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The Rufous Whistler singing. The Golden Whistler singing.

This will be my last post for 2018, and with it comes a sincere blessing to all my blog followers for a joyful, enjoyable and thankful Christmas experience. This is a special post unlike any others, for here I share my own personal experience of how one Christmas day became so important to the rest of my life. I have featured both the Rufous and Golden Whistlers in this post as examples of joy and thanksgiving since these two birds can be heard singing their hearts out non stop at this time of year bringing our bush alive with their joyful song. The Golden Whistler is featured in my book for this reason. Last weekend while in Wagga Wagga I took a short trip out to The Rock Nature Reserve, which Sue Taylor raved about in her book 100 Best Birdwatching Sites in Australia, but which we find disappointing each visit. My main goal here was to catch a glimpse of the Red-capped Robin, which I long to see, but alas as a storm moved in the only bird I heard was several persistent Rufous Whistler. The drought has caused many birds to desert this area for want of food and water.

But for their different colored chests (which give them their name) they look and sound similar. They are heard most only in the Spring and Summer while they chase mates and nest. Endemic to Australia, the Golden species is found mainly along the humid east coast of Australia, SW WA and Lord Howe Island. The Rufous is found all over Australia mainland and is more often seen in the dryer open woodland west of the ranges. Recent scientific research has discovered that many song birds sing so joyfully and with full on vigor for the pure delight of doing so, because it has an endorphin release in the brain that gives them a feel good feeling. Rejoicing and being thankful has a very positive and life giving effect in humans as in birds. This Christmas is a time for us all to take heed of these little songsters, and realize the health and social benefits of having a joyful spirit. It actually builds up our immune system and helps keep us healthy.

Listen to the several different calls of the Rufous Whistler…

In this video clip you will see (slightly out of focus) one of the amazing abilities of the Rufous Whistler with this repetitive call. All bird sing their most and best as sun rises and sun sets. Birders know this as the Morning and Evening Chorus. If you want to see and hear a bird joyfully communicating with its mates and thankfully enjoying its breakfast after a long sleep, morning is best. Then just as sun starts to set again they excitedly call and have their last feed for the day before finding their roost, usually moving to the top of the highest trees as the suns light diminishes.

As I explained in a previous blog post at the commencement of our Spring, the sound of the Golden Whistler is one such call that tells me here in Sydney’s Royal National Park that Spring has arrived and the Whistler is seeking a mate and/or nesting his mate. Note that I have only shown photos of the males, as they are main whistlers, they do communicate with each other as they foragein a similar way to the Whipbird.

Golden Whistler (male)

Golden Whistler male

Golden Whistler (male) whistling

Golden Whistler (male)

Listen to the song of the Golden Whistler, it also varies at intervals…

Again they call with such enthusiasm…

My last meditation for the year is in the form of my own personal testimony to how one Christmas at the age of 16 my life took a new journey. If you take the time to read it, it may encourage you to discover the joy I did and like the Whistlers…

“Shout out praises to the Lord, all the earth!
Worship the Lord with joy!
Enter his presence with joyful singing!
Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us and we belong to him;” – Psalm 100: 1-5 (NET)

^“Rejoice in the Lord always. Again I say, rejoice! Let everyone see your gentleness. The Lord is near! Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:4-7 (NET)

This is the true joy of having the indwelling Holy Spirit of Jesus who keeps us joyful in his peace and love even through the difficult times of life. Jesus is the reason for the season, so why not look him up if you have not done so already. Check out my Birder Sanctuary page for more spiritual encouragement and direction. As I shared in my AboutUs page, my wife and I are not religious we are grace and faith people who have come to believe in Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life.

You can still purchase my book as a great Christmas gift for a grandchild or child 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

Empty Woodswallow Nest

Three weeks ago my wife and I visited the Southern Highlands region south of Sydney where we found many birds, in particular a lone Regent Honeyeater. The Drunk Parrot Tree in Wollongong Botanic Gardens is now deserted of birds as the blossoms are finished, assisted by the violent deluge (Sydney’s Super Storm) we experienced a week ago. A day after the rain I went back to check how the birds fared. A friend at a National Park office told me that many birds were brought in injured from the storm and many had died. You will remember I featured the above nest in my previous post with the female Dusky Woodswallow sitting proudly on her eggs. After the storm, my investigation found no Woodswallows anywhere around the nest area in the Budderoo National Park. In fact the forest was almost silent but for the call of an elusive Rufous Whistler. However the wild flowers benefited from the rain and were in full bloom both here and in Barren Grounds National Park where I visited later. Click on photo to enlarge it.

The sound of the Fan-tailed Cuckoo could be heard making it easy to find. The Eastern Bristlebird I would usually find was also gone as were many other birds.

Then I was charmed by the lovely call of the Grey Shrike-thrush, a bird that is normally quite brave and curious of humans, though this one was rather shy.

The Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike watched as I poured my coffee from my thermos with the silent heath lands of the highlands all to myself. I love sitting in the silence with no man made machine or voice noises, just the sound of birds and wind blowing with the wisps of wild flower scent.

Another curious bird the female Golden Whistler came to check me out. I always love the way this bird turns its head to look at me in a similar way to the Robins. I could hear the male calling earlier so I knew he probably had a mate and was nesting nearby. Notice how plain looking she is compared to the stunning colors of the male.

female Golden Whistler

male Golden Whistler whistling

This Eastern Crimson Rosella was a laugh as it shook its tail doing some kind of dance. It was some distance away and in the forest darkness.

I later made my way down the mountain to visit Wollongong Botanic Gardens to see how the Bowerbirds were going and on the way I sighted this male Superb Lyrebird foraging.

Finally I arrived at the gardens and noticed the absence of nectar eating passerines, but to my delightful surprise was greeted by several rainforest birds which are not commonly seen out in the open. This Bassian Thrush was sighted behind a bush but I only got one shot and it was gone.

My second rainforest gift was this Green Catbird, a beautiful specimen out in the open sunlight, something you seldom get to see. These birds are related to the Bowerbirds and are very elusive and hard to spot in a tree due to their colour and shyness. Their call usually helps find them.

My third rainforest bird was of course the Satin Bowerbird, and not just the male but this beautiful female with food in mouth waiting to leave for the nest, not wanting me to know where it is.

The Satin Bowerbird have such beautiful eye colour. The blue-black plumage colors are the product of light refraction in the surface feathers. The males were busy repairing bowers and collecting more blue objects to decorate the bower to make it attractive to fertile females. My book “What Birds Teach Us” features this unique Australian bird and draws on a lesson we can learn from its creative nature.

One of the several males was sitting up on a branch and calling to the females.

It was noted that the unusual double bower was still intact after the storm, though others had suffered loss.

This male kept his eye on me as he foraged and dug down under a bush, unusual behaviour.

But my greatest gift was to view through the bushes a rare glimpse of a mature male Satin Bowerbird teaching the immature youngster how to dance. He was training the youngster for the most important role that would occupy the rest of his life, building the bower, doing the mating dance and singing the mating songs (mimicry) to impress and get the females to mate with him. Only the the most creative and best performers get the girl. Recent studies show that this is a learnt process from a young age, and as with humans there are different degrees of intelligence, creativity and ability. Lyrebirds have a similar learnt process. Birds with long gestation and maturity times such as these have larger brains and more neurons in their learning regions. It takes over six years for a male to mature to full adult plumage. This is the only photo I managed to get through the bushes of this immature male, the movie clip was not suitable as it was too difficult to focus through the bushes.

Immature male Satin Bowerbird

The garden desert region had the beautiful native Western Australian Kangaroo Paw flowering in various colors.

