Birds of Geranium
No Comments »13th May, 2006; Category: Birds, Eagles Hawks and Kites, Honeyeaters, Pardalotes, Parrots and Lorikeets, Pigeons and Doves, Ravens and Crows, Thornbills, Whistlers, Wrens
Last weekend we attended a native plant sale at Geranium. This is a small town of only about 80 residents. It is about an hour drive from Murray Bridge and is situated in the heart of the Murray Mallee. It is set in a wheat and sheep farming district and so much of the land has been cleared for this purpose. Along the road sides, however, there is a rich remnant vegetation strip and this provides a reasonably adequate habitat for a range of mallee loving birds, especially when it is in flower.
Honeyeaters
The area is dominated by honeyeaters. Over the last decade I have recorded the following honeyeater species in or near Geranium:
Red Wattlebird
Brown Headed Honeyeater
New Holland Honeyeater
Singing Honeyeater
White Plumed Honeyeater
White Eared Honeyeater
Yellow Plumed Honeyeater
Spiny Cheeked Honeyeater
Purple Gaped Honeyeater (rare)
Raptors
The common birds of prey include the Black Shouldered Kite, Nankeen Kestral, Little Eagle and Australian Hobby. I am not sure of the status of the magnificent Wedge Tailed Eagle in this district. Down through the years since settlement this species has been seen in a negative light by many farmers who have shot them to prevent loss of lambs from their sheep flocks.
Pigeons
The Crested Pigeon is very common throughout the region as is the Common Bronzewing Pigeon where the habitat is suitable. The delightful tiny Peaceful Dove must also occur in this region but I have not personally recorded it. Around the town, especially the wheat storage silos, the introduced feral Rock Pigeon is present in the hundreds. They are also present around farm sheds.
Parrots
The most common parrot in this area would have to be the Galah. Flocks of hundreds can often be observed throughout the Murray Mallee districts. Little Corellas may also be present though I have not seen any near Geranium. The large Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoo may also be a vagrant but not resident due to a lack of suitable food trees. Sulpher Crested Cockatoos may also occur in this district but I haven’t seen any. Purple Crowned Lorikeets are common, and Rainbow Lorikeets have been recorded. Other parrots resident in or near Geranium include:
Mallee Ringnecks
Red Rumped Parrots
Cockatiel
Blue Bonnets
Blue Winged Parrots
Budgerigars
Mulga Parrots
Other Birds
My total number of species for this area stands at 56 species. Here is a list of some other birds I have recorded in the district:
Willie Wagtail
Grey Fantail
Restless Flycatcher
Hooded Robin
Golden Whistler
Rufous Whistler
Grey Shrike-thrush
White-browed Babbler
Superb Fairy-wren
Variegated Fairy-wren
Brown Thornbill
Yellow-rumped Thornbill
Yellow Thornbill
Weebill
Southern Whiteface
White-fronted Chat
Spotted Pardalote
Striated Pardalote
Silvereye
Magpie-lark
White-winged Chough
Dusky Woodswallow
Grey Butcherbird
Australian Magpie
Grey Currawong
Australian Raven
Little Raven
Common Starling
House Sparrow
Unusual Sighting
The most unusual sighting I have made in Geranium is a single Cattle Egret feeding on the school oval.
Black Shouldered Kites Part 2
Just as soon as one makes a post something happens to change all that was said. Only a few hours after the original sighting of a Black Shouldered Kite – the first here at home for some time – another one comes gliding overhead while we were out in the plant nursery. It scattered the Common Starlings sitting on the dead branches of a tall mallee tree nearby and settled down to survey the scene. Of course, I didn’t have the camera with me. Would it stay in place while I went inside to get it?
Attacks
As I crept towards the tree, camera at the ready, I was suddenly aware of another Black Shouldered Kite in the same tree. The New Holland Honeyeaters were going berserk, dive bombing them both. The second kite decided to retreat, hotly pursued by several honeyeaters. A Red Wattlebird flew in, perching nearby to oversee the bomb attacks. The original kite ducked as each bombing sortie flew by, calling feebly in protest.
Photos
While all this was happening, I was creeping closer and getting some quite good photos. On the downside I was literally on the downside; by the time I reached the tree I was virtually underneath the kite. Anyone want to see some good shots of the belly of a Black Shouldered Kite? To be fair, the bird in question was rather curious and turned his head to peer at me several times, long enough for more photos.
Perhaps I was too hasty in my previous posting. Are we seeing a resurgence of this species in our little part of the world?
Time will tell.
Black Shouldered Kite
No Comments »12th May, 2006; Category: Eagles Hawks and Kites
Earlier this week I noticed a Black Shouldered Kite hovering in the air just over the road from our house. This species is common and widespread in our district. In fact it is widespread throughout mainland Australia but is generally absent from Tasmania where it only occurs as a vagrant.
