Search Results for 'eastern rosella'

Time for a bath: visitors to our bird bath

21 Comments »3rd November, 2006; Category: Garden birds, Animals, Bird baths, Bird Behaviour

Brown-headed Honeyeater

Some years ago we set up a birdbath on our patio area. It gave us much pleasure to see birds coming to drink and bathe. More recently we moved it to the other side of the house. Now it is in full view from our sunroom. It is here we often eat our meals, and work at the table with the birdbath in full view.

Over recent years, this location has had four main benefits:

It is a great time waster investment; watching the birds go about their daily lives just a few metres from where we are sitting is both relaxing and refreshing to the body, mind and spirit.
It is most entertaining, especially when a bird like a Mallee Ringneck Parrot comes to bathe and the water sprays in all directions.
It is excellent for photography; with the 12X zoom on my camera, I have taken many close-up shots of the birds visiting. (Update: my new camera has a 20x zoom. Further update: I now have a camera with an 83x zoom.)
It is educational; our human visitors marvel at our avian visitors and this gives us the opportunity to further enhance our friends’ appreciation of the natural environment.

White-plumed Honeyeater

I’ve actually installed three different baths in close proximity to one another; one on the ground (which the lizards sometimes use too), one at a height of about 60cm and the third at about 1.5m. This gives them choices. The nearby branches and bushes give them a place of refuge if they feel threatened in any way.

House Sparrow (male)

A List of Species that have visited our bird baths:

Mallee Ringneck Parrot
New Holland Honeyeater
Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
Red Wattlebird
Brown-headed Honeyeater
Singing Honeyeater
White-plumed Honeyeater
House Sparrow
Common Starling
Little Raven
Willie Wagtail
Spotted Turtledove
Crested Pigeon
Spotted Pardalote
Striated Pardalote
Diamond Firetail Finch
Yellow-rumped Thornbill
Grey Shrike-thrush
Australian Magpie
Magpie Lark
Mistletoebird
Common Blackbird
Rufous Whistler (see updates below)
European Goldfinch (see updates below)
Chestnut-rumped Thornbill (see updates below)
Grey Fantail (see updates below)
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike (see updates below)
Galah (see updates below)
Grey Currawong (see updates below)
Eastern Rosella (see updates below)
Sacred Kingfisher (see updates below)
Dusky Woodswallow (see updates below)
White-browed Babblers (see updates below)
White-winged Chough (see updates below)
White-browed Woodswallow (see updates below)
Purple-crowned Lorikeet (see updates below)
Animals
Red Fox
Stumpy-tailed Lizard
European Rabbit
Brown Snake
Blue-tongue Lizard

That’s quite a list!

UPDATE: More recently we have added the following species to the list:

Rufous Whistler

European Goldfinch

Chestnut-rumped Thornbill

UPDATE #2 Two more species to add to the list:

Stumpy-tail Lizard (also called a Shingleback Lizard)

Red Fox – yes, that’s right, a fox.

Brown Snake – passed close to the bird bath on the ground. In January 2016 a metre long Brown Snake actually stopped to have a drink. See photos here.

UPDATE #3 Another species to add to the list: Grey Fantail – it came to the bird bath briefly but left before I could take a photograph (4th May, 2007)

UPDATE #4 In January 2008 we had a single Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike come to drink briefly from the bird bath.

UPDATE #5 In late January 2008 a single Galah came to within a metre of the bird bath but did not drink. A few weeks later I added Grey Currawong to the list.

UPDATE #6 In December 2008 I added European Rabbit to the list.

UPDATE #7 In December 2009 I added Eastern Rosella. (Click here for a photo)

UPDATE #8 In November 2013 a Sacred Kingfisher perched about a metre from the bird bath but did not drink. In February 2014 a Dusky Woodswallow came to drink during one of our heat waves during a very hot summer.

UPDATE #9 In September 2015 I added White-winged Chough, White-browed Babbler and Blue-tongue Lizard (click for photo)

UPDATE #10 In December 2015, during a heatwave, I added White-browed Woodswallow.

UPDATE #11 In December 2020 I added Purple-crowned Lorikeet.

Comments: many of my readers have commented on this post – read them below and leave one of your own.

Update: this post was last updated on December 2020.

Mallee Ringneck Parrot

My Most Popular Bird Photos

No Comments »28th October, 2006; Category: Birds, Photos

The family photo gallery has been up and running now for about four months now and we are getting plenty of views (over 90,000 and counting). During that time some of the photos have proved to be very popular.

