Great Birding Moments #9 Brown-headed Honeyeaters
Brown-headed Honeyeater
We have quite a range of honeyeaters resident in our garden. One of the more endearing species is the smallest of them all, the Brown-headed Honeyeater. This species is usually seen in loose flocks of 12-20 or more. I enjoy hearing their chittering calls as they pass through the garden or the mallee scrub at the back of our house. They seem to be always on the move, rarely settling for more than a few moments.
One exception to this is when they come to the birdbath for a drink or a communal bathing session. We have often been amused as they all line up on a nearby branch, all waiting to take a turn at bathing. Water droplets spray in all directions.
A few days ago I counted at least 18 of them all lined up on the gutter on the roof of the cabin near the house. This time they weren’t politely waiting for their turn to bathe. They all seemed to want a bath at the same time. Again, water droplets sprayed in all directions.
Here is my dilemma: leave the gutter/bath as it is – or should I clean it out thus denying them of this delightful fun?
Bath time
While we were enjoying our lunch today two Australian Ringneck parrots came to our bird bath. They proceeded to have a very thorough soaking, as the photograph shows.
Australian Ringneck parrots
I guess that they were feeling rather hot. Today is the hottest day we have had since last summer. Spring here in Murray Bridge, South Australia, has been very mild, sometimes even cool with plenty of lovely rain.
Australian Ringneck
Working in the garden this afternoon I needed to stop what I was doing to take some photographs of a local species of parrot, the Australian Ringneck (also called Mallee Ringneck). I did not have to go looking for the bird in question. It was almost like it came looking for me! It flew right up to me in our plant nursery and sat on a nearby branch, not more than 3 metres away.
Of course, the camera was in the house, so I tried to casually walk into the house hoping that the ringneck would stay there. It didn’t but flew to a tree some 50 metres away. I continued working, all the time watching for the bird to return. I didn’t have to wait long. It settled in a tree near the house. I quietly went inside with the camera, planning to use our sun-room as a hide. We have three bird baths about six metres from a large picture window. We have had hundreds of very enjoyable meals watching the parade of birds coming to drink or bathe. Again, a very “good” waste of time, being very relaxing and enjoyable.
Today’s visitor was taking quite a deal of interest in the water. After taking some good photos through the window I decided to go outside and see how close I could get to the ringneck. I was able to get to about 3 metres away while the bird came down to the bird-bath and proceed to have a very thorough bath. I managed to get several more excellent photos. I then pressed the video button on the camera and filmed the bird washing and preening for about two minutes. I haven’t yet worked out whether I can make this video available on this blog.
Usually we have only two Australian Ringnecks around in the garden. In recent months there have been four, two of them juveniles. They aren’t in our garden constantly but rather roam over a wide range of the local environment. We usually love seeing them near to the house like today. When they decide to raid the orchard and nip the buds off the pear and apple trees we get just a tad annoyed – no – angry. We also get no fruit! Today I observed only one bird; I wonder if the other is nesting somewhere?