Woodswallows overhead
Dusky Woodswallow, Cleland Wildlife Park, Adelaide Hills
Over many weeks during November I’ve been outside quite a bit of each day. I have been trying to tame the garden and the rest of our 5 acre block of land. The Estate has been neglected over the last few years but I am finally getting on top of things.
While outside I tend to be more aware of the birds around the house and in the surrounding scrub. During my weeding, cleaning and mowing I’ve been aware on many occasions of small flocks of 10 – 20 woodswallows hawking for insects while on the wing on high. I wouldn’t have noticed them but for their calls which are quite distinctive and tend to carry far.
All those I saw were far too high for a photo; I could barely see them without binoculars, but I think they were Dusky Woodswallows. Besides, I didn’t have my camera at the ready. Instead, I have shown a photo above of one taken back in October when we took my grandson to Cleland Wildlife Park in the Mt Lofty Ranges near Adelaide. As the photo shows, this was of a captive bird in a walk through aviary.
We have baby Grey Currawongs in the garden
Grey Currawong in our garden
Over recent days we’ve had at least two juvenile Grey Currawongs frequenting our garden. They seem to be independent of the parents and are quite happy to poke around trying to find food for themselves.
I find it a bit odd to call them “babies” as they are as big as the adults already, but are still covered in downy feathers and are not all that confident flying. One recently landed on the gutter of our veranda and I was able to approach to about 2 metres away before it flew off in a clumsy way to the nearest tree. They are still to develop the far reaching piping call of the adults, their call still being a guttural squawk.
A few days ago one ventured too close to some juvenile Willie Wagtails just out of the nest. The Willie Wagtail parents swooped the Currawong mercilessly, banging onto the back of the poor bird until it flew away to a safer spot.
Red wattle bird in Eremophila bush
Red wattlebird feeding in Eremophila maculata (compact form)
Over the last few months the Eremophila maculata (compact form) bush in our driveway has been covered in bright flowers. It is a stunning picture and we enjoy seeing it in flower for so long. The Red wattlebirds also appreciate the flowers and visit the bush many times each day for a feed.
Other species that enjoy a feed here include the New Holland Honeyeaters, Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters and the Singing Honeyeaters. Not to be outdone, the resident Mallee Ringneck Parrots also feed on the flowers. The ringnecks are far less delicate feeders, though, because they enjoy eating the whole flower, not just feasting on the nectar.
Red wattlebird feeding in Eremophila maculata (compact form)
We have baby Willie Wagtails in a nest
Willie Wagtails in the nest
I had suspected that our resident pair of Willie Wagtails have been nesting somewhere in our mallee scrub but hadn’t been able to locate the nest. They can be very sneaky and secretive about the whole affair.
Then a few days ago I was cleaning up in an area of the scrub not frequented all that often and I was attacked by the adults. Not that they actually hit or bit me; they just made it quite obvious by their scotching calls and close swooping over my head that I was not welcome.
Sure enough – three fluffy chicks were over filling a totally inadequate nest. The photo above shows their home almost bursting at the seams.
I took the photo a few weeks ago and the chicks have now fledged and are making their presence known around the garden, demanding food from a harried set of parents struggling to keep up with their insistent calling for food.
The next question is: will the parents nest again once this brood is off their hands… er… beaks and feeding themselves independently?
The photo of some fledged Willie Wagtails was taken a few years ago at the same location.
Further reading:
Baby Willie Wagtails just out of their nest and being fed.
The Rainbow Beeeaters have arrived
Rainbow Bee-eater
Over the last few weeks the Rainbow Bee-eaters have be flying around our garden and mallee scrub. During the winter months they head north to warmer parts of the country, and every spring they head south for spring and summer.
It is always a delight when we hear them arrive. It’s a sure sign that spring has arrived. Almost every day for the last few weeks we’ve heard them around, or seen them overhead. Perhaps this year they will nest on our property like they did some years ago?
I find their nesting habit to be quite unusual. They make a short 30 – 40cm tunnel in a sandy spot and then construct a small nesting hollow at the end of the tunnel where they lay the eggs. Sometimes the burrow into the side of a road cutting, or the bank of a creek or river, providing the dirt is not too hard or compacted. I remember being fascinated by these birds as a child growing up on a farm in the Murray Mallee region of South Australia. That fascination has remained to this day.
Rainbow Bee-eater