A visit to Katoomba
No Comments »27th January, 2009; Category: Magpies and Currawongs
The Three Sisters, Katoomba
On one of the days we spent in Sydney this last Christmas – New Year holidays we went as a family up into the Blue Mountains. We stopped for lunch at the village of Leura before going on a few miles to Katoomba. It is almost obligatory when passing through this area to visit Echo Point and have a look at the mountain scenery, and the Three Sisters in particular as shown in the photo above.
For those not familiar with this rocky outcrop, click on the image to enlarge it. The people half way down on the extreme left of the photo will give you an appreciation of the scale of this much photographed natural feature. As we left my son and I had a debate. What is the most photographed natural feature in Australia? For sheer numbers this lookout would have to be in the top five or ten I contended. Right up there with Uluru and Sydney Harbour.
While we were there I saw or heard very few birds. With the huge numbers of tourists present I’m not surprised. I did see several Sulphur-crested Cockatoos in the valley below, a few Welcome Swallows swooping around nearby and a solitary Crested Pigeon on the lawn near the tourist centre. Near the pigeon I saw a Pied Currawong eating an apple abandoned by a tourist. This area has a very rich range of bird life; they just have the sense to keep away from the busy tourist spots.
Pied Currawong, Katoomba
Magpies in the heat
Australian Magpie on a hot day
Yesterday we had the hottest day of this summer so far. It reached 45C under our front veranda – that’s 113F for those of you who use that temperature scale.
It was hot.
Very hot.
Apart from needing to go to the Post Office early in the morning I stayed indoors all day. The evaporative air conditioner chugged away nicely from late morning until well into the evening. One aspect of this form of cooling is that you need to keep a few windows partially open to keep the flow of air moving. We often open the sliding door shown in the photo above a few centimetres. It wasn’t long before the resident magpie family found the lovely cool air coming from the house.
Earlier they had been enjoying bathing in the bird bath, but this was even better evidently. At one stage I noticed six birds taking advantage of the cool air. It will be interesting if other species follow suit on the hot days still to come.
Australian Magpies on a hot day
Black-backed Magpies
1 Comment »7th January, 2009; Category: Magpies and Currawongs
Australian Magpies (Black-backed)
Australian Magpies are widespread throughout the both rural and urban areas. The magpie is one of our most recognised bird species. What many people don’t realise is that there are several distinct sub-species of the Australian Magpie. These were once recognised as distinct species, but more recently have been lumped together as one species. I discuss this issue here. In essence, they are now recognised as one species because they interbreed in the wild. The three races were Black-backed, White-backed and Western Magpies.
While in Sydney recently I managed to get several good photos of the Black-backed race of Magpies. One of these is shown above. The bird on the right is being fed by the adult on the left. The photo was taken in Lane Cove National Park, Sydney.
Bird Wars – Magpies v Falcon
1 Comment »17th October, 2008; Category: Bird Behaviour, Eagles Hawks and Kites, Garden birds, Magpies and Currawongs
A few days ago I was out in our garden. Whenever I’m out there my ears and eyes are on the alert for anything happening in the bird world.
I was suddenly aware of a Crested Pigeon flying at full speed from the direction of the main road past our five acre block. The pigeon seemed in a great hurry – in fact, it seemed terrified. And with good reason.
A Brown Falcon had been following it, obviously thinking that lunch was an easy grab. It had another think coming.
The resident male Australian Magpie had other ideas and swooped aggressively on the now harassed falcon, turning the aggressor into the victim. The Magpie kept on attacking the falcon – from a safe distance of a few metres – until it was well and truly off the property, and presumably out of the Magpie’s territory.
The Crested Pigeon was seen no more as it made its escape over the other side of the house where I lost sight of it.
And the Magpie saved its two babies in the nest nearby.
My advice to all my readers: keep a sharp eye on the behaviour of the birds in your part of the world. You never know when something dramatic will happen.
Baby Magpie learns to fly – sort of
33 Comments »3rd October, 2008; Category: Baby birds, Bird Behaviour, Garden birds, Magpies and Currawongs
Australian Magpie (juvenile)
Our resident family of Australian Magpies has been busy feeding two babies in the nest over recent weeks. The mother bird has been bringing tasty meals to the young ones who put up a great begging performance if she is too slow about it.
Meanwhile the male patrols the territory, seeing off any intruders – like the Brown Falcon who came visiting recently. (Details of that incident will follow tomorrow.)
Australian Magpie (juvenile)
Last week one of the babies decided to test out his wings. He left the nest – not at all gracefully and very hesitatingly. It was all downhill and into the wind until he came to the pear tree in the orchard, where he decided to cling to a branch for all he was worth.
I was watching this all happen from the verandah where we were having a well earned cuppa. I raced inside for the camera. Over the next five minutes I was able to carefully creep right up to about three metres away without disturbing the little fellow – still clinging desperately to the branch where he landed.
Australian Magpie
I quickly retreated, but not before mother bird came investigating to see if I was behaving myself. Soon she was happy to resume looking for the next tasty morsel to feed junior.
Later I was watching from the house. The baby had moved to another tree. He decided the fly down to where the mother bird was searching for food. The flight was okay – it was the landing that undid him. He landed on his face. Some techniques obviously need a little practice.
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