White Ibis

 with an assortment of leg bands;  seen at Hyde Park, centre of Sydney; noted as Australia's oldest park

Details offered here about the banding of the White Ibis.  Research is being carried out to monitor the movements of these birds, and yes, I have sent in my report on these two.  They may well be regulars in the park.

Thanks for your reports! 

Both birds were banded in spring 2007, the first at Centennial Park the second in the City eg Hyde Pk. 

Trips to the city like this I take along my pocket camera Sony CyberShot DSC-HX5

Noisy Miner

looking indignant comes naturally, to the Noisy Miner

they've been visiting lots lately during the overcast and showery days, feeding on these Salvias

I know to those of you who never see this bird, that they look a little bit quirky :)

...ooops, wishing I could've mastered this take-off.  If I rev' up the shutter on my camera then I can't see through the viewfinder ... well it's not a dslr, but a bridge-camera.  It stands to reason I guess that there are limitations.  Even if I had those setting ranges in my favour I still have to fit all the bird in the viewfinder.  I so admire those crisp, in-flight photographers who get it right!

Sharing with Saturday's Critters

and The Bird D'Pot

Grey Butcherbird

singing a fabulous song

watching with intent

 You can learn some, and hear the Grey Butcherbird too, on this Birds in Backyards fact-sheet, here

Sharing with Nature Notes
and
Wild Bird Wednesday

a birding trek that yielded wild bush lemons and processionary caterpillars

8.45 a.m. several cars are ahead, driving down to Dubbo Gully, on the Central Coast 

9 a.m. (daylight saving time), and a lovely mist drifts over the mountain on arrival

seen from a heavy timber-sleepers bridge, over a shallow creek 

 doing what birders do; I'm not in the line-up 'cause I'm taking pics instead.  This' the nearest I get to street-photography!

 when walking through the long grasses path towards this waterhole, the leader of our group casually mentioned that this' an area we always see a black snake.  

I'm not disappointed to  report, we missed it this time.  

Just a lone Purple Swamp Hen was out there.  Thank heavens, because I didn't manage any good bird shots on the day.  The few I did try for were hopeless, just couldn't get settings right, my camera seemed to be fogging up, or ..... whatever :).

It probably was a bit too hot on the day for great birding.  There had been a number of pickups, mostly fleeting, or distant, and included Golden Whistler, and a Drongo too.  I was really hoping on both those shots!

There were a number of wild bush lemons growing, and a wonderfully strong citrus aroma when touching/scraping them.  This one hosts a finch' nest, a little right of centre.

 At the base of Acacia (wattle) trees, this intruiging webbing at their base

My enquiry to Australian Museum was responded to:

"Your image has been examined and identified. What you are seeing is a group of communal living caterpillars that have made this nest and from your image we can see the round caterpillar dropping suspended in the silk. Most likely guess from this image is Ochrogaster lunifer.

More details and images are available here"

Eastern Koel, again

The noisy juvenile Eastern Koel  was out in the back bush corridor this morning.  Instead of being buried inside of the red flowering Bottlebrush in yesterday's post, now you can see more of it, and the size of it.  Not so diminutive as it might've first appeared!  

There it is, perched on the branch inside the circle and I've zoomed in ....

still chirping, and Little Wattlebird still would flit about to and fro.  Unfortunately it was at this point that it flew off deeper into the trees; no more pics.  I just thought it a good followup on yesterday.

While out there I thought to gather a few pics of the native Banksias starting to flower.  The Noisy Miners, and the Wattlebirds like these for the nectar.

I'm not up on native species; does anyone know this one, what it is called?

Sharing with Nature Notes

Eastern Koel

This' the juvenile Eastern Koel, high up in a Bottlebrush (Callistemon), chirping incessantly, today. 

Little Wattlebird is its foster-parent, and still tirelessly feeding on demand.

By all accounts, it is during this month, that the Koels (cuckoo family), start winging their way towards New Guinea.  Some may remain in Nthn. Qld.

Sometime soon perhaps, I will notice a quietness, and no more Koel chirping.

Just a short video so you can experience the sound of the Koel too.  You may just spot it near the middle at first, but you will see more, the Little Wattlebird shuffling in through the Bottlebrush, to the Koel.

Unfortunately there are some strange sounds near the beginning, they're coming from workers drilling a colourbond roof onto a new house in construction down the road - amazing how sound travels and picks up so clearly at this end.

You will also hear a rather loud bird sound towards the end, it is the Grey Butcherbird.  He will have a post of his own sometime soon.

every colour of the rainbow .... lorikeet

While a pair of Rosellas do frequent the Crepe Myrtles for feasting, I think this pair of Rainbow Lorikeets decided to follow suit and check-in for a sample, late one afternoon.

think they got a taste for them

every which-way

finale' shot


Sharing with Wild Bird Wednesday

a fair dinkum, Aussie Kookaburra

...it's the Laughing Kookaburra in fact, 'cepting for this one wasn't laughing, nor singing, in the rain, earlier this month.

  Just a drop or two for a while, in the back garden, and Kooka' sat for a brief camera session.

Teals and more, at the park

Wetlands at Sydney's Olympic Park

where these waders had been seen on  previous post - so what makes for a great bird hide?

White Ibis, Red-necked Avocet, and Black-winged Stilt

there were also these Chestnut Teal, way out there

.. and Grey Teal, caught napping, in the mid afternoon.

Satin Bowerbird, and others...

What a fluke on this morning when I was outdoors with my camera, lining up a massive spiderweb, when I heard a bird land on the Colourbond (tin) decking-roof, behind me.  Turning back to see what, it saw me, and took off to the far boundary fence-line and obligingly turned around my direction!

It all happened in a flash, and just long enough for this single shutter-click.

A female, or juvenile Satin Bowerbird, and a new kid on the block really, though I'd seen two feeding on the Michelia (red seeds), a few mornings previous.  Very shy birds too, so I consider myself really lucky to have had them in so close, and on this occasion, while I had my camera in hand.

Same day, later in the afternoon, a few Noisy Miners were about, one checking out the rain gauge,

while another lands nearby 

a Wattlebird checks the bird-bath

and it's the Red Wattlebird

a group meeting

and surprise, surprise, in bounces the curious Satin Bowerbird, just to see what's happening around here.  Bonanza!  Two totally unexpected shots at it on the same day.