Birdwatching and Photography of Australian Birds.
Now Posted
Current Blog Post: Reflecting on the Waterbirds that Stay for Winter.
Recent Posts: (see the side-bar on this page for the Most Recent Posts with links to the last ten posts).
If this is your first visit to my website and you are becoming interested in Bird Watching as a healthy recreational pursuit, check out my Benefits of Birding page.
Birding Information with Helpful Hints and Useful Links: Check out my InfoTips page.
Helpful Counselling Material on Learning Valuable Life Skills From Our Birds: Check out my Birder Sanctuary page.
Something Special
Below we highlight special sightings and birding experiences that we want to share, apart from the usual blog post. These are usually local experiences, feel free to comment and ask questions.
A very unique and unusual sighting was of this leucistic Currawong in the Sydney Botanic Gardens. This unique mutation reduces the black colouring in the bird, but it is not albinism, as the eye remains yellow and their are patches of black in the plumage. This mother raised two normal black and white Pied Currawongs. This sighting is extremely rare and has been reported world-wide, and we were blessed to actually see the bird early 2018 on our hottest day.
Leucistic mother Pied Currawong with baby
Leucistic mother Pied Currawong with baby
Leucistic mother Pied Currawong with baby
As many of you know I have ticked off the elusive and critically endangered rare Regent Honeyeater from my bucket list. Not that I have seen it for the first time, for I had in Taronga Zoo, but that I saw an unbanded bird for first time in the wild, making it a true lifer. You can view my story in a previous blog post here.
The decline in this bird over recent years is believed to be due to loss of habitat especially the blossom of the Mugga Ironbark tree. Most of these trees were cut down in the 1900s for railway sleepers. Australia’s largest ever conservation program is trying to save these birds (less than 200 left in the wild) by a massive tree replanting, but it may be too late as these trees take several years to mature and flower. These birds are turning up in most unexpected places, but Capertee National Park ( a locked gate park) is the main conservation area for these birds in NSW.
Regent Honeyeater
Regent Honeyeater feeding on Ironbark blossom
Walking in the Royal National Park, Audley, my wife discovered the nest of a Tawny Frogmouth, not in a eucalypt tree, which is the normal camouflaged tree for these birds, but on a large limb of a Angophora costata tree or Sydney Red Gum, where it stood out like a sore thumb. This was high in a tree next to the large Fig in Fig Tree Flat.
We checked this nest again the following weekend and the mother and baby were still there but we also found the father Tawny watching them from the adjacent tree, sitting hidden beneath the fork of a branch.
Further down Lady Carrington Drive my wife sighted another Tawny Frogmouth nest, again with mother and one baby nesting on a bare branch.
The young Frogmouth has fledged leaving this very flimsy nest.
“What Birds Teach Us” my current book release, can now be also purchased here online through PayPal or from many other private book stores click on this link to see the list Where My Book Is Sold. It is now available at seven major NSW National Parks (Environment & Heritage Shops). Ask your nearest one if they have it in stock, if they don’t have it in stock, ask them to get it in. Broome Bird Observatory, Echo Point Visitor Centre, Koorong Books and O’Relly’s Rainforest Retreat Gift Shop also sells my book, as do several private book shops throughout NSW. You can also purchase your copy here from the side-bar. This is a great gift idea especially as Christmas draws near, a gift that will continue to keep on giving. Read the reviews on my Birdbook page.
NOTE: All photos, videos and music used on this website are photographed, composed, performed by the site owner and remains his copyrighted property, unless otherwise stated. The use of any material that is not original material of the site owner is duly acknowledged as such. © W. A. Hewson 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
I really enjoyed the short video of seasons🙂
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Thanks so much Thrifty Campers, have a wonderful new year!
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I never knew there are health benefits of bird watching until reading this…Great!
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Thanks Elsie, it has many benefits and is a great stress reliever.thanks for checking out my site.
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Goodness and neglected to specify I truly cherish birds!…I truly making the most of your seasons video with the empowering words, your delightful photographs and adored the melody and music. Much obliged to you!..
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Thanks Mona for your appreciative comment I am glad it blessed you. Have a great weekend!
