One bird that finally sat still – Eastern Spinebill
Eastern Spinebill
2007 Australian Capital Territory trip report #12
The Eastern Spinebill is one of Australia’s more colourful honeyeaters. We do not have this species in our garden in Murray Bridge, so I have to travel up into the Adelaide Hills, or interstate, to see this lovely bird.
It is a relatively common species in its range which extends along the coastal regions of eastern and south eastern Australia, from near Brisbane through to north of Adelaide. Its preferred habitat includes gardens, forests, heathlands and woodlands.
This particular species has caused me some angst over the last two years. Although I’ve seen it quite a few times, I haven’t been able to get any individuals to sit still long enough for me to focus the camera. Until my recent visit to the Australian National Botanic Gardens, that is. It’s quite a long drive to find one cooperative bird. Never mind, get it I did. It’s an even longer drive to see its cousin, the Western Spinebill in Western Australia. That one will have to wait a little while to appear in my camera lens.
Click on the image to enlarge the photo.
Further reading:
- To access the archived articles about honeyeaters click here.
- Great birding moments – a list of articles about some of my great experiences in birding.
The problem with Common Blackbirds
One of my readers posed this perplexing problem with Common Blackbirds:
Helppppp!!We have a Huggggggge problem with Blackbirds in our garden, flicking our mulch all over the place, it’s driving us crazy, do you know where we could get one of those electronic things to scare them off, or anything else that would work in getting rid of them??
Regards
Mary.
This is a common problem in many gardens.
Unfortunately, as far as I know, there is no simple, easy solution. Most gardeners tolerate this behaviour because they love to hear the beautiful song of the Blackbird during the breeding season.
Electronic device:
Mary asks about an electronic device to scare them away. I do not know of any but I suggest asking at the local hardware stores and garden centres. A long search of the internet turned up one very expensive (about $50US) device in a store in Kansas. The downside of this device is that it does not discriminate; it scares ALL birds, including the native birds that keep the natural balance of nature in the garden. Without the native birds eating the insects like mosquitoes, flies, beetles, centipedes, spiders and so on, our gardens would become an ecological disaster area. It would be a far greater problem than the nuisance caused by the Blackbirds.
Other alternatives:
Here we need to get a little creative. I’m not sure whether any of these ideas will work because I haven’t tried them. Some may even look a little ugly.
- Get rid of the mulch – with water restrictions this may not be desirable or possible.
- Replace the bark mulch with gravel or pebbles too heavy for the birds to move – an expensive solution.
- Build 20cm high walls along the edges of the garden so that the Blackbirds do not flick the mulch on to the path. These could be made of stone, brick, pavers, wooden sleepers, pine posts on their edges and so on. Be creative.
- Cover the mulch with chicken wire, shade-cloth or weed mat. Probably not a good look.
- Turn around your attitude and learn to love the birds; after all, they are just looking for lunch.
I guess these suggestions may not please Mary and may just add to her frustrations. Sorry, Mary.
Reader questions:
Over to my readers:
- Do you have any suggestions for Mary? (Please be nice – offensive comments will not be published).
- How have you solved this dilemma in your garden?
- Reply in the comments section below. Update: comments are now closed for this post because, sadly, some people cannot help being abusive.
Common Blackbird (male)
UPDATE: I also posed this question to subscribers of the Birding-Aus forum. Many of their comments are recorded in the comments section below. I love the one about leaving plastic snakes lying around!
Grey Shrike-Thrush
Grey Shrike-Thrush
The Grey Shrike-Thrush is a resident breeding bird species in our garden here in Murray Bridge, South Australia. We really enjoy its beautiful call with its rich tones and far carrying sound. This species is known for its call, but the pair resident in out garden is not all that vocal, even when breeding. In fact, during nesting they are almost silent around here, which tends to be the opposite in many other places.
The Grey Shrike-Thrush is a common and widespread species of bird found throughout most of Australia. There is some plumage variation from one location to another. In northern Australia there are three other Shrike-Thrush species, all of which are still on my “yet to see” list.
Despite this being a resident species in our garden, it has taken me until a few days ago to get a reasonable series of photos.
Grey Shrike-Thrush
Baby Willie Wagtails – at last
Willie Wagtail
I have been puzzled throughout the spring about the absence of a Willie Wagtail nest in our garden. The resident adults have been flitting around all through the spring with no sign of a nest anywhere. Everyone else seemed to be busy raising their families. There have been nests everywhere and more recently baby birds calling to be fed all over the garden.
Willie Wagtail
But not the Willie Wagtails. They usually nest within about twenty metres from the house for some reason. There are many suitable trees further a field but they insist on keeping close to home – our home that is. Despite thorough searches I have been unable to locate a nest this spring. Two days ago I observed both adults giving one of our Australian Magpies a very hard time, swooping and harassing the magpie until it flew away. A-ha I thought. There must be a nest somewhere nearby – but where?
Willie Wagtail (baby)
Today we discovered two lovely recently fledged baby Willie Wagtails keeping their parents busy bringing them food. Whenever we approached too close the parents would tell us off in a very noisy manner. Keep away they seemed to be saying.
Despite even more searching I still didn’t find that nest.
Related articles:
- Why do baby birds disappear – an article about baby bird deaths.
- Babies, the birds and the bees – a list of species nesting in our garden this year.
Updated Nov 2013.
Time for a bath: visitors to our bird bath
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
Mallee Ringneck Parrot
Mallee Ringneck Parrot