Reintroduction from Tenterfield, NSW

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Shirley Hardy
Shirley Hardy's picture
Reintroduction from Tenterfield, NSW

I finally decided to rejoin this site after a long absence. Currently I have no camera but hoping to change that as I miss taking bird photographs. I've had quite a few missed opportunites too with bird encounters but nothing of huge significance. I enjoyed being a member of this site, minus the drama. I'm hoping to contribute to this site's forums again in the near future.

Wollemi
Wollemi's picture

Hi Hyperbirds!

Welcome back!

Enjoy the sharing and enjoy the space to share an interest. I look forward to seeing your photos.

WhistlingDuck

Welcome back Hyperbirds .... would love to see photos of the birds of Tenterfield. 

Shirley Hardy
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Thanks for welcoming me back, Wollemi and WhistlingDuck. I only have old photos of the birds here but the lack of rain is dramatically changing everything, forcing a lot of bird species to move on to greener pastures or adapt to it. Even the breeding cycle of the birds here have been greatly affected. Masked Lapwings and Australian Magpies tried breeding but no chicks anywhere in my area.

My old username on this site used to be called shirley.hardy so you might remember some of the photos I was adding way back then. I'm happy to readd old photos if either one of you are interested but I can't guarantee any of the photos will be interesting. 

I'm going to try and write up a bird species list for this year but so far the amount of species in town at the moment doesn't look promising (dropping from more than 100 to around 70 or so, maybe less). Won't know for sure until I start on it.

I'm at Tenterfield, NSW. (Formerly known as "Hyperbirds".)

WhistlingDuck

I think I must have started on the forum after you left it Hyperbirds. Dreadful effect the lack of rain is having on your bird populations. Only small consolation is that nature will bounce back quickly when there is a change in conditions. 

Shirley Hardy
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Hey WhistlingDuck. Here's a small collection of some of the photos of birds I've taken in town in the last few years. These are all preAugust 2014 photos dating back to about 2012. Most were taken at a neighbour's house across the road; some at my place; the rest taken on my way into town (main street). I've lots (100s) of photos of Tenterfield in my Facebook photo albums, so feel free to browse through them all at your pleasure.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.695601560451952.1073741839.100000063426737&type=1&l=0f24b66643

I'll take photos of just about anything, whether moving or not.

I'm at Tenterfield, NSW. (Formerly known as "Hyperbirds".)

Woko
Woko's picture

It'll be interesting to see if there is a bounce back in bird numbers. What Hyperbirds is experiencing is consistent with climate modelling & predictions for the effects of climate change on wildlife.

Here on the s.e. slopes of the Mt Lofty Ranges, SA, conditions are very dry & breeding numbers are well down & it appears that several migrant species won't be making the trip this year. E.g., White-winged Triller, Rufous Songlark & Cockatiel although the last is admittedly spasmodic in migratory appearances. If dry conditions continue here I'm interested to see if we get an increase in mallee bird species.

WhistlingDuck

You got a great variety of birds in those photos Hyperbirds!  Wow you got a very friendly king parrot there. Must be wonderful to have those little double bar finches visiting the garden.

All the birds up your way seem to love perching on the poles and wires!  Those ones of the cockatoos made me laugh - there is always one cockatoo that cant keep its balance and ends up hanging upside down!

NIce photos of the Pied Butcherbird - looks like an inquisitive one too! I have not seen a Pied Butcherbird down here in sydney, might be out of their range.

Shirley Hardy
Shirley Hardy's picture

Woko wrote:

It'll be interesting to see if there is a bounce back in bird numbers. What Hyperbirds is experiencing is consistent with climate modelling & predictions for the effects of climate change on wildlife.

Here on the s.e. slopes of the Mt Lofty Ranges, SA, conditions are very dry & breeding numbers are well down & it appears that several migrant species won't be making the trip this year. E.g., White-winged Triller, Rufous Songlark & Cockatiel although the last is admittedly spasmodic in migratory appearances. If dry conditions continue here I'm interested to see if we get an increase in mallee bird species.

It would be nice to see a bounce back in bird numbers once conditions improve but I really can't see that happening. I'm not that hopeful because since 2001 the annual rainfall has declined and declined by each passing year. The temperature has been getting hotter and the seasons are all out of wack. Seriously out of wack! I mean, how are birds supposed to breed during their normal breeding season when the weather is unbearable hot (44 degrees Celcius) and no rainfall? I actually think the Masked Lapwings and Australian Magpies' eggs got fried from the hot sun and that's why there are no chicks. These 2 species will only attempt to breed once a year. Because the weather is predictable of when it will be hot (in Spring and then in late Summer) it is possible that birds like the Masked Lapwings and Australian Magpies might eventually change their breeding season to match the cooler weather. The main factor, especially for the Australian Magpies, is the noctural predators which feed on the Magpie chick in late Summer/Autumn. The chicks have to be big enough to fend off or be able to escape from any Owls that try to kill them when they're sleeping. So its a dilema really. And with all of that an influx of snakes that weren't here before have been invading the area; like Tiger Snakes, Copperheads, and Taipans (inland, I think they were but I believe have moved on and gone south further). Tiger Snakes, King Browns and Red-bellied Black Snakes are all living within the same territory, all within 250 metres of each other. Of course they all avoid each other at all costs but the reptile and amphibian numbers are basically down to zero because of the higher amount of snake numbers and they've all recently bred. 

As I see things, when the Masked Lapwings don't breed something is wrong. But when the Australian Magpies don't breed, that's unprecedented. That means something bad is on the way (weather wise).