In this world of constantly changing values and morals many are left confused and disillusioned. The lack of absolute truth and the lack of adherence to such by society in government, schools, churches and law courts has assisted in increasing depression, disappointment and lack of direction for living. This has caused Family and Personal Counselling to become the fastest growing industry worldwide today. In the same way if we do not follow the manufacturers instructions problems may arise, so it is with us. If we do not recognize or want to recognize the instructions of our Loving Creator for our best life scenario, and disregard them, we will strike problems and suffer the pain of guilt and disappointment in life.

We were ‘appointed‘ to live a righteous and enjoyable life in relationship with God the Father, so we become ‘disappointed‘ when we do life our own way, following the crowd of selfish amoral modern thought. Regardless of whether or not it is legal in society, that does not make it right. This is what my brother, a barrister, explained many years ago when I shared my disapproval with some of the judgments made in our law courts.

The point is that all the birds in our region experienced the deluge of Sydney’s Super Storm and the strong winds on the day, some fared well and some were injured and died, some stayed and suffered the storm as many were still nesting and others fled, possibly being warned instinctively to flee. We all have to make choices and if we choose to make choices that are not good for us we need to be prepared to suffer the consequences which may appear later in life. The other side of this today in our Secular Humanistic society is that we may suffer standing for what is right (what we believe to be Truth) and be persecuted by what is proclaimed legal in our new Modernistic Atheistic Society, where the government becomes the new god. The question in me and each of us is: How then will I fare, how will I withstand life’s storms?

“Because the Sovereign Lord helps me,
    I will not be disgraced.
Therefore, I have set my face like a stone,
    determined to do his will.
    And I know that I will not be put to shame.
He who gives me justice is near.
    Who will dare to bring charges against me now?
Where are my accusers?
    Let them appear!
See, the Sovereign Lord is on my side! – Isaiah 50: 7-9a

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” – John 15:23 (NLT)

Have a wonderful week my dear blogging birding friends as we prepare for the celebration of Jesus coming to earth as our savior. I just want to leave you with a lovely thought Brian Mulroney spoke at exPresident George H W Bush’s funeral:

“There are ships that sail the seas, but the best ships are friendships!”

If this is your first visit to my blog, why not check out the rest of my website aussiebirder.com!

What better Christmas Gift than a copy of my book, a gift that keeps on giving.especially for young people 7 to 12 years of age. It not only teaches an appreciation of Australia’s beautiful birds but integrates life skills as the unique characteristics of each bird teach us how to do life better. Many from all over the world who follow this blog have purchased this book, some have given reviews. Read them for yourself and purchase here online on my BirdBook page.

A lady bought 3 books two days ago, after reading it in a Dentist Surgery waiting room. She was so pleased she had found the perfect Christmas present for her grandchildren that she came back the next day and bought 2 more.

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

Spring Bird Babies Before the Deluge

Posted by aussiebirder on November 29, 2018

Posted in: Australia, Australian Birds, Australian wildlife, Bird watching, Birding, Birds, Fauna, National Parks, Nature, Nature reserve, Outings, Uncategorized, waders, water birds, wildlife. Tagged: Australian Wood Duck, Chestnut Teal, Dusky Woodswallow.

Dusky Woodswallow nesting

It is almost Summer here and many bird babies are appearing out and about with their proud parents learning life skills for survival. Others continue nesting, as is this Dusky Woodswallow above. Little do they know that in a few days, yesterday in fact, a massive deluge will occur dropping a months rain in 2 hours on our Sydney region. One of the wildest storms recorded here. I wonder how these little families all fared? Mother birds spreading their wings and bodies over the eggs and babies while father bird shields mum, taking the full brunt of the storm as the tree sways relentlessly in 60 km/hr wind. I was not able to see this, but it is worth a thought:- the difficulties and responsibilities of parenthood shared together in the bond of love.

Female Woodswallow waits on nest for male to return

Female waits for return of male to take her place on the nest

Male returns with a stick to be added to nest, she wonders what he is going to do with it

Together they survey the nest they built

This juvenile Eastern (Black-backed) Magpie was looking to be fed as my wife shared her lunch with the adults.

The youngsters look similar to adult but are brownish as are many immature birds helping to camouflage them. Fledged Magpies are cared for and trained by the males in the family, father and uncles included. These two males are caring for the baby, the father seems to disapprove at the uncle feeding the baby.

The Australian Magpie is not only one of the most intelligent of birds having one of the best family structures for survival, but also has one of the most complex and amazing song of birds being able to change several octaves in a split second. Much study has been done on their call as they talk to one another often a short distance apart, sometimes for hours on end.

One of the encouraging features after good recent rain helping to break our long drought (we hope and pray) is the return of the water birds to breed in our Oatley Park where babies are seen out with their parents. These include a family of Chestnut Teal…

Chestnut Teal Family

Chestnut Teal babies

and a family of Australian Wood Duck. One of the features the above birds have in common is the devoutness of the father in protecting and raising their brood. The Wood Duck in particular is a great example of good fathering, carefully leading the family about and keeping it safe. Here it is the father again caring for the babies.

Other birds that are nesting, but well away from humans are the Royal Spoonbill and the Cattle Egret. Each is beginning to display breeding plumage.

The Australian Eastern Water Dragon was sunning himself in the park as usual, so I thought I would include him as he posed so beautifully for me. These lizards can swim very well propelling themselves through the water by swaying their tail, in a similar way to the crocodile.

Australian Eastern Water Dragon

Australian Eastern Water Dragon swimming

The heavy rain was welcome after the long dry hot summer of the last 2 years and dry winters. We are experiencing cold winter conditions as we transition into Summer, snow on the alps which is unseasonable. It may have caused havoc and damage for a day, however, our birds have to make the most of this now having fresh water again and Spring blossom for food. Some of our beautiful and very unique wildflowers are blooming again. With the birds we give thanks with an attitude of gratitude. God is good all the time! If you have not done so yet, why not spend a quiet moment exploring my Birder Sanctuary page on my website where you will find encouragement for experiencing the best in life..

Have a wonderful weekend, and don’t forget my book ‘What Birds Teach Us’ is a great inexpensive Christmas gift that will keep on giving, which you can purchase for the best price here on my website through the security of PayPal or in one of these shops.

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

To celebrate my recent birthday, my wife and I spent a weekend at Serenity Diamond Beach resort nearby my daughter and family. The resort fronts onto the pristine Diamond Beach and backs onto Khappinghat Nature Reserve where we would walk early morning and late afternoon to take in the many bird sounds and bird activity in the reserve at the rear of the resort grounds. Birders know these times as the morning and evening chorus being the best time to go bird watching, as birds are in their largest number feeding and calling, and much easier to spot.

The prominent bird feeding on the native flowers was the White-cheeked Honeyeater, a bird I had never seen in such abundance in one place. We could hear the chatter of the birds calling to one another in small feeding flocks. I love this little guy preening and calling in the clip below, making sure he does not miss out on being in the conversation.

This honeyeater looks very similar to its New Holland Honeyeater cousin, except for its white-cheeks, and also resides mostly in the coastal forests and scrubland of the east coast of NSW and Victoria, though there is a race also in the far south west WA. My wife was delighted when she spotted this immature White-cheeked Honeyeater resting alone and watching its relatives busily feeding and calling to one another. You will notice the white cheeks are still developing. Click on photos to enlarge them.

White-cheeked Honeyeater immature

White-cheeked Honeyeater adult

The occasional sound of the Eastern Whipbird was heard, at first we searched in the scrub as this is mostly an elusive ground feeding bird but when we could not find him there, my wife spotted him high in the eucalypt tree I was standing beneath.

