Interrupted by a Kookaburra
I was sitting in my first lecture for the year this afternoon thoroughly enjoying what I was hearing.
Oh – sorry – regular readers are probably puzzled by that statement. I decided to go back to full time study this year to gain my Master of Arts in Creative Writing. (For more details click here.) I am not sure of the wisdom of studying full time when I’ve just celebrated my 60th birthday a few months ago. Consequently, posts on my three blogs will have to be less often and somewhat erratic.
Back to my topic – the lecturer stopped, looked out the window and said, “That’s a kookaburra calling. How interesting. I thought there would be nowhere for it to perch with all the [feral] pigeons we have on campus.” Indeed. The building is very old and there are many nooks suitable for the Rock Doves (Feral Pigeons) to roost and nest. Their droppings are an obvious eyesore around the campus.
Laughing Kookaburra
Near the student car park (strange calling myself a student after all my years of teaching) I also observed the native species of Crested Pigeons in great numbers. They were busily feeding on the grass of the rapidly drying oval and grassed areas. The only other species I observed today was the Noisy Miner; they are in almost plague proportions in that suburb. The day I enrolled I also observed dozens of Rainbow Lorikeets feeding in the trees near the car park.
Noisy Miner
Click on any photo to enlarge the image.
Rainbow Lorikeet
Thirsty time for the birds
Mallee Ringneck Parrot
After a very warm summer it was a relief to have a series of much cooler days recently. In fact, some days, and especially the evenings, were decidedly cool. The last few days have seen the return of some really hot days. Yesterday was over 40C and today is shaping up to be another sizzler. Last night was oppressively warm all night and at 6:20am when we went for our walk it was still very mild. As the sun rose the air quickly become warm again.
After our walk I had breakfast. I was fascinated by the constant parade of birds coming to the bird bath in our garden. First came the Yellow-rumped Thornbills – it seemed like there were dozens of them. They were quickly followed by a much larger bird, a single Grey Currawong. This was a new species to add to the list of birds that have come to visit the bird bath. A few moments later a Crested Pigeon came for his turn, and he made way for the bossy Red Wattlebird. Seconds later one of the resident Willie Wagtails came for his drink.
The next shift was taken by a mixture of Yellow-rumped and Striated Pardalotes, each flitting in and out in nervously. A flash of iridescent spots on an otherwise plain bird indicated that a Common Starling had arrived, followed quickly by another import, some House Sparrows. Another introduced species, a male Blackbird also skulked his way up the bird bath for a quick drink.
Interestingly, the single Wattlebird was the only member of the honeyeater family to pay a visit this morning. Usually the Brown-headed Honeyeaters, the New Holland Honeyeaters and the White-plumed Honeyeaters come in wave after wave of splashing excitement. But not today. Maybe they were at the bird bath earlier – while I was still on my walk.
Further reading:
- Time for a bath – visitors to our bird bath – includes a complete list of species observed.
BIGBY report for January 2008
No Comments »1st February, 2008; Category: General
At the beginning of the year I joined the BIGBY – the Big Green Big Year. Carbon neutral birding seems a good thing to do. I was planning on getting a lot fitter this year anyway and hopefully lose a few excess kilos from around the middle. Doing most of my serious birding in the garden and on walks from home seemed an ideal solution all round.
Limitations:
Alas – illness has prevented much serious birding in January. Coupled with the intense heat wave we have had – with many days in the 45C (113F) range – opportunities to go for birding walks have been limited. Most of what I have observed have been in the garden or from the house.
Good sightings
Despite these limitations the bird list for 2008 is coming along quite nicely. Top of the list would have to be the Australian Owlet-nightjar which has taken up residence in a hollow a few metres from my office window. This nocturnal species is more often heard than seen, so I was pleased when I got a photo a few days ago. (This will feature in an article here in the next few days.) It is a delight to hear this little bird calling during the day and night.
The second really great sighting was a lifer. We had a brief visit from a Barbary Dove. At first I called it a Collared Turtle-dove but it seems the “experts” think it is a Barbary Dove instead. No matter – it is still a new bird for my life list and my garden list.
The third great sighting for the month was an immature Collared Sparrowhawk which decided to pose beautifully for me no more than five metres away. Delightful.
Highlight
Another highlight for the month was an event, not a sighting. This was carbon neutral birding at its best. I took readers on a world birding trip without leaving home. I hosted the carnival I and the Bird for the very first time. While the preparation took quite a time, it received some good feedback from readers and participants. It also boosted the traffic to my site for a few days.
