Photo Gallery milestone
2 Comments »10th October, 2008; Category: Photos
Between Monjo and Namche Bazar, Nepal
Our Hampel Photo Gallery has been chugging away nicely over the last two and a half years. We have posted over 2000 photos on this gallery during that time. About half the photos are mine. The balance were taken by my wife (mainly of plants and flowers) and my son.
Just recently the gallery passed the one and a quarter million views milestone. That’s a lot of people looking at our photos.
The categories cover a wide range of topics:
- birds
- animals (mammals, reptiles, insects)
- plants and flowers (mainly Australian)
- scenery
- buildings
- zoos
- parks and gardens (including many national parks)
The photos also cover many different countries and continents, including:
- Australia
- New Zealand
- Thailand
- Nepal
- Malaysia
- Singapore
- Hong Kong
- China
- North America
- South America
UPDATE: sorry – this photo gallery is no longer available for viewing.
Paris Creek, Mt Lofty Ranges, South Australia
Barn Owl
Last Friday evening I was away from home for about an hour. Driving home I saw a nocturnal bird that I do not see all that often.
Sitting on a fence post opposite our driveway was a Barn Owl. It has been quite a few months since my last sighting around here. I fact, I haven’t even heard one for some time either. Its screeching call at night can be quite chilling – if you don’t know what it is.
Nice sighting.
Of course, being nocturnal, I do not have a photo, so go to the Birds in Backyards site for a photo, plus more information and a map showing distribution in Australia.
This species of owl is widespread throughout Australia, its preferred habitat being open farmland or open woodland. It feeds on small mammals, especially rats and mice, plus frogs, lizards, insects and small birds.
UPDATE: In 2010 I was able to get several good photos of the Barn Owl at Taronga Zoo, Sydney during the Free Flight Bird Show there.
Barn Owl, Free Flight Bird Show, Taronga Zoo, Sydney
Barn Owl, Free Flight Bird Show, Taronga Zoo, Sydney
Barn Owl, Free Flight Bird Show, Taronga Zoo, Sydney
A moral dilemma – with a bird’s nest
New Holland Honeyeater nest in boxthorn bush
Today I was faced with a moral dilemma.
I was trimming some bushes and branches with my chainsaw. This included a rather overgrown Boxthorn bush where it should not have been. I ripped into it with the saw, being careful not to get ripped into by the nasty spikes that cover boxthorn bushes. I managed to come away with only one scratch on my arm.
I had almost finished and straightened up to survey my work. A New Holland Honeyeater was going ballistic in the tree above me. Oh no, I thought. My worst fears were suddenly realised. I had partially removed a part of the boxthorn which contained a beautiful nest, complete with two eggs.
Here was my moral dilemma. The local council authorities insist I destroy all boxthorns on my property. My wife wanted the bush removed, and I wanted the nasty thing gone too. On the other hand, the wildlife authorities say that it is illegal to remove or destroy a bird nest.
In a piece of quick thinking I cut off the portion containing the nest. I then removed all of the offending bush. I placed the portion of the boxthorn containing the nest in the fork of the tree less than a metre from the original site of the nest (see photo above).
And I stood back to see to see what would happen. Within a minute the honeyeater was back on the nest. A great sigh of relief. I gave the nest a wide berth all afternoon until carefully taking the photos on this page. The shot below shows the bird still sitting on the eggs, watching me rather warily. (Click on the photo to enlarge the image – this will show the bird more clearly.)
The downside is that a little part of the garden will have to wait for the promised clean up for a few weeks. That’s not a problem – there’s plenty more to do elsewhere.
New Holland Honeyeater nest in boxthorn bush
Baby Starlings by the dozens
3 Comments »7th October, 2008; Category: Baby birds
Common Starling
Over recent weeks we have had about ten pairs of Common Starlings nesting in various hollows around the garden and the nearby mallee scrub. Over the last week or so the parents have been kept busy feeding them, flying to and fro with food in a frantic attempt to quell the begging chicks.
Now the babies are out of the nest and populating various bushes and trees around our house. They are making a terrible racket with their persistent calling.
I’ll be pleased when they form loose flocks with the young from neighbouring scrub areas and head off elsewhere. Every year in October hundreds of Common Starlings form flocks of hundreds – even thousands of individuals. I’m not sure where they end up, but during November through to about February there are very few, if any, left around here. My guess is that they head either up into the fruit growing areas in the Adelaide Hills or up stream to the Riverland districts, also extensive fruit growing areas. Some may even head off to the Barossa and Clare Valley grape vines or even to the wine districts of south east South Australia.
Being purely selfish in these matters, I’m pleased that they do not hang around in our own orchard. They must sense that we are very poor orchardists and that we usually have very little fruit on our little collection of trees.
Straw-necked Ibis
Straw-necked Ibis are very common in the Murray Bridge district. It is quite easy to find loose flocks of dozens through to several hundred feeding in paddocks in this area. The river flats which are irrigated from the River Murray are regular places where these birds congregate. When food is scarce on the river flats, these birds can be seen flying in formation off to farming land away from the river.
There are two types of Ibis common to this area. The Straw-necked and the White Ibis. Occasionally the Glossy Ibis can be found in this district as well, but it is uncommon. In fact, I’ve only ever seen one in over twenty five years.
Straw-necked Ibis
Today we observed a flock of about 70 Straw-necked Ibis land and begin feeding in the paddock opposite our driveway. This is noteworthy because they rarely come to that particular paddock; I’m not sure why. In the photo above you can see them resting a feeding. If I’d tried to get a closer photo I would have scared them away as there was no cover for me.
The photo also shows a male House Sparrow (out of focus) sitting on the fence post in the foreground. It also shows several large hay bales which the farmer had recently made. In the background the trees are the arboretum of the State Flora branch here. This is a commercial nursery supplying forestry needs as well as smaller nurseries and the general public.
Ibis often fly over head in large numbers. To my knowledge, on only one occasion has a Straw-necked Ibis landed on our five acre block of land. This individual is shown below.
Straw Necked Ibis