Galahs lose their home
Galahs at nesting hollow
A few months ago I wrote about a pair of Galahs investigating a hollow in a large tree in our garden. Every day or so they would come and do a little more in the hollow. I even saw them lining the nest with fresh gum leaves. But it didn’t happen. Their happy homemaking never resulted in the happy – noisy – squawk of little ones.
In the meantime I noticed that they would come every few days, sit at the entrance and screech loudly into the hollow. This behaviour puzzled me. I wondered if some other creature – an owl perhaps – had taken up residence.
A few nights ago I found out what had happened – and I have photographic evidence of who had taken over their cosy love nest. The photos below tell the story.
Brush-tailed Possum
Brush-tailed Possum
Pandas at the Adelaide Zoo
Panda at the Adelaide Zoo
Yesterday morning I had a specialist medical appointment in Adelaide so I took the opportunity to visit Adelaide Zoo in the afternoon. It had been many months since my last visit and I hadn’t yet seen the two pandas added to the collection late last year. I deliberately left it a few months to avoid the early rush. Despite this, I still had to line up for about ten minutes behind a line of over a hundred eager panda peepers.
The new enclosure for them is most impressive and you can get excellent views of the two animals as they move about their new homes. After viewing them for about twenty minutes – and taking numerous photos – I moved on to other enclosures, especially those featuring birds. I wanted to take more bird photos to share here on this site. More of that in the days to come.
Panda at the Adelaide Zoo
Panda at the Adelaide Zoo
Panda at the Adelaide Zoo
A special visitor
Grey Shrike-Thrush
On Saturday I was sitting in my comfortable reading chair in my office. I was enjoying a coffee and reading a magazine that had arrived the day before. A sudden flurry of wings at the nearby window caught my attention. (My attention is very easily distracted by birds.)
A Grey Shrike-thrush had landed on the on the window sill barely a metre from where I sat. It pecked at something on the glass – probably an insect caught against the window – took a quick glance in my direction, and flew off to a nearby tree to eat his morning snack.
It is close encounters with our bird life like that which makes this such a wonderful hobby.
Grey Shrike-Thrush
Lest we forget
No Comments »25th April, 2010; Category: General
Lest we forget
Today is ANZAC Day in Australia and New Zealand. It is a very special day of remembrance for those who have served on the theatres of war throughout our history.
You can read my tribute on my writing blog: Trevor’s Writing.
We will remember them.
Australian Owlet-nightjar
No Comments »22nd April, 2010; Category: Garden birds, Nocturnal birds, Owls Frogmouths and Nightjars
Australian Owlet-nightjar
During recent evenings there have been times when our house and garden are undisturbed by noise. No television and no noisy neighbours – the nearest are about 60 metres from our house. During these times we are aware of the wildlife in our garden – if they call. Last week it was a Brush-tailed Possum – I’ll write about that soon.
Tonight and last night we heard an Australian Owlet-nightjar calling briefly – not long enough to get a torch and track it down. Being nocturnal it had come out of its hiding place to feed. The photo above was taken a few years ago now. It shows “our” nightjar sunning itself in the entrance of its roosting hollow. You don’t often get a chance to see this species in broad daylight.
The Australian Owlet-nightjar looks like a miniature owl. It is only 20 – 24 cm long. It can be found all over Australia but is more often heard than seen.