Victoria Park, Peterborough
Black-tailed Native-hen
A few weeks ago we went on a short holiday to Peterborough in mid-north of South Australia. We were visiting relatives. Normally I try to get out into the surrounding countryside to do some birding, but on this occasion it was bitterly cold, overcast and not at all inviting outdoors. It was so much more inviting to stay by the fireplace with a good book, and the obligatory hot drink. This changed on the last day of our visit. The sun finally emerged – but it was still very cold. I braved the elements any way.
The only spot I went to was Victoria Park, an artificial lake and grassed area next to the local caravan park and swimming pool – I have included a photo below. The area has been planted up with a variety of native trees and shrubs and so it attracts quite a few of our native birds, including a variety of water birds. On this occasion I was pleased to see about 80 Black-tailed Native-hens feeding on the lawned area around the small lake. They allowed me to take a few photos of them from the car but became a little skittish when I emerged to get closer shots.
On a few occasions I have also seen Apostlebirds here, but not on this occasion. This is one species which is not common anywhere in South Australia. Peterborough township is one of just a handful of places where it can be reliably seen in this state. It is quite common in New South Wales and parts of Victoria, however.
Because it was so cold I didn’t see or hear many other birds, but some I did record include:
- Pacific Black Duck
- Mallard
- Australian Wood Duck
- Weebill
- Magpie Lark
- Crested Pigeon
- Red wattlebird
- Little Raven
- Australian Magpie
Further reading:
Victoria Park, Peterborough, SA
Black-tailed Native-hen
Upset birds in Artarmon
2 Comments »19th April, 2015; Category: Bird Behaviour, Birders, Garden birds, Magpies and Currawongs
As I start this update post, I regret to say that I do not have any photos to share. The reason is simple. This article resulted from an experience I had last week while playing cricket with my six and half year old grandson. We were in his backyard here in Artarmon, north Sydney, where we are visiting at present. We were really into our game when our attention was drawn to the sound of many alarmed birds near the garden, in the street and in nearby properties. I did not have time to race inside and collect my camera.
First it was the alarm calls made by at least a dozen or more Noisy Miners. They were really upset about something but we couldn’t tell what it was. Naturally we stopped playing our game and started looking around, trying to determine the cause of their distress. My grandson, despite his youthfulness, is often aware of the birds wherever he goes. My intense interest has rubbed off on him and his father.
Next thing the local Pied Currawongs joined in the chorus, along with four or five Australian Ravens. A few seconds later three Laughing Kookaburras joined in the loud calling, along with several local Australian Magpies going stir crazy as well. The local Rainbow Lorikeets, always here in large numbers and always very noisy, set off flying in all directions, calling madly. Three Crested Pigeons skedaddled off over the roof to an unknown destination while the Noisy Miners kept up their protestations.
Meanwhile, the enormous racket unsettled both the Grey Butcherbirds and the Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, their raucous calls just adding to the general confusion. The only birds not upset were the softly twittering Welcome Swallows soaring over head. Or perhaps their twitters were in response to the noise below.
My grandson and I never discovered the reason for the commotion. We saw no evidence of a bird of prey, or an owl, or whatever had disturbed the locals. It generated quite a discussion with him about the possible causes.
We will never know. We can only speculate.
Good birding.
Another close encounter
Silvereye and Spotted Pardalote
I had another close encounter with one of the resident birds in our home garden this morning.
I had just finished watching a long parade of birds coming to either drink from our bird baths, or to have an early morning splash before a warm day. The various visitors had quite depleted the water, so it was time to get a bucket of water from the rainwater tank and then clean and refill the bird baths.
After cleaning the containers I went to fill them up again with fresh water but was distracted by a little Spotted Pardalote coming in for a drink. It gradually approached closer and closer until it was about 50cm away from me. It watched me intently for about ten seconds, obviously waiting for me to refill the bird baths.
I love these close encounters. Pity I didn’t have my camera with me – the photo above was taken some time ago and also shows another regular visitor to our garden, a Silvereye.
Other species seen while having breakfast include:
- Brown-headed honeyeaters
- Red Wattlebirds
- New Holland honeyeaters
- Spotted Turtledove
- Crested pigeon
- Australian Magpie
- House sparrow
- Striated Pardalote
- Yellow thornbill
Some birds of the Artarmon area – and two young birders
I am currently in Sydney visiting my family, including my only two grandchildren. They are very demanding and energetic and this makes me tired, but very satisfied. When we are staying with them I don’t get many opportunities to get out birding. This trip has been a little different and I will write about that in the next few days.
One interesting thing happened this evening. For his fifth birthday in October I gave my grandson a simple, lightweight pair of binoculars. I hasten to add that this was at his request; he’d often seen me using mine and wanted to be like his granddad. We were on the front lawn looking out for any birds we could see. We managed to list the following:
- Australian Raven
- Rainbow lorikeet
- Grey Butcherbird
- Galah
- Laughing Kookaburra
We were just heading off inside for them to go to bed when Miss 2.5 yo came running up to me all excited. She pointed to the Grey Butcherbird perched on the power line about 5 metres away. I guess they are never too young to start getting them interested in birding.
Other birds seen or heard during our nearly three week stay include:
- Pied currawong
- Noisy Miner
- Common Myna
- Crested pigeon
- Australian Brush-turkey
- Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
- Tawny Frogmouth
- Australian Magpie
- Wonga pigeon
- Rock Dove
- Eastern Koel
Good birding.
On the road again part 3
Narrandera birding
On our current trip to Sydney we stopped overnight at Narrandera. This is just over half way from home to our son’s place, our destination. I’ve often wished we could stay for more than a night, because the town environs and the broader district offer a great deal for the birder looking for a large range of species. As an added bonus, the countryside is quite beautiful too.
We couldn’t stay at the local caravan park because all of the cabins were booked, so we opted for one of the motels. We settled in just on sunset so I was able to record a few species before it was dark. Early next morning I added more species to the list while I was packing the car.
As we departed the town stopped for about ten minutes at the wetlands on the southern boundary of the town. While the water birds were largely absent I did manage to get quite a list of bush birds.
Bird list
- Galah
- Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
- Eastern Rosella
- Yellow Rosella
- White-winged Chough
- Australian Magpie
- Clamorous Reed-warbler
- Silvereye
- Laughing Kookaburra
- Grey Teal
- Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
- Crested Pigeon
- Sacred Kingfisher
- Weebill
- White-plumed Honeyeater
- Rock Dove
- Blue-faced Honeyeater