Latest research has suggested that birds get a high (endorphin hit) from singing their songs, and one could believe this if they were standing where we were in the early morning. This Superb Fairy-wren male joined the chorus with his high pitched call which was much quieter than the other surrounding birds.

This Red-browed Finch was too busy feeding on this length of grass seed to join in the chorus.

Being Spring the sound of the Olive-backed Oriole could be heard and spotted calling also. This Summer immigrant is usually easily spotted when it calls as it is usually hidden in thick under canopy.

Olive-backed Oriole.

One of the common honeyeaters of the coast here, the Little Wattlebird were also seen, though I did not record any of their sound on this occasion.

Little Wattlebird

One of my favorite bird calls is that of the Pied Butcherbird which is found on the north coast, we only have the Grey Butcherbird, which has a joyful laughing call making me smile when I here it each morning. The Pied has a more melodious chiming call.

We were immediately on alert with camera in hand and racing outside our resort villa when we heard a flock of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo pass over and landing on a native tree to feed on Banksia cones near the beach. There distinctive call can be heard.

The Grey Fantail was flitting about, though not fanning his tail, and you can also hear the call of the Yellow-tails in the background.

In a tree in the back yard of my daughter’s home was this female Tawny Frogmouth. Unusual to find them alone this time of year, though it may be still a little immature and not yet breeding. The females have the ‘tawny’ or rufous colored plumage, particularly on the shoulders, while the males are more grey-brown.

On the beach front while sharing time with my daughter’s family we saw these Humpback Whales breaching far out at sea, but my birding lens managed to capture these pics.

If you have read this far in my post for this week I thank you. In recent weeks I have noticed a significant drop in my website/blog stats so I take this moment to ask if you would kindly comment and tell me what you think I could improve on or do differently if you have helpful suggestions. I am considering changing my blog posts to reflect my next book which I will be writing soon after my current research period. I believe God is bringing a new season to my blog, but it may begin in the new year, when my employment situation changes again.

Have a wonderful week! Happy Thanksgiving to my dear American friends! We could do with a holiday in Australia to give thanks for the wonderful things we enjoy because of God;s goodness to us. It is a time to celebrate our wonderful God with passionate joyful praise and appreciation.

“Let’s enter his presence with thanksgiving!
Let’s shout out to him in celebration!” – Psalm 95:2 (NET)

If this is your first visit to my blog, I welcome you and invite you to check out the rest of my website at my Homepage.

If you have not purchased my book ‘What Birds Teach Us’ check out my BirdBook page and find out more. This book sells at this time of year as a wonderful Christmas gift to give young people from the age of 7 to 12 years.

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

Satin Bowerbird male

The Satin Bowerbird is a bird we have seen more recently as males attend their bowers and impress visiting females with the hope of mating with as many females as possible. To do this they seek to gain the prestige of having the most beautiful bower and trinkets, performing the most creative dance and singing the most skilful mimicry song. The male is blue-black and the female green and brown with a patterned chest, the juveniles are similar to the female but with less green and more brown in plumage.

Each male has spent weeks tirelessly building each strand of the bower from dried grass and sticks, collecting blue coloured objects (his jewels which match his own beautiful alluring colours) and positioning them in an impressive display. he has spent most of his life practicing building bowers and learning his own dance steps and peculiar song in a very similar way to the Lyrebird.

The Bower

He knows there are several competing bowers in his local forest, and that these males may come at any time he is absent from the bower, to steal his blue trinkets or to ruin his bower. They all want the prize of impressing and mating with as many of the resident females as possible.

Female looks into bower, will she enter it?

Female examining bower

Female observes male and bower

Bowerbirds are endemic to the rainforest areas of the east coast of Australia and are primarily native fruit and insect eaters (mostly figs). Of our over 45 species of fig there is always one or more fruiting at any time of the year, as well as the fruit from both introduced and other native species. Similar to the Lyrebirds they are low flying birds and capable of mimicking other bird sounds.

The juvenile male looks the same as the female and takes seven years before it gains its mature black feathers and violet eyes. It is the refraction of light on the surface of the feathers that gives the glossy blue-black appearance.

Of our 8 species of Bowerbird (10 if we include our Catbirds which are in the same family) most build bowers and gather trinkets (some collect white or green objects, flowers or fruits to decorate their bower and attract female interest). Simply put, if the male is not smart, artistic and creative enough the female will notice it and fly off to view another bower. Males spend many hours repairing and improving their bowers as they search for blue objects. Researchers have found that when red objects are placed in the bower area, the Bowerbird will either remove them or cover them up.

All through Spring this flight of the females visiting bowers takes place, in a similar way men and women courting and dating, with ladies seeking out and ticking off the qualities they see in their aspiring suitors as they seek to impress. I had the amazingly rare opportunity to film the process of the female entering the bower and the male dancing for her. I apologise for the shaky camera as it is shot at quite a distance from the bower, up under a large tree (bowers are often hidden under trees or bushes). It was difficult to stabilise due to low angle I had to hold the camera.

Considering the the amount of time, great skill and creative effort that goes into the construction of the bower and the wooing of the female my thoughts are drawn to consider the difference between excellence and perfectionism. The pursuit of excellence is a healthy attitude to have because it is based on a realistic and positive understanding of who we are, accepting that we can strive to do better but it is OK if sometimes we make mistakes and or fail to meet our goals, we can learn from these and stay humble. However, perfectionistic attitudes, which are primarily bred in children from a young age, by perfectionistic, legalistic and negative parents and carers demanding a high level of performance and achievement in life, give the impression that one’s value comes from what they do and achieve, and is only acceptable when it is completed with perfection. As they constantly fail to reach their goal, even when they do exceedingly well, they are constantly under the stress of trying to achieve unrealistic goals to please their parents and themselves resulting ultimately in discouragement, depression and a sense of worthlessness. The child raised to exhibit excellence, however, can accept themselves for who they are, like a Bowerbird, as a teenager, he spends many hours practicing to build a bower, which will not be needed till years later. He makes mistakes but tries many times till he finally masters the art. He learns to dance and to mimic, knowing he may not be the best but he will give it his best shot, in the hope it will be acceptable when the time comes.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,” – Colossians 3:23 (NIV)

Have a wonderful week and enjoy the birds. We put out a special call to our Aussie conservationists to help save our threatened Koala population click on this link.

If this is your first visit to my blog, please take a minute to check out my website Homepage menu and helpful birding and counselling info. My Special Sightings page has my rare bird sightings. Check out my unique book which can be purchased through secure PayPal here online 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

The Return of the Rare Regent – Wollongong Botanic Gardens

Posted by aussiebirder on November 8, 2018

Posted in: Australia, Australian Birds, Bird watching, Birding, Birds, Birdwatching, Fauna, Holidays, National Parks, Nature, Nature reserve, Outings, Uncategorized, wildlife. Tagged: Regent Honeyeater, Wollongong Botanic Gardens.

Regent Honeyeater (male)

Last weekend my wife and I drove to Wollongong Botanic Gardens on the tip off that a single Regent Honeyeater had been visiting a bright red flowering bush known as the ‘Drunk Parrot Tree’ (Schotia brachypetala). To our great delight we were blessed with many sightings of the bird as it came briefly to feed and then flew off, usually because it was harassed by the highly aggressive Red and Little Wattlebirds which dominated the tree along with the alos aggressive Rainbow Lorikeets. I managed a few decent photos, though it was difficult having to shoot to the back of the tree as this timid bird kept well away from us and the other birders present.

Botanic Gardens in any town we visit always provide some of our best birding, especially in spring when the high nectar output is occurring which Australian honeyeaters love so much that it sends them into an aggressive frenzy at times. The Regent is not so aggressive but rather shy on his own.

