Wattlebirds and grevilleas
3 Comments »19th September, 2011; Category: Flowers, Garden birds, Honeyeaters, Plants, Trip reports
Grevillea flowers, Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens
Sydney Trip Report June 2011
A few days ago I wrote about our short visit to the Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens in southern NSW. We were on our way home from holidaying in Sydney with family. These gardens are small but hold a nice range of Australian and exotic plants. It’s also a good spot to get right off the highway, relax with a picnic or a cuppa, and enjoy the range of birds resident in the area.
On this visit I managed to photograph several of the Grevillea species in flower, and while doing so I also captured a Red Wattlebird feeding on one of the bushes (see photo below). It must have been hungry, for the bird almost completely ignored me and my camera only a short distance away. I guess it also needed to stock up on energy for the cold night which was quickly closing in. It had been a bitterly cold day, quite unpleasant for being out and about.
While my prime objective is to photograph our wonderful Australian birds and showcase them here in this site, I also enjoy getting great shots of our native flowers like the Grevilleas. (You can see more photos of flowers, both native and exotic, on my other site, Trevor’s Travels. Click on the Parks and Gardens category or click here.
Red Wattlebird feeding on Grevillea flowers
Grevillea flowers, Wagga Wagga Botanic Gardens
Lunch and a new bird: Tree Sparrow
No Comments »2nd January, 2009; Category: Finches
House Sparrow
2008 Holiday in New South Wales Trip Report #5
From Narrandera we travelled on towards Wagga Wagga, arriving in time for lunch. We sought out a shady spot in the local Botanic Gardens and soon were enjoying our picnic lunch. As I was eating I noticed that there were quite a few sparrows nearby.
The sparrows sounded different – not like the House Sparrows at home. I quickly zoomed in on two of them with the camera. A close examination of the photo proved correct; I had just added a new species to my Australian list, the introduced Eurasian Tree Sparrow. Unfortunately this does not qualify as an additional to my Life List because I had previously seen these sparrows near the River Kwai in Thailand. Never mind – it was a good sighting as I believe that they are not all that common outside Victoria.
Eurasian Tree Sparrow