Getting crowded at our bird bath

White-browed Woodswallow (L), Magpie Lark (C) and Brown-headed Honeyeater (R)

Over recent posts on this site I have mentioned how hot it has been here in South Australia this summer. Some of our heat waves have broken records in many places. We have also had several major bush fires in our state.

On hot days I am especially careful to maintain fresh, clean water in our various bird baths in our garden. I know that the birds appreciate having plenty of fresh water to drink, and to bathe in during the warm weather. They also seem to like the water supplied no matter what the temperature.

On one occasion several weeks ago I took the photo above showing three different species at the bird bath at the one time. This happens more often than one might think. On a hot day I have counted up to a dozen or more species using the water in a very short space of time, such as a ten minute period. On this occasion we had (from the left) a White-browed Woodswallow, an Australian Magpie-lark, and a Brown-headed Honeyeater.

You can read more about Australian birds on my other site Trevor's Birding. 

Mallee Ringneck parrots come to our bird bath

Mallee Ringneck parrots

I live on a five acre property on the outskirts of Murray Bridge in South Australia. Over the years I have recorded over 110 different species in or near our garden. Some of these are occasional visitors but many of them are resident species, that is, they are here all the time. Many of these species are actually resident breeding species, meaning that they also have been recorded breeding on our property.

One of our favourite bird species would have to be the colourful Mallee Ringnecks, a race of the Australian Ringneck parrot found over large parts of the drier parts of the Australian continent. They are a resident breeding species in our garden. They are also one of the noisiest birds in our garden.

To be truthful, we have a love-hate relationship with these birds. We love having them around every day and their cheerful calls and brilliant colours brighten up our day. On the other hand we don't like it when they get into our many fruit trees, especially our delicious pears. I try to keep them out using netting over the trees, but far too often they beat me to it.

You can read more posts I have written about these birds on Trevor's Birding. 

Mallee Ringneck parrots

Juvenile Grey Currawong

Juvenile Grey Currawong

A few days ago we had a juvenile Grey Currawong come to visit one of our bird baths. It was a very hot day and the parade of birds coming to the bird bath was constant - until the currawong arrived. 

Being such a large bird, all the smaller species like honeyeaters, thornbills and wrens made way. The adult currawong will take the eggs and nestlings of many of the smaller species, so their caution is well founded.

Until a few years ago we rarely saw any currawongs on our five acre block of land near Murray Bridge in South Australia. We occasionally would hear one calling in the distance. They were a resident species in the patch of mallee scrub up the hill from our place. In the last 5 or so years they have become regular visitors in our garden. I can't yet call them a resident species because we do not see them everyday, but their visits are becoming more regular. 

Juvenile Grey Currawong

Juvenile Grey Currawong

A brown snake at our bird bath

Eastern Brown Snake

On hot days we have a constant stream of birds in our garden coming in for a drink at our bird baths. This summer has been particularly hot, breaking many records. Our bird baths have been well used. A few day ago we were surprised by an Eastern Brown Snake drinking from one of the bird baths on the ground.

Eastern Brown Snake

Over the years I have recorded many bird species coming to use the bird bath, plus a few other interesting creatures, including a rabbit, various lizards and even a fox. This is the first time we have actually seen a snake using the water though I guess it has happened before.

While we know that we have Eastern Brown Snakes in our garden and around our property, they usually keep well out of our way. They tend to be on the timid side - except when cornered or threatened in any way. We try not to annoy them - which is just as well. This species is the second deadliest snake in the world.

Without them around we would probably have an enormous mouse and rat problem - so they are welcome.

You can read a full list of birds and other creatures visiting our bird baths here on Trevor's Birding site.

Eastern Brown Snake

Australia Day birds

Male Emu and chicks

Today is Australia Day, a time where we celebrate the European settlement of this great land of ours. In a simple way I want to celebrate the day by showing some well-known and well-loved Australian birds.

The photos featured today include:

• Emu (above) - the male Emu hatches the eggs and cares for the chicks for up to 18 months.
• Galah (below) - probably our best known parrot, and a favourite as a pet.
• Australian Magpie (below) - a common bird in gardens, parks and in rural landscapes.
• Laughing Kookaburra (below) - the call of the Kookaburra is known throughout the land and is iconic of the Australian bush - and increasingly suburbia as well.

You can see more photos and read more about Australian birds on my other site called Trevor's Birding. 

Happy New Year

Mallee Ringneck parrots

HAPPY NEW YEAR to my readers.

