Another unusual visitor to our bird bath
In recent times I have written about the behaviour of various species of birds at the bird baths we have in our garden. The birds give us many hours of entertainment as they come to drink and bathe. The very hot weather we have been having this summer helps to encourage their frequent visits.
I also wrote recently about some unusual visitors to the bird baths, a Stumpy Tail Lizard and a Red Fox.
A few days ago I was alerted to the alarm calls of a flock of New Holland Honeyeaters near the bird bath. I quietly went to have a look. The NHHEs were soon joined by several Singing Honeyeaters and a family of White Browed Babblers. All were calling madly and looking at the ground near a bush.
I waited for a few moments, fully expecting a Brown Snake (highly venomous) to emerge from the undergrowth. I had my camera at the ready and my feet ready to take off if a hasty retreat was in order.
To my great relief it was only a Blue Tongue Lizard. With the stripes on the back and tail, and a thin, long snake-like tail we have often been fooled into thinking we have a Tiger Snake (also quite venomous) in the garden. (They actually look nothing like a Tiger Snake; it’s the stripes that catch you by surprise every time.)
The new visitor didn’t wait to have a drink. A slight movement from me sent it slithering – almost snake-like – into the undergrowth again.
Related articles:
- Some unusual visitors to our birth bath – with photos.
- Time for a bath – with more photos
Updated November 2103
Blue Tongue Lizard
We once observed Kookaburra in a tree in our backyard (suburban Brisbane) with what looked like a very dead Blue Tongue held proudly in its beak. About an hour later, the Kooky was still there, no sign of the Blue Tongue. Unless it wasn’t so dead and managed to struggle free and get away, I have to presume the Kookaburra ate it! I thought a bit large prey for a kooky, and especially to eat it in one go like that.
My wife says that when she was a kid, in Tassie, the blue tongues would eat their neighbors strawberries much to his consternation. On colder days they would catch the lethargic ones and play dolly dress ups with them! Poor things!
An interesting observation. I would have agreed with you that a Blue Tongue would be too big for a Kookaburra but the Australian Museum Fact Sheet states that the Kookaburra is a major predator of the Blue Tongue lizard. They also eat small snakes.
My brother, when he was a farmer, had a neighbour who had a Stumpy Tail Lizard (another of the blue tongue family) constantly eating his strawberries too. He would take it out into a paddock but it would find its way back. So he put a dab of paint on it, took it about three Km down the road and let it loose.
It returned a few days later.
[…] UPDATE #9 In September 2015 I added White-winged Chough, White-browed Babbler and Blue-tongue Lizard (click for photo) […]