Black-backed Magpies
The Australian Magpie has three recognised races – the White-backed, the Black-backed and the Western.
Here in Murray Bridge the common one is the White-backed Magpie.
Australian Magpie (White-backed race)
From time to time I do see a Black-backed Magpie near our home. Yesterday I saw a single bird of this race just up the road from our home, perhaps about 400 metres away. This is note worthy because it is about the furthest west I’ve seen this race here in South Australia. I must keep a sharp eye out and check all those magpies that visit our garden.
Related articles:
- Australian Magpies – a more detailed discussion on the various races of this species, including notes on distribution.
A delightful morning walk
No Comments »24th November, 2007; Category: Murray Bridge
Peaceful Dove, Cleland Wildlife Park
Yesterday my wife and I went for an early morning walk – for the good of our health.
It was a lovely start to the day. A gentle breeze, just cool enough to be pleasant, a few clouds and plenty of birds. I enjoy walking down the track near our home because there is rarely any traffic and the birding is usually good without being spectacular. The occasional special sighting is always a bonus, like the Peaceful Dove heard as we walked along. I didn’t get to see the bird in question but its call is always a delight. (The photo of a Peaceful Dove shown above was taken last year in a walk-through aviary in the Adelaide Hills.)
The walk started out well with a Brown Falcon swooping on some Common Starlings in our orchard. I’m not sure if he caught anything. Along the way we were delighted to see a small flock of about four or five Red-rumped Parrots. Several pairs of Galahs and later a small flock of this beautiful Australian parrot flew overhead. The Common Blackbirds along this road were in full voice, their musical calls another delight. Several small groups of Crested Pigeons lined the power lines along the road, or kept vigil on fencing wires.
The honeyeaters were already hard at work gathering breakfast from whatever trees or bushes were in flower, or where there was an abundance of insects. Red Wattlebirds, White-plumed Honeyeaters and Singing Honeyeaters seemed to be everywhere, many of them adding to the early morning chorus.
The occasional Little Raven flew slowly overhead, calling mournfully as it went. A number of Australian Magpies were kept busy finding food for their recently fledged young who insistently keep begging for food despite being quite able to fend for themselves.
Just where we stopped our walk and turned for home again a family of White-browed Babblers skittered across the road, flying quickly from a bush on one side of the track to another bush on the other side. Their warning calls were unnecessary; we just delight in seeing this species.
An early morning walk like that one is more than just good for the body. It is refreshing and invigorating the the mind and spirit as well as the body.
Ostriches in Australia – and near my home
If I want to see an Ostrich I only have to take a ten minute drive from home.
Now before all you Australian twitchers out there jump in your car or on a plane to “tick” this species off your list, let me explain. The Ostriches I’m talking about are in the Monarto Zoo just down the road from Murray Bridge in South Australia. They have a thriving collection of Ostriches as part of their displays of African animals. Visitors can walk down the hill from the Visitor Centre and get a close look through the fence. You also get excellent views as you do the bus tour of the zoo.
Ostriches at Monarto Zoo, South Australia
Ostrich Farms:
Many people would not know that there have been several feral populations of Ostriches in Australia over the last hundred years or so. One such population existed near Port Augusta in the far north. They had been “farmed” for their feathers on a sheep and cattle station there in the late 1800s. A remnant feral population has existed in this region ever since, though their numbers were never more than a few dozen at best. Even though I lived in Port Augusta in the 1970s for ten years, I never managed to see even one.
Other ostrich farms existed in other states and several in the Coorong region of South Australia where a feral population existed for some time. None survive in that area today. A recent correspondent on the Birding-Aus forum lived in Port Augusta in the 1990s and he suggested that the feral population there was captured for sale. At the time Ostrich farming had a sudden but short resurgence. He was of the opinion that a small remnant population still exists in that region. There have been no recorded sightings to my knowledge in the last decade. CORRECTION: There was a report today on Birding -Aus of a sighting of a pair with 9 chicks (May 17th 2009) on Mt Arden Station near Port Augusta. (Note: there is no access to this area for birders.)
Further reading:
- Birds of Monarto Zoo – plus information about the zoo
UPDATE: Would all readers please note – I am not in the business of breeding and selling birds, Ostriches included. This is a blog about Australian birds in the wild.
Common Skylark
No Comments »5th September, 2007; Category: Murray Bridge
One of the birds I love hearing singing is the Common Skylark, also known as the English Skylark. This species was introduced from Britain in the 1850s and it has spread throughout south eastern Australia. While it is widespread my experience of this species is that it is not abundant anywhere but present in small numbers over a wide area. I could be wrong.
This species is partly migratory here in Australia. I mainly hear it singing high in the air near our house in the winter and early spring months. I can’t recall it singing in the summer around here. Over recent weeks I have been hearing several of them singing in the paddock opposite our driveway. I have only seen this species on a handful of occasions so I don’t have a photo.
To see an excellent photo taken by someone else, click here.
Another new bird for my district list
I received a tip off from a fellow birder that a bird I hadn’t seen for some time had been seen in the local wetlands just five minutes drive from home. I had some business to attend to in the business section of town so I took the opportunity to do some birding on my way home.
I written before about the Rocky Gully Wetlands area here in Murray Bridge in South Australia. It is usually a fruitful place to stop for a few minutes just to see what is around. I was not disappointed. IN about thirty minutes of birding I managed to list 27 species, including Common Sandpiper, a new bird for my Murray Bridge and district list. I have seen it elsewhere but this was a first her for me. I forgot to take the camera, but I don;t think I would have been able to approach close enough anyway.
Other notable sighting included good views of Superb Blue Wrens, about a dozen Black Winged Stilts and some fine Chestnut Teals. I also had excellent views from the bird hide of two Nankeen Kestrels sitting on a sign. One was obviously a juvenile for it kept begging food from the other. The adult bird flew off for a few minutes and returned with what looked like a mouse. It then proceeded to feed the young one.
Further reading:
- A new bird for my district list – Little Wattlebird
- Black Swans at Rocky Gully Wetlands
- Rocky Gully Wetlands, Murray Bridge
Australian Pelicans, Rocky Gully Wetlands