This is one of Australia’s most endangered species, nationally labelled ‘Critically Endangered’ and this particular sighting was a lifer in the wild for my wife, and more so for us both, it is my second sighting of an unbanded bird, which for us birders is a BIG plus, as it was not a release from Taronga Zoo Regent Honeyeater Breeding Project to save the bird, which is suffering from the deforestation of their prime nectar tree the Box and Mugga Ironbark, as well as the drought affecting the Capertee Valley breeding area.

Less than a hundred years ago there were flocks of hundreds flying over inland rural areas, but the railway found the iron like strength of the Ironbark tree ideal for railway sleepers, and most were felled for this purpose, as it was Australia’s hardest hardwood.

Today the Regent Honeyeater Project is the largest single conservation project ever in our nation, consisting of volunteer tree planters, bird counters and property lenders. The national government also have a Recovery Plan which they have enacted to save this beautiful bird. Of our over 70 species of Honeyeater their main diet is insects, nectar, some fruit and of course lerps. For this bird the specie of tree appears to be important for its survival and breeding, unlike most other species.

Regent Honeyeater

We took our lunch and Thermos along and sat in the shade of some large trees on a bench provided nearby and watched and waited for each return. We were told by a bird group the bird would return to the nearby rainforest area to rest between feeds, but sadly no female has been seen or nesting, which is the current plight of so many of these birds spread now across the coast in unfamiliar areas to escape the drought and ind sufficient food. This last shot was a gem as it flew off…

The other honeyeaters on the bush, most of which were aggressive toward the Regent are the Little Wattlebird, Red Wattlebird, Rainbow Lorikeet, Musk Lorikeet and Lewin’s Honeyeater. The Lorikeets are not classified as honeyeaters though they do eat the whole flower as well as nectar, being less dependant. They eat fruits and seeds as well, however the nectar has the same frenzy effect as on the Wattlebirds.

Musk Lorikeet feeding

Lewins Honeyeater

Little Wattlebird with youngster

Little Wattlebird feeding

Rainbow Lorikeet feeding

Little Wattlebird feeding

Musk Lorikeet feeding

Rainbow Lorikeet

Little Wattlebird feeding

Rainbow Lorikeet feeding

Hope you enjoyed our special little visitor, who’s appearance gave so many of us great delight to travel several hours early in the morning to observe. We also enjoyed conversation from birds from the local Illawarra Bird Observers Club, who posted the original tip off. Look how regent this Regent is in the photo below, what a stunning bird when seen in the sunlight, especially when in flight.

It is interesting they call this bush the Drunk Parrot Tree as it intoxicates the birds with its high sugar content nectar. It is interesting how greedy and possessive many of the flocking (pack as I call them) honeyeaters become, often ganging up on other species and taking over whole trees and sometimes parts of a forest, keeping them exclusively for themselves. They spend their time driving unwanted species from their food source, precluding the humble and shy birds in small number from access, as they noisily feed communicating constantly with the pack or gang.

This spirit of selfish, aggressive oppression rises its ugly head in our society from time to time causing all forms of pain for the humble innocent. This is a lesson to me of the need to help those who are disadvantaged because of such destructive behaviour, and to stand up for and assist where I can in real time, not just by giving financially for others to do. God’s heart and concern is for the underdog, the outcast, the oppressed, the foreigner, the orphan and widow, he blesses those who have a heart like his own of mercy, compassion and unconditional love. Jesus himself brought hope and help to these people in his society when no one else would, transforming their lives forever. I have had to change my attitude to the influx of many different cultures and beliefs to my own society in recent years. The Lord is the one who knows us and cares about us, his faithful promises can always be trusted. One just needs to ask and rest, trusting in him to act, and he will do the rest.

“He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.” – Deuteronomy 10:18 (NIV)

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” – James 1:17

“Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.” – Exodus 23:6

“I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.” – Psalm 140:12

Consider this, as I have, an orphan and a widow may look a little different from the past, where women lost their spouse in the battles of war. The battle is there still, but now it causes divorce and separation of families, and it is these ones who need our protection and support today.

May you enjoy the birds this week as you get out and about. May they assist, along with the surrounding nature, to bring rest and peace to your stressful life as you re-earth yourself in the Creators magnificent garden.

If this is your first visit to my blog, please take a minute to check out my website Homepage menu and helpful birding and counselling info. Check out my unique book which can be purchased through secure PayPal here online 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

Pink-eared Duck

This week as my wife and I were accessing difficult birding areas, I realised just how elusive and fearful of humans our fresh water birds are, and because of this how many non-birders would probably never laid eyes on some of the most beautiful and unique birds in our country of Australia. One such duck, the Pink Eared Duck (above) is a good example. These unusual ducks filter water for micro marine organisms and insects using their purpose built spatulated broad bill.

The Pink-eared Duck gets its name from a pink marking on the side of its head which is smaller or absent in females and absent in juveniles. They are mostly found in inland fresh water lakes throughout the Australian continent and is endemic to Australia. It is often found in large flocks of hundreds as we observed last weekend…

Pink-eared Duck

We were doubly blessed to see two juvenile Pink-eared Ducks for the first time ever. Click on photos to enlarge them.

Another rarely noticed fresh water duck which keeps its distance from humans (on the other side of the lake) is the Australasian Shoveler, also endemic and sports a very similar spatulated bill to our previous duck. The male is the more colourful and the female mainly brown. Note how it sweeps the water filtering it for its food, allowing the water to pass out. These are usually seen in small family groups.

Australasian Shoveler male

Australasian Shoveler female

Australian Shoveler pair

One of the most popular freshwater ducks which are found in very large flocks in northern Australia and in some of our lakes and dams here in our state also, is the Plumed Whistling Duck. These are migratory as they return to the top end in the wet season of summer to breed.

Plumed Whistling Duck male

Plumed Whistling Duck

You may remember seeing this video clip from a previous post, highlighting the cacophony of sound the whistling of thousands of ducks can produce.

The most elusive and human sensitive duck we have encountered and laboured to see is of course the Blue-billed Duck. The bill of the males during breeding glows bright blue. The male is distinctly different to female, the female being very similar to the female and juvenile of the Musk Duck, another fresh water elusive duck, and can be often difficult from a distance to tell them apart. Both the Blue-billed and Musc Ducks share very similar characteristics which I will share later.

Males in foreground females in background

Blue-billed Ducks sleeping on the water

Hardhead male and Blue-billed Duck male

The Musk Duck gets its name from the musk like scent the male liberates from a gland on its rump, it sports an unusual leathery lobe, and because of its greasy grey appearance is always difficult to photograph from a distance.

The Blue-billed and Musc Ducks are often found together in family groups well away from human approach. These birds spend almost all of their life on the water, they sleep afloat (see Blue-billed photo above). Both birds are identified by the fact they float low in the water, they have large splaying tails which the males use to attract females, they both have long involved courtship displays and are endemic to Australia. I managed to get some pics (from a distance) of a male doing a courtship display with his followers looking on as he kicked, turned, rolled onto his back and splayed his tail in the water.

Courtship display by a male Musk Duck

Courtship display by a male Musk Duck

The Australian Shelduck is a duck often only seen in family groups and not commonly seen on the coast being more of an inland bird to the southern part of Australia. We often only find the occasional bird at a wetland or lake but not in any number though their numbers are always increasing and are of little concern. In this case the white surrounding the eye is the female.

Australian Shelduck in flight(Male and Female)

One duck most people here in NSW would not have seen because it only lives in the far north of Australia is the Radjah Shelduck which we have posted here in our far north travels earlier this year.