I'm at Tenterfield, NSW. (Formerly known as "Hyperbirds".)

Shirley Hardy
Shirley Hardy's picture

WhistlingDuck wrote:

You got a great variety of birds in those photos Hyperbirds!  Wow you got a very friendly king parrot there. Must be wonderful to have those little double bar finches visiting the garden.

All the birds up your way seem to love perching on the poles and wires!  Those ones of the cockatoos made me laugh - there is always one cockatoo that cant keep its balance and ends up hanging upside down!

NIce photos of the Pied Butcherbird - looks like an inquisitive one too! I have not seen a Pied Butcherbird down here in sydney, might be out of their range.

My brother took the photos of the male King Parrot on his letterbox back in 2005-2009 sometime. The King Parrot was a very mature bird at the time, and one of the first King Parrots that moved back into the area. Once the male found a mate he started breeding. I suspect the male (when on the letterbox) was hoping for food, or checking out my brother to see how friendly he was. Who knows what birds think really?

The Double-barred Finch photos were taken on my neighbour's property across the road. I was always excited to see them whenever I'd visit my neighbour. They ended up by hanging out with the Red-browed Finches and often took off together as a big flock. Both species of Finches are gone now.

Those Cockatoo photos, the one being silly upside down, was a juvenile. It spent about 20-30 minutes going round and round and round on the power line. It first decided to just hang upside down, and got cocky and did so by one leg. Then the worst thing happened, it's whole body twisted the wrong way and it couldn't let go of the power line. It screeched it's head off, and you could just tell it was in pain being twisted around the wrong way. Once it recovered it's body from that position it was then able to grab the power line with it's other foot and climb back up. The little fellow went straight to mum for comfort and encouragement. After that it never repeated that same mistake and hung onto the power line with both feet at all times and thoroughly enjoyed it. I guess all birds have to learn to hang upside down at some point for whatever their reason. Feeding and having a shower are two of the reasons I know of. But why they learn to hang upside down and correct their postures to the right way up on power lines is intriguing actually. I've thought about this and the only conclusion I can come up with is there is zero chance of getting their feet stuck between branches whilst hanging upside down on a power line. Learning to get unstuck from tree branches whilst upside down is more than likely another lesson and done in another setting when the juvenile birds are older and strong enough to handle it and have mastered the going upside down and correcting your body position lesson. 

I love Pied Butcherbirds. My brother took the close up photos of that bird on his door step. It wanted food. That's all it wanted. That's all Pied Butcherbirds ever want here. I have been very fortunate to see many changes to the bird life here, including a lost (yes, lost) Pied Butcherbird chick the size of a Laughing Kookaburra. I've seen it hitch up with a normal sized Pied Butcherbird and then once a year the normal sized parent brings the giant sized offspring back to the area across the road only to be harrassed by Australian Magpies and Torresian Crows until it can't take it anymore and flies away accompanied by it's parent. Strangely, the normal sized Pied Butcherbirds you see around here are never attacked by the Magpies or Crows. Only predators are attacked and chased out of town, meaning the birds of prey. But even stranger than that, is once the large Pied Butcherbird has settled down (takes about 3 weeks for that to happen) by itself, it becomes a fiercesome predator that not even the Crows will attack. Can you even imagine a Pied Butcherbird the size of a Kookaburra? Somewhere nearby, to the south/south-west/west of Tenterfield are whole generations of Laughing Kookaburra sized Pied Butcherbirds being born every year. And every year since that young one got lost and ended up in the area, a new generation has been brought here just for an hour or less and then gone again for another year. I never miss it because I know the predator sounds the crows and magpies make when it's in the area, accompanied by the typical Pied Butcherbird sound. By the way, Pied Butcherbirds are becoming rarer to spot here in Tenterfield now. They've all gone bush. Any you do see are just passing through and you won't see them the next day.

There were so many bird species here even just 2-3 years ago but so many environmental changes have also been happening including a loss of trees, shelter bushes, and creek vegetation. People and nature have taken a toll on the vegetation here. I've watched this place very slowly turn into the sort of climate and sparcity of vegetation you'd see in South Australia. Its not there yet but its getting there and people are not helping the situation either - they're just adding to the increase of the changes. Sorry about the rant.

I'm at Tenterfield, NSW. (Formerly known as "Hyperbirds".)

Annie W
Annie W's picture

Welcome back Shirley!  My username used to be RubyE and I remember your posts.  Glad you have come back to the flock, so to speak smiley and looking forward to your posts.

West Coast Tasmania

WhistlingDuck

Im glad the cocky escaped from the wires and learnt to play safely! I have seen them doing their high wire act around here - funny if no one is hurt.
You are right that we never know what birds think, but some seem to look back at us so intelligently that its impossible to see them just as "dumb" animals. All helps us be interested in their well being which can't be a bad thing.
Very sad that so many lovely species like the finches are disappearing from your area. We get so attached to our feathered friends.

Shirley Hardy
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Thanks for the welcome back, AnnieJ. I remember you. It's great to hear from you.

Indeed, WhistlingDuck. Hopefully in Summer the finches will return but I'm not hopeful. The only thing that was keeping them coming back, and nesting by the creek, was the vegetation and the grass going to seed across the road at the neighbours. That's all f***ed up now. Some people you just can't tell anything to. I'm referring to a certain female who lives across the road from me. My old neighbour moved out and her daughter and boyfriend? moved in. Don't ask.

I'm at Tenterfield, NSW. (Formerly known as "Hyperbirds".)

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