Great birding moments #35 Female Superb Fairy-wren
Female Superb Fairy-wren
I have a confession to make.
I have just informed my wife that I insist on doing the clothes washing.
Reluctantly she has agreed to my request. My reason is simple; many times in recent years I have had some wonderful birding experiences while hanging out the washing on the clothes line – or bringing in the dry clothes. My eyes are always gazing upwards when doing this easy household chore and I have seen some great birds during this activity. Perhaps the most stunning was seeing a Peregrine falcon at top speed heading for what I think were some pigeons. Whoosh!
Adding to the birding dimension is the fact that our clothes-line is surrounded by trees and low to medium Australian Native plants (see me wife’s site here), so there is always some bird activity all around me. Distractions are common!
My latest Great Birding Moment happened yesterday while taking in the washing. I had almost finished and a female Superb Fairy-wren landed on the clothes-line next to me. As it cheerily chattered to me I could have reached out and patted it. It stayed there calling quietly to me for nearly a minute – a whole magical minute!
How wonderful.
I felt so privileged – and truly blessed.
Good birding.
Further reading:
- Great Birding Moments #1-35 The above article is one of a series of articles along a similar theme.
Male Superb Fairy-wren
Black-shouldered Kite
No Comments »4th December, 2014; Category: Bird Behaviour, Eagles Hawks and Kites, Garden birds, Honeyeaters
Black-shouldered Kite
One of the species we often have visiting our garden, or soaring overhead, is the Black-shouldered Kite, shown in today’s photos. Over recent weeks we have had frequent visits by an individual displaying juvenile plumage. This is not the first time that this species has been observed breeding in the vicinity of our home.
Yesterday’s visit proved fruitful for me. Normally the bird will perch on the dead branch at the top of a mallee tree at the house. This gives it a good view all around. Usually, when I creep outside with my camera it flies off immediately, much to my annoyance and frustration. Yesterday was different; it posed for my camera while I took about 20 photos. Great – especially with the deep blue summer sky as a backdrop.
It wasn’t allowed to perch there unchallenged for long. I noticed that the resident White-plumed honeyeaters were chirping their warnings to all around, and the Red Wattlebird (shown below) was brave enough to actually swoop the kite and snap its beak nearby. Eventually the harassment was too annoying, and the kite flew off.
If you enjoyed this article, you might enjoy reading the following:
- Brown Falcon at Monarto Zoo
- Wedge-tailed eagle overhead
- Black Kite, Mannum
- Surprised by a kite – a humorous encounter with a Yellow-billed Kite in Ethiopia
Red wattlebird
Black-shouldered Kite
One hot sparrow
2 Comments »27th November, 2014; Category: Bird Behaviour
I was very tempted to use the following title: “One hot bird”.
[Snigger]
Seriously, that title might well have attracted the wrong crowd to this post.
Summer here in South Australia is only a few days away. We have already experienced a few hot days over 30c (86F) and the nights are very mild, not dropping below about 10c (50F). As a result we have not had to light our slow combustion fire for several months. Just as well.
A few days ago we heard terrible scrabbling noises coming from the chimney. Next thing a House Sparrow appeared in the fire box, so it was lucky for it that we didn’t have a fire roaring in there. We are quite puzzled as to how it managed to actually get in there. Now we had the problem of getting it out.
My dear wife had the easiest of solutions: open the sliding door three metres away, then open the door to the fireplace.
ZOOM. Like a speeding bullet that little bird raced towards the light, through the open door and out to freedom again.
Well done little bird.
Apostlebirds by the dozen
Apostlebirds, Western Plains Zoo, Dubbo
Apostlebirds are not all that common in South Australia. In fact, they are confined to a few locations in the mid-north of the state plus one site I know of near the eastern border south of Renmark. In parts of New South Wales, however, they are widespread and common in many places. They are also very confiding birds and will happily share their little patch of bushland – if you share some of your morning or afternoon tea.
On our recent visit to the Western Plains Zoo at Dubbo I was surprised at just how common they actually are, but then there is plenty of food for the taking, both in the animal enclosures and in the picnic areas where human food scraps are in abundance. It is not surprising then that I was able to get at least several good photos during our visit.
Apostlebirds are not the most photogenic birds found in Australia, being only dull grey with some black patches. What they lack in colour they certainly make up for with their gregarious nature. Because of this nature they certainly are one of my favourites and I always look out for them wherever we travel.
Apostlebird, Western Plains Zoo, Dubbo
Apostlebird, Western Plains Zoo, Dubbo
Great birding moments #34: Superb Fairy-wren
Male Superb Fairy-wren
Two days ago I wrote about the birds we saw at the hippo enclosure when we visited the Western Plains Zoo in Dubbo recently. One species I didn’t mention was the Superb Fairy-wren because I wanted it to have its own post. Today’s photos feature a male bird in full breeding plumage plus one shot of a female (see below).
There were several birds, both male and female, hopping around the viewing platform at the hippo enclosure. I tried hard to get a few photos but they were constantly on the move. This is typical of this species; it makes effective photography a real challenge.
As we returned to our car – the open range zoo is a “drive yourself” experience – a male Superb Fairy-wren was fluttering around the car next to ours. The photo above shows him on the roo bar at the front of the vehicle. He was very agitated and ignored me only a metre or so away from him. He then flew many times at his reflection in the car’s window (see photo below).
Male Superb Fairy-wren attacking its reflection in a car window
A number of Australian bird species display this aggressive behaviour. Thinking that their reflection is an enemy attempting to take over its territory, the male bird will attack its own image many dozens of times. Not only do they attack the reflection in the windows of a car, they can also be attracted to the outside mirrors, shiny hub-caps, shiny bumper-bars and any reflective surface. A few years ago our resident Willie Wagtail was attracted to the mirrors on our car. Day after day for periods up to a half hour it would attack the mirror, leaving a very unpleasant residue on each mirror in the process.
Male Superb Fairy-wren
Some of the species which display this behaviour include Australian Magpies, Willie Wagtails, Magpie Larks, finches, honeyeaters, and ravens and crows. A few years ago we had a Little Raven in our garden which was annoyed by its reflection in our bedroom window glass. Every morning around dawn it would come and peck loudly on the glass. Being suddenly woken in this fashion at such an early hour was not very pleasant, and we were pleased when it moved on and no longer came knocking well before our normal time of rising.
Male Superb Fairy-wren
This post is #34 of a series called Great Birding Moments. I think the title is self explanatory. Sadly, it is over six years since the last in this series, so I think I will have to rectify that in the coming months. You can access a list of the articles by clicking here.
Feale Superb Fairy-wren