Other sighting this month:
So far I’ve recorded 38 species (including 2 breeding) for the garden and during my walks. This is not a fantastic total but given the circumstances it is quite good. Here is the full list:
- Brown Falcon
- Collared Sparrowhawk
- Black Kite
- Rock Dove
- Barbary Dove
- Spotted Turtle-dove
- Crested Pigeon
- Galah
- Rainbow Lorikeet
- Purple-crowned Lorikeet
- Mallee Ringneck
- Australian Owlet-nightjar
- Rainbow Bee-eater
- Spotted Pardalote
- Striated Pardalote
- Weebill
- Yellow-rumped Thornbill
- Red Wattlebird
- Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater (breeding)
- Singing Honeyeater
- White-plumed Honeyeater
- Brown-headed Honeyeater
- New Holland Honeyeater
- White-browed Babbler
- Grey Shrike-thrush
- Australian Magpie Lark
- Willie Wagtail
- Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
- Grey Butcherbird
- Grey Currawong
- Australian Magpie
- Little Raven
- White-winged Chough
- House Sparrow
- Mistletoebird
- Silvereye
- Common Blackbird (breeding)
- Cammon Starling
A non-birding trip to Loxton
No Comments »14th January, 2008; Category: Trip reports
Yesterday we took a non-birding trip to Loxton, about a two hour journey from home. This is the town where I grew up and I still have quite a few relatives living there. The occasion was to celebrate my sister-in-law’s 70th birthday. We see each other so infrequently these days that we make a special effort to attend these family get togethers. An added bonus was seeing my niece and her daughter who came all the way from Perth, Western Australia, for the event. I see them only every two years or so.
The road to Loxton traverses mainly wheat and sheep farming country in the Murray Mallee region of South Australia. Although the winter was drier than usual the country is not looking as poor as some parts of Australia suffering prolonged drought. I had a long talk to my wheat farmer nephew who was quite pleased with the yield this last season despite the poor rainfall.
We didn’t stop anywhere along the route to specifically watch birds, though we did have brief rest for a cuppa on the way. I didn’t make an extensive list as we drove along but merely noted some of the common species seen. Australian Magpies, both Black-backed and White-backed, were by far the most common bird seen. The roadside verges are also a favourite haunt of the numerous White-winged Choughs we saw.
I observed numerous Little Ravens feeding in the paddocks as we drove along, and on the return journey I am sure I saw an Australian Raven. I couldn’t be absolutely certain but it seemed much larger than the Little Ravens we have here in Murray Bridge. Small flocks of Galahs were also seen, either flying overhead or feeding on the grass in the fields. The occasional Common Bronzewing Pigeon was seen sitting on the side of the road.
Common Bronzewing Pigeon
Probably the highlight of the trip up to Loxton was seeing three Wedge-tailed Eagles soaring low over the road. This species is more often seen gliding many hundreds of metres above the ground; seeing them only a few metres above the treetops is always a delight. Another highlight was a brief glimpse of three Blue Bonnet Parrots flying across the road and scattering into the bushes on the other side of the road.
Another very common species along this route is the Crested Pigeon. It some places they outnumbered the magpies. On many occasions I saw ten to fifteen sitting in a loose flock on fencing wires or on power lines. As we commenced our journey home we saw a flock of ten sitting on the road just a few metres from the main street. They reluctantly few off as our car approached.
On our arrival in Loxton we were about a half hour early for the family lunch at one of the local clubs, so we detoured via the river front. There is a track running along the banks of the River Murray and this is a popular spot for people fishing, swimming, canoeing, skiing and having picnics. The bird life was relatively quiet but I did see plenty of Noisy Miners and Australian Wood Ducks. I heard a Laughing Kookaburra and a Superb Blue Wren. Several small flocks of Red-rumped Parrots were seen flying and I think I heard several Yellow Rosellas. I saw a few Magpie Larks and two Australian Pelicans were swimming on the water.
We had a great time with family and seeing all these birds was a bonus.
Further reading:
- Birding on a trip to Loxton – another article I wrote about this topic.
- Birding in Loxton, South Australia
- Yellow Rosellas
Birds and Dogs do not mix
My wife had an appointment in Adelaide on Wednesday. I remained in the car in an adjacent park, fortunate to get a shady park on such a hot day. At one point my attention was distracted from doing the crossword in the paper.
A lady entered the park nearby and released her dog from its leash. The dog immediately sprinted across the grass chasing the half dozen or so Australian Magpies and Magpie Larks. The birds abruptly stopped feeding and flew frantically to nearby trees. They did not return to foraging for more than ten minutes after the dog and owner moved out of the park. During the two hours I was there this process was repeated about a dozen times but in less dramatic ways. Most of the other dogs were much more docile, and some were on leads. At one point another dog disturbed a flock of about twenty Crested Pigeons feeding on the ground.
Crested Pigeons
Dogs on the loose can severely impact the feeding habits of many species of birds. For ground nesting birds, especially on beaches, the impact can be devastating. Eggs can be trampled on and broken and nestlings killed and eaten.
There is little I could have done to protect the birds or to make a complaint to the dog owners in this situation, however. The park is one of very few in metropolitan Adelaide as a designated dog park, meaning that the dogs are able to run freely. This has been an area of contention over recent years because there are so few such parks where dogs can roam freely. In my experience dog owners are very vocal and local councils generally listen to their lobbying.
Very rarely does someone speak up for the birds, and that is a concern.
Related article: