Ian Roberts, Bird Artist
We stayed with our daughter in Clare in the mid-north of South Australia recently. While we were there we went to the nearby small town of Blyth, about twenty minutes drive to the west. We especially went to visit the Medika Gallery run by Ian Roberts. We have known Ian for some years through the Australian Plants Society. Ian has regularly grown plants for sale at our sales in Adelaide. He also exhibits his paintings at the plant sales.
Bird Paintings
Although we often visit Clare and have driven through Blyth many times we had never visited the Medika Gallery. Ian has converted an old church in the middle of the town into a wonderfully welcoming gallery displaying both his paintings and the works of several other local artists. Ian specialises in painting Australian birds. He has a wonderful gift of being able to capture not only the beauty but also the unique characteristics of our birds. He is also able to beautifully portray the birds in natural settings, highlighting many of our native Australian plants where the birds feed, roost or nest.
To view some of Ian’s beautiful paintings click here. You can also order his works through his site.
This post was updated on 23rd February 2017.
Silvereyes
Silvereyes are small dainty birds with a white eye ring, hence their name. They are relatively common and widespread throughout the Murraylands region of South Australia. In my experience they seem to frequent parks and gardens. This species always delights me when I see it and they can be quite tame and approach one with curiosity.
Unfortunately, they do not seem to like our garden for some reason. We only see them infrequently, and then only fleetingly. On several occasions I thought I heard their call but didn’t have the time to follow them up and check them out. I did see a small flock fly over head but they didn’t settle long enough for me to be sure.
That’s where my wife’s main interest has an advantage over my birding.
Flowers, and the plants they are attached to, don’t tend to fly off.
Birds and Plants
My wife and I have just finished a very busy weekend of hard work. On both Saturday and Sunday we spent all day at the Australian Plants Society autumn plant sale at the Wayville Showgrounds in Adelaide. We also plan to attend the spring plant sale and flower show on the 7th and 8th of October. We took several loads of plants to sell at this event, totalling over 1500 individual plants this time. These are grown in our Mallee Native Plants nursery.
Help Desk
My wife spends most of her time keeping an eye on her plants on the tables and assisting customers with their purchases. She also networks with other growers attending the sale. These growers are an excellent source if information and most are very willing to share their knowledge. At the same time my job is to assist at the Help Desk, usually situated near the entrance. Many customers come to the help desk asking for help with plant selection. I have my laptop there in front of me, my laser printer alongside and with a monitor facing the customers. We step them through a selection process, keying in their preferences and then print out a list of plants available at the sale which potentially meet their requirements.
APS Query
One of the others at the Help Desk is Howard Harvey who has written the program called APS Query which we use during the sales. This program helps us narrow the search for plants. We key in the unique planting situation of the customer, such as whether they are planting in full sun, dappled shade or full shade, whether the plants need to be drought, frost, wind or lime tolerant, the Ph of the soil, the desired size (height, width) of the plants and many other fields to choose from. This narrows the search from some 1500 species available at the sale down to a manageable 20-50 species, which we then print out for them. Most customers then happily trot off with this list to the tables displaying the plants that are for sale. I find it very satisfying helpingpeople in this way.
Birds and Plants
What has this got to do with birds?
Everything.
Many birds rely on plants for their food as well as for nesting and roosting sites. By careful plant selection we can encourage our native Australian birds to become and remain resident in our gardens. The result can be most satisfying. The colour of the flowers is augmented by the activity of the birds. They not only add their own colour, their movements flitting from flower to flower and from bush to bush adds much in the way of interest. A garden without birds is sterile and uninteresting – to me anyway.
Bird Attracting Plants
This is a huge topic. I will mention only a few of the types of plants we find work in our garden and district. I have already written (in other posts) about the delights of Correas, those beautifully coloured bell shaped flowers that will light up any garden with colour and which are so irresistable to our honeyeaters here in Australia.
The eremophila species (commonly called ‘Emu bushes’) are another attractive species for birds in our gardens. Their curved tubular flowers are nectar treasure troves to our honeyeaters. They come in such a wide range of colours too. Callistemons (or ‘Bottle-brushes’) are plants that can be covered in flowers – and simply filled with honeyeaters getting drunk on the nectar. A flowering bottle-brush plant can aslo be noisy with the screeching of lorikeets or the squabbling of honeyeaters.
