Trevor's Birding

Birding Babylon Blog

No Comments »8th May, 2006; Category: Blogs, Non-Australian birds

Many birders take up their interest in birds early in life. In my case I was about 8 when I started observing the birds on the farm I called home. This was in the Murray Mallee district of South Australia.

Jonathan Touern-Trend

Jonathan started dedicated birding at the age of 12. In 2004 he was a 38-year-old Connecticut National Guard sergeant who was posted to Camp Anaconda about 40 miles north of Baghdad in Iraq. During the time he was stationed there he began observing the birds and other wildlife around him. Since he was working in intelligence no-one seemed concerned that he was often seen peering through his binoculars. He then recorded his observations in his blog. This has generated world-wide interest and gives one a completely different view of life there in the midst of a troubled country.
To check out this very interesting blog click here.

Silvereyes

3 Comments »7th May, 2006; Category: Birds, Garden birds, Plants

Silvereyes are small dainty birds with a white eye ring, hence their name. They are relatively common and widespread throughout the Murraylands region of South Australia. In my experience they seem to frequent parks and gardens. This species always delights me when I see it and they can be quite tame and approach one with curiosity.

Unfortunately, they do not seem to like our garden for some reason. We only see them infrequently, and then only fleetingly. On several occasions I thought I heard their call but didn’t have the time to follow them up and check them out. I did see a small flock fly over head but they didn’t settle long enough for me to be sure.

That’s where my wife’s main interest has an advantage over my birding.

Flowers, and the plants they are attached to, don’t tend to fly off.

New birding links

No Comments »6th May, 2006; Category: General

I’ve been doing far too much surfing on the internet lately. The perils of broadband. Anyway, I keep on discovering all these wonderful sites about birding, many with very useful and interesting information and lots with wonderful photographs of birds.

I’ve had to be very selective about the sites I show on my links page. The list could reach into the 100s. I’ve recently updated my birding links section with some of my favourites and most visited.

To view my favourites go to the links section on the right.

Some Birds of Ireland

No Comments »5th May, 2006; Category: Birds, General

Last night I watched a program on ABC TV about some aspects of the nature of Ireland. It was called Ireland – Sculpted Isle. It featured some beautiful scenery of the island as well as some of the bird life.

There were some excellent shots of Gannets, Puffins, Redshanks, Curlews and Lapwings. They weren’t just quick takes to fill in between other shots; the camera lingered on the birds so that one got a really good look at them. This was particularly so of the Gannet shots, including the huge numbers at several nesting sites on some islands.

Loved the shots of the Puffins – such comical looking birds.

Call to Cull Corellas

2 Comments »4th May, 2006; Category: Birds, Parrots and Lorikeets

South Australia’s longest serving member of parliament, Graham Gunn, has called for a cull of corellas in the mid-north of the state. He is advocating the use of strychnine. I heard him being interviewed on the radio this morning and he admitted that the use of strychnine was illegal in our state, but thought that National Parks Rangers could be employed to deal with the problem.

In parliament yesterday he even gave a suitable recipe using strychnine which would have them “falling out of the sky like Spitfires.” He went on to outline the great damage the species is doing in his electorate. He claimed that they were in plague proportions.

During his interview on the radio this morning, a very distraught caller rang in to remind listeners of the story of America’s Passenger Pigeons. Once seen in flocks of millions not a single bird remains.

Some might suggest he is focusing on the wrong “pest” species that needs culling.

~~To read the article in The Advertiser click here~~. (Sorry – this link no longer works)

Updated: May 30th, 2017.