Apostlebirds at Lake Cullulleraine
Apostlebird, Lake Cullulleraine
On my way to Sydney to visit family earlier this month, I stopped to have lunch by Lake Cullulleraine in the north-western part of Victoria. This lake is a picturesque spot about a half-hour drive west of Mildura. Many years ago, my wife and I had a wonderful week staying at the nearby caravan park. on this occasion, however, I only had about twenty minutes before heading off.
As I ate my lunch I could see and hear a small family of Apostlebirds feeding on the lawn about 50 metres away. They gradually worked their way along the edge of the lawn towards where I had parked the car. This was only a small family group of five individuals. I am used to seeing much larger groups of 10, 12 or even more.
As I packed up my lunch box and finished my cup of tea, the small group worked along the dirt track towards my car. I didn’t even have to use the zoom lens on my camera to get a series of close-up photos. They were quite content to come right up close to where I was standing. This is quite typical behaviour of this species. Whenever they are present in parks, gardens, caravan parks, picnic grounds and so forth, they become accustomed to people and will approach to within a metre or two. I have even had them jump up onto a picnic table while trying to eat my dinner. On that occasion, one bird came close to snatching my food. They certainly can be cheeky.
While some people might look down on this species as not being very colourful – they certainly are drab looking – they make up for it with their quirky and endearing behaviours. Except when they try to snatch your food.
Good birding,
Trevor
Further reading:
Apostlebird, Lake Cullulleraine
Apostlebird, Lake Cullulleraine
Apostlebird, Lake Cullulleraine
Apostlebird, Lake Cullulleraine
Apostlebird, Lake Cullulleraine
Happy 12th Birthday to Trevor’s Birding
Peaceful Doves are a regular visitor in our garden
Happy Birthday!
Today marks the 12th anniversary of Trevor’s Birding.
It is hard to imagine that 12 years have passed since I started on this amazing journey. I had no idea at the time where it would take me.
Oh, the places I’ve been,
And the birds I have seen,
From the parrots and doves,
And the eagles above.
To ravens and crows
And finches in rows,
The lorikeets too
And kingfishers blue –
I’ve noted them all
Both big and so small.
My camera has taken
A wide range of birds,
Shown here on this blog
Along with my words.
Yes – I’ve been birding in many places on four continents and in seven countries: Australia, Thailand, Nepal, Ethiopia, Morocco, Spain and Malaysia. Many of the photos taken have been shared here on this site. I hope there will be many more in the years to come.
I have written over 1750 articles over those years and I am planning far more in the years to come. I have no idea how many photos I have taken, nor how many I have shared here on this site. I know that I have taken well over 10,000 photos on my camera. I estimate that I have probably shown about 4000 of them here.
On the strength of what I have written here and the photos I have shared, I have had many requests by various groups to be a guest speaker about birds. This is something I really enjoy and hope to do more of in the years to come.
Instead of writing about a particular bird today, I am going to finish this article by posting some of my favourite photos.
Enjoy.
Crested Pigeon
Silver Gull, Pt Elliot, South Australia
Noisy Miner
Female Galah, Laratinga Wetlands
Sacred Kingfisher
Give the birds a treat for Christmas
3 Comments »25th December, 2015; Category: Bird baths, Bird Behaviour, Camera, Garden birds, Honeyeaters
Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
Merry Christmas Everyone
I wish all of my readers a very merry and blessed Christmas, wherever you are.
I would be really pleased to get greetings from you – just use the “comments” section above.
Birds in the hot Australian sun:
Many parts of Australia are in the grips of an early, very hot summer, and this is especially so here in South Australia. Our capital city of Adelaide last week had a record December heatwave for over a hundred years with a string of 4 days over 40C. Yesterday was another very hot day at around 37C and today, Christmas Day, the forecast is for 38C. This will make it the hottest Christmas Day since 1945.
During hot conditions like these our birds suffer terribly. All of my Australian readers – and readers everywhere suffering in the hot, summer sun – I would like to encourage to buy a bird bath for their garden. Even putting a few old bowls or dishes of water around the garden is better than nothing.
We have had three bird baths strategically placed in our garden for many years. These have been placed so that we can watch from the room which we use the most. Many of the photos which I have used on this site were taken from that room, including that of a Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater shown above, and taken in the heatwave last week..