Two other birds only found in Far North Queensland that I also featured in previous posts are the Cotton Pygmy Goose and the Green Pygmy Goose which are extremely elusive, but are called geese rather than ducks, but are elusive, fresh water and seldom seen, so included them.

Green Pygmy-Goose pair

Cotton Pygmy-Goose and Wandering Whistling Ducks

The Wandering Whistling Duck, which lives up to its name, as it is not endemic to Australia, but is found in south-east Asia and moves about in northern Australia, occasionally seen as a vagrant here. It is found in large flocks similar to its Plumed cousin.

Wandering Whistling Duck

The Hardhead is an Australia’s most common diving duck (endemic to Australia) similar to the Blue-billed Duck (also a diving duck) but more common. It is not as shy as the above but can be. The male is identified by the white eye and the female by the brown eye. These birds do not swim as low in the water as Blue-bills but are often found with them and look similar from the distance. The Blue-bills keep their tail low in the water unlike the Hardhead.

Hardheads landing near Cotton Pygmy-Goose

The other ducks such as Australian Wood Duck, Chestnut Teal, Grey Teal and Pacific Black Duck are very common and not listed as elusive or rarely seen. The Grey Teal is apparently our most abundant duck. However, our most endangered and rare Duck is the Freckled Duck. Posted as vulnerable in our state, but is most endangered of all our ducks as it inhabits swamps and lakes inland, and when these dry up it moves towards the coast. It is only found in the southern part of our continent but not Tasmania.

All of the above ducks have had to photographed from a distance in a fresh water lake, swamp or lagoon, the Hardheads being the not so shy and more frequently seen. Many in the general public think ducks eat small fish and only small marine creatures, however, ducks are mostly omnivorous and feed on insects, seeds, grains, grass, water weeds, mollusks and what ever they can find. They do not normally feed on fish. As we saw above, those ducks that have been given purpose built bills such as the Pink-eared and Shoveler extract most of their nutrient directly from filtering the water, for crustaceans, molluscs, fresh water plankton and insects. Last weekend we saw many different species resting together in the middle of the lake all on friendly terms, as each kept its distance from the other.

There is safety in numbers and this was well demonstrated as we approached the lake. The first warnings alerted those who were sleeping and not facing our way. This caused some to give an alarm call and fly off, while others (the Pink-eared flock) took off and circled the lake several times, as they would for a raptor’s appearance and finally resettle in another lake nearby. Others would just swim further to the other side of the lake, keeping an eye on us. The flock is a safety structure for many reasons, especially in the harsh country of Australia. This is one reason why many of our birds can learn multiplicity of bird languages and can also be taught to speak words (Parrots, Budgies and Cockatoos) as they combine with other flocks and learn their local lingo. By pooling their resources they are able to stay safe and find food, water, companionship and mates especially in drought times. We do the same when we pool our resources as a family or community, whatever that may look like. Sharing our knowledge and experiences helps our family flock do life better. It is for this reason I exhort fathers in particular to share their life with their children while they are young, it is so important, and the children hunger for it. My book is just another way of helping dads do this well as it is full of Godly advice without being religious

“And now a word to you parents. Don’t keep on scolding and nagging your children, making them angry and resentful. Rather, bring them up with the loving discipline the Lord himself approves, with suggestions and godly advice.” – Ephesians 6:4 (Living Bible)

“A wise teacher makes learning a joy;” – Proverbs 15:2

“Teach a child to choose the right path, and when he is older, he will remain upon it.” – Proverbs 22:6

Have a wonderful and restful weekend. We are facing a heatwave today with total fire ban which is not good for the many birds nesting after recent rains. Breeding numbers here remain down this year also.

If this is your first visit to my blog, please take a minute to check out my website Homepage menu and helpful birding and counselling info. Check out my unique book which can be purchased through secure PayPal here online 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

One of my primary goals in life is to leave an appreciation of our natural heritage for our youth. Writing my first book (available here online) was one attempt at achieving this, followed by whetting an interest in family and friends to explore our native birds and also our beautiful bush with its unique trees, flowers and animals. Sharing a pair of binoculars many have had their eyes opened to a beautiful living world they had not known, hidden in the very trees they walk past, as they are introduced to the birding experience.

During the recent school holidays one of my grandsons came to stay and my wife and I took him on a bird walk in the Royal National Park near where we live. This park is affectionately known as the ‘Nasho’. You have seen many posts from this park, but it alive at the moment and the birds have returned because of the recent good rains and Spring, the time to court, mate and nest.

There is much song in the bush. Scientists have recently found that our birds not only sing in Spring to attract and communicate with their mate, but also sing both in and out of season for the love of it. Singing stimulates the release of feel good endorphins in the birds brain, making singing a very enjoyable experience. We heard and saw several male Golden Whistlers calling.

My grandson Joel, started enjoying spotting these birds high in the trees, seeing how beautiful they are, and how the binoculars bring them so close. His father had warned us not to take him birding too long, as he might get bored easy, but we kept asking him and he said he was enjoying the experience with us and we went further into the bush spending several hours exploring together. He saw several Golden Whistlers but only the male, as the female is possibly sitting on the nest. Click on photos to enlarge them.

We need to help our youth discover the benefits of birding to save them from the tyranny of the electronic devices that preclude them from healthy exercise and an appreciation of their natural heritage. This grounding has therapeutic effects in actually lowering stress levels.It is not just birds we see but the beautiful Spring flowers high in nectar and food for our many honeyeaters.

Bush Fuchsia

Spider Grevillea

We were quite amazed to find several flowering Waratah flowers, a rare treat, as many of these plants have been stolen from National Parks for their beauty. This is the floral emblem of our state NSW and its botanical name Telopea speciosissima means ‘bright red beauty seen from afar‘, and that is exactly what these flowers are, they are iridescent flower heads made up of hundreds of tiny flowers. It is a difficult plant to grow in your garden at home and can not tolerate transplanting or being moved.

NSW Waratah (State floral emblem)

Waratah

Another large red flower seen in the park is the Gymea Lily a plant indigenous to the Sydney area. It also has many smaller flowers that make up the large flower head. It stands majestically over four metres tall,,,

Gymea Lily

Most of the birds we saw were honeyeaters feeding off the flowering eucalypt trees. In Australia, unlike Europe, pollination is performed by the birds, not bees. Most of our pollinating bees were introduced. The Australian native bee is very tiny and is not the main pollinator. So it is a buz to see this Lewin’s Honeyeater feeding from flowers along with this Yellow-faced Honeyeater.

Yellow-faced Honeyeater feeding.

Yellow-faced Honeyeater

Lewin’s Honeyeater feeding on Spider Grevillea

Lewin’s Honeyeater

The beautiful Eastern Spinebill was moving rapidly around the flowers and calling to its mates. This honeyeater has a long curved beak enabling it to reach deep into tubular flowers such as Bush Fuchsia (seen above) and larger flower heads.

Eastern Spinebill

This tiny Silvereye was also getting in on the action but was after insects…

It is always a delight to see and hear the Brown Thornbill, another tiny insectivorous bird as it moves around the tree’s lower canopy making its unique call…

Brown Thornbill

By now Joel has seen and heard many birds and been introduced into a whole new world of discovery which we can only encourage him to continue to explore. Not many young people find it their cup of tea, but our desire is that at least some may be given the opportunity to sample the experience and learn the value of conserving our natural heritage for the future years when they will be the voters.

A highlight of the walk was to firstly hear and then site a White-throated Treecreeper as he was making his way up a eucalypt tree. He found an insect in the bark and proceeded carrying it, possibly collecting food for a nestling. The sound file below lets you know what you hear as he climbs the tree.

White-throated Treecreeper

The sound of Yellow-tailed Cockatoo passing overhead caused quite an excitement, but we could only see their silhouette as we were deep in the forest.

