Mallee Ringneck parrots find a slippery dip
My wife and I had a good laugh a few mornings ago. I was still in bed and about to rise. My wife had just opened the curtains. A heavy frost had settled overnight. I had second thoughts about rising, considering snuggling back into bed as a very viable option.
My attention was grabbed by our resident pair of Mallee Ringneck parrots as they flew over the driveway and landed in the tree next to where the car was parked. Because of the frost the car was heavily encrusted in ice. One of the parrots decided to investigate. Naturally he slid straight off the top of the car and down the sloping back window.
Hey – that was fun. He repeated the action several times. Even his partner joined in the fun. They both had a slide on the ice four or five times before flying off. I guess the ice against their backsides may have been a little too cold.
I wasn’t quick enough to get the camera out so I’ve included a photo of one of the ringnecks on a much warmer day.
Mallee Ringneck Parrot
Adelaide Rosellas
Adelaide Rosella
I’d just driven out of the driveway this morning on the way to Adelaide when four parrots flew across the road in front of the car. I immediately noticed that they were Adelaide Rosellas, a species not all that common around our house and garden. In fact, they are only occasional visitors here in Murray Bridge.
Adelaide Rosellas, a sub-species of the common Crimson Rosella, are found throughout the Mt Lofty Ranges near Adelaide, as well as in the lower north of South Australia. There are considerable colour variations in different parts of their range, from bright orange through to a washed out orange. The Crimson Rosella (shown below) is much brighter, being quite a deep crimson.
I didn’t have time to stop to take a photo; I was on my way to Adelaide to attend a lecture. And I didn’t have my camera with me anyway. Maybe some other time they will pose for me when I have the camera within easy reach – or even in my hand.
Crimson Rosella, Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra
Theatened Birds of Australia
Regent Honeyeater, Cleland Wildlife Park
Today in the mail I received the latest newsletter of the Threatened Bird Network, a sub-group of Birds Australia.
I read the newsletter while finishing my lunch and having a cuppa.
I knew that large tracts of Australia have been cleared, but to have the stark facts in print in front of you comes as a shock. I quote:
‘With a third of Australia’s woodland vegetation cleared, and over 80% of the temperate woodlands converted into agricultural land, it comes as no surprise that one in five of our temperate woodland dependent birds are threatened. This equates to over 40 species, including the nationally endangered Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater.’
I haven’t yet had the pleasure of seeing a Swift Parrot in the wild and can’t recall seeing one in captivity. The only Regent Honeyeater I’ve seen is the one featured here on this page, and that was in a walk through aviary at Cleland Wildlife Park near Adelaide.
Such beautiful birds. Sad that their very existence is under threat.
Regent Honeyeater, Cleland Wildlife Park
Lorikeets and flowering trees
Australia has many colourful parrots, cockatoos and lorikeets. We frequently have small flocks on Rainbow Lorikeets and Purple-crowned Lorikeets screaming overhead and speed, their screeching can be heard for hundreds of metres.
From time to time they will land in one of our trees and feed awhile. They are notoriously hard to photograph. Their habit of often feeding in the outer foliage makes it a challenge. Despite that I have managed a few good shots over recent years.
Musk Lorikeet
Ricki Coughlan has written about three kinds of lorikeets in her part of the world. Her article Lorikeet Explosion has some excellent photos of lorikeets (including one of mine used with permission). She also discusses the feeding habits and preferences of lorikeets.
Afternoon tea at Bordertown, South Australia
Afternoon tea at Bordertown, South Australia
Arriving in Bordertown meant that we were on the home straight after our three week holiday in Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne and many points in between. We stopped in a tree lined park just off the main highway through town. There is a small lake in the park, as well as some very unusual public toilets. They are the green buildings in the background in the photo above. These building were originally built as jail cells during the Victorian gold rush era in the 1850s and still have the original bars, locks and heavy doors.
As we had a cuppa the air was constantly filled with the screeching of Rainbow and Purple-crowned Lorikeets in flocks of up to 20 or 30. Much quieter were the Red-rumped Parrots in the trees and coming down to drink from the lake. The many Noisy Miners added to the general cacophony and the White-plumed Honeyeaters in the nearby trees could hardly be heard. None of this disturbed the family of Pacific Black Ducks sleeping in the grass on the bank of the lake.
Pacific Black Ducklings, Bordertown, South Australia
After our cuppa we headed off on the last leg of our 3500km journey through the eastern states. We had covered a lot of territory and I’d seen some wonderful birds.
Australian Magpie Lark, Bordertown, South Australia