Trevor's Birding

Bird Word: Mallee Tree

17 Comments »6th April, 2007; Category: Bird Word, Glossary

Mallee: this is a word I use often in my blog because I live in the Mallee districts of South Australia. Mallee is a group name for eucalypt trees which form dense scrublands and are usually found in arid or semi-arid parts of Australia. They are usually multi-trunked trees growing from a single underground stump called a lignotuber.

The mallee regions of Australia are quite extensive, stretching from southern western Australia through southern south Australia into northern Victoria and western New South Wales. Mallee scrubs can be quite thick, and almost impenetrable in some places. It is the preferred habitat for some of our bird species including:

Malleefowl
Purple-crowned Lorikeet
Mallee Ringneck Parrot
Scarlet-chested Parrot
Mallee Emu-wren
Yellow-rumped Pardalote
Mallee Heathwren (also called Shy Heathwren)
Black-eared Miner
Purple-gaped Honeyeater
Yellow-plumed Honeyeater
Southern Scrub-robin
Red-lored Whistler

Of course, many of the above species are found in other kinds of habitat, and there are many other species which can be found in the mallee habitat (click here for more photos).

Mallee Scrub, Murray Bridge

Australian Pelicans

No Comments »5th April, 2007; Category: Good Birding Sites, Pelicans, Photos

Most people would be able to identify a pelican if shown a photo of one. In fact, most people really love pelicans and enjoy watching them on rivers, lakes, ponds and the ocean. Many would count them as one of their favourite birds. In Australia they would be instantly recognisable to most people because they are so common in many parts of the country where there is suitable habitat.

Samela Harris, a regular columnist for South Australia’s daily newspaper, The Advertiser, has compiled a lovely little site as a photographic tribute to the pelicans of Victor Harbor, the coastal town just south of Adelaide where she lives. She has included many beautiful photos as well as links to this popular coastal town and holiday destination.

Samela is the daughter of well known poet and former bookseller, Max Harris.

Links:

Aussie Pelicans – with photos by Samela Harris
Victor Harbor Tourism – plenty of information for the visitor.
Granite Island Recreation Park – at Victor Harbor you can walk across a long causeway to Granite Island about one kilometre off the coast. Walking trails cover the perimeter of the island with spectacular views in all directions. Granite Island has a breeding colony of Little Penguins. This is a must if visiting Victor Harbor.
Victor Harbor – a series of articles I have written about this lovely spot. I have included many photos as well.
Pelicans – a list of articles about pelicans from my archives.

Australian Pelican

Bird Word: Life List

9 Comments »4th April, 2007; Category: Bird Word, Glossary

Life list: a list of birds a birder has seen in their life time. Many also keep year lists, month lists, week lists or day lists. Other lists include place lists, state lists, country lists, lists of birds seen on television, in movies, from their office window – in fact, this listing is limited only by the birder’s imagination, time available and interests (and level of sanity).

I am a self confessed list maker.

It is one of the reasons birding appeals to me. I keep lists. All kinds of lists. Here is a list of lists I keep:

A list of all the birds I’ve ever seen (my “Life List”).
A list of all the birds I’ve seen in each state of Australia.
A list of birds I’ve seen in Australia, Thailand and Nepal (that counts as 3 lists!)
A list of places I’ve been birding (its’ a long list).
A list of books I have read over the last 40 years (it’s a very long list).
A list of things I have done this year – and last year – and the one before that…
A list of things to do today.
A list of articles, poems and stories I’ve had published (it’s a growing list).
A list of books and stories I’ve written that I want to send to publishers (it’s a list that should be getting shorter [sigh]).
A list of the titles of blog articles I’ve published and the dates published (that’s 3 lists because I run 3 blogs)
A list a potential articles to write for my 3 blogs (another 3 lists).
A list of…

Actually – I think you get the picture, and it’s not a pretty one!

And then, in the mid 1990s I bought a birding data-base to record all my bird records. This was heaven! Now I can generate all kinds of lists at the touch of a few keys strokes. Wonderful.

What kinds of lists do you keep? Tell me in the comments section.

Birding Bloopers #19

No Comments »3rd April, 2007; Category: Birders, Birding bloopers

Over the last few weeks I have featured many birding bloopers courtesy of the contributors to the Birding-Aus forum. All that I have approached have agreed for me to publish their mistakes in identification here on my blog.

Here is the latest contribution:

I attended a field day in the WA wheatbelt a few years back where the principal researcher was explaining about water table monitoring and the use of piezometers (visible as white PVC pipes extending half a metre or so out of the ground).

He went on to say that the closest one was about 100m out into the paddock from where we were standing. I confirmed that I could just make it out, whereupon it immediately grew wings, turned into an egret and flew off over the hill.

Quickly, I pointed out that the bore I was referring to was way beyond the egret …….

Strange how a piece of PVC pipe can suddenly take to the wing. Still, stranger identifications have occurred, and will continue to be made by eager birders.

Thanks to Peter for permission to use this.

Bird Word: Irruption

No Comments »2nd April, 2007; Category: Bird Behaviour, Bird Word, Glossary

Irruption: when large numbers of a particular species move to an area where they are not commonly found in large numbers, often in response to drought, rainfall or other environmental changes. In Australia, some species of hawks and kites can irrupt into areas experiencing mouse plagues or locusts. Water birds irrupt into areas experiencing sudden flooding.

An irruption of birds can be a spectacular event. This is something that happens quite regularly in Australia, often as a result of our wildly fluctuating environmental conditions.

Mouse Plague

I can remember back to about 1990 when there was a serious mouse plague in the wheat growing areas east of home. Millions of mice infested sheds and barns on the local farms. During this time we went on a camping holiday to Hattah-Kulkyne National Park.We drove through this area and it was impossible not to run over hundreds of mice as we drove along. In fact, there were so many dead mice on the road, they caused corrugations. It was a rough ride.

Letter-winged Kites:

While we were travelling along we kept looking out for Letter-winged Kites. This species is usually confined to areas much further north. Because of the mice plagues they had moved south in significant numbers and were seen in the area we drove through. This Kite is a rather hard species to find normally. I was excited at the prospect of seeing at least one. I still haven’t seen one. [sigh]

Black-tailed Native-hens:

On other occasions I have seen large numbers of other species. I remember seeing literally thousands of Black-tailed Native-hens on the road south of home on our way to Meningie. Normally we might see two or three. At other times Australian Pelicans have been known to breed up in huge numbers, especially after flooding in some areas.

Lake Eyre in flood:

As I write this in mid-March (2007) Lake Eyre in far north South Australia is filling with flood waters from heavy rain in parts of Queensland. This lake is usually a dry salt lake. Over coming months, many species of water birds will breed in massive numbers in response to this water. In a year or two, as the lake dries out, there may well be an irruption of some of these species as they move in large numbers to other parts of the country.