What a thriller – it’s a White-winged Triller
White-winged Triller (male)
I had just hung out the washing this morning and was on my way back inside. A different bird call drew my attention so I raced inside for the camera and binoculars. Sure enough, we had a male White-winged Triller in our small patch of mallee scrub. This species is an irregular visitor here, usually in the spring or summer.
White-winged Trillers can be seen throughout most of mainland Australia and northern Tasmania. In my experience they are widespread but not common, and certainly not found in large numbers, usually seen singly or in pairs. They also occur in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. They are a breeding migrant in the southern parts of the country. In the winter months they spend time in the northern and inland regions.
The call is a rich, far reaching, descending ‘chip-chip-chip-joey-joey-joey.’
Related articles:
- White-winged Triller visit
- A cave, some lunch and many songlarks
- Great birding on the Hay Plains, NSW
- Vagrant birds in our garden
White-winged Triller (male)
White-winged Triller (male)
Friendly Welcome Swallows
Welcome Swallows
Welcome Swallows are a common species throughout much of southern and eastern Australia. Here in Murray Bridge, South Australia they are the most common of our swallow species. Along the River Murray they can often be seen in loose flocks of hundreds. Even in the streets it is not unusual to see 50 – 100 resting on power lines.
Strangely, they are not all that common at our place, situated about 5 kilometres from the river. When we do have them around it is usually fleeting visits by no more than 2 – 6 at a time. In recent months, however, their visits are becoming a little more regular. Instead of once a fortnight on average, they appear to be around most days. They are probably more frequent visitors than I realise with me being stuck in my office with my writing for long hours most days.
Several days ago I was delighted to hear the soft ‘seep, seep, seep’ call and twittering quite close to the office. I left my computer to find two of them – dare I call them a “pair” (?) sitting on the storm water down pipe coming off the office roof (see photos) They could well have been calling to me to ask permission to visit!
One of them occasionally would fly off in tight circles around the nearby garden and through our new back veranda. Were they checking it out as a possible nesting site? I’m not sure, but they were very interested in the locality for about ten minutes before flying off.
Related articles:
Welcome Swallows
Welcome Swallows
Masked Lapwing flyover
I’ve just come inside after hanging out a load of washing. While this necessary task interrupts my writing, I do welcome and enjoy it. Firstly, it stretches my legs and gets me out of my chair and away from the computer for a few minutes. Then I enjoy the breath of fresh air. Finally, it allows me to be outdoors with my head up – always a good pose for birding.
This morning’s delight was two (a pair?) of Masked Lapwings (plovers) flying noisily just over my head. This is a very common species in this area, but strangely, we don’t often get them landing on our 5 acre block of land. They also don’t often seem to fly directly overhead either. We usually only hear them in the distance.
Last week on a visit to the nearby Monarto Zoo I photographed a Masked Lapwing sitting on a nest. In another enclosure we saw a pair escorting three young chicks. I hope they didn’t venture into the nearby cheetah enclosure!
Masked Lapwing on nest, Monarto Zoo, South Australia
Related article:
- Masked Lapwings -articles about lapwings from my archives.
Adelaide Rosellas
Adelaide Rosella
I’d just driven out of the driveway this morning on the way to Adelaide when four parrots flew across the road in front of the car. I immediately noticed that they were Adelaide Rosellas, a species not all that common around our house and garden. In fact, they are only occasional visitors here in Murray Bridge.
Adelaide Rosellas, a sub-species of the common Crimson Rosella, are found throughout the Mt Lofty Ranges near Adelaide, as well as in the lower north of South Australia. There are considerable colour variations in different parts of their range, from bright orange through to a washed out orange. The Crimson Rosella (shown below) is much brighter, being quite a deep crimson.
I didn’t have time to stop to take a photo; I was on my way to Adelaide to attend a lecture. And I didn’t have my camera with me anyway. Maybe some other time they will pose for me when I have the camera within easy reach – or even in my hand.
Crimson Rosella, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra
Early morning walk
No Comments »22nd February, 2009; Category: Murray Bridge, Parrots and Lorikeets, Pigeons and Doves, Ravens and Crows
I’m just back from an early morning walk. It was about 15C, crisp fresh, no breeze and cloudless. A perfect morning for a walk.
As I was going along I was aware of several dozen Little Ravens calling nearby. I’ve been aware of many ravens calling near our home over the last week or so. It’s something they tend to do several times a year. They will gather in large numbers, often 30 – 50 or more and commence calling raucously for ten or twenty minutes or more. After a protracted chorus of their calls, especially near the house, one can feel a little annoyed; it can be a penetrating call up close.
Little Raven
I also observed about a dozen Crested Pigeons sitting on the power lines or feeding on the ground. Several of them were giving their elaborate bowing, bobbing and tail fanning display to prospective mates. This species seems to be always breeding around here. Probably why there’s a growing number of them.
We occasionally have lorikeets land to feed in the trees in our garden but more often they just fly over, very rapidly and very noisily. This morning a flock of 10 Purple-crowned Lorikeets went screaming overhead as I walked along, did a 360 turn wheeling around to check me out (or maybe the mallee tree on the side of the road) before streaking off to find another tree in blossom. It’s like having a miniature squadron of fighter jets fly over at close range. The photo below shows a related species, the equally noisy Musk Lorikeet which we also get here from time to time.
Musk Lorikeet