Birds in the heat
Juvenile Striated Pardalote
Over the last three days we have had a severe burst of extremely hot days. On Friday the temperature reached 45C (113F) under our front veranda. It was no better on Saturday when it again reached 45C. Yesterday was a little “cooler” as it only reached 40C (104F). Much cooler weather moved through the state last night and today’s forecast is for 22C (72F). What a contrast!
Juvenile Striated Pardalote
Probably the most frequent visitors to our garden bird baths were the pardalotes, both the Striated (as shown in the photos) and the Spotted. At times there were five or six of them. When I took the hose to replenish the water supply, several of them waited politely not more than a metre away. Pity I didn’t have the camera on me. The above photos were taken a few minutes later. I sat in the shade of the veranda, but the oppressive heat in the wind was too much and I retreated to air-conditioned comfort after about five minutes.
All during the heat there was a constant parade of birds taking advantage of the water I supplied. These include:
- Striated Pardalote
- Spotted Pardalote
- House Sparrow
- Red Wattlebird
- New Holland Honeyeater
- Brown Headed Honeyeater
- White Plumed Honeyeater
- Spiny Cheeked Honeyeater
- Singing Honeyeater
- Crested Pigeon
- Spotted Turtledove
- Australian Magpie
- Australian Magpie Lark
- Willie Wagtail
Despite the oppressive heat we had very few bushfires in South Australia over the last few days, in stark contrast to the situation in Victoria (click here and here).
Birds at the Test Cricket in Adelaide
The current Test Cricket match between Australia and England is being played at the beautiful Adelaide Oval in South Australia. Since England won back the coveted Ashes Trophy last year in England there has been great interest in this current series. Usually my daughter and I attend at least one day of the Adelaide Test Match every year. Because of the intense interest in this series I, along with many tens of thousands of other cricket enthusiasts, was unable to get any tickets.
So I am confined to the comfort of watching the cricket from my favourite chair in the lounge room. That is no excuse for not doing some birding. The Adelaide Oval is well known for the hundreds of Silver Gulls that congregate on the grass during the match. The numbers seem to increase as the day progresses. I guess they come to help clean up the mess left by the crowd, things like dropped chips, meat pies, bits of rolls and other items of food from the fast food outlets.
Other species have noticed during the telecast of this test match are Welcome Swallows and Magpie Larks. On my various visits to the oval for cricket matches I have seen the following species:
- Silver Gull
- Pacific Black Duck (the River Torrens is just a few metres south of the oval)
- Rock Dove
- Spotted Turtle Dove
- Crested Pigeon
- Galah
- Rainbow Lorikeets
- Adelaide (Crimson) Rosella
- Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoo
- Welcome Swallow
- Tree Martin
- Willie Wagtail
- White Plumed Honeyeater
- Red Wattlebird
- Noisy Miner
- Magpie Lark
- Australian Magpie
- Little Raven
- Common Starling
- House Sparrow
This certainly is a good list. Many more species could be added if I included the nearby River Torrens and the parklands. Watching the birds during slow periods of play maintains one’s interest, to be sure. The photo below was taken several years ago during and interstate match. The white patch on the grass centre right is a large flock of Silver Gulls.
Adelaide Oval, South Australia
Time for a bath: visitors to our bird bath
Brown-headed Honeyeater
Some years ago we set up a birdbath on our patio area. It gave us much pleasure to see birds coming to drink and bathe. More recently we moved it to the other side of the house. Now it is in full view from our sunroom. It is here we often eat our meals, and work at the table with the birdbath in full view.
Over recent years, this location has had four main benefits:
- It is a great time waster investment; watching the birds go about their daily lives just a few metres from where we are sitting is both relaxing and refreshing to the body, mind and spirit.
- It is most entertaining, especially when a bird like a Mallee Ringneck Parrot comes to bathe and the water sprays in all directions.
- It is excellent for photography; with the 12X zoom on my camera, I have taken many close-up shots of the birds visiting. (Update: my new camera has a 20x zoom. Further update: I now have a camera with an 83x zoom.)
- It is educational; our human visitors marvel at our avian visitors and this gives us the opportunity to further enhance our friends’ appreciation of the natural environment.
White-plumed Honeyeater
I’ve actually installed three different baths in close proximity to one another; one on the ground (which the lizards sometimes use too), one at a height of about 60cm and the third at about 1.5m. This gives them choices. The nearby branches and bushes give them a place of refuge if they feel threatened in any way.
House Sparrow (male)
A List of Species that have visited our bird baths:
- Mallee Ringneck Parrot
- New Holland Honeyeater
- Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
- Red Wattlebird
- Brown-headed Honeyeater
- Singing Honeyeater
- White-plumed Honeyeater
- House Sparrow
- Common Starling
- Little Raven
- Willie Wagtail
- Spotted Turtledove
- Crested Pigeon
- Spotted Pardalote
- Striated Pardalote
- Diamond Firetail Finch
- Yellow-rumped Thornbill
- Grey Shrike-thrush
- Australian Magpie
- Magpie Lark
- Mistletoebird
- Common Blackbird
- Rufous Whistler (see updates below)
- European Goldfinch (see updates below)
- Chestnut-rumped Thornbill (see updates below)
- Grey Fantail (see updates below)
- Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike (see updates below)
- Galah (see updates below)
- Grey Currawong (see updates below)
- Eastern Rosella (see updates below)
- Sacred Kingfisher (see updates below)
- Dusky Woodswallow (see updates below)
- White-browed Babblers (see updates below)
- White-winged Chough (see updates below)
- White-browed Woodswallow (see updates below)
- Purple-crowned Lorikeet (see updates below)
- Animals
- Red Fox
- Stumpy-tailed Lizard
- European Rabbit
- Brown Snake
- Blue-tongue Lizard
That’s quite a list!
