Rescue of the ten little ducklings
3 Comments »9th December, 2007; Category: Baby birds, Bird Behaviour, Ducks Geese and Swans, Garden birds
Pacific Black Duck with ten ducklings
From time to time we have Pacific Black Ducks visiting our swimming pool. Sometimes a solitary bird, more often two and sometimes three. They might hang around for a few days and then we won’t see them for weeks or months.
Several years ago we had a mother duck bring about five or six ducklings to the pool. On that occasion we found the ducklings too late. Because they had been in the water and couldn’t get out, they all died, even though we tried to care for them. They probably were far too exhausted or possibly became too cold.
On Friday we had another family of ducks visit the pool. We are in severe water restrictions due to the drought at present and I’ve been reluctant to fill the pool, so the water level was down quite a long way compared to its normal level. I haven’t bothered to begin cleaning it for summer either, but that is another story. Once again I was fearful of losing all ten little ducklings.
My dear wife came to the rescue with a brilliant device for rescuing the ducklings. She found a length of chicken netting with a wooden frame around it. It was about a square metre in size. This was placed like a ramp from the water to the edge of the pool. She then draped an old towel over the netting and anchored the whole thing with several bricks. Within the hour the whole family found the ramp and they were on their way, hopefully down to the river. Now the River Murray is about four kilometres away, so that is a long march for a family of little ducklings. A search of the property later found not sign of them, so I am assuming they are well on their way to safety on the river.
Pacific Black Duck with ten ducklings
Further reading:
Birding around Guichen Bay, South Australia
1 Comment »26th July, 2007; Category: Darters and Cormorants, Ducks Geese and Swans, Gulls and Terns, Herons and Egrets, Lapwings, Seabirds, Shorebirds
Guichen Bay, Robe, SE South Australia
Last week we went for a short, five day holiday to Robe in the south-east region of South Australia. Robe is about a three and a half hour drive from home. This beautiful, historic seaside town is popular with tourists, with good reason. It is a quaint little fishing town catering well for the many visitors that flock there, primarily in the warmer months.
Being the middle of winter it was the off-season and that suits me fine, especially from a birding point of view. There are several downsides; the weather can be very dodgy and even bitterly cold. Another downside is the absence of wading birds; they all have better sense than us and head north for our winter. While the birding was quiet, I did record some good birds. Nothing spectacular, mind you, but satisfying nevertheless.
Guichen Bay, Robe, SE South Australia
During our stay I went on three quite long walks and several drives searching out the bird life of the region. I was also looking for some good scenery shots to include here and on my travel blog.
Twice I walked from the cottage we were renting past the Sea-Vu Caravan Park and then along the bay to the fishing boat harbour. Robe is situated on Guichen Bay. On my walks I went along the Town Beach, where the photos above were taken.
Birds seen:
Overall the birding was a little disappointing. We had a friendly Willie Wagtail in the back yard, along with Silver Gulls flying overhead and occasionally landing on the fence or the roof. Common birds around our cottage and in nearby streets included House Sparrows, European Goldfinches and Common Starlings.
The cottage backed on to the local golf course which was lined with trees. In these trees I saw Little Ravens and Grey Currawongs. Throughout the town there were many Little and Red Wattlebirds, New Holland Honeyeaters, Grey Fantails and Welcome Swallows. I also saw the occasional Common Blackbird.
Lapwings:
One noticeable species in many parts of the town was the Masked Lapwing. This species seems to enjoy feeding on the many spacious and very green lawns throughout the town. One pair even landed noisily on our back yard lawn, but they flew off again before I could fire up the camera.
Beach Birds:
On my walks along the beach I didn’t see many water birds. I did see two Black Oystercatchers on the rocks near the Town Beach, as well as Little Pied and Little Black Cormorants out in the bay. Silver Gulls were everywhere, but not in large numbers. I saw one Crested Tern. In the bushes fronting the beach there were many Singing Honeyeaters.
In the coming days I will write about other birds seen and other places visited while on my holiday.
Updated November 2013.
Waterbirds at Goolwa South Australia
2 Comments »13th May, 2007; Category: Darters and Cormorants, Ducks Geese and Swans, Gulls and Terns, Pelicans, Plovers Dotterels and Lapwings, Waterbirds
Australian Pelican
On our recent visit to Goolwa in South Australia we went for a drive along the River Murray to the barrage near the mouth of the river. This barrage keeps the salt water from entering the river system at high tide.
