Last bird for 2012
No Comments »1st January, 2013; Category: Garden birds, General, Nocturnal birds, Owls Frogmouths and Nightjars
Happy New Year to all my readers.
Didn’t get to go out to do any birding yesterday. I was too busy preparing for our New Year’s Eve celebrations. Not that we hold wild, unbridled parties – quite the opposite. We invited six close friends to join us for a barbecue and an evening of unbridled anecdotes, jokes, laughter, serious observations on life and plenty of food. It was low key, relaxed and relatively quiet.
Just before midnight we heard the unmistakable call of “our” Australian Owlet-nightjar in the trees in our garden. It was a wonderful ending to a low-key year of birding. The Owlet-nightjar has been a resident species in our garden for several years now. We don’t always hear it calling, especially when the television is on. Another highlight yesterday was the return of the two Superb Fairy-wrens to our garden; they’d been absent for a few weeks.
I didn’t get a photo of the Owlet-nightjar but I did manage one of this normally nocturnal species a few years ago. You can click here to see a photo.
Related articles:
Southern Boobook Owl
Southern Boobook Owl, Murray Bridge
A few nights ago I was collecting our mail from the local post office at about 10:30pm (don’t ask why I was getting the mail so late at night – it’s another story). As I emerged from the car I was delighted to hear the distinctive call of a Boobook Owl nearby. The sound was probably coming from the trees near back of the Town Hall, or perhaps the nearby railway station. I didn’t have a torch with to track it down, nor did I have a camera with me, so I’ve used the photo of one I took in our garden a few months ago.
I guess I was a little surprised at first to hear an owl right there a few steps from the town’s CBD. When I thought about it the owl was probably resident in that area for a very good reason: food. Around the various shops and businesses and several schools within 500 metres, the pickings would have been good. Rats and mice abound in the area so it would probably not be going hungry. About ten years ago some students in the school in which I was teaching noticed one in the tree at the front of the school and pointed it out to me. Nice to know it’s surviving in this location.
Further reading:
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
Tawny Frogmouth, Innes National Park
Tawny Frogmouth, Innes NP Visitor Centre
The Tawny Frogmouth has a special place in our family folklore. Back in the mid 1980s we were camped in the Hattah-Kulkyne National Park in north west Victoria. We were right next to Lake Hattah, a lovely camping spot and place full of interesting birds. On this occasion we were disturbed around midnight by an “um-um-um-um” sound in the distance – or so we thought. Imaging the worst we feared someone had a portable generator, something forbidden in most Australian national parks. It really annoyed us.
Just as we were retiring the following night we heard the noise again. My attention was drawn to a dark shape in the tree just above our tent. Sitting there quite at home was our “generator”, a Tawny Frogmouth calling. This was the first time I’d heard this bird calling. And it kept on calling for a long time but we slept soundly, now knowing where the noise was coming from.
We occasionally have this species in our garden which is great. We don’t often hear it calling due to other noises – such as the television. My latest encounter with the species was at the Visitor Centre of the Innes National Park. We were paying our entry fees and I saw the lovely bird (shown above) sitting on display on the counter. A beautiful bird.
Sad to think that its um-um-umming days are over.
Good birding.
Tawny Frogmouth, Adelaide Zoo
3 Comments »29th January, 2011; Category: Adelaide Zoo, Aviaries, Nocturnal birds, Owls Frogmouths and Nightjars, Zoos
Tawny Frogmouth, Adelaide Zoo
It is not easy to get good photos of nocturnal birds like the Tawny Frogmouth shown above.
I have had some unusual opportunities to get good shots of the Southern Boobook Owl, Spotted Nightjar and the Australian Owlet Nightjar in the past, but generally it is more a matter of taking unique opportunities when they present themselves.
The Tawny Frogmouth is certainly one of my favourite birds. We first encountered this fascinating bird while camping at Hattah Lakes in Victoria many years ago. The bird on that occasion was perched on a branch above our tent calling persistently and annoyingly – until we found out what it was in our torchlight. Once we knew what it was we were able to relax and get some sleep. Its “oom-oom-oom-oom” call has an unusual quality; it seems to be coming from far off but can be only metres away.
Tawny Frogmouths are found throughout Australia in a wide range of habitats. While they are most often heard at night it is possible to see them during the day. If other birds become aware of them roosting in a tree they can draw attention to the bird by mobbing it. I’ve expereinced this a number of times in recent years. While I can’t say this is a resident species in our garden, it is probably a more frequent visitor than we realise. It is certainly present in our district and we are only aware of one when we hear it calling at night.
The above photo is the best I have of this species but it is not brilliant. It was taken through the wire of an aviary at Adelaide Zoo.
Further reading:
- Southern Boobook Owl in our garden
- Australian Owlet Nightjar in our garden
- Spotted Nightjar
- Australian Owlet-nightjar does exist