Great Birding Moments # 19 King Parrot
I remember the first time I ever saw a King Parrot. It was back in the late 1970s on a holiday in NSW. We’d been several days in Sydney and we drove to Katoomba in the Blue Mountains. We were planning to take the children on the Scenic Railway which happens to be the world’s steepest incline railway and then cross the valley in the scenic skyway which takes you towards the famous landmark, the amazing rock formation called The Three Sisters.
We did all of those things and it was one of the highlights of our holiday. Unfortunately, we did not have a great view of the valley, the surrounding mountains or the Three Sisters due to thick fog for most of the morning. One thing did stand out in the fog, however. For the first time I saw an Australian King Parrot. As you can see from the photo the male is bright red and green. Viewing this species for the first time, from a few metres away, when everything around you is dull, foggy and damp is an amazing memory I have.
King Parrot at Adelaide Zoo
Related articles:
- Great Birding Moments – a list of the articles I have written in this series, with links.
Great Birding Moments # 18 Golden Headed Cisticola
9 Comments »4th November, 2006; Category: Great Birding Moments
Golden Headed Cisticola
Last Thursday we visited the Tolderol Game Reserve near Langhorne Creek, South Australia. It had been quite a time since my last visit and I was anticipating plenty of ducks, waders and other water birds to be present.
A Disappointing Day
It was a disappointing day. All the ponds were dry due mainly to the severe drought we are experiencing at present. It has been the driest winter, spring and October on record in this part of the state. The channels between the ponds contained some water but overall the birding was very disappointing. There were a few Black Swans, Whiskered Terns, Swamp Harriers, Masked Lapwings and White Fronted Chats. I saw a solitary Caspian Tern, several Little Black and Little Pied Cormorants and no Silver Gulls. Several White Ibis flew overhead as did a small flock of Straw Necked Ibis. A group of three Purple Swamphens skulked near one of the channels.
Feeling Despondent
As we were leaving I was feeling rather despondent. So few birds and nothing really special. I was wrong. A male Golden Headed Cisticola in breeding plumage emerged from the low scrubby bushes next to the rough track our vehicle was travelling on. He proceeded to sit out in the open and sing at volume, perched in a variety of poses for a good two to three minutes while I took a series of photos.
Range of the Golden Headed Cisticola
The Golden Headed Cisticola is not a species I have seen very often so this was an extra delight. The species is found throughout India, Nepal, SE Asia, Indonesia, Philippines and China. In Australia it is found in the northern, eastern and south eastern parts of the land, usually no more than 300km from the coast and only where suitable habitat exists.
Preferred Habitat
The Golden Headed Cisticola inhabits areas of tall grass, rushes, shrubby areas near wetlands, drains, sewage plants, irrigated paddocks and river flats. The Tolderol Game Reserve is part of the Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert regions near the mouth of the Murray River. This area is probably its stronghold in this part of the state.
So the birding overall may not have been great, but the day ended on a happy note.
Golden Headed Cisticola
Great Birding Moments #17 Musk Lorikeets
Musk Lorikeet
A few days ago I wrote about a recent visit to a private native garden at Cockatoo Valley, north of Adelaide in South Australia. While visiting that garden I photographed several Musk Lorikeets feeding in a eucalypt tree.
Musk Lorikeet
Lorikeets are not easy to photograph. They tend to feed in the thick foliage and rarely show themselves clearly. When they do show themselves, it is usually as a streak of green or red as they dart overhead, heading like arrows to the next tree for another feed.
The individual shown in the above photos was unusual; it stayed out in the open, within camera zoom range, and in focus for long enough for me to take about a dozen shots.
Sometimes you get lucky.
Related articles:
- Great Birding Moments #16 Cockatoo Valley – this article also shows photos of the garden and some of the flowers.
- Rainbow Lorikeets at Wittunga Botanic Gardens – this is one of Australia’s most colourful birds.
- Musk Lorikeets – another encounter with this species, this time in my daughter’s garden in Clare, South Australia.
Great Birding Moments # 16 Cockatoo Valley
Keith Pitman's garden in Cockatoo Valley
We have driven through Cockatoo Valley dozens of times over the years but we have never stopped to have a look around. This small but growing community is near Gawler north of Adelaide. Last Saturday we rectified that; we were invited to visit a private garden just off the main road.
Callistemon flower (Bottlebrush)
This private garden is a massive three acres in size, almost like a small botanic garden or arboretum. We have known Keith, the owner, for some years through our mutual interest in Australian native plants. Keith planted up this garden some 18 years ago and he grew many Australian native plants for the cut flower trade. He no longer does this, having retired several years ago, but he still maintains this magnificent garden.
Banksia flower
Honeyeaters everywhere
With so many flowering plants in the garden the bird life is also wonderful. There seemed to be New Holland Honeyeaters everywhere and they far outnumbered the White Plumed Honeyeaters. The irritatingly noisy Little Wattlebirds keep up a constant barrage of their gratingly harsh “cocky-cock” and “yekkop, yekkop” calls all afternoon. Keith informed me that he rarely saw Red Wattlebirds in his garden which I found interesting.
Peaceful calls
We had barely sat down to have a cuppa in the garden when we heard the soft and soothing “doodle-doo” call of a Peaceful Dove nearby. House Sparrows frequently visited the fish pond near where we sat, but the Diamond Firetail finches did not make an appearance today. Pity. Such beautiful birds.
Babblers
The clownish White Browed Babblers played all around the bushes and where we had parked the car, their miaowing calls coming from a half dozen different bushes. Overhead the recently arrived Rainbow Bee-eaters swooped and glided on the air currents looking for insects. As we were having a final cuppa I spied a very quiet Horsfield’s Bronze Cuckoo feeding in a nearby eucalypt tree, but he flew on before I managed to get a photo.
Musk Lorikeet
Where are the Cockatoos in Cockatoo Valley?
All afternoon I had been seeing and hearing various parrots. I managed some lovely shots of the Musk Lorikeet as shown in the photo above. Rainbow Lorikeets often flew overhead as did small flocks of Galahs. I never saw a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo that afternoon even though they are common in the area. As for cockatoos in Cockatoo Valley I had a settle for eight Little Corellas that flew overhead just as we were about to leave.
Related Articles:
And a few miles down the road – Sulphur Crested Cockatoos in Williamstown where we had a picnic tea!
Great Birding Moments #15 Long Billed Corellas
3 Comments »15th October, 2006; Category: Cockatoos and Corellas, Great Birding Moments, Parrots and Lorikeets
Long Billed Corellas
This great birding moment occured not in the field but at my computer. A few weeks ago we visited Laratinga Wetlands at Mt Barker in the Adelaide Hills, South Australia. It was a calm and mild evening and we had a cuppa and a few biscuits while sitting on a log placed near the water’s edge. There was the usual squadron of ducks, grebes and coots swimming about – or headed in our direction hoping for a tasty handout. (Word must be out that my wife’s Anzac biscuits are superb).
Long Billed Corellas
A small flock of Corellas flew in and landed on a nearby tree. “Little Corellas” was my immediate thought and wrote that in my notebook. It was only when I downloaded the photos to my computer that night that I realised that they were actually Long Billed Corellas. Oops. Never assume anything – check them out carefully. It’s a good rule of thumb when birding. I had momentarily lapsed into thinking that they were Littles when in fact both species are common in our state.
Related articles:
- Laratinga Wetlands, Mt Barker – includes a bird list.
- Little Corellas – about calls to cull the large numbers of corellas in parts of South Australia.
Updated November 2013.