Beautiful Colours
I enjoy seeing this species anywhere. It always appears so clean with beautiful colours and lines. The throat feathers seem pure white, the nape and back a soft grey in stark contrast with the black on the wings. The black eyebrow markings gives it a startlingly serious countenance.
Breeding Records
Some years ago we would see this species on an almost daily basis. I have also recorded it nesting only 400 metres to the west and about 500 metres to the north of our home. In recent years it has seemed less conspicuous. Over the same period the frequency of the much bigger Black Kite has increased markedly. It is possible that the latter has largely replaced the Black Shouldered Kite in our little part of the world.
If this is so, it is a shame. The little kite is so much more attractive than its larger cousin.
Close Encounters of the Bird Kind
The male Golden Whistler is one of Austrlai’s most stunningly beautiful birds. When sitting perched in the early morning sun the golden yellow feathers almost glow. The colour of the breast feathers shine like a beacon lighting up the sometimes drab mallee or woodland habitats in which it lives.
Female Whistlers
The whistlers can be quite confiding birds in a garden setting. Earlier this week, as we sat in the plant nursery having a well deserved cuppa, a female golden whistler came to visit us. Now the female is as drab as the male is colourful. Plain brown at first glance, and rarely worth a second look in the presence of her amazing mate. True, I always do try to get a second look – just to check out if it is a female Golden Whistler and not a female Rufous Whistler. Both are common in this part of Australia but fortunately easily identified. The female Rufous Whistler has a streaked front.
Close Encounter
This individual allowed me to sneak closer and closer until I was about four metres away. Then I tried making kissing sounds and she became very curious. Eventually she came to within a metre of where I stood near a bush. Up close one is forced to overlook the apparent drabness of the female. She is, in fact, finely marked and just as beautiful, in her own right, as the male.
It was indeed a wonderful close encounter.
And of course – I didn’t have my camera with me. Still, I managed to get a reasonable photo of the female last week.
We later heard the male calling but he didn’t show himself.
An Early Interest in Birds
Like many birders I can trace my interest in birds back to an early age. I lived on a wheat and sheep farm at Taplan in the Murray Mallee district of South Australia. This area is hot and dry and often dusty in the summer time and cool, frosty and sometimes wet in the winter time. Most times it just forgets to rain – and the farmers struggle to grow a crop or enough pasture for their sheep or cattle.
Common Farm Birds of the Murray Mallee
There were about ten acres of mallee scrub surrounding the house and sheds. This was a quite rich area for native Australian birds, especially when the mallee trees were in flower. There were always honeyeaters around, mainly Red Wattlebirds, Noisy Miners and Singing Honeyeaters. Australian Magpies, Australian Ravens, House Sparrows and Common Starlings were common around the house, garden and sheds. Thornbills, Weebills, Pardalotes, Willie Wagtails and Magpie Larks were common too. The Magpie Lark was locally called a Murray Magpie and I was always intrigued by their mud nests.
Raptors
There were many rabbits in the district and sometimes these breed into plague proportions. Mice were also a problem and mice plagues come and go as well. This smorgasbord of food maintains a healthy population of raptors. Nankeen Kestrals, Black Shouldered Kites and Collared Sparrowhawks were common, the latter not welcome when there were chickens in the chook yard. Wedge Tailed Eagles are majestic birds as they soar on high; unfortunately my father occasionally shot them if they strayed too near the lambing ewes. Brown Falcons, Spotted Harriers and Little Eagles are also found in the district.
Pigeons and Parrots
The Crested Pigeon was the dominent member of its family, and they can been seen sitting on fence wires and on telephone wires throughout the region. There are a few Common Bronzewing Pigeons where the habitat is suitable and the feral Rock Dove is growing in numbers. Peaceful Doves are a delight wherever they occur and are found in this area too.
Galahs are the dominent parrot but I have also seen the stunning Major Mitchell Cockatoo in the district. Its bright pink breast and yellow and red crest bring a splash of colour to the sometimes drab mallee environment. Other common species include the Cockatiel, Mulga Parrot, Mallee Ringneck. Blue Bonnet and Budgerigar.
Collectors
I never followed the hobby of my cousin Ron. He was an avid collector of bird’s eggs, in an era when this was not frowned upon; indeed, some praised him for his excellent collection. I was a little hesitant about heights – and still cautious nearly fifty years later – and birds eggs are usually found up in trees. Such a hobby never got off the ground for me. Instead, I played it safe and sound on the ground collecting bird’s feathers. Both activities are not only frowned upon these days but are probably illegal.
The feathers I identified from my brother’s field guide (Calley’s “What Bird is That”) and then I sticky taped the feathers in a spare exercise book, carefully annotated with species name, together with the date and place collected. Unknown to me at the time but I was preparing myself for a life-long passion about birds, keeping records and studying the natural environment.
I wonder what ever happened to my collection of feathers?