Yellow Thornbills in our garden
Yellow Thornbill
Yesterday while having breakfast I observed a thornbill sized bird flitting around and on one of the birdbaths in our garden. I reached for my binoculars – they are always in easy reach from where we often sit to have our meals – and quickly identified it as a Yellow Thornbill. This is one species I don’t observe every day in our garden, but suspect that they are actually a resident breeding species, that is, they are present every day and nest in our garden.
More common is the Yellow-rumped thornbill which seems to be all over the garden at any given time on any given day. On sunny, still days the air can be filled with their twittering.
The Yellow Thornbill – also known as the Little Thornbill – is a widespread species found in eastern Australia, from southern Queensland through much of New South Wales and Victoria and into south eastern South Australia.
Yellow Thornbill
Yellow Thornbill
Juvenile Dusky Woodswallow
Juvenile Dusky Woodswallow
I was looking through some recent photos when I came across this one of a juvenile Dusky Woodswallow. I can’t fully remember the circumstances but I think it had just come to investigate the birdbath in our garden. I can’t recall if it actually had a drink or not, and it didn’t hang around for long.
Several species of woodswallow are seen from time to time in our garden or flying above. I didn’t see or hear any others on this particular occasion, though I was inside, probably with the early morning radio on in the background.
At first glance I was puzzled when I first saw this photo. The white tips on the tail give it away as a woodswallow as several of the species have white on the tail. The streaks on the head and neck indicate a juvenile, but the white strip on the leading edge of the wing indicates that it is a Dusky Woodswallow.
To take a closer look at the photo, click on the image to enlarge and then click on the View Original tab.
Unusual visitors – Goldfinches
I was collecting the daily newspaper from the driveway yesterday when my attention was attracted to an unusual bird call in the tree next to our driveway. Unusual for our garden, that is. European Goldfinches are widespread in various parts of southern Australia. There is a small population near the railway station here in Murray Bridge, 80km SE of Adelaide. It’s just that they are not even regular visitors to our garden, so the call attracted my attention. In fact, I think we’ve only ever had them here in our garden on two or three other occasions in 30 years.
The two birds didn’t stay long – just long enough to confirm the sighting through my binoculars. So – you will have to put up with an old photo taken in our garden some years ago.
European Goldfinch