Two days ago our daughter arrived home for the Christmas break and doubled our number of bird baths. Our children have given us three new bird baths. I hope this doubles the number of photos I can take!
I hope that you have a great Christmas and a wonderful New Year.
Trevor
Further reading:
- Spiny-cheeked honeyeater on a hot day
- Make room for me – White-winged Choughs get a little crowded at the bird bath
- Time for a bath – a list of bird and non-bird visitors to our bird baths
White-browed Woodswallow (L), Magpie Lark (centre), Brown-headed Honeyeater (R)
A close encounter
White -plumed Honeyeater at our bird bath
Quite frequently I have close encounters with our bird life, especially those which are resident in our garden and on our five acre block on the outskirts of Murray Bridge in South Australia. Sometimes I have the camera with me, sometimes I have to race off and get the camera. And then… there are those occasions when the bird flies off immediately.
Yesterday morning I was just finishing having breakfast, reading the daily paper and doing the cryptic crossword (yes, I solved it). I just looked up to check the bird bath – the one shown in the photo above – when a White-plumed Honeyeater landed on the window sill less than 50cm from where it was sitting. After staying for all of 5 seconds it flew off. No time to get the camera.
Then this morning the same thing happened, but this time a small movement on my part sent the bird flying off without actually landing.
Mmm… that makes me think. I wonder if this particular bird is coming to the window on a regular basis? I wouldn’t be surprised if it was coming to snaffle an insect or a spider lurking around the window frame. Or perhaps it was after some spider’s web to softly line a new nest?
(Embarrassed silence.)
I probably – no definitely – need to clear all the spiders’ webs around the house – but then, I am trying to be ‘bird friendly’. (Notice how I neatly side-stepped doing some house maintenance?)
For more articles about my close encounters with birds click here.
I have included a few more photos of close encounters with birds below.
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Common Bronzewing, Laratinga Wetlands
Crested Pigeon
Sacred Kingfisher
Happy 10th Birthday to Trevor’s Birding
Happy Birthday to Trevor’s Birding.
10 years old today.
Goodness, how the years have flown since my very first post on this site. That was actually on a different platform and has been updated several times over the years.
A few statistics
- A total of 1668 articles about birds and birding
- Well over 5300 comments from my readers
- Several thousand photos shown
- Visitors from over 200 countries and territories
- Over a million pageviews from well over half a million visitors
Travels
Wherever I travel I take my camera, binoculars, notebook and field guide and fit in times of birding (bird watching) and bird photography whenever I can. On many occasions I also go out and about near my home for the deliberate purpose of birding. On my return home I then enjoy writing on this site about the birds I have seen and sharing the best of my photos. Some of these travels take me to other states in Australia as well, especially when we visit family in Sydney, and friends in other places.
Archives
Some of my readers may not be aware of the many hundreds of articles in my archives – 1668 articles to be precise – and growing every few days with new articles. These can be accessed via the button at the top of each page and range from the most recent to the very first article. Here is a treasure trove of writing about birds.
Contents
Another way of accessing articles on specific areas of interest is via the Contents on the side bar, including
- How to be a birder
- Glossary of Bird Words – to help my readers understand any jargon used here (and it needs some editing – as well as be completed)
- Favourite Birding Spots – some of my favourite places to go birding (and it needs some serious updating!)
- Great birding moments – those special times when I saw a special bird, or got a lovely photo
Categories and search
Another way of searching for specific information on this site it to use the search facility (in the top right hand corner of each page). Just type in what you are looking for – you might be surprised what comes up. The categories section on the sidebar is another area where you can search for articles on a particular species or topic. If all that doesn’t work, try the contact form – also at the top of each page. Send your questions to me via email and I will reply as soon as I can, noting that there will be a delay if I am busy out birding and away from my computer.
Comments
Every article has a comments section and I would love to have many more. The 5300 comments so far are just the beginning. Just remember that they are moderated, and I reserve the right not to accept, or delete, or even edit comments, so keep them civil and in good taste. Children often read the articles here.
Photos
Over the years I have shared many photos here, with many more to come. Today, however, I decided to share a few of my favourite ones (see below).
Enjoy.
And keep coming back for more.
Good birding.
Trevor
Further reading:
- My first blog post
- Archives – you can access the complete list of articles on this site here or via the button at the top.
Crested Pigeon
Female Galah, Laratinga Wetlands
Male Variegated Fairy-wren
Musk Lorikeets