Twemgirl's Big Year 2020

237 posts / 0 new
Last post
sue818
sue818's picture

Nice one to add... a big fat pigeon. Listen to the call & it may be familiar. Keep them coming.

Devster
Devster's picture

Always nice  get a new species. I'm surprised if you have them that you haven't heard them. They're not the quietest of birds lol

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

Oh nice on the Wonga Pigeon! As the others said - have a listen to its call - you've probably been hearing them for a long time. I hear them all the time but rarely see them - so  nice catch :-) 

woopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoopwoop lol

karentwemlow
karentwemlow's picture

Oh yeah, when you put it like that Alex, I have definitely heard them!!! 

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

:-) I was very happy when I finally put a "face" to that call 

karentwemlow
karentwemlow's picture

No new birds for me, but we did have a new snake visit us last week. This is the first time we have seen an Eastern Brown Snake and only the 3rd snake we've seen in 3 years. Last month we saw a really big Red-bellied Black Snake and a few years ago we saw a tiny beautiful Yellow-faced Whipsnake.

I joined a Snake ID Facebook group after moving here 3 years ago, and I have really come to love snakes so this made my day :-). We kept our distance of course and allowed this one to slide away in peace.

sue818
sue818's picture

Pleased you have found something new. I always watch out for snakes and have seen a few but especially Eastern Browns as that is the only one which gave me a scare... or more likely, we startled each other... it was already reared up so I backed off very quickly. When checking out swamps etc for birds, you have to be a bit cautious.

karentwemlow
karentwemlow's picture

Yes they can be very defensive if you happen to get too close, but will always escape if they can. My dog spotted the Red-bellied Black Snake in our garden last month and stood excitedly 'pointing' at it with her bent leg. She didn't get too close, didn't bark, but I could tell she had spotted something. As it slid across a garden bed, she went around the other side to where it was headed. She has kelpie in her and instincts to round things up I think. I pulled her aside and we let the snake slide back into the bush. I didn't get a chance for a photo (except for very poor iPhone pic) as I didn't have my camera on me. I was actually pacing nearby on a work meeting call.... which I interrupted with 'gotta go, snake'. Another exciting day for me.

karentwemlow
karentwemlow's picture

Have I finally got my Black Swan? Off in the distance, driving past at 80km/hr (I wasn't driving of course), crappy pic. I have 4 photos, this is the best and in all pics their heads are in the water!

105. Black Swan

dwatsonbb
dwatsonbb's picture

Looks like a Black Swan or 2 to me. Funny some of the easy ones aren't play ball this year.

Dale Huonville, Tasmania

sue818
sue818's picture

Yep, Black Swans x 2. Well done.

I went out today for some easy ones and was amazed by the lack of Honeyeaters... I think food is widespread now the drought has broken so no concentration.

karentwemlow
karentwemlow's picture

Yes I think you are right about the food supply. And no drought this year. I had wallabies drinking from the bird bath next to the house in January. Pretty sure the creek had dried up. Plenty of water for them this year. I have added a few more drinking stations further away from the house near the bush though so the shy animals can still get a drink if they need. This nesting pair of Noisy Friarbirds chased off a family of black cockatoos and my lovely king parrot who comes and sits with me in the garden. I think the KP might be getting fed by others nearby as he seems quite tame and I haven't attempted to tame him. I bought some native seeds to try on him so that if plants grew from it they would be native grasses. He flew to a low branch near where I was sitting doing some work on the laptop and warbled at me so I put a small tray of the native seeds on a rock nearby. He flew straight to the tray and tried a seed then flew and sat on the table in front of me. I think telling me it was not acceptable! He followed me back to the house but NF swooped in and chased him off. I haven't seen him since. Not sure if due to NF or he's offended by the seed offering. 

Devster
Devster's picture

That shot of the King Parrot is a total crack up Karen, I love it! The story is gold also, made me laugh. Sounds like you have a food snob, lol

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

Ahahaha love your King Parrot shot Karen - perhaps our best EBC shot so far? :-) 

Cool snake shot too. I saw 3 eastern browns in one walk at Leeton recently - made me a bit twitchy....

karentwemlow
karentwemlow's picture

Thanks Dev and Alex :-). It seems no one wants the native seeds, I put a tray out and pointed the wildlife cam at it. No takers. No one even tried it! So yeah Dev, food snobs all around me it seems. 

And I think the deadly venemous animals are spreading the word that I'm a pushover and everyone is welcome! I had a funnel-web spider in the house today. It didn't look well, I do have an indoor cat who may have played with it. It's back out in the bush now, probably be a decent meal for one of the birds around.

Oh and I have this bird pic from a holiday last March in Lake Macquarie. It was in someone's front yard, I think a pet. Anyone know what this is?

sue818
sue818's picture

I wonder if you could soak the seeds and try that because if it fails to attract birds then you may have some new plants.

Only primates find Funnelweb spiders venomous so one of our cats took to bringing them inside for play... freaked me out seeing those legs wiggling while the body was in the mouth! We were in a hotspot for funnelwebs so not surprising. Fortunately, we have not seen one for some years now and the cat has passed on.

karentwemlow
karentwemlow's picture

Thanks Sue. I've put the seeds in a spot where new plants will be ok. And yes my cat is indoors so that she doesn't bring me such presents, that would have been very freaky for sure. Interesting re the primates. I hate to think about the studies done to confirm that! I've been told by the experts it is in the funnel web family but not a 'Sydney' funnel web. Same family as the Blue Mountains funnel web but a different species. Wonder what is next for us?

