats and dogs away, handle it as little as possible and keep it in a strong, ventilated cardboard box.
  2. Contact or visit your local vet for advice. Some of my readers have been very disappointed with this course of action, stating that some vets are very dismissive and only recommend that the animal be destroyed. I find this response rather perplexing; I thought vets cared for animals.
  3. Use the Yellow Pages phone directory to find your nearest animal welfare and rescue organization. There are hundreds of skilled and trained carers across Australia and there is every likelihood there is one near you.
  4. Contact or visit your local pet shop: help coming from these people will also vary greatly. Some may be very willing to help, others only will help if there is a potential sale of goods involved.
  5. Visit your local library and ask for books on pet and animal care.
  6. Search on the internet: this is how I get so many requests for help. In some cases, people have said that this site was the ONLY place they found any information and help. That is not correct, but many people do not know how to effectively search the internet. Because of this I have prepared a list of useful Australian sites.

Useful web sites:

Overseas groups:

Always remember that the bird’s welfare is the most important thing to consider.

Updated November 2013.

BIGBY report for January 2008

No Comments »1st February, 2008; Category: General

At the beginning of the year I joined the BIGBY – the Big Green Big Year. Carbon neutral birding seems a good thing to do. I was planning on getting a lot fitter this year anyway and hopefully lose a few excess kilos from around the middle. Doing most of my serious birding in the garden and on walks from home seemed an ideal solution all round.

Limitations:

Alas – illness has prevented much serious birding in January. Coupled with the intense heat wave we have had – with many days in the 45C (113F) range – opportunities to go for birding walks have been limited. Most of what I have observed have been in the garden or from the house.

Good sightings

Despite these limitations the bird list for 2008 is coming along quite nicely. Top of the list would have to be the Australian Owlet-nightjar which has taken up residence in a hollow a few metres from my office window. This nocturnal species is more often heard than seen, so I was pleased when I got a photo a few days ago. (This will feature in an article here in the next few days.) It is a delight to hear this little bird calling during the day and night.

The second really great sighting was a lifer. We had a brief visit from a Barbary Dove. At first I called it a Collared Turtle-dove but it seems the “experts” think it is a Barbary Dove instead. No matter – it is still a new bird for my life list and my garden list.

The third great sighting for the month was an immature Collared Sparrowhawk which decided to pose beautifully for me no more than five metres away. Delightful.

Highlight

Another highlight for the month was an event, not a sighting. This was carbon neutral birding at its best. I took readers on a world birding trip without leaving home. I hosted the carnival I and the Bird for the very first time. While the preparation took quite a time, it received some good feedback from readers and participants. It also boosted the traffic to my site for a few days.

Other sighting this month:

So far I’ve recorded 38 species (including 2 breeding) for the garden and during my walks. This is not a fantastic total but given the circumstances it is quite good. Here is the full list:

  1. Brown Falcon
  2. Collared Sparrowhawk
  3. Black Kite
  4. Rock Dove
  5. Barbary Dove
  6. Spotted Turtle-dove
  7. Crested Pigeon
  8. Galah
  9. Rainbow Lorikeet
  10. Purple-crowned Lorikeet
  11. Mallee Ringneck
  12. Australian Owlet-nightjar
  13. Rainbow Bee-eater
  14. Spotted Pardalote
  15. Striated Pardalote
  16. Weebill
  17. Yellow-rumped Thornbill
  18. Red Wattlebird
  19. Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater (breeding)
  20. Singing Honeyeater
  21. White-plumed Honeyeater
  22. Brown-headed Honeyeater
  23. New Holland Honeyeater
  24. White-browed Babbler
  25. Grey Shrike-thrush
  26. Australian Magpie Lark
  27. Willie Wagtail
  28. Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
  29. Grey Butcherbird
  30. Grey Currawong
  31. Australian Magpie
  32. Little Raven
  33. White-winged Chough
  34. House Sparrow
  35. Mistletoebird
  36. Silvereye
  37. Common Blackbird (breeding)
  38. Cammon Starling
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