Fan-tailed cuckoo, Balranald
Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Balranald
Sydney Trip June 2011
While having lunch on the banks of the Murrumbidgee River in Balranald last June, I saw a Fan-tailed Cuckoo quietly feeding in a nearby group of trees. I crept as close as I dared, trying not to scare it away. Eventually I was able to get this somewhat fuzzy photo – it’s not brilliant, but it’s the best of a bad lot. That’s what happens when one pushes one’s camera to it’s limit.
The Fan-tailed Cuckoo is a species I haven’t seen all that many times, so any any sighting is a good one. One day I shall also get a good photo.
Mallee Fowl losing its fight
In this week’s local paper, The Murray Valley Standard, there was a disturbing article about the imminent demise of the endangered Mallee fowl, once a relatively common bird in our district. In over 25 years of intensive birding in the district I have only ever seen two birds, both together. While I’ve found about five nesting mounds, only two of them are still actively worked by the birds.
Local experts are predicting the complete local extinction of the species in my area within 5 years, a sad thing to contemplate. You can read the whole article, which includes photos, by clicking here. One of the most recently active nests at Ferries McDonald Conservation Park, is shown in the photo below. This park is a half hour drive from my home. While the bird is reasonably secure in some other parts of Australia, local extinction is a worrying trend and is being mirrored elsewhere, hence the endangered status of this amazing bird.
Related articles:
Over the years I have written several extensive articles about this bird:
- Mallee Fowl – the incubator bird
- Malleefowl painting – Pinnaroo Primary School
- Malleefowl mound at Tintinara
Malleefowl, Innes National Park Visitor Centre
Malleefowl nest, Ferries McDonald Conservation Park, South Australia
White-eared Honeyeater
White-eared Honeyeater, Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden
Sydney Trip Report June 2011
A few days ago I wrote about our visit to the Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Gardens on our visit to Sydney earlier this year. One of te species present was a solitary White-eared Honeyeater shown in the photos on this post. I’m sorry about the quality of these shots; it was very overcast and late on a winter’s afternoon. (These are also the only photos I have of this species.)
This was a pleasing sighting as it is one species I’ve not seen very often, despite it being widespread in the region where I live. Indeed, I have even recorded in our home garden. The last sighting here at home was in 1989, well before I was into bird photography. I must get out birding more often so I can get some better photos of this lovely bird.
Good birding
White-eared Honeyeater, Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden
Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden
Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden, Sydney
Sydney Trip Report June 2011
When we stayed with family in Sydney earlier this year we struck an unusually cold and wet period. We were confined to quarters for much of our stay. This was a blessing in one sense; we could spend extra time with our wonderful 2.5 year old grandson. On the other hand it was disappointing not to be able to get out and about exploring some of the wonderful places in and around the city, especially places like the botanic gardens. Birding was consequently not a high priority considering the weather.
One afternoon it cleared up enough for us to make a hurried visit to the Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden. We had been there on several occasions before and I knew that the birding can be very good. My wife always enjoys seeing which wildflowers are blooming. Our interests are very complementary.
On this occasion we were both disappointed. While there were some bushes in flower when we visited, we could see that many were still only in bud; we were probably 4-6 weeks early. As for the birding, it was still overcast with dark heavy clouds, occasional drizzle (yes, we had our umbrellas – and used them) and late in the afternoon in fading light. All these elements conspired against seeing many birds.
I only managed a short list of species seen:
- White-eared Honeyeater
- Red Wattlebird
- Laughing Kookaburra
- Rainbow Lorikeet
- Silvereye
- Australian Magpie
- White-browed Scrubwren
- New Holland Honeyeater
- White-throated Tree-creeper
Not an inspiring list, but better than none at all. I managed some poor shots of the lone magpie (which I won’t show here) and several average shots of a solitary White-eared Honeyeater which I’ll post here in a few days’ time.
Meanwhile I’ll show some of the wildflowers seen.
Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden, Sydney
Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden, Sydney
Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden, Sydney
Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden, Sydney
Australasian Pipit, Hay Plains, New South Wales
Hay Plains, western New South Wales
Sydney Trip Report June 2011
When we travel to Sydney to stay with family we usually have to drive over the Hay Plains. This very flat region is in western New South Wales. I guess most people find this drive boring and try to complete this leg of the journey as quickly as speed limits allow. The road is very good and you can maintain 110kph for several hours without having to slow down – unless you get behind a slow moving car towing a caravan.
My wife and I don’t find this drive at all boring. In fact I look forward to it. The region has very few trees; the photo above is a typical view. Trees are usually only found around the few farmhouses and along water courses. The Murrumbidgee River to the north and the Murray River to the south are some distance from the highway, so trees are few.
Despite this limitation, the birding is often wonderfully good, especially as far as raptors are concerned. On our most recent crossing of the plains earlier this year I recorded the following birds of prey:
- Wedge-tailed Eagle (two only)
- Nankeen Kestrel (common)
- Black-shouldered Kite (common)
- Black Kite (common)
- Little Eagle (one only)
Other species seen include:
- Australian Raven (common)
- Australian Magpie (common)
- Australian Magpie Lark (common)
Probably the most outstanding sighting was of the Australasian Pipit (see photo below). I’ve never seen so many in one day before. I’m used to seeing the odd one or two on the road or on the roadside verges. I didn’t do a count but there must have been several hundred present over about a 50km stretch of road. All of them were on the road, not the edges, and would only just fly out of the way of approaching vehicles.
Interesting behaviour; I’m guessing that they were feeding on road kill. This area is rich in insect life and fast moving vehicles account for many insect deaths. This area had recently experienced a locust plague with some remnants of that time still around. It must have been a veritable smorgasbord for them.
By way of contrast, on our return trip over the same route two weeks later, I didn’t see any pipits at all.
Australasian Pipit, Yorke Peninsula, South Australia