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Its awesome! Cherish the photographs. My most loved photograph is of the Spotted Pardote, I am some of the time favored to see them around my home..
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Goodness and neglected to specify I truly cherish birds!…I truly making the most of your seasons video with the empowering words, your excellent photographs and adored the tune and music. Much thanks to you!..
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Hi, I was looking at some of the great photos that you have taken in the Wingham national park, the photo of the different coloured Rainbow Lorikeet, it was very interesting to see that, are they common in that area?
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Hi Joseph, thanks for your welcome comment, the olive-backed variant Rainbow Lorikeet that I posted on my visit to the Taree/Wingham area is not a very common mutation, and this is the only one I have seen. There are many different mutations for different birds, and in particular for the lorikeets. Sadly I can not find the link to the website article that had documented the many variations of these birds. If I find it I will email it to you. Enjoy birding!
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What’s the secret to identifying birds?
It’s not an easy question to answer.
More than 700 kinds of birds live in North America and more than 10,000 worldwide, enough variety to keep anyone absolutely amazed for a lifetime.
But you probably know other people that are able to accurately identify just about every bird.
How do they do it? Do they know some “birding” secret that you don’t?
Actually, yes, they do!
And today I’m going to show you one of my favorite birding pursuit strategies of all time: the Eagle Eye Approach:
https://www.dignitree.com/blogs/news/eagle-eye-approach-to-identifying-birds-of-north-america-the-definitive-guide
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Thank you Mary for sharing this information. We find the shape and manner of the bird helpful from a distance. In Australia we are more likely to hear the bird before see it, so knowing the call is helpful and we have apps for that. Most bird identification comes from the study of the bird as one encounters it usually for the first time. Your information looks very helpful.
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thanks for your sharing, by om hasan jual genset
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I read the new book, “What Birds Teach Us”. Its great! Love the photos. My favorite photo is of the Spotted Pardote, I am sometimes blessed to see them around my home.
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Thanks Jesse, so glad you liked it, yes the Pardies are a favorite when you actually get to see them.
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Oh and forgot to mention I really love birds! 🙂
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That’s great, and I give you free dispensation to draw or paint from any of my pictures, if you will show me your finished work:-).
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I really enjoyed your seasons video with the encouraging words, your beautiful photos and loved the song and music. Thank you! It’s great that you share Scriptures and your faith on this website and your lovely blog, “MyBeautifulSeries”. Really enjoy the photos on there too. Blessings to you and your wife. Thank you, again. ~ Janette. 🙂
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Blessings also to you dear sis, your Scripture art is likewise spiritually delightful and commendable. Thank you so much for your encouraging words and for checking out my site. The Birder Sanctuary is also a page on my site we have devoted to the spiritual application of bird peculiarities to our lives. Thank you for your warm blessings to my wife and I, likewise I return the same to you and your family. Shalom. and richest blessings… Ashley:-)
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Hi Mister I really need to know when does Black Winged Stilt live in India. I am looking forward for your answer.
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The Black-winged Stilt is a migrant to many countries of the world including Asia, and may migrate to Africa and other warmer climates during winter months. As I am an Australian birder my knowledge is more with Australian bird activity and how this bird moves in our country. However, to my knowledge, the Black-winged stilt is found in India from around November to March and possibly longer. Hope this helps. I suggest you look up this bird in a birding field guide for Indian birds, or search the internet for more specific times and places.
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I really like this!
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Thanks for visiting my site Myra
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Too cute to be devils! I enjoyed your background music…you’re multi-talented!!
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Thanks so much Elisa, producing my own music is my second hobby to photography and birding, though I don’t do as much recording these days, I like backing my movie clips to add character. My DVD set Ashley’s Beautiful Series incorporated my photography and my own unique soothing music. My attention at the moment has been in completing the second draft of my book “What do the birds teach us?” I hope to publish later in the year.
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Ha, ha. Those devils look cute, not as ferocious as I have read. They do have imposing teeth though. Your blog is filled with such interesting animals and birds. Always a pleasure to visit here.
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Thanks Donna, these guys are young ones, when you see the adults fighting over food in the wild, they may give a different impression. They often bare battle scars from fights over food. Their jaws are one of the most powerful, you should hear them crunching bone, it is quite eerie.
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