Red Wattlebirds with young
Juvenile Red Wattlebird
Red Wattlebirds, a member of the honeyeater family of birds in Australia, is a common bird in our garden in Murray Bridge, South Australia. In fact, this species is a resident breeding bird in our garden. At any one time we probably have 5 – 10 individuals present, possibly more.
In recent weeks they have been a little more aggressive towards other species than normal, and that’s saying something! They can be very bossy at the best of times, especially to smaller birds like pardalotes.
A few days ago I discovered what I had suspected; they have been nesting. While their nest is not all that small, we do have many hundreds of trees and shrubs so it is hard to keep up with what is actually nesting.
I found them feeding two juvenile birds quite close to the house. If you click on the photo you will enlarge the image and be able to see the downy feathers of the young.
Juvenile Red Wattlebird
Juvenile Red Wattlebird
What’s the time little swallow?
Welcome Swallow comes to check out the time
Every few days the local Welcome Swallows come swooping in under our back veranda. I find it very pleasing that they are prepared to come up so close to the house, even when we are sitting outside having a meal, chatting with friends or cooking a BBQ.
On a few occasions they have even landed and I was hoping they would think the area a safe and suitable place to make one of their mud nests and to raise a family. I’d even be prepared to put up with cleaning the mess they often make under the nest with their droppings and so on. So far they haven’t stopped more than a few seconds.
A few days ago, however, one of them decided to check out the time on the clock we have outside. The top of that would certainly make an interesting site for a nest!
I’m sorry that the photo is not brilliant; it was taken at a sharp angle from the lounge room through the sliding glass door that gives access to the back veranda.
Spotted Turtledoves nesting
Spotted Turtledove
The Spotted Turtledove is an introduced bird species in Australia. They are very common in many cities and towns in much of Australia. We usually have a few resident in our garden and near the house. On many occasions they have made nests and raised little ones.
Two weeks ago we had a near disaster in our garden. We had a very large 15 metre gum tree come down in our driveway in a violent storm. You can see pictures of some of it on my writing site here.
A few days after the storm I noticed a Spotted Turtledove gathering small sticks on the ground just outside my office. It was carrying the sticks into the thickest part of the canopy of the fallen tree. Little did it know that I was about to cut up that part of the tree the next day. Our movement nearby and the noise of the chain saw just metres away obviously frightened it away.
Two days later my wife saw the bird carrying sticks to another tree nearby. This time it had chosen a tree which was not on my demolition plans. The next day it had changed its mind and was building a nest in a thick bush on the other side of the house, a site they had used successfully in previous breeding attempts. I will keep an eye on it.
Little Ravens caught thieving
Little Raven about to steal some of the mat on our back veranda
Over the years I have found that many birds can be quite enterprising in their daily endeavours. One such example occurred a few days ago on our back veranda.
Little Ravens are very common in our part of the world here in Murray Bridge, South Australia. I often see a dozen or more flying overhead. Sometimes they gather to feed in a loose flock of many dozens in the paddock opposite our block of land.
Recently I had seen several of them close to the house and in the garden. I’d also seen them carrying nesting materials. A few days ago I looked out through one of the windows overlooking the back veranda, only to see one of the ravens tugging at the mat on the edge of it. In the photo above you can see how frayed one end of it has become, so I gather they’ve been thieving from our mat for some time.
And I thought the mat was becoming worn through wiping our muddy shoes on it!
Magpie Larks nesting
Magpie Lark
Magpie Larks are a breeding resident bird in our garden. We see them every day, the strident calls filling the air on many occasions throughout the day. Although the call is sharp and loud it is melodious and not at all annoying – unless the bird is only metres away.
Throughout the day they flutter around from fence post to roof gutter to tree top. Then they soar down to ground level and search for some tasty snack on the ground.
Magpie Lark
Over the last two weeks the pair of Magpie Larks living around our house have been very busy gathering mud, grass and feathers to make a nest near our back veranda. The bowl shaped nest took quite a few days to construct.
Yesterday I saw the pair violently pursuing an Australian Magpie away from the nest, so I assumed they now have eggs to hatch. Sure enough, one of them was later seen sitting tight on the nest, only its tail protruding from the nest (see below – just the tail can been seen on the left hand side).
It has been quite a few years since they nested in our garden. In more recent times they have preferred the large gum trees in our neighbour’s garden.
Magpie Lark's mud nest, Murray Bridge, South Australia