Trevor's Birding

I have been trying for several days to capture a New Holland Honeyeater doing their usual gymnastic tricks while feeding. Just before lunch today I managed to get one upside down feeding from a flower in an Eremophila youngii. Eremophilas are commonly called Emu Bushes.

No – I haven’t inserted the photograph upside down! It’s the bird that is upside down. The curved beaks of the Ausralian honeyeaters are ideally suited to feeding from many of the Australian plants like the Eremophilas, Correas and Prostantheras with their tube shaped flowers.Of course the New Holland Honeyeaters don’t have it all to themselves. The Red Wattlebirds also insist on their fair share of the spoils. The above photo shows a Red Wattlebird busy in another eremophila nearby. A few seconds after this photo was taken a New Holland Honeyeater tried to chase the wattlebird away, only to have the tables turned and become the one being chased.
Wattlebirds can be bossy creatures, especially if another bird tries to muscle in on their patch of food. The above photo shows a rare moment in the life of a Red Wattlebird – sitting peacefully on a branch of a Eucalyptus citriodora or Lemon Scented Gum. On closer inspection of the photo I just realised that this individual is keeping the above eremophila plant under surveillance.

My new interest in butterflies continues unabated. I didn’t realise how many butterflies we have around our garden until I started quietly stalking them, camera poised. Today I managed several reasonable shots of the Vanessa kershawi or the Australian Painted Lady butterfly. We have at least two other species common in our garden, but I have yet to get a good shot of them. I know of at least two other species that have visited in the past but I haven’t seen them for several years.

Here’s another challenge I could set myself. Try to get some photos of the dragonflies we have around here! Then I could move on to other insects, such as ants and beetles. And what about caterpillars? Oh, and then we have quite a selection of reptiles, including Brown Snakes (which are very dangerous so I don’t want to get too close; the zoom lens will help there).

As for lizards, they are on the move already. I have included a photo taken yesterday of a Stumpy-Tailed Lizard (also called a Shingleback). We have quite a few individuals on our little estate. I haven’t seen any young Stumpy-Tails for a few months. We did see several in the autumn months. We enjoy seeing them come to one of the bird baths for a drink. The Aussie expression “flat out like a lizard drinking” is so apt. To illustrate how common this species is in the Murray Bridge area, our local poetry competition is called “The Stumpies”. I’ll try to get a link to details of this award.

We also have a range of geckoes and skinks on our land, all of them quite beautifully marked and would make wonderful photographs to include in this journal. Then we have the following mammals present (or occasional visitors): Western Grey Kangaroo, Common Brushtail Possum, Short-Beaked Echidna, Brown Hare*, European Rabbit*, House Mouse*, Black Rat*, Red Fox* and feral cat*(*introduced). I am sure we probably also have four or five species of bats but I’ve only indentified the Western Broad-Nosed Bat.

Mmmm… methinks I’ve opened a can of worms here!

Worms???
How photogenic are worms??

PS. I’m so pleased I do not have to buy film for this new camera.

We are not short of honeyeaters in Murray Bridge. They are common everywhere in this district and are probably the most common bird in most people’s gardens. Other species may outnumber them along the river or in the farming areas. For example, Straw-Necked Ibis numbers along the dairying flats are very numerous. I have seen flocks of over 400 on many occasions. Flocks of Galahs of that size are also evident, especially where wheat is cultivated. Along the parks and trees lining the River Murray large flocks of Little Corella can also be seen on occasions.

In the gardens, however, the honeyeater species tend to dominate. We do have some Noisy Miners in the area but they are not (yet) the dominent species they seem to be in other parts of Australia. In the Murray Bridge district New Holland Honeyeaters probably outnumber all other species of honeyeater. Red Wattlebirds are also very common as are White-Plumed Honeyeaters.

Last Monday we went to visit my wife’s mother. She lives in a retirement village, Murraylands. Part of the complex opposite her unit is a plantation of native Australian plants, established 20 years ago and maintained by the local members of the Australian Plant Society. The local group is in recess due to lack of members, Corinne (my wife) is the immediate past-president and I am also a past-president.

While Corinne was collecting cuttings for propogation I was taking photographs of various flowers for her. (I have included several photos at the end of this posting.) There were many birds in the locality, including a number of White Plumed Honeyeaters. Two of them came close to investigate what I was doing, so I took several photographs. I was basically shooting into the sun so the photos are not candidates for “Best of Show” in an exhibition. They turned out quite dark so I have enhanced them to show them here. I only include them here because of the unusual stance of the birds.

The first photo (above) shows one bird looking straight down at me. The eyes are what caught my attention. It’s a rather bizarre view of a bird. The second photo shows the other bird’s response to the focussing beep on my camera. It obviously heard the soft beep as I focussed. Pity about the lack of colour.

The native plant garden at Murraylands Homes is about an acre in size. It includes a wide range of Australian plants, including eucalypts, wattles, grevilleas, correas, eremophilas, callistemons and many others. Below I have included a selection of the shots I took.

Correa reflexa “Sellick’s Beach”

Grevillea “Winpara sunrise”

Alyogyne huegelli (Native hibiscus)