So the message is, purchase two pair of binoculars, one for you and one for your birding guest then take your family and friends on a bird walk and share your love and knowledge with them. Your passion and love of birding will have a contagious affect on those who walk with you. Our prayer is that children will appreciate their natural heritage from a young age. I have enjoyed talking at seminars and schools in the past promoting this along with my book, and have had wonderful responses from both parent and child. I love talking to people who share my passion to save our youth from addiction to electronic gadgetry and the physical, social and emotional illnesses that accompany this.

Royal Spoonbills WORKING

Royal Spoonbills RESTING

We may need to help our youth strike a balance between work and rest, as spending time with electronic media etc is stressful work involving active mind and eye activity. The birds know how to work and rest but our modern coffee society has adrenal overload helping to bring on many chronic illnesses, simply because they are over stressed and not allowing enough time for rest and sleep. Self control and developing healthy habits, such as taking a walk in the park or bush each week can help to lower your stress level, reducing the chances of both physical and mental illness. Birding takes resting to the next level with endorphin release in the brain as an added enjoyment factor when a bird is sighted and appreciated. This is similar to what a bird experiences when it sings for the pure joy of it. We have the blessed honor of leaving a positive and memorable influence on our youth, a priceless legacy that may be passed on from generation to generation.

“Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.” – Psalm 90:12

“Discipline your children while there is hope. Otherwise you will ruin their lives.”

“Train a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.” – Proverbs 22:6 (NEV)

Have a wonderful week! I have been asked to continue working on my existing agreement to assist training staff before my full-time position is filled, so my second book writing remains on hold.

If this is your first visit to my blog, please take a minute to check out my website Homepage menu and helpful birding and counselling info. Check out my unique book which can be purchased through secure PayPal here online 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

Collared Sparrowhawk

Continuing from last weeks Birding tour of the red centre around Ayers Rock (Uluru) in central Australia, my wife and I set out mid-morning in 35°C heat to do the popular Mala Walk (named after the Mala people its original inhabitants) along the western side of the The Rock. We were immediately alerted to the loud noisy chatter of huge flocks Zebra Finch in an alarm flurry moving from tree to tree. This made us curious as to why all the comotion. Our first thought as always is to look for a raptor in the sky, but none was seen, and then we spotted nearby in a tree what appeared to be the cause, a beautiful Collared Sparrowhawk (so we think after much checking of features). The reason being, this bird is easily mistaken for a Brown Goshawk. We saw several of these birds on the walk…

A more experienced birder on raptors may choose to differ. The questions to ask are is it a glare or a stare? Is the tail rounded or square? Is the middle toe greatly or mildly extended? etc etc. My wife and I laboured over this bird with various books and photos for over an hour and remain open to either name, whatever it be for us is another lifer. We even conceded that we may have seen both species of bird, as they are both found here. Click on photos to enlarge them.

Oh yes, back to those Zebra Finches, from left to right, female and male in the foreground. These tiny birds can exist in huge flocks and live well in the desert eating grass seed and flying insects. The lack of water here has possibly caused them to flock during Spring. Zebra Finch are being used all over the world in current research into bird intelligence, due to their easy breeding and learning skills. Here are some the shots we took of the flock, it was too difficult to catch movie clips of them.

Zebra Finch (4males+1female)

A flock of finches is called a charm of Finches, and charm us they did! There excited call was quite loud as they passed by in flight, like little bullets shooting through the air.

Charm of Zebra Finches Uluru

Charm of Zebra Finches resting

Interesting as it is Finches, Budgerigars and some Parrots do very well in the hot arid desert regions. But some of the comoner birds seen on the south east coast of the continent are also here. This includes two subspecies (races) of Magpie, the Black-backed and White-backed, the latter being found mainly in Southern states of Australia.

The Pied Butcherbird, Magpie-lark (PeeWee), Crested Pigeon and of course, Willy Wagtail (which we see every where we go in Australia) were also found here.

It was lovely to see the male Mistletoebird in several locations around the resort and the rock. There was quite a lot of mistletoe growing in the desert gums. We did not see the female, so maybe she was nesting. We see this bird from time to time west of the coast.

The only parrot we saw was the Galah, which was in small flocks grazing at the resort grounds on grass seed. These are usually in large flocks in central as well as coastal regions, but more so inland.

Galah

As the morning heated up and became midday, we noticed this woodswallow alone in a tree, and on closer view realised we had sited another lifer, a Black-faced Woodswallow. .

Nearby we saw a pair of Dusky Woodswallow sitting on a dead branch in the heat. Woodswallows also survive well in arid regions of Australia, being mostly insectivorous. These birds are often seen huddled snuggly together in a row on dead branches.

Dusky Woodswallow

Last week I showed a slide-show of the various colour changes of Uluru throughout the day. Here are some of the unusual rock formations found around the base of the rock. See how coarse the rock is. It is said that if a person falls off it, by the time they reach the ground below their skin is so stripped from them they are unidentifiable. These caves served as shelters for the traditional inhabitants. Climbing the rock (a very sacred site to its original inhabitants) is not appreciated by the indigenous community, and is only allowed under perfect still clear weather conditions. Climbing the rock will be banned from October 2019.

Early the next morning we drove some 52 km from the resort to Kata Tjuta (known as the Olgas) another beautiful vista of rock similar to Uluru, much of which lies beneath the desert. It is the arkose rock, course grained sandstone rich in feldspar that gives it is magical luminary properties. We were wanting to beat the rain storm and check out Walpa Gorge for birds. There is usually water in the gorge stream but it was dry. Here is some shots of Kata Tjuta…

Despite the dryness birds could be heard flying about mainly the Grey-headed and White-plumed Honeyeater I showcased last week. There were several nests in trees at the mouth of the gorge.

The wind blew relentlessly as we walked into the gorge at around 30 to 40 km/hr, we could barely stand up and walk forward. Finally in the gorge the wind passed over. We saw this desert wild flower growing up out of bare rock.

Desert flora

After much pursuit we finally tracked down our last lifer, a quite unexpected find, this Western Bowerbird. At first I saw the female hiding in a tree some distance in the gully. She eventually saw me and flew into the gorge to thicker inaccessible thich bush.

As we watched we saw a smaller flash of bright yellow follow beneath the same bush, which we thought to be a juvenile. Within seconds a larger bird flew and landed in view, with its back to us, watching us, just in front of the bush which may have housed the nest. I only managed to get these shots of him. Note the male below has a pink nuchal crest, which is smaller in females and not present in juveniles.

Recent research has shown that these bowerbirds are sensitive to the ultra violet end of the light spectrum, enabling them to greater visual appreciation than we have. Similar to the Great and Spotted Bowerbird it decorates its bower with white objects like shells, feathers and pebbles or anything it can steal from humans.

It was lovely seeing the floral emblem of the Northern Territory, the Sturt’s Desert Rose flowering while we were there. This flower appears on their state flag, as does the Southern Cross star formation peculiar to our southern skies. This can be seen well here and the huge white ribbon of the Milky Way on a dark desert night.

Sturt’s Desert Rose

Northern Territory flag

Lastly let me show a sunset during a desert storm over Kata Tjuta…

To finish our desert birding adventure, we ponder on the Sparrowhawk/Goshawk sitting quietly in the tree watching the Zebra Finches. We know that Finches are food for the raptor and that by flying in flock (as a charm) they are protecting themselves. They must listen carefully to the call of the flock, sometimes in frequencies outside our perception to know when to fly and perch, it could be a matter of life and death. They seek out water and food as a flock even as the streams and ponds are dry, they survive and flourish together. This confuses the raptor as he looks for a stray member or sick bird to pluck from the flock.

