Hi from Tassie

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torywoo
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Hi from Tassie

Hi everyone,

My name is Tory and I live on the north coast of Tasmania. I am very lucky to have bush directly behind me and also I am only a couple of kms from Narawntapu national park. I have always been a very keen bird watcher, all my life infact but I consider myself a beginner as I still cant identify all the birds in my own backyard! I am so lucky to have so many that I cant work out what they all are.

I am very happy to be here and would like to share a video I put together yesterday from filming my birdbath on Saturday evening. I get so much joy out of my bird bath and am thinking of putting a larger one on my balcony for the parrots which wont use my small one as I guess it's too close to the ground.

I hope you enjoy my video and I look forward to reading other forum members topics and also help me to identify all the birds in the video, I know what most of them ar ebut there are a couple which I am just not quite sure

http://youtu.be/N9mrwDROcGo

timmo
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I wa watching that and about to ask the same question about what they are.

What an awesome spot you must be in, that's a great collection of birds for an hour of watching!

I can identify most of them, but i'm not sure about one or two.

The list I have is:

  • Grey fantail
  • Tassie thornbill ?
  • Unsure (white stripe over eye)
  • New holland honeyeater
  • Red browed firetail ?
  • Silvereye
  • Eastern spinebill, male
  • Unsure, perhaps female spinebill
  • Superb fairy wrens
  • Yellow throated honeyeater
  • White browed scrubwren
  • Yellow wattlebird
  • Golden whistler
  • Hopping, long-eared, long-tailed furry grass bird smiley

Cheers
Tim
Brisbane

Araminta
Araminta's picture

Hi Tory, and welcome. This video is sooooooo good. I will have to watch it again. I do think you need a bigger one for the Wattlebirdwink. My place is similar to yours, next to a State Park. The King Parrots  come only to have a drink, but the Rosellas do have a swimm at my place.I loved it when the little Silvereye sat on the head of one of the New Holland Honeyeaters. Sure got a bit crowded at times. But the little White-browed Scrubwren had it all to himselfyes I do have Golden Whistlers, but have never seen one having a bath.

I also love your choice of music. I went to one of the very first gigs of the Hoodoo Gurus, must have been almost 30 years ago in a pub in Croydon (Melbourne)not many people had heard of them.

Keep it up, and hang around.

M-L

torywoo
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Thanks Tim and M-L,

It was the white browed scrubwren I wasn't sure of thanks for that and also I think it's a female spinebill I was a bit stuck on and I wasn't sure but I am now pretty positive that I also have a female golden whistler early on in the video. You would have laughged the other day when 3 wattlebirds crammed in all at once, it was hilarious I couldn't find my camera in time but I have it on hand all the time now as the birdbath is just so wonderful.

I drove into Beaconsfield earlier hoping to pick up a larger dish but I have driven past a garden for the last 3 years where a birdbath has just sat in 2 pieces on the ground so I decided to knock on the door and ask ifI could buy it. The sweetest old lady said I could have it, I offered money but she wouldn't take it she was just happy to have it going to where it's going to be used. See the picture below, what a wonderful little bird bath it is!

Thanks Tim too for naming the unusual looking hopping long-eared, long-tailed furry grass bird smiley

Araminta
Araminta's picture

O, how lucky are you? What a gorgeous birdbath, what a nice Lady.

M-L

Teresa Skerratt
Teresa Skerratt's picture

thanks for that tory, although I am working out bush on the mainland at the present We lived in Jackeys marsh and Deloraine for many many years......so it was lovely to see the little firetail finch and watte bird on your video...I have added a photo of my back yard at the moment, I walk run or ride up that track everyday..and as you can see....it is not exactly crrep up in the bird bush....but the birds I have seen in there are stunning..........(note the mangrove tidal pools on the side, waterbirds abound there too)

Teresa Skerratt

Gardens for Birds Bees and Butterflies

torywoo
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The flame (or maybe scarlet) robin does not want his photo taken but I will persist, hopefully I'll catch him tomorrow.

Araminta
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This is what your female Golden Whistler looks like.

M-L

timmo
timmo's picture

In that case, I would probably go with that as the one I have down as Tassie Thornbill with a ?.

It was the one with a dark eye and "big forehead/hairdo" early in the vid.

Cheers
Tim
Brisbane

torywoo
torywoo's picture

Hi Teresa,

I know you! I used to live at Meander and in Deloraine my daughter went to school, with your boys. I am at Greens Beach now. I can imagine you do have some beatiful birds where you are now.

 I have lived in melbourne and Sydney on and off over the last few years and found the birdlife in the 'burbs to be pretty amazing too but here I feel I am really in a bird paradise, it's a lovley place to live. I enjoyed the cities when I was there I have no interest anymore whatsoever to go back. Greens Beach is not remote but its very quiet most of the year and having the national park at my doorstep gives the native wildlife a chance to thrive. Hope your  boys are all doing well, Emma changed her name to Angel about 10 years ago, she is doing well and loves to travel it's her great passion besides fashion haha anyway nice to see you on here

Cheers from Tory

Teresa Skerratt
Teresa Skerratt's picture

I wondered if that was you tory........just wasnt one 100% on the last name.....greens beach is beautiful Jarron goes up with his mates a bit. All the boys are still in Tassie.......4 of them are studying ! Glad you are well and nice to make contact smiley

cheers 

Teresa Skerratt

Gardens for Birds Bees and Butterflies

Annie W
Annie W's picture

Another Taswegian!  Just lovely, thanks so much for sharing.  Particularly love the attitude of the female Golden Whistler at the start telling the Fantails off.

West Coast Tasmania

torywoo
torywoo's picture

hehe, yes she does get stroppy with them! I have had a mob of black cockatoos the last few days raiding my banksia, I have taken some film as they are so comical and wonderful but my card reader in my computer has stopped working for some reason, I have also got fresh footage with the elusive robin who now is a daily visitor to the bird bath and loves to show off, his mate got stuck in my shed and had to spend the night! The parrots are also visiting daily and so are the golden whistlers, and of course all the others in the video, the hardest to catch now is the wattlebird, I have had 3 in at onece which was hilarious but I missed getting it on video. it also amuses me how the blackbirds and sparrows try to steal a bath when an opportunity arises. Luckily the native birds have definitelt claimed it as their turf and if they cant shew away the intruders they make such a fuss that I do it for them....we have an unwritten agreement hahah

Cheers from Tory

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