Bird of the Week: 4th of February - garden

One of many birds in my garden.

You always get such amazing close ups M-L. I hope this year I'll get that new lens

My 70-300mm doesn't get me in that close and I'm never able to get close enough to the birds to be right in their faces almost.  I have been real close to kookaburras and cockatoos but definitely not a Treecreeper or most other birds.

lol, no secrets, except for how you can get so close to these birds

And another from LMS - Miss Spoggy.  Common yes, pesky perhaps, but still cute & cheeky imo.

Again, terriffic photos!

Those colours are outstanding Roly. Brilliant

Yes, Laurius, I love it here in Healesville. I'm so glad we moved. We went out today and bought a whole heap of grevilleas, banksias, correas, kangaroo paws, bottle brushes and some ground covers (which I have not idea of their name) in the hope that we will attract more birds to out garden. It cost me half my super - but it will be worth it if we get even one more bird visiting!!! 

Hi folks,

From Arnhem land, can someone please tell me what it is called

Always happy to see a non regular in my garden

Hi there, Yes we live up here, at least for the next 12 months so I will see what I can do, inbetween the mozzies making it unpleasant to be outside until the wet season develops a bit more. The photo of the miners was taken through a not very clean kitchen window as they were too close to risk opening the door, and even then they were only together for 10 seconds at the most.

Lovely Diane.  I've been enjoying watching birds in our bird bath too and have been making sure it's kept topped up. We've had a rufous fantail visit over the past week but I can't get a shot of it. It's too flighty and notices me, even through the window.  One day perhaps...

One more young New Holland Honeyeater in my garden.

Yes, and a lovely clear shot it is too Nathan, with a beautiful blue sky behind which helps enhance the colours.  Seems you had its attention.

Well, this was a visitor in my garden this week, sitting on my clothesline.  And the black cockatoos come for the nuts in the trees.

Kathie, we have a group of three black cockatoos which live somewhere near us. We can hear their distinctive call and, occasionally, they swoop across our place - but they never come to visit for me to photograph them!!!

Lovely photos.

I have to confess these two were shot in the garden last week not this week. The first, I believe is, the Imperial Pied Pidgeon, the second OK,its common and alot easier to photograph than the black cockatoo...

These are very flighty and take off quickly so I have to be careful how I venture into my backyard to see them. I got a few shots that day and it is lovely to see them.

Thank you for your help. 

Yes the lack of white lords threw me off too. According to my book it would be colleti, not argenteus because we are in Arnhem Land, too far east. However I don't have a comparative drawing of either of those, only torquatis and leucopterus

A couple from my yard

Very nice photos of a Blue-faced Honeyeater, a Superb Fairy Wren, a Yellow Robin, and a Grey Shrike-thrush. Thanks for sharing.

They are right when they say they look like a broken branch with some lichen on it, I was trying to photograph adult butcher birds playing with a juvenile when through the lens I noticed this out of focus branch ruining the background. Here is a female Podargus phalaenoides I believe.

The only thing letting me know it wasn't a stick was the eyes open. First off the eyes were closed in a slant. What was really funny that I didn't catch was the butcher bird rolling on its back with a feather from a cockattoo trying to play with its juvenile! We had a pet rainbow lorikeet back in NZ that used to do that, but I had never seen (probably becuse I hadn't tried) other birds playing that way.

They have the biggest most beautiful eyes, don't they?