Eucalypts (‘gum trees’) offer much for the birds of Australia too. When in flower the honeyeaters, lorikeets and other parrots swarm all over them. The tiny pardalotes have a smorgasbord of insects such as lerp to feast on. Sittellas, shrike-tits, tree-creepers, babblers and currawongs search for insects, beetles and spiders lurking under the bark. Robins and Flycatchers use the branches to sit quietly, watching for passing insects to fly by. Gum trees provide many opportunities for nesting and roosting sites. Older trees provide hollows for nesting parrots, owls, frogmouths and pardalotes.
Many Uses
As I said, this is a vast topic. I have mentioned only four genera of plants. There would be few, if any, Australian native plants that are not used in some way by our birds. Some species show a decided preference for some plant species, but most birds use our plants in a variety of ways.
Mallee Trees
In recent posts I have mentioned the word “mallee”. This is a particularly Australian word derived from the Aboriginal people of Australia. It specifically relates to a group of eucalypt tree species collectively known as “mallee trees.”
Mallee Scrub, Murray Bridge
“The Mallee”
Some areas of Australia are referred colloquially as “The Mallee“. These are areas where the mallee tree is the dominant species. The area where we live in Murray Bridge South Australia and areas to the east of here to the Victorian border are often referred to as the “Murray Mallee” because here the Murray River flows through the region where mallee trees are common. We have many mallee trees in our garden and the Murray River is but 5km from here.
Mallee birds
There are many bird and animal species whose preferred habitat is the mallee and its associations. Some species even have the word “mallee” as a part of their name eg Mallee Ringneck Parrot, Mallee Emu Wren and the Malleefowl.
For more information about the word mallee check out the Wikipedia entry here.
UPDATE October 2006: since writing this article I have added the photos that now appear on this page. Both were taken on our property and show typical mallee trees.
UPDATE March 2010: Further photos have been added below.
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Mallee Scrub, Murray Bridge
The following photos were taken elsewhere and show typical examples of mallee trees.
Mallee trees in Lowan Conservation Park, South Australia
Mallee trees in Lowan Conservation Park, South Australia
Murray-Sunset National Park, NW Victoria
Kakadu & Arnhem Land – a DVD review
I have subscribed to the Australian Geographic magazine for many years and enjoy the interesting and varied articles about Australia that they contain. I think that the photography contained in these magazines is brilliant. I particularly enjoy any photos and articles about birds, plants and other aspects of our wonderful flora and fauna.
Special DVD
The last two issues of the magazine have included a bonus DVD produced and presented by Sorrel Wilby. The current issue, which arrived a few days ago, included number 2 in the series and is titled “Kakadu & Arnhem Land.” It covers some of the flora and fauna of this wonderful region of the Northern Territory of Australia. Its main strength, however, is in the coverage of the culture of the local Aboriginal people. The commentary gives one a good introduction to the deep spiritual connection between the Aboriginal culture and the land we know as Kakadu.
The birds and plants of Kakadu
While this new DVD does not specifically cover the vast range of birds and plants present in the Kakadu and Arnhem Land region, it does feature quite a number of species, especially water birds, in several sections. The opening few minutes show quite an array of the birds one can see there. Several species of plants and insects are also featured but this is just a taste of the enormous range of flora and fauna that has been recorded there.
Bonus feature
A special extra bonus on the DVD is a 4 minute feature on photographer David Hancock. He has specialised in photographing the Kakadu and Arnhem Land area. His latest article “Buffalo Rising” – about buffaloes in the Northern Territory – is included in the current issue of the magazine.
Conclusion
This beautiful new DVD will certainly give people a taste of what is to be seen in the Kakadu area. The photography is beautiful and inspiring. The introduction to the spiritual and cultural heritage of the region is interesting. Overall, it will inspire people who have never visited the region to put Kakadu on their “must see” list. Those who have had the delight of already experiencing the region will feel the urge to return.
Birders wanting lots of photos of birds may be disappointed. I would like to have seen more birds featured – but then, this was not intended as just another bird DVD. Its intention was to paint a broader picture, and has indeed, succeeded in doing so.
The main section runs for 52 minutes.
UPDATE January 4th 2008: Back copies of this DVD and others in the same series are currently available from the magazine by ringing 1300 555 176 Monday to Friday during office hours (Australian time).
Update Nov 2013: I’m not sure if these DVDs are still available.