Yes -  I realise that I am over two weeks late in posting such greetings, but I have been rather busy of late. We have had family visiting over the Christmas - New Year break, and we have also been visiting other family members. On top of all that I have been without a computer for some of that period. My son has been busy transferring all of my files to a new computer.

Today's photo of two Mallee Ringneck parrots was taken during one of the very hot days we have been experiencing here in South Australia so far this summer. The ringnecks are present every day in our garden and we love seeing them. However, they are not our favourite birds when the chew our ripening pears. 

You can read more about Australian birds on another of my sites called Trevor's Birding. 

Birds in the heat

White-browed Woodswallow (L) and Australian Magpie-lark (R)

In the week before Christmas we had a sudden heat wave here in South Australia. Over four consecutive days much of the state had temperatures over 40C (104F). On the worst day Port Augusta's temperature reached a sizzling 47.2C (117F).

That's hot.

Really hot.

 This heat wave was unprecedented because we usually get consecutive days of severe heat in January and February, rarely in December.

On the last day of this heat wave I sat at our sun room table taking note - and photos - of the constant parade of birds coming to our bird bath. Most of them looked very stressed by the fiery north wind. Many came for a drink; a few for a bath. Most lingered for many minutes enabling a few good photos.

Australians in particular should be aware of the plight of birds on days of extreme heat. Put out a few bowls of water in shady spots so the birds can have a drink. Place the bowls near to a bush or tree so that they have a safe route of escape from predators. 

Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater feeling the heat

Happy Christmas

Red-capped Robin

I wish all of my readers a very Happy and Blessed Christmas.

Instead of writing lots about some of the Australian birds I have seen and photographed, 

today I will just share a few of my favourite photos of birds.

Have a great time over Christmas - New Year.

Keep safe - and join me again in 2016 for more photos. 

Trevor

Silvereye - an Australian bird

The Australian Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

 

Australian Ringneck Parrot

Diamond Dove of Australia

Diamond Dove

The dainty little Diamond Dove of Australia is one of our loveliest birds. It is found throughout much of the drier parts of the mainland except for the very driest deserts. Its preferred habitats include grassy woodlands, along watercourses and scrubs.

Although this species has been recorded just a few kilometres from my home, I have not yet recorded it on our property here in Murray Bridge, South Australia. This is about as far south as it is found in our state.

In fact, I cannot recall ever seeing this bird in the natural environment. The bird in the photo was a part of the collection at Adelaide Zoo. This species is a commonly kept bird as a pet in an aviary.

You can read more about Australian birds and see more photos of them on my other site called Trevor's Birding. 

Bar-shouldered Dove of Australia

Bar-shouldered Dove

The beautiful Bar-shouldered Dove is found in eastern and northern coastal parts of Australia where there is suitable habitat.

Their preferred habitats include vegetation near water, mangroves, tropical and sub-tropical scrubs, gullies and gorges, near swamps, plantations and gardens with plenty of trees. They are sometimes found on off-shore islands.

This is one species I have yet to see in the natural environment. The photos in today's post were taken in one of the walk-through aviaries in the world renowned Adelaide Zoo.

You can read more about Australian birds and see more photos of them on another site I write for called Trevor's Birding.

Bar-shouldered Dove

Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike

Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike

I must admit that the Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike is one of my favourite Australian birds. I am not really sure why this is so.

It could be the soft, subtle colours of the plumage.

It could be that I like its soft, musical, churring call as it flies overhead, or perches in a nearby tree.

It could be that, although this species is found all over Australia, including Tasmania, I don't see it that often.

It could be that I could not honestly call this a resident species on our five acre property near Murray Bridge in South Australia, because at best, I can only classify this as an occasional visitor, so it is special when one passes through our property.

It could be that I just like the bird - and leave it at that.

What I can say is that in over 30 years of living here, to my knowledge this photo shows the only individual of this species to have ever visited one of our bird baths. That's special.

The origins of the family name is a mystery. Despite their name they are neither cuckoos nor shrikes. 

You can read more about Australian birds and see more photos of them on my other site about Australian birds on Trevor's Birding.

Grey Currawong

Grey Currawong at our bird bath

When we first moved to our five acre property on the outskirts of Murray Bridge in South Australia some 30 years ago, we never saw Grey Currawongs in our garden or even in our small patch of Mallee scrub.

After a few years we occasionally heard them calling in the distance up the hill from our place. Seeing that the hill in question is about a kilometre away one can appreciate how far-reaching their call can go.

