Trevor's Birding

New Holland Honeyeater nest

7 Comments »13th September, 2006; Category: Bird Behaviour, Garden birds, Honeyeaters

Nest of a New Holland Honeyeater

Birds can be very sneaky at times.

We were having breakfast in our sunroom this morning. As we ate, my wife observed a New Holland Honeyeater flying to what appeared to be a nest in a nearby bush in our garden (a Meleleuca lanceolata). A closer inspection of the bush revealed a dainty nest with two eggs.

Right under our noses they had built this nest and laid the eggs without us noticing.

Amazing.

This gives us a good opportunity to observe the progress of the nest and the young as they hatch. The trick will be to keep away and not inspect the nest too often. I do not to disturb them, seeing it is so close to the house.

New Holland Honeyeater

What is an Ornithologist?

4 Comments »13th September, 2006; Category: Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions about birding #2

Today I continue with this series of short articles about birding.

What is ornithology? This is the serious study of birds in the natural environment, often as a part of someone’s employment.
What is an ornithologist? This is a person who studies birds in a serious way and includes those people whose employment requires them to watch and study birds. These people usually keep extensive notes of their findings, write articles for magazines and scientific journals and sometimes even write books or make films about birds.
Grey Butcherbird

Bird Rescue: New Holland Honeyeater

4 Comments »12th September, 2006; Category: Bird Behaviour, Honeyeaters

From time to time we have birds crash into one of our windows. This is a regular and common problem throughout the world it seems. It is one of the dangers presented to our bird life by our modern forms of architecture, from the humble country cottage like our home through to large high-rise buildings and everything in between.

New Holland Honeyeater

In our situation, we have several large picture windows that perfectly reflect the surrounding garden at certain times of the day. Birds flying along see what they think is a continuation of the garden, but in fact they are seeing a reflection. Crashes into the glass are inevitable.

In most cases, the affected birds sit still for a few moments before flying off, probably with a headache and very puzzled expression on their faces. We have had the occasional death and this is always regrettable and sad.

Yesterday it was the turn of one of our many New Holland Honeyeaters to suffer momentarily. I heard the thump against the glass and went outside to investigate. The poor bird was on the ground not moving. At first I thought it had died, but then I noticed shallow breathing.

New Holland Honeyeater

I put the unfortunate bird on a nearby garden table and left it to recover. A few minutes later it flew of, hopefully a little wiser. While it was recovering I took advantage of having a bird at close quarters for several photos.

Related Articles:

Great Birding Moments #6

Aggressive behaviour in the garden

What is Birding?

No Comments »11th September, 2006; Category: Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions about Birding #1

Today I start a new series of articles about birding. This is a series of questions about birding with my answers to these questions. I trust that readers will find these answers useful in helping them watch birds.
If you have any more questions just use the comments section and I will try to answer them.

On most days I will only have one question but to start off the series I will have three questions today.

What is birding? Birding is the hobby or pastime of watching birds, usually in the natural environment. This interest can take many forms. Some people just take notice of the birds in their environment occasionally and quite casually. These people could probably name just a few dozen different species of birds, usually just the very common ones they encounter in daily life. More serious birders will know several hundred or even a thousand different kinds of birds. The most serious bird watchers are quite deliberate about their hobby, going on excursions or trips to see birds. These people often spend a great deal of time, effort and money on travel, accommodation and equipment in relation to their birding pursuits.

What is a birder? A birder is someone who enjoys watching and studying birds. Anyone can be a birder. All you need is to open your eyes to see the birds all around you. In fact, you can still be a birder and be totally blind – just listen to the birds calling.

What is a bird watcher? This is just another name for a birder.

Red Capped Robin

Great Birding Moments #12 White Faced Heron

No Comments »10th September, 2006; Category: Waterbirds

White Faced Heron

White Faced Herons are a widespread and common waterbird in our region. On many occasions I have had close up views of this species and usually without a camera in my hand. Last Thursday, while at St Kilda north of Adelaide, I was able to creep up reasonably close to one feeding in the shallows. It was more pre-occupied by feeding rather than watching me.

With the 12x zoom fully extended on my camera, plus a little tweaking on the computer I was able to get the above photo. Not as sharp as I’d like but satisfying all the same.