UPDATE: More recently we have added the following species to the list:
- Rufous Whistler
- European Goldfinch
- Chestnut-rumped Thornbill
UPDATE #2 Two more species to add to the list:
- Stumpy-tail Lizard (also called a Shingleback Lizard)
- Red Fox – yes, that’s right, a fox.
- Brown Snake – passed close to the bird bath on the ground. In January 2016 a metre long Brown Snake actually stopped to have a drink. See photos here.
UPDATE #3 Another species to add to the list: Grey Fantail – it came to the bird bath briefly but left before I could take a photograph (4th May, 2007)
UPDATE #4 In January 2008 we had a single Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike come to drink briefly from the bird bath.
UPDATE #5 In late January 2008 a single Galah came to within a metre of the bird bath but did not drink. A few weeks later I added Grey Currawong to the list.
UPDATE #6 In December 2008 I added European Rabbit to the list.
UPDATE #7 In December 2009 I added Eastern Rosella. (Click here for a photo)
UPDATE #8 In November 2013 a Sacred Kingfisher perched about a metre from the bird bath but did not drink. In February 2014 a Dusky Woodswallow came to drink during one of our heat waves during a very hot summer.
UPDATE #9 In September 2015 I added White-winged Chough, White-browed Babbler and Blue-tongue Lizard (click for photo)
UPDATE #10 In December 2015, during a heatwave, I added White-browed Woodswallow.
UPDATE #11 In December 2020 I added Purple-crowned Lorikeet.
Comments: many of my readers have commented on this post – read them below and leave one of your own.
Update: this post was last updated on December 2020.
Mallee Ringneck Parrot
Mallee Ringneck Parrot
Mallee Ringneck Parrot
Most popular articles
No Comments »24th October, 2006; Category: General
This birding blog is just over a year old now and I have been doing a little reflecting on what has happened over the last twelve months. With ever increasing numbers of people visiting this site about Australian birds I guess that many people would have missed some of the earlier articles I wrote that caused quite a stir, or which were particularly popular, for whatever reason.
They are all available if you search through the Archives section but that can be a little tedious. Another way is to search using the Categories section; this can also be a little tedious.
On this post, I will provide a very lazy way for you to access some of the very popular articles I have written over the last year. I should qualify the label “most popular.” I actually have listed those that have been most commented on over the last year.
Just click on the title of the articles you wish to read.
Ten Most Commented On Articles on this Blog:
- Do Blackbirds Swoop? How to deal with aggressive behaviour in birds.
- Common Blackbirds
- Some Habits of Highly Effective Bloggers (this is more about blogging and writing but references to birding as well).
- Rainbow Lorikeets
- Great Birding Moments #6 New Holland Honeyeaters
- Great Birding Moments #13 Sulphur Crested Cockatoos
- A Cloud of Kites
- Great Birding Moments #14 Cockatoo Close Encounter
- Great Birding Moments #5 Crested Pigeon
- Favourite Birding Spot #1 Home
So there you have it.
Ten great posts to read and enjoy.
Don’t forget to leave a comment on these – or any other posts.
Remember to use the archives and the categories sections to search out other interesting articles and photos.
This post was updated on 1st March 2017.
Babies, the Birds and the Bees
New Holland Honeyeater in nest
It must be spring here in Murray Bridge, South Australia. So many baby birds all around us, including the baby New Holland Honeyeater in the photo above – just about to leave the nest. This one did leave the nest a few hours after this photo was taken and its sibling just a short time before the photo. At lunch time today we saw another New Holland Honeyeater making a new nest only a few metres away from this one.
The New Holland Honeyeaters are not the only ones breeding. Here is a list of birds I have observed nesting, feeding young in the nest or feeding newly fledged young in the last few weeks. It only includes birds observed in our garden, on our five acre block of land or on the roads bordering our property (on two sides).
Breeding Birds September – October 2006
- White Winged Choughs – feeding young.
- Little Raven – feeding young.
- Red Wattlebird – feeding young in nest.
- Australian Magpie – feeding young.
- Yellow Rumped Thornbill – feeding young in nest.
- House Sparrow – feeding young.
- Common Starling – feeding young.
- Common Blackbird – eggs in nest fell out (when the plant pot it was in fell over).
- Spotted Turtledove – mating behaviour but nest not found.
- Crested Pigeon – mating behaviour but nest not found. [Update: I found the nest a day after posting this article]
- Grey Shrike Thrush – feeding young.
- White Plumed Honeyeater – feeding young.
Noteable Exception:
- Willie Wagtail – usually nest quite near the house but not observed nesting this year. This is noteworthy as it is probably the first time in over twenty years. It’s not too late, of course.
And the Bees??
The bees in the title of this article refer to several hives of bees – possibly feral bees – that have taken up residence in tree hollows. This prevents the native birds ever using that hollow again. We are trying to deal with the one nearest the house; two others are a little high in the trees to tackle.
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