No one is ‘a rock or island’ in response to Simon and Garfunkel’s song I am a Rock. We are all vulnerable when alone, we need to have a charm or flock of good friends and people around us who encourage and help lead us into good places in life. I once heard a helpful hint which I share as a counselling help: Always make sure your Balcony friends or acquaintances outnumber your Basement ones. This means keep check that the people who you spend time with and speak into your life and share experiences with are more the encouraging, helpful sharing type than the selfish, needy. use and abuse negative type. If they are negative it may be you who needs to speak positivly into their life to help them correct their behaviour, as a true friend should.

“Wounds from a sincere friend are better than many kisses from an enemy.” – Proverbs 27:6

“The godly give good advice to their friends; the wicked lead them astray.” – Proverbs 12:26 (NLT)

“Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.” – Proverbs 17:9

“There are “friends” who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.” – Proverbs 18:24

“As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” – Proverbs 27:17

Have a wonderful week my dear friends. Just to let you know I have been asked to stay on in my medical work for another month to assist in training staff, so I am waiting to see what God has for me at the end of the year. This has delayed both my transition to partial retirement and also the writing my second book, which will most likely be an ebook. The bird guiding proposition appears to have fallen by the way.

If this is your first visit to my blog please check out the rest of my website through my Homepage and menu.

I was greatly blessed to receive a very extensive review of my new book “What Birds Teach Us” in a post by Jen an American blogger who purchased my book here online recently: “Birds, Blooms and all things Beautiful”

You might like read it (click on link above) and also read more reviews and information and purchase your copy through the security of PayPal on my BirdBook page.

The book is also sold in One of these Places.

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

Yellow-throated Miner Uluru 2011

You may wonder why this Yellow-throated Miner is my feature photo, well it has a history. When my wife and I went on our first holiday together we were not aware that we both loved birdwatching, but when I saw her get excited seeing this bird I realised and so we shared that we had a common interest, which to this day has been a wonderful hobby we share together as ‘recreational birdwatchers’ or more accurately birders. We were returning to our first holiday place Uluru a.k.a. Ayers Rock. the world’s largest monolith (single rock) sitting in the red centre desert region of central Australia’s Northern Territory [Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park].

Uluru from the air

Most of this rock lies underground but stands 348m high with a circumference of 9.4km. The feature which draws people out to the desert other than the unique bright red pindan dust soil…

…is the colour changes that take place during the day of this very coarse high iron content rock. Here is an example I put together of shots throughout the day…

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The other fascinating feature of this desert is the amazing enduring Desert Oak tree, which is able to withstand drought, fire, extreme temperature, poor soils and grows about 10mm a year making some the trees well over 1000 years old. They send down roots over 8 metres to the water table. The juvenile trees look like feather dusters the mature trees have seed cones and look like native pine or Casuarina. The native Australians sometimes use this tree to get a drink of water when they cross the desert.

Desert Oak at various stages of maturity

Where do you stay in the desert you ask? when you can freeze at night and boil by day. We had days of 35°C in Spring with afternoon thunderstorms. My wife loved the fact she could swim in the Sails in the Desert resort pool. Oh yes, it is Voyages Resort in the Desert, since the nearest town is 468 km away in Alice Springs. Beautiful Ghost Gums were planted around the resort attracting many birds, these are native to the coast of NW WA.

The beautiful Ghost Gums of the North West.

Birds you say! What birds live in a desert you ask? and this was one of the reasons we came to find out. The first bird we saw in large numbers around the resort was the Yellow-throated Miner which is just as numerous and aggressive as our Noisy Miner back down on the south east coast. It is the dominant bird here, and looks much like its noisy cousin. It tends to drive other birds away from the flowering native shrubs and Ghost gums. Click on pics to enlarge them.

Interesting enough, the greatest variety of birds were Honeyeaters around the resort. Again you ask: “How can that be your in the desert?” This proves the old adage ‘If you build it they will come’. This applies to our own backyards also, if you plant nectar producing native plants you will eventually attract the birds. Most birds enjoy nectar, flowers and lerps. Australia has the most amazing nectar producing plants and trees which produce lots of high energy (sugar) nectar in the poorest of soils. The next most numerous noisy bird was the White-plumed Honeyeater…

White-plumed Honeyeater

a tiny gregarious inland honeyeater which forms very into groups often seen playing and perching together, calling excitedly to each other as they feed. Honeyeaters often experience a nectar feeding frenzy which is known to cause some aggressive behaviour between and within nectar eating species. Australia has the largest honeyeaters, and the most aggressive birds in the world, including the most dangerous. You might get the impression in some of the next shots that some poor fella is getting nagged at by his lady, but the bird on the left with the pink beak is actually a juvenile bird, most likely complaining to be fed. The black beaked bird on the right is the adult parent.

However, the greatest delight was to hear and see the rarer Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater. This bird can be heard in feeding frenzy high in the Ghost Gum flowers, loudly calling to each other, early in the morning as the sun rises, before the miners have taken over and driven them off. here is some footage of their peculiar call.

I so enjoyed hearing and watching these birds calling in the morning and watching as they busily fed on the tree blossom, calling to one another in constant communication. They have beautiful blue eyes.

When we drove out to ‘The Rock’ (as commonly known by us Aussies), we were both hoping to find some lifers and had asked God to show us to them. One which we were hoping to find was the Grey-headed Honeyeater, which is only found here in the northern inland desert regions of our continent and occasionally on the NW coast. We were blessed to find a pair in the heat of the day near the Mutitjulu Waterhole, which was currently dried up. The brown background is the Rock itself.

I managed to catch one Grey-headed Honeyeater eating lerps from the bottom of a leaf. The lerps can be seen as white crystalline sugary covering of the psyllid insect, which birds love and is one of the main foods for many birds, causing some species (such as the miners) to prevent other birds from accessing by patrolling particular feed trees using aggressive pack like gang behaviour toward other birds. This can eventually cause the death of eucalypt trees as miner birds mostly only harvest the lerps and not the psyllid insect, which other birds also eat, thus causing the tree eventually to be over-run by the insect and die. Pardalotes lessen the stress on our native plants by eating both lerps and psyllids, but these our tiniest birds, are easily driven away, injured and killed by the larger aggressive birds. Many These birds have developed a way of removing the lerps without removing the insect beneath.

Removing lerps from beneath gum leaf

It is not difficult to deduct our lesson for life from the above action of miners whether they be Yellow-throated, Noisy or Bell Miners, their aggressive controlling possessive behaviour ultimately causes the death of the very source of their food. This highlights the principle of what goes around comes around – a universal principle. Greed eventually consumes the greedy, and the selfish who exclude others and manipulate and cheat for their own gain. Those who follow this course in life will eventually be left alone excluded by others to die a lonely sad and shameful death. Jesus said it well:

“And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?” – Mark 8:26 (NLT)

The antithesis of this behaviour is echoed again in Jesus words which he showed in his own life and death.

“Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity.” – John 12:25 (NLT)

This does not mean we have to hate ourselves, it means that there is more to life than us, there are others who need to live also who need love, sometimes more than we do.

“Always be humble and gentle. Be patient with each other, making allowance for each other’s faults because of your love.” – Ephesians 4:2 (NLT)

Have a wonderful week! We are so glad to get rain for a few days, even if winter has returned which will be good for Spring nesting.

If this is your first visit to my blog please check out the rest of my website through my Homepage and menu.

I was greatly blessed to receive a very extensive review of my new book “What Birds Teach Us” in a post by Jen an American blogger who purchased my book here online recently: “Birds, Blooms and all things Beautiful”

You might like read it (click on link above) and also read more reviews and information and purchase your copy through the security of PayPal on my BirdBook page.

