A Quick Visit – Grey Fantail
A Grey Fantail paid us a quick visit yesterday.
I have been on the lookout for this over recent weeks. I even thought I heard one in the garden on several occasions, but every time I go out to check, it is nowhere to been seen. Yesterday was almost the same. I glimpsed it briefly in the garden through the lounge room door. By the time I’d gathered my camera, it had disappeared. The photo below was taken a few weeks ago at the Pangarinda Arboretum. It’s not a good photo as it doesn’t show its face. This should be a relatively easy bird to photograph, but I’ll have to be patient with this one.
Grey Fantail
Grey Fantails are reasonably common and widespread in the Murray Bridge area. They are also common and widespread throughout much of Australia. It always delights us when one or two come to visit our garden. Strangely, I have never recorded this species breeding in our garden. This is despite them being resident just up the road from us.
Its cousin, the Rufous Fantail would have to be one of my favourite Australian birds. Unfortunately, this species lives a long way from our home.
Rainbow Lorikeets at Wittunga Botanic Gardens
On our visit to the Wittunga Botanic Gardens last week I was very aware of the large number of Rainbow Lorikeets present. Being aware of this species of parrot is easy – just listen. Their screeching is the most obvious thing about them. Next to that is their arrow-like flying in twos and threes from tree to tree. Even if they settle to eat of the nectar in the flowers of the eucalypt trees they are noisy, their contact screeches can be heard from a distance, especially when ten or twenty are feeding in the same tree.
Rainbow Lorikeets
To get them to sit and pose for the camera is not easy. They are constantly on the move amongst the foliage, often very high up in the tree. Then they are on the move from tree to tree as I’ve already mentioned. Consequently, I was rather pleased to managed the photo above. I watched these two for a few minutes. I think that they were recently fledged young. They did not seem to be feeding and just sat there. I didn’t see any adult actually feeding them, but two other birds did approach nearby several times.
Related Articles:
Wood Ducks in the Wittunga Botanic Gardens
Wood Ducks are common and widespread throughout much of Australia. They are a common sight as the graze near lakes, rivers and dams. They are also very common in parks and gardens where there is a water feature.
Australian Wood Duck (male)
On our visit to the Wittunga Botanic Gardens a few days ago we were approached by quite a few Wood Ducks. I guess they thought that we were going to give them some kind of food handout. They obviously hadn’t seen us eating our lunch before we went on our walk through the park.
Australian Wood Duck (female)
I had seen Wood Ducks on many previous occasions. Not until I started taking these photos did I realise how different the male and female are in this species. They were so accommodating I hardly needed to use the zoom lens on my camera either.
And didn’t they pose beautifully for me?
Great Birding Moments #7 Koala
Last Thursday we travelled to Adelaide to attend the funeral of the mother of a close friend. On our way home we detoured to a part of the Adelaide Hills we hadn’t visited for several years. Near the hills suburb of Blackwood are the Wittunga Botanic Gardens. This is an annex of the Adelaide Botanic Gardens which are within walking distance of the Adelaide CBD.
The Wittunga Botanic Gardens are set in the midst of housing on two sides, a school on another side and a transport corridor for trains on yet another side. The main access road is a busy four lane highway. Despite all of this, it is remarkably peaceful within the gardens themselves. I’ll be posting more reflections on our visit in coming days.
One sighting rather delighted me.
Perched high in a eucalyptus tree – I didn’t take any notice of its species name – was an Australian Magpie. Not something to really rave about as they are quite common in the Adelaide Hills and surrounding areas. This magpie was a little different. It was most upset and was screeching its displeasure at the sleeping Koala near the top of the same tree. It flapped its wings and called raucously, but it didn’t actually approach closer to the mammal more than about a metre away. Its concern was shared by a Noisy Miner who made several bombing raids near the head of the drowsy Koala.
While this all happened, the Koala just kept on snoozing. Below is one of the photos I was able to take.
Koala and Magpie
Of Emus and Fairy-Wrens
Drew Fulton, and American naturalist and birder, has just announced his itinerary for travelling throughout Australia over the twelve months commencing on 26th July. His aim is to cover as much of Australia as he can during his year long stay here, photographing and journalling his travels and experiences.
Drew is planning on writing and posting a daily journal of his travels as well as a monthly emailed newsletter. Having spent a little time looking at his photos on his web site, we are in for a treat as he attempts to capture many Australian species on his camera.
To look at his photos click here.
To subscribe to his newsletters click here.