Some ten years ago - I am only guessing that it has been about that long - we would occasionally get one or two flying overhead. This might happen every few months or so. As the years elapsed their visits became more frequent, visiting almost every month but never staying for long - perhaps a few minutes at most.

About three years ago these visits were almost weekly and they would even bring their young into our scrub for a feed. More recently several of them have come right up to the house to visit one of our bird baths. The bath in the photo above is only about 5 metres from our dining room window. The proximity allows good photos without disturbing the bird.

I must say that seeing them up close like this is unnerving, especially when you focus on that evil looking yellow eye.

You can read more about Australian birds and see more photos of them on another of my sites called Trevor's Birding.

Welcome Swallows

Welcome Swallow

The lovely little Welcome Swallow is a common bird throughout much of Australia except for the dry interior and northern regions of the continent. They are common around lakes, swamps, rivers and other waterways, swooping low over the water catching insects on the wing. They are also commonly seen throughout their range far from water, skimming over paddocks and pastures wherever they can feed on insects.

The Welcome Swallow makes a lovely bowl shaped mud nest lined with grass and feathers and other soft materials. They often nest under bridges, under the eaves of homes and under people's verandas. When they do this they are sometimes less than "welcome" because the area under the nest can get very messy with their droppings.

These photos were taken last year on a visit to the Dubbo Zoo in mid-western New South Wales.

You can read more stories about Australian birds on my other site Trevor's Birding.

Welcome Swallow

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

Some months ago my wife and I visited the Dubbo Zoo, an open-range zoo in the mid-west of New South Wales. This zoo is run by Taronga Zoo in Sydney and is an easy day's drive from Sydney. We had just spent a few weeks with our son and our grandchildren in Sydney and we were having an extended holiday in various parts of the state.

On the first day of our visit to the Dubbo Zoo - tickets are valid for two days as there is so much to see - we sat in the evening calm watching the monkeys in a nearby enclosure near the Visitor Centre. A solitary Sulphur-crested Cockatoo flew in and perched just above where the monkeys were having a feed. This was not a captive bird and like so many of the local birds it wasn't slow about inviting itself to feed on the leftovers from the zoo animals.

Cockatoos, Corellas and Galahs, as well as Lorikeets and many other parrot species are very common throughout Australia. In fact, some years ago I saw a wonderful video about our parrot species and it was titled "Land of Parrots". An apt description of Australia.

You can read more about our Australian birds on my other site called Trevor's Birding here.

Silver Gulls

Silver Gull (with Pacific Black Ducks)

A few days ago my wife called me out into the garden. A flock of about 20 Silver Gulls was soaring and gliding on the breeze above our house and garden, and also parts of our five acre property here in Murray Bridge, South Australia.

This was an unusual sighting for our property. Every few months we do have a few Silver Gulls fly high over, but this flock's behaviour was different. They all stayed only 5 - 10 metres above the trees and shrubs. They did this circling around and around and rarely utterly their usual calls; just the odd contact call occasionally. I can only assume that they had found a patch of insects to feed on during this silent aerial display.

Curious.

You can see more photos and read more stories and encounters with Australian birds on my other site called Trevor's Birding here.

New Holland Honeyeater, Browns Road

Eucalyptus flowers

A few weeks ago I visited a locality known as Brown's Road. This is about a twenty minute drive from my home in Murray Bridge, South Australia.  The area is a mixture of mallee (eucalyptus) woodland and native pine, with an understory of smaller shrubs and plants like acacias (wattles). A good part of this reserve has been planted, not exclusively with local native plants but with some introduced plant species from other parts of Australia. In recent years this has become a popular birding spot with South Australian birders.

On this occasion the birding was very slow and I only saw and heard a handful of birds. Granted, I did not walk too far into the forest because of my aching back. Although I had my camera at the ready, the only bird I managed a photo of was the New Holland Honeyeater shown below.

Other birds seen or heard include:

• White-browed Babblers - seen skulking in the bushes
• Galahs - flying overhead
• White-winged Chough - heard in the distance, and seen on roadside as we drove off
• Red Wattlebird - they wouldn't perch long enough for a photo
• Peaceful Dove - heard nearby
• Grey Fantail - it wouldn't sit still for a photo
• Yellow Thornbill - flitting around in a bush but wouldn't come out to pose
• Silvereye - a small flock flew overhead calling
• Grey Shrike-thrush - heard calling in the distance
• Adelaide Rosella - about four flew quickly through the trees
• Crested Pigeon - several seen perched on the farm fence opposite the reserve
• Weebills - feeding high in the tree canopies

You can see photos of some of these birds by using the "Search" facility in the top right hand corner of each page on this site.