For those who may have missed these photos, or who are new visitors to this blog, here are the three most viewed bird photos:

1. Mallee Ringneck 361 views

Mallee Ringneck Parrot

2. Eastern Rosella 323 views

Eastern Rosella

3. Noisy Miner 321 views

Noisy Miner at Swanport Reserve

Lunch snatching birds at Lane Cove National Park

5 Comments »23rd October, 2016; Category: Kingfishers, Honeyeaters

Long-necked Turtles, Lane Cove River

As I write this we are in Sydney visiting our son and his family. We enjoy visiting him because it is a precious time of blessing as we spend time with our two grandchildren, ages eight and five. It is always great to see them growing and developing. During our times here in Sydney we have limited opportunities to go birding, so any free time we have is really appreciated. On this particular trip, we have visited Lane Cove National Park on several occasions, both times for lunch. This national park is only about ten minutes away by car, depending on the volume of traffic and time of day.

On a recent visit, we set up our folding chairs in a shady spot with a good view of the river. We placed our picnic lunch on the side table of our chairs. Before we could take a bite I observed two Long-necked Turtles sunning themselves on a log protruding from the water (see photo above). I handed my binoculars to my wife so that she could have a closer look at them.

That was when we were robbed!

A cheeky Laughing Kookaburra swooped down from a nearby branch. It snatched a part of my wife’s sandwich and flew off with it. As it dropped the sandwich makings on the grass nearby, another kookaburra flew down to share in this ill-gotten booty. Not long after this, as they were squabbling over their prize, a Noisy Miner joined in the fun. Noisy Miners are one of our native honeyeater species; they can be quite aggressive towards smaller birds and they are obviously quite at home matching it with the much larger kookaburras.

Laughing Kookaburras enjoying our lunch

My wife was incensed. She had lost a portion of her lunch to a thieving bird. Later, she read a small plaque on one of the park picnic tables. In fact, all tables have copies of the same message: “Visitors are asked not to feed the birds and animals” or words to that effect. Perhaps the rangers should also put up signs instructing the local wildlife not to snatch human food.

Naturally, we guarded the rest of our lunch very carefully. No sense in losing any more of it. A few minutes later, two Brush-turkeys came mooching around. They looked as if they also wanted a handout. In fact, I held out my empty palm towards one of them and it approached to within a few centimetres of my hand. It left disappointed.

Please do not feed the birds

I think it would be prudent of me to make mention of the fact that it is strongly recommended that people in parks, gardens and even their own gardens refrain from feeding our native birds. Most human food – especially bread – is actually quite dangerous – even deadly – for our birds. By all means, provide fresh drinking water in a birdbath, but resist the desire to feed them. It’s for their welfare.

Good birding,

Trevor

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Where’s my camera?

1 Comment »11th August, 2015; Category: Birders, Camera

Last Friday my wife had a medical appointment in Adelaide. It was an early morning appointment which meant that we had most of the day to do other things. Instead of taking the quick way home via the south eastern freeway we took a far more interesting route home. We drove up through the Adelaide Hills (part of the Mt Lofty Ranges) via Gorge Road. Along the way we stopped for an extended cup of tea and delicious scones at the Big Rocking Horse at Gumeracha.

I was about to grab my camera to take some photos of the world’s largest rocking horse and some of the local bird life when I realised I had left my camera at home. I had remembered my note book and a pen to record what I saw, I had remembered my binoculars and a field guide resides permanently in the car so I don’t have to remember it. But no camera. Doh.

Oh well, I just had to be content with doing some birding via the naked eye. (Can one say “naked eye” when I do have the assistance of glasses?) Still, birding without either a camera or binoculars is good for honing one’s observation skills. I had also left the binoculars in the car while we sat in the warm restaurant having morning tea. The large picture windows make viewing the nearby landscape extremely easy and delightful.

So, without the help of any visual aids I managed to following list of birds:

Common Blackbird
New Holland Honeyeater
Galah
Little Raven
Crimson Rosella (Adelaide Rosella)
White Ibis
Rainbow Lorikeet
Australian Magpie
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo.
Australian Wood Duck

That’s not a great list but the conditions were difficult for the following reasons:

It was very cold and not many birds were active
The weather was heavily overcast and gloomy
The scones were delicious and needed my full attention
My wife an I were in deep conversation for over an hour discussing an important life decision I need to make shortly.

Happy birding.