Any ideas on the bird?

sue818
sue818's picture

Sorry, did not realise it was a serious bird question. Some sort of domestic chicken (fowl/poultry) but I would have no idea apart from that.

karentwemlow
karentwemlow's picture

Oh ha ha thanks, I thought perhaps I could include it as #106!

Devster
Devster's picture

Agree with Sue in regards to poultry. Not sure myself. Some sort of young Silkie maybe

sue818
sue818's picture

Sadly, not wild & free so cannot be counted. Finding new birds is hard now!

karentwemlow
karentwemlow's picture

Ah ok no worries. It was wandering around near the footpath. I thought I saw a domestic type bird reported somewhere else but maybe I didn't. All good, I don't know what it is anyway!

Still hoping to get out for a day trip before the end of the year....

sue818
sue818's picture

Yes, can count if a wild population like done of the ducks & geese populations but suspect this one is someone's pet as you said. Sorry, keep looking.

karentwemlow
karentwemlow's picture

Yeah it was definitely someone's pet, not being very well contained, but I'm sure it belonged to the home it was hanging around.

dwatsonbb
dwatsonbb's picture

I am amazed by the by the beautiful King Parrots, and there willingness to come close to us humans. I see them on other peoples post from multiple sights, and look forward to meeting one in person.

Lucky you to have such an amazing variety so close to hand. Thanks for posting.

Dale Huonville, Tasmania

karentwemlow
karentwemlow's picture

Well it's been a busy couple of months for me, I don't have any time off work at the moment and got married earlier this month (I did have one day off for a park wedding with 3 guests ;-)). 

But I do have a few more birds to add. I didn't manage to fit in a road trip in the new 4wd, so that will have to be next year. Working today and tomorrow, and possibly Friday and the weekend.... not huge hours, but still needing to be at home to focus.

Anyways.... we did a short trip in the new ute after our 5yo son drew himself a map on two pieces of paper, stapled them together and advised it was a map to get from our place to 'Misty Island'. He insisted he would give us directions along the way. So we all hopped in the car and off we went. We turned left/right at his instruction. He had no real idea where he was going but we did end up near Yarramundi Reserve and since there was lots of water around I suggested that perhaps this is Misty Island? He agreed so we stopped and went for a walk. Spotted these new ones there.

106. Rainbow Bee-eater

107. Australian Reed-Warbler

108. Dusky Moorhen

109. Pacific Black Duck (I think?)

karentwemlow
karentwemlow's picture

110. Red-Whiskered Bulbul

And one more I spotted driving through 'suburbia' recently.

dwatsonbb
dwatsonbb's picture

Congratulations on your wedding. Nice work and some more lovely birds.

Your duck looks good for a Pacific Black. It even looks like a pure specimen, there are so many Mallard hybrid Pacific blacks around, so they are becoming harder to find.

My first glance at the Dusky Moorhen had me thinking Australasian Swamphen, but the bill obviously shows the yellow or lighter tip. Well done. I have many swamphen photos, hoping one might just be a dusky, but no luck yet! I also love the Rainbow Bee-eater.

Thanks for sharing.

Dale Huonville, Tasmania

sue818
sue818's picture

Congratulations on your wedding, Karen. Perhaps a bigger celebration when all is settled. Love that you went on an adventure planned by your son, what fun!

Agree with Dale re the Pacific Black Duck and definitely a Dusky Moorhen... good work.

Devster
Devster's picture

Congrats on your wedding and getting in a few bird shots where you could

TommyGee
TommyGee's picture

Congratulations on your wedding Karen :) nice photos to round out the year.

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

Karen - congratulations on your wedding! And I love your adventure to Misty Island and the resulting photos - may your new year be full of more amazing adventures :-) 

karentwemlow
karentwemlow's picture

Well that's it for me for 2020. Though I think I will claim 109 rather than 110. I had hoped to get a better pic of a Superb Lyrebird, I hear them all the time but rarely see them and my pic is certainly not enough to ID from. I saw it clearly, just didn't photograph it clearly, it was too fast for me and too much bush around. 

I'm happy with 109 considering 81 of them I saw at home. My aim for 2020 was to get out more... then Covid told me to stay home, Covid caused me to work more, and my 50th birthday holiday in North Queensland was cancelled. It is now rescheduled for Easter, providing we are ok to travel then.

Thanks for all your adventures in 2020, I think I will aim for 150 in 2021 :-).

sue818
sue818's picture

A great result considering the circumstances this year and a wonderful backyard tally! I'm sure we would accept 110 for all your effort with the stats.

Hope you have a wonderful birdthday celbration this year.

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

Nice one Karen - its a fine total especially all those from home. I wish you your 150 birds in 2021 and a great 50th!

dwatsonbb
dwatsonbb's picture

Thank you Karen, and best wishes for 2021. I think if travel of any sort is allowed, 150 should be an achievable number. 81 from your own home, so all being well the first 50 should be a walk in the park for you.

Dale Huonville, Tasmania

Pages

 and   @birdsinbackyards
                 Subscribe to me on YouTube