This area is usually quite a good place for birding, though on this occasion there seemed to be just the usual birds one would expect. Nothing really exciting or out of the ordinary. Still, good birding days are usually like this. They make the really special days extraordinary.
Little Pied Cormorant
Along this stretch of the river we saw plenty of Australian Pelicans, White Ibis, Straw-necked Ibis, Great Egrets, White-faced Herons, Pacific Black Ducks, Grey Teal, Little Pied Cormorants, Magpie Larks and Silver Gulls. Several Purple Swamphens stalked through the reeds while on the grassy areas a number of Masked Lapwings guarded their positions. Black Swans gracefully glided through the shallows and Singing Honeyeaters were the dominant species in the thick bushy areas along the sand dunes.
Birding while travelling
When we travel I enjoy watching out for the birds we see during our journey. Concentrating on driving is the highest priority of course, but it is still amazing what one can see as you go along. For me, it certainly lessens the boredom, keeping me more alert and that has to be a good thing.
Several days ago I wrote about a short break we had in Clare, staying in our daughter’s house. I commented that I didn’t see all that many birds on the way, nothing out of the ordinary anyway. Yesterday afternoon we returned home to Murray Bridge. This time we took a different route. It was a little longer and this didn’t matter as we didn’t have a deadline.
Again we saw the usual species as we travelled. By far the most common were Australian Magpies and Little Ravens. In several places we saw flocks of Feral Pigeons and Common Starlings, especially in the vineyards of the Barossa Valley, arguably Australia’s premier wine growing region. I saw a few Red Wattlebirds, the occasional Crested Pigeon and a few House Sparrows, especially in the towns we drove through and near farm houses.
On our journey to Clare last week I commented on the total absence of birds of prey. They were conspicuous by their absence again today. I only saw two; a lone Nankeen Kestral and a single Brown Falcon, each sitting high atop a power pole.
The highlight of the trip was afternoon tea – no, not the food and the cuppa, though that was very enjoyable and relaxing. We stopped at a park in the old copper mining town of Kapunda, just over an hour’s drive north of Adelaide. My father grew up only a few kilometres from the town.
This park has a number of lawned areas, a barbecue for public use and a number of picnic tables and seats. It also features a small artificial lake. We hadn’t even sat down to pour our cuppa and the stream of ducks was heading our way. It was a fruitless exercise on their part. Also joining the picnic was a family of six baby Eurasian Coots, all fluffy and downy and noisy, begging mother for food while trying not to get too much under our feet.
Naturally I had to race back to the car for the camera. I managed quite a few lovely shots plus a simply lovely photo of a White Faced Heron. Also seen were many Australian Wood Ducks, several Pacific Black Ducks, a single Dusky Moorhen, dozens of White Plumed Honeyeaters and an army of domestic ducks, mostly Muscovy Ducks.
In the nearby trees I heard some Magpie Larks, Rainbow Lorikeets and Adelaide Rosella parrots. I also saw a single New Holland Honeyeater as we drove off.
I am not able to show the photos I took this afternoon. Since the WordPress update we are having trouble uploading photos from our photo gallery to this blog. As soon as this is rectified I will update this post.
An Ugly Duckling
On my writing blog I have been writing about the meanings and origins of various idioms we use in everyday speech and writing. Many of these expressions relate to birds in some way. Here is another of them.
This week’s idiom: ‘An ugly duckling.’
Meaning:
An awkward, ungainly, unattractive child who develops into a graceful, beautiful adult is said to be an ugly duckling.
Origins:
The expression comes from the Hans Christian Andersen story called The Ugly Duckling. It was first published in 1843 and is widely regarded as a classic children’s story.
A mother duck hatches her brood only to find one duckling larger and uglier than the rest. He was very much a misfit and soon received much harassment from the other barnyard residents who eventually drive him away to fend for himself. After a struggle to survive the ugly ‘duckling’ develops into a beautiful swan.
The moral of the story is that inner beauty will always overshadow outer appearance. Interestingly, the Wikipedia article goes into a deeper analysis than I have here, postulating that this story is possibly a metaphor for Andersen’s own unhappy life.
Example:
As a child she was such an ugly duckling, but look at Sarah’s beauty and grace now.
Australian Wood Ducks with ducklings