You can also seen photos of all these species and many more on my other site Trevor's Birding.  That site also has many more articles about Australian birds.

New Holland Honeyeater

Browns Road near Murray Bridge, South Australia

Acacia (wattle) in flower at Browns Road, South Australia

Cosy Galahs in the morning sun

Galahs in the early morning sun

I took the photo above one very cold, frosty morning at the Laratinga Wetlands in Mt Barker, South Australia. The two parrots - presumably a breeding pair - were taking advantage of the early morning sunshine to warm up. They certainly look a cosy pair.

Earlier on I had seen them - I assume it was the same two - at a nearby hollow in the same tree. I wrote about that sighting and showed two other photos here.

The Australian parrot we know as the Galah is sometimes known as the Rose-breasted Cockatoo. It's commonly called a "cocky" and is often kept as a much loved pet, frequently living in people's homes and learning to mimic a range of human words, especially greetings. "Hello, Cocky" greets visitors to such a home, for example.

This species is also a frequent visitor to our home garden here in Murray Bridge.  On occasions we have seen flocks numbering in the many hundreds flying overhead. With their raucous screeching it is hard to miss them.

Why not take a look over at Trevor's Birding, my other site about Australian birds?

Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo

Art work depicting a Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo

One of the interesting aspects of a visit to the Laratinga Wetlands in Mt Barker, South Australia is the new art installation in the picnic area. On my recent visit I saw these art works - four of them - for the first time. The one below depicts an Aboriginal Elder, reflecting the importance of these lands to the traditional owners.

The art work shown above depicts one of the significant bird species of this area, the large and noisy Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo. These birds are frequently seen flying overhead in this part of the Adelaide Hills, often in small groups up to a half dozen, and occasionally in larger flocks from a dozen or so through to a hundred of more. Elsewhere, in the south east of the state, I once saw a flock I estimated to be over 300; the noise they made was deafening as they flew overhead.

I invite readers to check out my other site about Australian birds - Trevor's Birding.

Art work depicting an Aboriginal Elder

Australian Magpie, Laratinga Wetlands

Male Australian Magpie, Laratinga Wetlands

The Laratinga Wetlands do not just make a good environment for a large number of waterbirds. The habitat surrounding the various ponds is very suitable for a range of other species, including many honeyeaters, pigeons, parrots, fairy-wrens, corvids (eg ravens), swallows, woodswallows and the ubiquitous Australian Magpie as shown in today's photos.

The area around the ponds has a natural creek bed with associated eucalypt forest trees as well as a range of smaller shrubs such as acacias (wattles). The walking tracks around the ponds have been planted up with many other local native plants species as well, making the whole area very attractive.

The Australian Magpie, one of the bird species commonly encountered in such environments, is right at home in such a habitat. The vegetation provides an ample food supply, a ready supply of nesting materials and plenty of places to build their nests. The photo above shows a male in full breeding plumage, while the one below shows one with something in its beak - perhaps a worm or a caterpillar.

The final photo shows the picnic area next to the wetlands. Laratinga Wetlands are near Mt Barker in the Adelaide Hills of South Australia, about a half hour drive from Adelaide.

For more photos of and articles about Australian birds, visit my other site Trevor's Birding.

Australian Magpie (male)

Barbecue and picnic area, Laratinga Wetlands

Superb Fairy-wren Laratinga Wetlands

Male Superb Fairy-wren

On my visit to the Laratinga Wetlands a few weeks ago I saw many Superb Fairy-wrens. They were hopping around on the paths around the ponds and in and out of the many bushes, over the lawned picnic areas and along the edges of the water.

Trouble is, they rarely sit still for more than a fraction of a second. Getting a camera to lock on a good focus within good range would seem easy, considering the numbers of these beautiful little birds - but it's harder than you think. Frustratingly hard, in fact.

After many failed attempts - and blank, or blurred - images I managed two reasonable shots of one, sort of, obliging coloured male, albeit rather briefly. I'll just have to go back a few more times and have another attempt - or two, or three...

Laratinga Wetlands is on the eastern edge of Mt Barker in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia.

You can see more of my bird photos on Trevor's Birding, another site I write for.

Male Superb Fairy-wren