Magpies up close and personal
Australian Magpie (black backed)
Sydney Trip June 2011
Over recent days I’ve been writing about the birds seen on the return trip from a holiday with family in Sydney. Today I want to show a series of photos taken at the Malleefowl Rest Area south east of Mildura. we had stopped for an afternoon cuppa and a light snack of biscuits. we had just sat down at the picnic table and we were immediately accosted by a family of Australian Magpies (ssp black backed), including several juveniles from last season’s breeding.
The whole family gathered on and around the table waiting for handouts of whatever food we had in our picnic basket. I guess they are used to being fed generously by any humans who happen to drop in to their domain. If we hadn’t been smart about covering the biscuit tin they would have helped themselves.
I took the opportunity to get some very close up photos of the magpies as they sat nearby or on the table less than a metre from me. Some – like the one above – are decidedly nasty looking.
Tomorrow I’ll show several more photos.
You can buy one of my photos of a magpie on a coffee mug – click here.
Australian Magpie (black backed)
Australian Magpie (black backed)
Crash landing for a baby magpie
Baby Australian Magpie just out of the nest
Over recent weeks we have been eagerly awaiting the hatching of the baby Australian magpies in two nests in our garden. The fact that we have two nests is exciting because this is the first time in the last 25 years we’ve had two active nests on our 5 acre property.
A few weeks ago we heard the constant squawking of the young for food, so we knew it was just a matter of time before the youngsters headed out into the wild world. Several days ago I was suddenly aroused from my concentration on my writing by a bang on the window no more than a metre from my shoulder. A baby magpie – fresh out of the nest – was perched precariously on the frame of the window. When I reached for my camera it flew off to another part of the garden. When I say “flew” I actually mean it was undertaking some sort of barely controlled flapping and squawking one could loosely call “flying”.
Baby Australian Magpie just out of the nest
I was able to approach the baby to within two metres with dad right next to me – quite unconcerned. I find it wonderful that they never swoop us or get concerned by our presence nearby. In fact, they will often approach us when we are gardening, looking for worms and other tasty morsels we might dig up. Wonderful.
Baby Australian Magpie just out of the nest
Baby Australian Magpie (left) just out of the nest
Baby Australian Magpie just out of the nest
Magpie nesting time in our garden
No Comments »28th September, 2011; Category: Baby birds, Garden birds, Magpies and Currawongs, Nests
Australian Magpie (male)
Over recent weeks we’ve been watching an Australian Magpie’s nest on our property (see photo below). This nest has been used by the same pair of birds over the last 4 or 5 years. Each year they just refurbish it a little before settling down to the important job of raising a family.
Last week we were working in the garden and watched with delight as the adult birds strutted around where we were working, looking for tasty morsels and then flying straight to the nest to feed the newly hatched young. Each visit resulted in excited squawks from the hungry young.
I was very surprised to find out a few days later that we actually had another nest with young magpies barely 50 metres from the other. To have two active magpie nests within such close proximity has never happened before on our property in the last 25 years. All I can surmise is that there has been a very drastic realignment of the local magpie territories over the last year.
And we are so pleased that none of them swoop us while they are nesting.
Australian Magpie nest
Australian Magpie (male)
Some birds of the Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens
Australian Magpie, Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens
Sydney Trip Report June 2011
On the first day of our journey home we stopped briefly in the Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens for an afternoon cuppa and toilet break, a spot we’ve enjoyed on other occasions. The large rural city of Wagga Wagga is worth a longer stay than just a half hour or so. I’d really like to explore this lovely city and the region in more depth one day. We always seem to be in a rush somewhere when we go through this area. [Sigh]
Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens
One this occasion it was quite late in the afternoon, still cold and cloudy and we still had about an hour’s drive to our accommodation for the night in Narrandera further west. I didn’t have much time for birding nor photography, though I did get some nice shots of Australian Magpies and Grevilleas (native Australian plants).
Grevillea, Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens
Other birds seen included:
- Pied Currawong,
- Rainbow Lorikeets,
- White-plumed Honeyeaters,
- Red Wattlebirds,
- Crested Pigeons,
- Galahs
Australian Magpie, Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens
Juvenile Australian Magpie, Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens
A short stopover at Pheasant’s Nest, NSW
Sydney Trip Report June 2011
After a cold and wet stay with family in Sydney earlier this year we headed back home. We were planning to travel home via Bathurst but the roads that way were closed due to a heavy snow fall. We decided to head home the way we had come.
After negotiating the Sydney traffic – the Lane Cove Tunnel is a quick way to get out of Artarmon where my son lives – we headed SW towards Wagga Wagga. Mid morning we stopped at a roadside rest area and service centre at Pheasant’s Nest. No – we didn’t see any pheasants. In fact, I saw very few birds.
A few Noisy Miners scratched around on the grassed areas near the car park, and several Australian Ravens flew overhead while we were having our cuppa and morning tea. A few minutes later a flock of about 20 Pied Currawongs flew out of the nearby forest and began foraging in and around several rubbish bins in the car park.
And that was it.
Oh… I nearly forgot. The wind chill factor felt like it was going to snow at any moment, except for the lack of clouds and bright sunshine I guess it would have snowed. I found our later that it had snowed that morning a little further north. It was a most unpleasant break in our journey. I didn’t even bother to get the camera out, so I’ve included a photo I’d prepared earlier.
Pied Currawong