A good day today. A male white-winged triller heard & seen & a rainbow bee eater heard several times. The migrants are arriving in force!
As well, I nearly stepped on a common brown snake as I was looking for Monadenia orchids to spray. Luck was with me as it was more startled than I was. Also, I saw the first lesser wanderer butterflies, 3 of them, of the season as well as a white-banded grass dart, 2 small grass yellows & a saltbush blue. This was all rounded out by a pair of blue-tongue lizards.
A great day to be alive & enjoying nature.
Hope you continue to have great days like that, love to hear your stories of nature.
Meave
Isn't it great Woko to see the return of old friends each year? that is the great thing about observing where you live... you get to study the patterns and love the changing world around you.
Sunshine Coast Queensland
You're spot on, birdie. It's nice to see species such as red-browed firetails & grey fantails spending longer & longer each year at our place. Some species such as the white-winged triller don't arrive each year but it's exciting to see them when they do arrive. Many bird species are endangered now in the Mt Lofty Ranges due largely to habitat clearance so it's nice to know that we're providing a stop-over for migrants & a refuge for some of the last survivors. With enough people protecting & re-establishing habitat we might see more regular visits from the migrants & some of the endangered species making a comeback. It's a totally fascinating process for me.
I agree also. It's great to hear & see the familiar birds coming back each season. Yesterday I had my first visit from a juvenile Pallid Cuckoo. We have Kookaburras nesting with young at the moment & hope to get a shot of their young! The Wood Ducks are also very busy breeding too having chosen a very large old tree for their home in the 'garden'.
That is what I love about the vast continent of Australia, and this forum. Because we have people of so many different areas, that we get to see birds we might never see otherwise.You see, when I put up photos of Rosellas yesterday, I almost didn't, because to me, they are so common, they are everywhere. I know, some birds like the catbird are common up the Queensland coast, but I have never seen one. So, this afternoon I took some close up photos of a male King Parrot, but am thinking, should I bother posting or not? But then again, some people might not see them all the time like I do. So, I still might decide to put them up? It would be interesting to find out, what people think of as common where they live? M-L
M-L
Post it Araminta! No King parrots in SA. Event if they were it is always interesting to see nice photos :)
Laurius
Yes, please do, Araminta. It's a long while since I've seen a king parrot. I've never seen a koel or a channel-billed cuckoo so any postings of photos are welcome, however common to the poster.
I wonder how many eastern states posters have seen an Adelaide rosella which is believed to be a subspecies of the crimson rosella. Instead of crimson it has orange & the depth of the orange varies from bird to bird & region to region. The further north the lighter the orange. I've seen very pale orange, almost yellow, rosellas as far north as Quorn in the Flinders Ranges. Blah, blah. Anyway, when I'm familiar with posting photos (not long now) I'll put one up of an Adelaide rosella or 2. Maybe you have some already, Laurius.
Posted. But Rosellas in general are quite difficult to shoot, at least for me. They just don't sit long enough or more often they are hiding between the leaves in the shadow :)
Laurius
We have just had our yearly arrival of Dollar birds from Papua New Guinea. I find it hard to fathom that birds from New Guinea take flight and journey to our backyard every year. It amazes me everyday.
They have a very distinct chattery, kak kak kak call and as soon as I hear it I know summer is on the way.
One year I had a baby fall from the nest so I got to have a good look at it while waiting for WIRES to attend. They are beautiful little birds with a lovely blue circle under their wings, which gives it its name.
We also have lots of King Parrots and Crimson Rosella's in our yard. Also we have the endangered glossy black cockatoo with it's lovely red wings looking like stained glass windows in the setting sun and the yellow winged black cockatoos. I love when they come into the yard of an evening because their antics are quite funny to watch.