Opportunistic Magpies
Australian Magpie gathering wool for nesting material
It never ceases to amaze me when I consider how enterprising and opportunistic birds can be, especially when it comes to nesting time. It’s that time again and our resident Australian Magpies having been busy fighting to establish their territories. Our 5 acre block on the edge of town is the intersection of three territories, so at this time of the year there are many disputes over boundaries.
One pair dominates the area around our house and sheds and they are the birds that come most frequently to our bird baths and close to the house. They will often come right up to the front or back doors and allow us to get quite close. They are also quite happy to search for food only a metre or two from where we might be working or sitting in the garden. This includes our back veranda area where we often cook a BBQ and eat a meal.This is despite never having fed them in any way.
A few days ago my wife had a fleece of coloured wool out in the sunshine to dry. She was preparing it for spinning but our resident female magpie found it. Soon she was taking big chunks to the nest tree. Incensed at this free-loading, my wife brought the fleece onto the veranda and draped it over the clothes horse. Undeterred, the magpie enterprisingly found it and continued her nest lining activities. The photographic proof is shown on this post.
For those interested in learning more about magpies go to this article: The fearsome flute players. There is a special offer for readers of Trevor’s Birding.
Australian Magpie gathering wool for nesting material
Australian Magpie gathering wool for nesting material
Tawny Frogmouths roosting
7 Comments »6th July, 2011; Category: Nests, Owls Frogmouths and Nightjars, Parrots and Lorikeets, Photos
Tawny Frogmouth, Blackwood, South Australia
Yesterday we had the opportunity to visit friends in Blackwood in the Adelaide Hills. They have an extensive collection of native Australian plants grown over many years. They are about to downsize by moving elsewhere and my wife was invited to come and get whatever cuttings she wanted. She loves opportunities like this and uses the cuttings to propagate more plants.
The weather was bitterly cold, overcast and blowing a gale – when it wasn’t raining. Not a great day for birding, you’d think. Well, the list I made was rather short but made up for by getting great photos of a pair of Tawny Frogmouths in a neighbour’s tree. It was close to the fence and easy to get some great shots. I am confident in calling them a pair as our friends told me that they have successfully raised several broods in recent years.
The nesting boxes in the tall gum trees in their garden have also had the following nesting in them in recent years: Galah, Eastern Rosella, Adelaide Rosella and Brush-tailed Possum.
Tawny Frogmouth, Blackwood, South Australia
Tawny Frogmouth, Blackwood, South Australia
Tawny Frogmouth, Blackwood, South Australia
Portrait of a Magpie Lark
Close up view of a Magpie Lark
I like having several bird baths strategically placed around our garden. I especially like those we’ve placed with a good view from our sun room where we often sit to have our meals.
During hot weather especially there is a constant stream of birds of many species which come to drink from or bath in the water. On more than a few occasions I have raced off to get my camera for more photos to share here. On this occasion a Magpie Lark posed just right for a good portrait shot as he paused from drinking.
The white eyebrow indicates that this is the male of a resident breeding pair in our garden. They make a delicate bowl-shaped mud nest, usually quite high up in nearby mallee trees.
Close up view of a Magpie Lark
Hooded Plover
4 Comments »10th February, 2011; Category: Adelaide Zoo, Bird Behaviour, Nests, Plovers Dotterels and Lapwings, Seabirds, Zoos
Hooded Plover
The Hooded Plover is found along the southern coast of Australia, from Tasmania, though Victoria, South Australia and southern Western Australia. Its preferred habitat is sandy beaches where there is plenty of seaweed and there are nearby rocky outcrops, reefs and sand dunes. In some parts it can be found at salt lakes some distance inland in SA and WA. It lays its 2 or 3 eggs in a shallow scrape in the beach sand during the months of September to January.
The Hooded Plover is an endangered species. On the Fleurieu Peninsula near where I live there are fewer than 75 left, according the warning sign near the beach at Victor Harbor (see below). On a visit to Victor Harbor some years ago I was walking along this beach watching over about 60 primary school children on an end of year school camp. Trying to keep so many little feet away from the nest with two eggs took a major effort, but the birds patrolling the beach nearby were not too disturbed. Why they chose one of the busiest beaches in South Australia to lay their eggs is a mystery to me! I hope they survived.
The bird in the photo above was not taken at the beach. It was of a bird in an aviary at Adelaide Zoo where the keepers have cleverly recreated a small sandy beach to imitate its natural habitat.
Hooded Plover warning sign on beach at Victor Harbor, South Australia
Australian Magpie Lark nest
Magpie Lark nest
Australian Magpie Larks are a resident bird species in our garden. We see our two on a daily basis as they scratch around in the garden looking for their food. When they both call to each other is can be quite noisy, especially when they are under the back veranda, a place they think is their own.
Earlier in the year they commenced a mud nest in a tall tree next to our clothes line. They were about to lay some eggs when we had several days of heavy rain accompanied by wild winds. Their nest was destroyed by the weather. When it calmed down they set about constructing a replacement. This time they were successful in raising a brood.
Magpie Lark