I’m still here
Contrary to what my regular readers may have thought, I have neither dropped off the planet nor shuffled off this mortal coil.
I’ve been busy.
With my nose in the books.
I’m in the thick of studying for my Master of Arts in Creative Writing course. Plenty of assignments due at the end of term yesterday. We now have a two week mid-semester break. Time to catch my breath – and hopefully catch up on a few birds. And catch up on some reading.
Things have been rather quiet around home recently as far as birds go. The hot weather we had in March seems to have flown. We’ve had some very pleasant days, some very windy days with gale force winds, and we’ve had a light sprinkling of some wet stuff from the atmosphere. I’d hardly call it rain. We are still desperately waiting for the rains to come; things are starting to look rather desperate.
One downside to having much cooler conditions has been the lack of visitors to the garden birdbath. The Pardalotes still come from time to time. The Red Wattlebirds, Common Starlings and House Sparrows are still reasonably regular visitors. And about once a day the resident Willie Wagtail comes for a water-wasting bath; he splashes water in all directions. I tried telling him we are on strict water restrictions, but he just ignores me.
World Water Day
After two weeks of scorching weather here in South Australia when numerous records were broken, the cooler autumn weather has finally arrived. I’ve just put on a jumper because the office was about 18C and a little on the chilly side. Last week it hovered around the 30C in my office. On Thursday we even had some drizzle – one could hardly call it rain. It didn’t register in our rain gauge either. Things are really looking grim around here during this prolonged drought and record high temperatures.
World Water Day
Today is World Water Day. The major theme this year is sanitation. I have spent some time in both Thailand and Nepal and this helped me to understand a little of the sanitation needs of underdeveloped nations, especially Nepal. It is my understanding that the sanitation needs in many other countries are far greater even than Nepal and quite desperate in some cases. It is an urgent need indeed. If only the warring nations of the world could down their weapons and take up the cause providing fresh, drinkable water and improved sanitation in those needy countries.
Water needs in Australia
While most of Australia is blessed with good fresh water, there is a growing and urgent need to do something about the Murray-Darling River system.There are still far too many large irrigation schemes growing unsuitable crops from this system. The lower Murray where I live is in desperate straits; the system is nearly dead, the levels are at the lowest levels in decades and the flow almost non-existent. The internationally recognised wetlands area of the Coorong and nearby lakes system near the Murray mouth is almost dry and this is having enormous implications for the birds and all aspects of the environment. And still the politicians argue about what is to be done, despite the money being available to make a start. Adelaide – along with large areas of South Australia – relies heavily on the Murray River for its annual water supply; our rainfall is inadequate not to do so. Our reservoir system is also both inadequate and antiquated.
Birds and the cooler weather
On a more local scale – our own garden – the cooler weather has had a disappointing side effect. During the recent hot spell the birds were constantly using our bird baths. Now that the cooler weather is here their visits are less frequent. I guess I can’t have all my own way. It certainly is nicer to have the cooler conditions.
Birds in a heat wave
We are having a record breaking heat wave at present here in South Australia.
Today is the fourteenth consecutive day of above 35C (95F) maximum temperatures. One expects temperatures like this in summer – December through February – but not once autumn has arrived. The previous record of eight consecutive days of above 35C recorded in our capital city Adelaide in 1934 has well and truly been broken. The national record for a capital city was Perth at ten consecutive days in 1988 and that has been beaten thoroughly too. More is still to come; the next cool change is not expected to be here until Wednesday, so this record will be further extended over the next two days.
We normally get some relief in the evenings here in Murray Bridge. Not so this time. Thursday morning we arose at 6am to go for our daily walk. Normally at this time of the year it would be about 15-18C at that time of the day. At 30C with a hot north wind it was very uncomfortable. It is the first time I can ever remember putting on the air conditioner so that we could eat breakfast in some kind of comfort!
Brown-headed Honeyeater
Naturally the birds suffer terribly in such oppressive heat. I have tried to keep the bird baths topped up with water each morning so that some of them have a fighting chance at survival. From first light until mid-morning there is a constant stream of birds coming to drink and/or bathe. From mid-morning to sun down there is very little calling and little movement in the garden. I guess they just find the coolest shade possible and rest up until conditions improve. At one stage I checked the temperature at about midday; the only bird I saw or heard was a Willie Wagtail bravely trying to catch a few insects silly enough to venture out on such a hot day.
Willie Wagtail
Yellow-rumped Thornbills
Yellow-rumped Thornbill
I love seeing dozens of tiny thornbills flitting around our garden. The most common thornbill here is the Yellow-rumped Thornbill with its bright yellow tail. Less common is the Chestnut-rumped Thornbill, an occasional visitor to the garden. Even less common is the Yellow Thornbill (also called the Little Thornbill). We recently had several of these quite close to the bird bath, but it didn’t stop to drink so I can’t count it on that list.
The Yellow-rumped Thornbills must have had a very good breeding season; there seems to be about 30 or 40 around at present. It is lovely seeing them come to the bird bath or just hopping around on the ground just a few metres away.
Despite the numbers I have found it very hard to get a good photo of one, especially of the yellow on the rump. They are constantly on the move – and when they move it can leave either a blur or an empty frame in the camera. The two in the photo above were bathing in a little pool of water near the base of a rose bush. They were having a great time on a hot day.
The photo below was taken several years ago in another location. It doesn’t show the yellow rump.
Yellow Rumped Thornbill
Thirsty time for the birds
Mallee Ringneck Parrot
After a very warm summer it was a relief to have a series of much cooler days recently. In fact, some days, and especially the evenings, were decidedly cool. The last few days have seen the return of some really hot days. Yesterday was over 40C and today is shaping up to be another sizzler. Last night was oppressively warm all night and at 6:20am when we went for our walk it was still very mild. As the sun rose the air quickly become warm again.
After our walk I had breakfast. I was fascinated by the constant parade of birds coming to the bird bath in our garden. First came the Yellow-rumped Thornbills – it seemed like there were dozens of them. They were quickly followed by a much larger bird, a single Grey Currawong. This was a new species to add to the list of birds that have come to visit the bird bath. A few moments later a Crested Pigeon came for his turn, and he made way for the bossy Red Wattlebird. Seconds later one of the resident Willie Wagtails came for his drink.
The next shift was taken by a mixture of Yellow-rumped and Striated Pardalotes, each flitting in and out in nervously. A flash of iridescent spots on an otherwise plain bird indicated that a Common Starling had arrived, followed quickly by another import, some House Sparrows. Another introduced species, a male Blackbird also skulked his way up the bird bath for a quick drink.
Interestingly, the single Wattlebird was the only member of the honeyeater family to pay a visit this morning. Usually the Brown-headed Honeyeaters, the New Holland Honeyeaters and the White-plumed Honeyeaters come in wave after wave of splashing excitement. But not today. Maybe they were at the bird bath earlier – while I was still on my walk.
Further reading:
- Time for a bath – visitors to our bird bath – includes a complete list of species observed.