Archive for the 'Animals' Category

Now for something different: animals

2 Comments »24th June, 2007; Category: Animals

If you are anything like me your interest in the natural world is not restricted to just birds. I take an interest in animals, plants (especially flowers), insects and scenery. In recent days I have been featuring on my Travel Blog some of the animals I saw while in Nepal. For those of you who may be interested here are the links to these articles:

In coming days I will feature some of the birds I saw during my visit.

Australian Sea-lion – and a few birds

No Comments »18th April, 2007; Category: Animals, Gulls and Terns

Australian Sea-lion, Granite Island

On our recent trip to Victor Harbor south of Adelaide I was able to do a little birding over the weekend. On the Saturday I went with two friends for a walk across the causeway to the nearby Granite Island. I only saw a few Silver Gulls and Pacific Gulls and Little Pied Cormorants. On the return walk I saw a Caspian Tern and several Crested Terns on the beach.
The walk to Granite Island is a very popular walk for locals and visitors alike. We were delighted to see a very relaxed Australian Sea-lion lolling around in the water near the jetty. The way it behaved it was almost as if it was showing off its swimming skills to all the humans watching only a few metres away. Perhaps someone had trained it to behave in this way.

Australian Sea-lion

Australian Sea-lions are relatively common along the southern and western coasts of Australia. It largely breeds on the many islands along these coasts and I know of only one mainland breeding colony near Streaky Bay in the far west of South Australia. This species rarely venture more than 20-30km from the coast while feeding. From the size and colour of this individual in was most probably a female. Females range from 1.3-1.8m in length; the males at 2-2.5m are considerably larger and paler around the head.

Reference: A Field Guide to the Mammals of Australia (by Menkhorst and Knight).

Australian Sea-lion

Another unusual visitor to our bird bath

3 Comments »24th February, 2007; Category: Animals, Bird baths, Bird Behaviour, Garden birds, Honeyeaters

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

Time for a bath: visitors to our bird bath

21 Comments »3rd November, 2006; Category: Garden birds, Animals, Bird baths, Bird Behaviour

Brown-headed Honeyeater

Some years ago we set up a birdbath on our patio area. It gave us much pleasure to see birds coming to drink and bathe. More recently we moved it to the other side of the house. Now it is in full view from our sunroom. It is here we often eat our meals, and work at the table with the birdbath in full view.

Over recent years, this location has had four main benefits:

It is a great time waster investment; watching the birds go about their daily lives just a few metres from where we are sitting is both relaxing and refreshing to the body, mind and spirit.
It is most entertaining, especially when a bird like a Mallee Ringneck Parrot comes to bathe and the water sprays in all directions.
It is excellent for photography; with the 12X zoom on my camera, I have taken many close-up shots of the birds visiting. (Update: my new camera has a 20x zoom. Further update: I now have a camera with an 83x zoom.)
It is educational; our human visitors marvel at our avian visitors and this gives us the opportunity to further enhance our friends’ appreciation of the natural environment.

White-plumed Honeyeater

I’ve actually installed three different baths in close proximity to one another; one on the ground (which the lizards sometimes use too), one at a height of about 60cm and the third at about 1.5m. This gives them choices. The nearby branches and bushes give them a place of refuge if they feel threatened in any way.

House Sparrow (male)

A List of Species that have visited our bird baths:

Mallee Ringneck Parrot
New Holland Honeyeater
Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
Red Wattlebird
Brown-headed Honeyeater
Singing Honeyeater
White-plumed Honeyeater
House Sparrow
Common Starling
Little Raven
Willie Wagtail
Spotted Turtledove
Crested Pigeon
Spotted Pardalote
Striated Pardalote
Diamond Firetail Finch
Yellow-rumped Thornbill
Grey Shrike-thrush
Australian Magpie
Magpie Lark
Mistletoebird
Common Blackbird
Rufous Whistler (see updates below)
European Goldfinch (see updates below)
Chestnut-rumped Thornbill (see updates below)
Grey Fantail (see updates below)
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike (see updates below)
Galah (see updates below)
Grey Currawong (see updates below)
Eastern Rosella (see updates below)
Sacred Kingfisher (see updates below)
Dusky Woodswallow (see updates below)
White-browed Babblers (see updates below)
White-winged Chough (see updates below)
White-browed Woodswallow (see updates below)
Purple-crowned Lorikeet (see updates below)
Animals
Red Fox
Stumpy-tailed Lizard
European Rabbit
Brown Snake
Blue-tongue Lizard

That’s quite a list!

UPDATE: More recently we have added the following species to the list:

Rufous Whistler

European Goldfinch

Chestnut-rumped Thornbill

UPDATE #2 Two more species to add to the list:

Stumpy-tail Lizard (also called a Shingleback Lizard)

Red Fox – yes, that’s right, a fox.

Brown Snake – passed close to the bird bath on the ground. In January 2016 a metre long Brown Snake actually stopped to have a drink. See photos here.

UPDATE #3 Another species to add to the list: Grey Fantail – it came to the bird bath briefly but left before I could take a photograph (4th May, 2007)

UPDATE #4 In January 2008 we had a single Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike come to drink briefly from the bird bath.

UPDATE #5 In late January 2008 a single Galah came to within a metre of the bird bath but did not drink. A few weeks later I added Grey Currawong to the list.

UPDATE #6 In December 2008 I added European Rabbit to the list.

UPDATE #7 In December 2009 I added Eastern Rosella. (Click here for a photo)

UPDATE #8 In November 2013 a Sacred Kingfisher perched about a metre from the bird bath but did not drink. In February 2014 a Dusky Woodswallow came to drink during one of our heat waves during a very hot summer.

UPDATE #9 In September 2015 I added White-winged Chough, White-browed Babbler and Blue-tongue Lizard (click for photo)

UPDATE #10 In December 2015, during a heatwave, I added White-browed Woodswallow.

UPDATE #11 In December 2020 I added Purple-crowned Lorikeet.

Comments: many of my readers have commented on this post – read them below and leave one of your own.

Update: this post was last updated on December 2020.

Mallee Ringneck Parrot