After putting some seed out for the Crimson Rosellas (the King Parrots seem to have gone), our local Bronzewing no longer seems to have much fear and brazenly ousts the Rosellas that are on the feeder.
It's late evening and slightly overcast, but the colours still come out reasonably well. I just wish it wouldn't bob about so much to make focussing easier.
Great shots, you can really see the 'bronze' of the wings
Ryu
Canberra
Aiming for DSLR-quality shots with a bridge camera
Nice shots, Ray.
The colours show well. We have heaps at Campbell Park but they are not very approachable usually, until today :)
Shorty......Canon gear
Canberra
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rawshorty/
Love the colours. You did well considering the conditions.
Number two is a great shot and shows the colours off really well. Whereabouts in Australia were these all taken?
Samford Valley Qld.
Excellent photos - love the colours on the head & neck too (and the wings)
I was absolutely kicking myself this evening. I was baking some potatoes in our mock BabyQ and I went out to check on them and there in a tree was a Wattlebird hassling a Bronzewing. I rushed back in to get my camera and all that remained when I got back was the Bronzewing.
The sight was amazing and something I'd never seen before. I just about always have the camera on hand in the evenings when I go out, but today I'd stuffed up. Then later on, two Bronzewings were about and with camera on hand, one Bronzewing flew away with a Wttlebird in hot pursuit. No way I could get either of them.
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Thoughts, Musings, Ideas and Images from South Gippsland
http://australianimage.com.au/wordpress/
Hi, Ray. Wonderful shots of the Common Bronzewing.
I trust that you're aware of the risks of spreading the dreaded beak & feather disease among birds, particularly among parrots & their ilk, through their visits to bird feeders.
I wasn't aware of that, so I read up on Psittacine Circoviral (beak and feather) Disease on the Department of Environment site: http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive-species/publications/factsheet-beak-and-feather-disease-psittacine-circoviral-disease and http://www.environment.gov.au/system/files/resources/a13239ba-fb01-4c31-9fa8-519dcbc593ca/files/p-c-disease.pdf.
Interestingly:
'It can be spread by food sharing through the bird’s crop, fresh or dried excrement and feather and skin particles. The virus is extremely stable in the environment and can survive in nest hollows for years.'
'Psittacine Circovirus Disease (PCD) has been recorded in over 38 species of captive and wild psittacine birds (parrots and their allies) in Australia. Due to the nature of the virus all Australian psittacine species are susceptible to infection. The disease is likely to have occurred in psittacines for a long time, and does not necessarily represent a major threat to a species unless there are few populations or limited numbers of birds which are vulnerable to catastrophic events, such as a PCD epidemic.'
'The disease has a broad host range, possibly including pigeons in addition to probably all native psittacine species, but the details of its epizootiology in most species are unclear.'
The feeder bowl gets cleaned out regularly, so I hope that it doesn't add to the natural cycle of potential disease.
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Thoughts, Musings, Ideas and Images from South Gippsland
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Indeed. Food can also be provided, naturally, to birds by restoring their natural habitats through regeneration & revegetation.
There's plenty of that where we live, so they don't depend on us for all of their food. The Wattlebirds, Gang Gangs, Black Cockatoos and a few others only feed from our plants. However, if we never put out any wildbird seed, we'd never see the full variety of birds that come our way each year.
I'm a firm believer of the phrase: 'Out of sight, out of mind', but in this case, when things are out of sight, they tend to become forgotten, neglected and not cared for, except by the very few. The amount of joy and appreciationg that seeing these birds so close brings to us and our visitors, especially children, is worth the minor risks that providing food imposes.
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Thoughts, Musings, Ideas and Images from South Gippsland
http://australianimage.com.au/wordpress/