Trevor's Birding

An early morning surprise

No Comments »23rd May, 2020; Category: Ducks Geese and Swans, Garden birds, Murray Bridge

Australian Wood Ducks – female (L) and male (R)

I had a pleasant surprise this morning. As I opened the curtains in my bedroom I saw two Australian Wood Ducks feeding on the grass in my garden. I quickly grabbed my camera and moved outside and a little closer to them, hoping to get some good photos. They were very cooperative and stayed grazing on the grass for a few minutes before flying off. I have included below a selection of the photos I took while they lingered there nearby.

New sighting

Australian Wood Ducks are quite common in the Murray Bridge area in South Australia. They can often be seen along and near the banks of the Murray River here, as well as in pastures some distance from water. In the Adelaide Hills to the west, and in other parts of the state, this species can often be observed in grassy pastures and around farm dams.

What is unusual about my sighting this morning is that I haven’t recorded Australian Wood Ducks on my property for the last 15 years. In fact, I cannot recall ever seeing them here on my 5-acre block in over 35 years that I have lived here. My database of records only goes back to sightings since 2005. I still have many sightings from earlier years to enter on my database so I am trusting my memory on this one. And my memory is not as good as it used to be. (Sigh.)

From time to time I see Pacific Black Ducks flying overhead. Over ten years ago I also took photos of a mother Pacific Black Duck with her ducklings swimming in my swimming pool. This happened a number of times but now that I have a cover over the pool, they don’t seem to be interested in coming down for a swim.

Peaceful Doves in my garden

No Comments »21st May, 2020; Category: Garden birds, Murray Bridge, Pigeons and Doves

One bird species that I love seeing and hearing in my garden here in Murray Bridge, South Australia, is the Peaceful Dove as shown in today’s photos. I live on the western edge of the rural city of Murray Bridge on a five-acre (two-hectare) block of land.

As well as a large variety of Australian native plants and trees, I have a small orchard and some remnant mallee scrub. My property adjoins several other mallee scrub areas, including Kinchina Conservation Park about a kilometre to the west.

Because there is so much native vegetation remaining in this area, the bird life can be prolific. I have lived here for over 35 years and have kept monthly lists of birds observed over that period, except for a few periods when I was away. This includes many holidays interstate and several trips overseas.

Doves and Pigeons

The most common species in this family of birds is the Crested Pigeon. They are a resident breeding species, meaning that they are seen every day and have been recorded breeding on my land.

For many years I have recorded Spotted Turtledoves (Spotted Doves) almost every day as well, but in the last few years, I have only seen this species here occasionally. The same applies the Rock Doves (Feral Pigeons) which are now only recorded occasionally. One other species, the Common Bronzewing, has only been sighted here on a handful of occasions.

In the first 20 years living here I only occasionally sighted Peaceful Doves. Then an individual would sometimes move down the hills to the west and visit my garden for an hour or two. On checking my database of records, I started seeing them regularly from late 2009. Over the next decade, they have become resident and I hear and see one or more every day.

At first I only saw one of two until more recently when I have recorded up to six in close proximity to each other. Only a few days ago I looked out the window to see four of them sunning themselves all within a square metre. It has become one of my favourite birds and I feel so privileged to see and hear them regularly here at home.

Being watched by Little Ravens

No Comments »29th September, 2019; Category: Bird Behaviour, Garden birds, Ravens and Crows

Little Raven, Murray Bridge, South Australia

They are watching me

Ever had the feeling that someone is watching you?

I guess that feeling is common to most people. Have you ever had the feeling that an animal or bird is watching you? That is a very common feeling, I’d say. Dogs, in particular, have an uncanny way of watching people eat, for example. They always seem to know when there is food around.

Ravens nesting

Last month I was aware that the resident Little Ravens in my garden and five-acre block have been nesting. I observed them carrying sticks to a tall tree near my driveway, a spot which gives them a good lookout over the surrounding land. I had just taken some photos of the flowers of some native Australian plants in my garden when I spotted the Little Raven shown in today’s photos (above and below).

Keeping an eye on me

The photos almost look like the raven is watching me carefully, making sure that I go nowhere near the nest. Over the few weeks, before these photos were taken, I walked past the nest tree many times. At no point did the ravens call out a warning, or swoop me or anything. I just went about my business, and they continued with their nest building.

I have been away from home travelling for the last two weeks so I don’t know whether their eggs have hatched. I will still be away for a while so I expect to get home to find several young ravens begging for food.

Good birding,

Trevor

Further reading:

Little Ravens feeding young

Little Ravens caught thieving

Birding sites

No Comments »27th September, 2019; Category: General, Birders, Birds, Good Birding Sites

Wherever possible, I like to link to other sites which have birds and birding as their primary focus. In doing this, I hope that I am helping my readers to discover new sites. A selection of these sites is listed in the Links section (click on the link above the heading of this post or click here).

It has been many years since I developed the Links Page here on my site. I am very aware that the page needs a thorough review and overhaul. Some of the sites no longer exist, or the links are broken. In some instances, the owner of the site may have changed direction completely.

I have recently become aware of a new listing of existing blogs or websites with a focus on Australian birds (plus a few other sites as well). Bad Birding is a site run and written by a Canadian couple, Jason and Emily, who are focussed on building up their world list of birds in the coming years. They aim to see and photograph 5000 different bird species – that is about half the world’s bird species. Their current list stands at 447 species, so you could say that they have an ambitious goal. They have already spent a lot of time birding in Australia, so they are well on their way.

Good on them, I say. Go for it.

If I was 50 years younger I would attempt to do something similar – until my money ran out, that is.

Links page: Bad Birding Links Page – listing lots of birding sites.

Good birding,

Trevor

Photo of an Australian Pelican resting on a jetty in Mallacoota, Victoria — Australian Pelican, Mallacoota, Victoria

It’s Magpie Swooping season again

2 Comments »25th September, 2019; Category: Bird Behaviour, Birds in the News, Hints, Magpies and Currawongs, Nests

It is magpie swooping season again throughout Australia where Australian Magpies are found. That’s pretty much everywhere in Australia. This species is usually quite happy to co-exist with humans and will go about its life quite independently of us. They are relatively common in urban areas and very common in rural and farming environments.

Aggressive birds

Some individual Australian Magpies, however, have a very aggressive behaviour towards people during the nesting season, swooping them if they come anywhere near to their nest. This is particularly troublesome to young children who are sometimes terrified by a swooping bird. The elderly are also vulnerable as this story relates. Sadly, the elderly man who fell from his bicycle trying to get away from a swooping magpie severely injured his head when he hit a fence. He later died in hospital.

While this incident had a tragic outcome, this is not normal. Certainly, many people are terrorised by nesting magpies. Some have incurred serious injuries as a result, including eye injuries. My own sister-in-law suffered serious cuts to her scalp during a magpie attack when she was quite young. I also seem to remember a newspaper report of a cyclist who, in attempting to avoid being swooped actually rode into the path of a car and was injured by the car but not the bird.

Over the years I have written quite a few articles addressing this issue. I have listed some of them below. Some of these articles give advice on how to avoid getting swooped.

Further reading:

The Problem of Swooping Magpies

Do Blackbirds Swoop? Dealing with Aggressive Birds

Magpies Behaving Badly

Pesky Plovers – dealing with swooping birds

I invite readers to add their comments on how they deal with swooping birds. Or, you can comment on experiences with pesky birds.

Good birding – and stay safe.

Trevor