Archive for the 'General' Category

Spreading Starlings

The Common Starling is an introduced species in Australia. It has been a very successful immigrant and is now found over large parts of Australia. It has also become one of our major pest species, especially in fruit growing regions. Flocks in their thousands cloud the skies in fruit ripening areas. The cost to agriculture has been, and continues to be, enormous.

The Western Australian Department of Agriculture, however, has been successful – so far – in keeping this pest species out of their fruit growing areas. Recently several flocks have been found 30km further west than thought. Extra efforts are being made to eradicate this new threat.

For more, click here.

Rufous Fantail

Elusive bird

One of my favourite Australian birds is the Rufous Fantail, a member of the flycatcher family. As its name suggests, it fans its tail out as is flits to and fro through the forest looking for insects. When the sunlight catches the spread out tail feathers they glow with an amazing deep rufous colour. The photos and illustrations of this species I had seen in books and field guides gave me a deep desire to track down this lovely bird.

My Problem

Now this desire presents a problem to me. I live in South Australia. Rufous Fantails live along the eastern and south eastern coastal areas of Australia. Only infrequently have they been recorded in my home state. That means I have to travel to see this lovely creature. A few years ago, during a holiday in Victoria, I checked out various spots on the Mornington Peninsula where this delightful bird is known to frequent.

No luck

I walked various trails day after day without even a hint of the species I sought. One day I must have walked for several hours without luck. Plenty of other species, but no fantail. Wearily I returned to the car, only to find two of them cavorting merrily around the car! It was enough to make me laugh with joy.

Unexpected Visitor

Today I received an email from a birder in Glebe, inner-west Sydney. He told of how he had a Rufous Fantail fly in through an open door and into his unit. I can’t believe how different birders have such different experiences with the same species. I walked for hours – no days – before I was rewarded with brief glimpses of this species. This fellow comes home from shopping and one flies into his unit. Sometime it’s enough to make one cry.

Purple Crowned Lorikeets

One species I forgot to mention yesterday was the Purple Crowned Lorikeet. Like many Australian parrots and lorikeets, the Purple Crowned is a gregarious, noisy, restless bird found in many parks and gardens in southern Australia. It ranges south of a line from Geraldton Western Australia through to eastern Victoria (but not Tasmania).

Garden Visitor
I can’t say that they are a resident species in our garden – they don’t seem to stay long enough! When the mallee is in flower they come on rushed sorties into the trees in near the house, feed for a while before screeching off to the next feeding ground. Their underwing patch of red distinguishes them from the slightly larger Musk Lorikeet (which is an uncommon species here in Murray Bridge).

Difficult to photograph

These bright green parrots with a prominent red forehead and purple coloured crown are very difficult to photograph – or so I have found. Many times they just go darting overhead as they pass from one clump of trees to another. When they do decide to stop in our garden they are so cryptic in the leaves and flowers of the eucalyptus tree where they are feeding that it becomes hard to see where the leaf ends and the bird begins. I almost dispair of ever getting a clear photo of this species.

Challenge

One of the field guides* I use regularly describes their flight as “bullet-like”. As they go rocketing across the sky past our garden, their “zitt-zitt-zitt” calls seem to challenge me. “Catch us if you can,” they seem taunt as they fly by.

*Pizzey, G and Knight, F “The Field Guide to the Birds of Australia” (Angus and Robertson 1997)

Birds Calling

Grevillea flowers

Grevillea flowers

Nursery

This afternoon I helped my wife Corinne in her nursery for about three hours. This included taking about 60 photos of the flowers of plants in the stock plant area and some in the nursery itself. Most of these photos turned out really well. Corinne needs some of these photos for the coming plant sale in Adelaide at the end of the month.

Bird Calls

I also did some more tidying up and weeding in the nursery. While I was doing that I was aware of the bird life calling all around. The White Plumed Honeyeater was very prominent, calling loudly and persistently. Little Ravens often passed overhead, their mournful calls cannot be missed. At one point two of them were in a tree nearby calling in turn, like they were having a conversation. Red Wattlebirds and their harsh ‘kok-karock” calls interrupted the ravens’ talkfest.

Spotted Pardalote with nesting material in beak

Spotted Pardalote with nesting material in beak

Pardalotes

In the moments of quietness after the departure of the noisy ravens the gentle Spotted Pardalotes’ contact calls filled the air around me as they searched the mallee trees for sustenance. The Striated Pardalotes seemed absent today; their far reaching call was noted yesterday. Perhaps they were just being discrete – or shy – today.

Grey Shrike Thrush

The sudden strident whistling of the Grey Shrike Thrush just above my head shattered my dreaming. Its strong melodious voice is far reaching in the mallee woodland around here; often it is the first bird I identify when out walking. Its call is hard to miss. A noisy cloud of pink Galahs squawks overhead, bringing a splash of colour to the drab grey sky. A Magpie adds to the chorus, chortling happily over near the shed.

Choughs

My attention is drawn to a family of nine White Winged Choughs flying secretively and quietly through the garden. Normally their mournful calls can be heard from a distance. Their silence is puzzling.

Stunning photos

Over the last few days I have spent a few hours looking at and reading the birding blogs of other birders. There are some fascinating blogs out there on the net, some of them with some stunning photos of birds.

Digital Photography

When I take photos of birds I use a Canon Powershot S2 IS. This has a 12x optical zoom which enables me to focus in quite close to the subject. One skill I am learning is being able to creep up quite close so I do not have to zoom in too much. Alternatively, I watch carefully for a spot where birds are frequently landing and then position myself within range and then wait patiently for the birds to come to me.

Digiscoping

Digiscoping is an another method of taking bird photos. A camera, either SLR or digital SLR is attached to a telescope using an adapter. This method enables one to be quite a distance from the subject. It also produces much clearer, sharper photos – depending, of course, on the quality of your equipment and the patience you can muster up.

Amazing Site

Today I came across Mike McDowell’s Bird Digiscoping site. It contains some amazing photos with stunning clarity and beautiful composition.

Mike also has a very interesting blog which includes many worthwhile tips on digiscoping.

Sulphur Crested Cockatoos

Sulphur Crested Cockatoos