The first fine day for 3 weeks; I drove quite a way hoping to find new species to add to my gallery but alas, nothing new. So I sat in my driveway with the window down waiting for this little guy to appear and sure enough he did. I have been watching and studying his habits for several days and he pretty much follows the same routine, flitting from one perch to another, guarding his honeysuckle and bottle brush trees. He's clearly very territorial.
Nice bird. Does he have a loud call?
Don't despair - even the rain offers opportunities. I took this yesterday:
Yes, he does have quite a loud call, especially when he's in the glen at the rear of my house. He doesn't spend much time there in winter it would seem, but in summer his call echoes through the willows, up and down the valley.
So is that also a wattle bird beneath the rainbow, birdgirl?
Regards, "Tark" - Olympus 4/3rds colour
They are very territorial, aren't they ? We have a few who jealously guard their patch and chase the tiny Eastern Spinebills. If you sit very still, they will allow you to photograph from as close as 3m. Nice shot.
Cheers,
George
Melbourne, VIC
Thanks George. I don't know whether you'd ever get as close as 3 metres to this one George. the moment you start walking towards him he takes off.
And I'm still waiting to hear what you thought of my Valiant Safari Wagon picture that I posted in reply to your question in "Black Currawongs".
Regards, "Tark" - Olympus 4/3rds colour
Hi Tark it is a spotted turtle-dove - introduced but not a pest as far as I know. I had to get whatever birds turned up while the rainbow was there - I really wanted rainbows with the rainbow but they only arrived as it was fading.
PS we are getting lots of rain here now
I don't know that we have turtle doves in Tassie, birdgirl, but yours is hard to see.
Regards, "Tark" - Olympus 4/3rds colour
Sorry I did not reply to the Valiant post. I did see it and reckon it's a pretty cool car.
Cheers,
George
Melbourne, VIC
Sorry, I wanted to include the rainbow in the photo. I took this one of a spotted turtle-dove today
birdgirl, that is excellent! Turtle doves are such beautiful docile birds.
Regards, "Tark" - Olympus 4/3rds colour
Hey George, thanks. I wondered whether you may have only read my blurb about the Valiant in the Notification email without realising that I had posted a picture of it.
Regards, "Tark" - Olympus 4/3rds colour