Willie Wagtail up close
Willie Wagtail
We have a resident breeding pair of Willie Wagtails in our garden. They are a constant delight as they flit around looking for insects to snap up for a tasty snack. They will often come quite close to us when we are working in the garden or sitting relaxing on the back veranda.
Due to higher than normal rainfall over the last nine months I’ve had to mow our grass quite a few times with our ride-on mower. As I move around mowing the Willie Wagtails follow the mower, snapping up insects disturbed by the machine. Sometimes I feared I’d actually drive over one of them because they were getting quite close.
The Willie Wagtails frequently come to our various bird baths for either a drink or to bathe. This always gives more opportunities to experience close encounters with this species. It also affords excellent opportunities for close up photography, such as the shot shown above.
Babbling no more
White-browed Babbler
We always enjoy the White-browed Babblers when they visit our garden. I can’t claim that they are a resident species, but they seem to visit almost every day. They come in family groups of five up to more than a dozen, chasing each other around the bushes, scratching in the mulch and leaf litter or prising bark off various trees searching for a tasty spider, beetle or bug for lunch.
Yesterday, while going for a walk of The Estate (a 5 acre block) I found a dead babbler on the ground. On examination I found a bare, bloodied patch on the crown. I’m not sure what killed it, but no matter. It saddened me to see the demise of one of my favourite birds.
White-browed Babbler
White-browed Babbler
Guest Speaker at Mannum
Calothamnus flower
Yesterday I had the delight of being the guest speaker at the Mannum Garden Club. The small river port of Mannum is less than an easy half hour drive from my home. Like Murray Bridge, it is situated on the banks of the River Murray here in South Australia.
I should add that the speaking duties were actually shared with my wife. Almost exactly three years ago I spoke to the group about Australian birds, so this was an invite back to this very friendly group. I modified my talk this time around, talking about how to attract birds to our gardens, in particular native species. Because my wife accompanied me – and shared in the talk – I tapped into her expertise in the area of native Australian plants. We focussed on those species we knew would grow well in the area, and which would attract our birds. We made a good speaking team and were well received.
And the chats over morning tea were engaging – made even more pleasant by the lavish good old country style cooked cakes and biscuits.
I have another talk about birds coming up at the end of June to another group here in Murray Bridge, and just a short while ago had a call from the president of the local bird club, asking me to speak again at their meeting in two weeks’ time.
Offer: I’m getting to be quite in demand as a guest speaker. Book me up while I still have vacancies in my diary. I’ll even travel interstate if a plane ticket is included in the deal!
Photos:
Instead of photos of birds today, I thought I treat my readers to some of the flower photos I showed the group yesterday. Enjoy.
Further reading:
- Mannum South Australia – official website of this wonderful holiday destination
- Mallee Native Plant Nursery – link to my wife’s site about Australian native plants.
Banksia flower
Callistomen flower ("Bottlebrush")
Red-browed Finch, Victor Harbor
Red-browed Finch, Victor Harbor
Earlier this year we stayed with friends in Victor Harbor on the south coast of South Australia. While we were there they took us to look at his sister’s extensive garden. While the others were having a good look around at the various plants, I found myself a seat near a bird feeder next to the house.
It wasn’t long before several Red-browed Finches came along for a snack. This sighting was a delight for me as we don’t have finches regularly in our garden and certainly not this lovely species. We occasionally will play host to Diamond Firetail Finches and I’ve also recorded Zebra Finches a few times.
Further reading:
Red-browed Finch, Victor Harbor
Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater up close
Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
The Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater is a resident breeding bird species in our garden. We see them every day as they go about feeding and especially enjoy their visits to our bird baths. The above photo was taken quite close to one of the bird baths. I also enjoy hearing their mournful call because it reminds me of my children. Both are now adults, but when they were quite young they renamed this bird the “yoo-hoo” bird, imitating its call. The name has stuck.
Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters are found over large areas of Australia, primarily the drier inland woodlands and scrubs. It is absent from Tasmania, the northern tropical regions and the extreme south western and south eastern Australia.
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