Mallee Ringnecks on a hot day
Mallee Ringneck parrot at our bird bath
During the hot weather we have experienced so far this summer here in South Australia I have had many opportunities to take photos of the constant parade of birds visiting our bird baths. We have positioned the water containers where we can see the birds from our sun room, a room we use often so we can enjoy the birds in our garden.
The Mallee Ringnecks shown in today’s set of photos are resident birds in our garden. This means that we see them every day. On several occasions in recent times they have raised a brood of young ones. We love seeing their colourful feathers as they fly around the garden and especially when they come to drink and bathe. At those times we can really get to appreciate their colours up close.
On the other hand, we have a love-hate relationship with these birds. We hate it when they get into our fruit trees, nibbling at the almost ripened fruit before we have a chance to rescue the fruits of our labours. This year, because of a bad back, I have not been able to cover the trees with netting. Consequently the birds – and possibly the resident possums as well – have taken some of our fruit. We were especially looking forward to a large crop of nectarines. (Those we were able to rescue were delicious.) I must get to the pears before the birds get to them as well.
Further reading:
- Ringnecks and kites
- Mallee Ringnecks nesting
- A small birding accident
- The beautiful Eastern Rosella parrot
Mallee Ringneck parrots at our bird bath
Mallee Ringneck parrots at our bird bath
Mallee Ringneck parrots at our bird bath
A Mistletoebird pays a quick visit
Male Mistletoebird
Yesterday my wife and I were taking a short break from the jobs we had been doing. Sitting on our back veranda we were enjoying the lovely sunny spring weather we have had this week. It was afternoon tea time and we were enjoying a well deserved cup of tea. The back veranda has been a bit of a mess over the winter months and the weather has been too cold to spend too much time cleaning it up. Now that the spring weather is here we had a renewed enthusiasm for being outside.
While we sat there we enjoyed the constant parade of birds hopping around in the garden nearby. Many others were calling and we enjoy trying to identify them by call alone, a good way of honing one’s identification skills. Our resident Superb Fairy-wrens entertain us every day, as do the Mallee Ringneck parrots, the Eastern Rosellas and the Galahs. We can’t work out if the Galahs are actually nesting or not. The Spotted Turtledoves often join in the chorus and in recent days we have had the delight of Peaceful Doves also hanging around near the house.
As we sat there we were delighted to have a female Mistletoebird fly in and alight on a bush in full view just three metres from us. We were able to see the soft, dull grey colours of the feathers on her back, a stark contrast with the blue-black feathers of the male (see photo above). I didn’t have the camera handy, and the bird flew off after less than a minute, so I have shared a photo of the male taken some years ago. I do have one photo of the female, but unfortunately it is not in focus. Sigh.
I cannot categorically say that this is a resident species in our garden and on our 5 acre property, but it is certainly a regular visitor. I hear its call almost every week. Many years ago this was the first species to nest in one of the trees we planted after moving here. There may have been other species before it, but this was the first one we positively recorded doing this. The nest is a delicate pear-shaped container with a small entrance near the top. It is made primarily from spiders’ webs, small leaves, lichen and other soft materials, and hangs from small twigs or leaves. They are just coming into their breeding season, so I need to keep an eye open for a nest. This species is found throughout mainland Australia except in the driest regions. It is not present in Tasmania.
Further reading:
- Beautiful Mistletoebird
- Great Birding Moments #3
- If you click on the name of any of the bird species mentioned in the text above, you can go to other articles about that species.
A small birding accident
Eastern Rosella, Murray Bridge
This morning I had a small birding accident. I didn’t hurt myself – or anyone or anything else. This week the forecast is for severe hot weather after a prolonged period of mild weather, so I decided before breakfast that our bird baths should be replenished every morning. The resident birds sure appreciate the fresh water every day.
I filled a handy bucket from the rainwater tap – I prefer to treat them to rainwater rather than tap water – and trundled outside into the garden. As I carried the very full bucket of water I stepped off the veranda and… disaster! The cheap plastic bucket shattered into about a dozen pieces and water splashed all over my shoes, socks, and legs. The bucket – what was left of it – was immediately thrown in the rubbish bin and another one fetched and filled from the tap over the laundry tub. This time the water reached its destination without further incident.
My efforts were rewarded about an hour later. While reading the paper at the table in our sun room two birds flew in to have a drink and a bath. One was a Mallee Ringneck and the other an Eastern Rosella (see photo above) Strangely, these two birds have been seen together in our garden on many occasions over the last few years. Eastern rosellas are not common in this area.
Further reading:
On the road again part 3
Narrandera birding
On our current trip to Sydney we stopped overnight at Narrandera. This is just over half way from home to our son’s place, our destination. I’ve often wished we could stay for more than a night, because the town environs and the broader district offer a great deal for the birder looking for a large range of species. As an added bonus, the countryside is quite beautiful too.
We couldn’t stay at the local caravan park because all of the cabins were booked, so we opted for one of the motels. We settled in just on sunset so I was able to record a few species before it was dark. Early next morning I added more species to the list while I was packing the car.
As we departed the town stopped for about ten minutes at the wetlands on the southern boundary of the town. While the water birds were largely absent I did manage to get quite a list of bush birds.
Bird list
- Galah
- Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
- Eastern Rosella
- Yellow Rosella
- White-winged Chough
- Australian Magpie
- Clamorous Reed-warbler
- Silvereye
- Laughing Kookaburra
- Grey Teal
- Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
- Crested Pigeon
- Sacred Kingfisher
- Weebill
- White-plumed Honeyeater
- Rock Dove
- Blue-faced Honeyeater
Get out of my patch
1 Comment »6th September, 2013; Category: Bird Behaviour, Garden birds, Honeyeaters, Parrots and Lorikeets
Eastern Rosella in Eremophila youngii
We normally have a few Mallee Ringneck parrots hanging around somewhere on our 5 acre property. In the last few years we have also had one Eastern Rosella keeping them company. We don’t see it every day but frequently enough to keep us happy – after all, it is a handsome looking bird.
This particular parrot has taken a liking to the flowers of several of our Eremophila youngii bushes – you can see the flowers in today’s photos. All the bushes have a pink carpet of flowers surrounding their trunks.
Earlier this week we were enjoying watching the rosella eating while we had our breakfast. A sudden flurry of flapping wings and snapping beaks and the parrot flew off at full speed – its tail closely pursued by an very aggressive Red Wattlebird which in turn was followed by a New Holland Honeyeater.
Both of these honeyeater species spend large proportions of their day also feeding on the flowers, so they seemed to be objecting to this interloper elbowing in on their patch. In reality, while both honeyeater species feed on this bush, neither tolerates the other for more than a few seconds. It is an all out territorial war.
And I forgot to mention that both honeyeater species are in breeding mode, so their tolerance level is at its lowest at this time of the year.
Further reading:
- Red wattlebird in a Eremophila bush
- Let’s all have an early morning bath
- The Eastern Rosella is back home
- Mallee Ringnecks feeding young
Eastern Rosella in Eremophila youngii