The book is also sold in One of these Places.

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

Listen to the several different calls of the Rufous Whistler…

Listen to the song of the Golden Whistler, it also varies at intervals…

Again they call with such enthusiasm…

My last meditation for the year is in the form of my own personal testimony to how one Christmas at the age of 16 my life took a new journey. If you take the time to read it, it may encourage you to discover the joy I did and like the Whistlers…

“Shout out praises to the Lord, all the earth! Worship the Lord with joy! Enter his presence with joyful singing! Acknowledge that the Lord is God! He made us and we belong to him;” – Psalm 100: 1-5 (NET)

You can still purchase my book as a great Christmas gift for a grandchild or child on my BirdBook page.

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The sound of the Fan-tailed Cuckoo could be heard making it easy to find. The Eastern Bristlebird I would usually find was also gone as were many other birds.

Then I was charmed by the lovely call of the Grey Shrike-thrush, a bird that is normally quite brave and curious of humans, though this one was rather shy.

The Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike watched as I poured my coffee from my thermos with the silent heath lands of the highlands all to myself. I love sitting in the silence with no man made machine or voice noises, just the sound of birds and wind blowing with the wisps of wild flower scent.

This Eastern Crimson Rosella was a laugh as it shook its tail doing some kind of dance. It was some distance away and in the forest darkness.

I later made my way down the mountain to visit Wollongong Botanic Gardens to see how the Bowerbirds were going and on the way I sighted this male Superb Lyrebird foraging.

Finally I arrived at the gardens and noticed the absence of nectar eating passerines, but to my delightful surprise was greeted by several rainforest birds which are not commonly seen out in the open. This Bassian Thrush was sighted behind a bush but I only got one shot and it was gone.

My second rainforest gift was this Green Catbird, a beautiful specimen out in the open sunlight, something you seldom get to see. These birds are related to the Bowerbirds and are very elusive and hard to spot in a tree due to their colour and shyness. Their call usually helps find them.

My third rainforest bird was of course the Satin Bowerbird, and not just the male but this beautiful female with food in mouth waiting to leave for the nest, not wanting me to know where it is.

One of the several males was sitting up on a branch and calling to the females.

It was noted that the unusual double bower was still intact after the storm, though others had suffered loss.

This male kept his eye on me as he foraged and dug down under a bush, unusual behaviour.

The garden desert region had the beautiful native Western Australian Kangaroo Paw flowering in various colors.

“I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.” – John 15:23 (NLT)

Have a wonderful week my dear blogging birding friends as we prepare for the celebration of Jesus coming to earth as our savior. I just want to leave you with a lovely thought Brian Mulroney spoke at exPresident George H W Bush’s funeral:

“There are ships that sail the seas, but the best ships are friendships!”

If this is your first visit to my blog, why not check out the rest of my website aussiebirder.com!

A lady bought 3 books two days ago, after reading it in a Dentist Surgery waiting room. She was so pleased she had found the perfect Christmas present for her grandchildren that she came back the next day and bought 2 more.

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This juvenile Eastern (Black-backed) Magpie was looking to be fed as my wife shared her lunch with the adults.

One of the encouraging features after good recent rain helping to break our long drought (we hope and pray) is the return of the water birds to breed in our Oatley Park where babies are seen out with their parents. These include a family of Chestnut Teal…

Other birds that are nesting, but well away from humans are the Royal Spoonbill and the Cattle Egret. Each is beginning to display breeding plumage.

The Australian Eastern Water Dragon was sunning himself in the park as usual, so I thought I would include him as he posed so beautifully for me. These lizards can swim very well propelling themselves through the water by swaying their tail, in a similar way to the crocodile.

Have a wonderful weekend, and don’t forget my book ‘What Birds Teach Us’ is a great inexpensive Christmas gift that will keep on giving, which you can purchase for the best price here on my website through the security of PayPal or in one of these shops.

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The occasional sound of the Eastern Whipbird was heard, at first we searched in the scrub as this is mostly an elusive ground feeding bird but when we could not find him there, my wife spotted him high in the eucalypt tree I was standing beneath.

This Red-browed Finch was too busy feeding on this length of grass seed to join in the chorus.

Being Spring the sound of the Olive-backed Oriole could be heard and spotted calling also. This Summer immigrant is usually easily spotted when it calls as it is usually hidden in thick under canopy.

One of the common honeyeaters of the coast here, the Little Wattlebird were also seen, though I did not record any of their sound on this occasion.

One of my favorite bird calls is that of the Pied Butcherbird which is found on the north coast, we only have the Grey Butcherbird, which has a joyful laughing call making me smile when I here it each morning. The Pied has a more melodious chiming call.

We were immediately on alert with camera in hand and racing outside our resort villa when we heard a flock of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo pass over and landing on a native tree to feed on Banksia cones near the beach. There distinctive call can be heard.

The Grey Fantail was flitting about, though not fanning his tail, and you can also hear the call of the Yellow-tails in the background.

On the beach front while sharing time with my daughter’s family we saw these Humpback Whales breaching far out at sea, but my birding lens managed to capture these pics.

Have a wonderful week! Happy Thanksgiving to my dear American friends! We could do with a holiday in Australia to give thanks for the wonderful things we enjoy because of God;s goodness to us. It is a time to celebrate our wonderful God with passionate joyful praise and appreciation.

“Let’s enter his presence with thanksgiving! Let’s shout out to him in celebration!” – Psalm 95:2 (NET)

If this is your first visit to my blog, I welcome you and invite you to check out the rest of my website at my Homepage.

If you have not purchased my book ‘What Birds Teach Us’ check out my BirdBook page and find out more. This book sells at this time of year as a wonderful Christmas gift to give young people from the age of 7 to 12 years.

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He knows there are several competing bowers in his local forest, and that these males may come at any time he is absent from the bower, to steal his blue trinkets or to ruin his bower. They all want the prize of impressing and mating with as many of the resident females as possible.

The juvenile male looks the same as the female and takes seven years before it gains its mature black feathers and violet eyes. It is the refraction of light on the surface of the feathers that gives the glossy blue-black appearance.

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters,” – Colossians 3:23 (NIV)

Have a wonderful week and enjoy the birds. We put out a special call to our Aussie conservationists to help save our threatened Koala population click on this link.

If this is your first visit to my blog, please take a minute to check out my website Homepage menu and helpful birding and counselling info. My Special Sightings page has my rare bird sightings. Check out my unique book which can be purchased through secure PayPal here online on my BirdBook page.

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Botanic Gardens in any town we visit always provide some of our best birding, especially in spring when the high nectar output is occurring which Australian honeyeaters love so much that it sends them into an aggressive frenzy at times. The Regent is not so aggressive but rather shy on his own.

Less than a hundred years ago there were flocks of hundreds flying over inland rural areas, but the railway found the iron like strength of the Ironbark tree ideal for railway sleepers, and most were felled for this purpose, as it was Australia’s hardest hardwood.

“He defends the cause of the fatherless and the widow, and loves the foreigner residing among you, giving them food and clothing.” – Deuteronomy 10:18 (NIV)

“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” – James 1:17

“Do not deny justice to your poor people in their lawsuits.” – Exodus 23:6

“I know that the Lord secures justice for the poor and upholds the cause of the needy.” – Psalm 140:12

Consider this, as I have, an orphan and a widow may look a little different from the past, where women lost their spouse in the battles of war. The battle is there still, but now it causes divorce and separation of families, and it is these ones who need our protection and support today.

May you enjoy the birds this week as you get out and about. May they assist, along with the surrounding nature, to bring rest and peace to your stressful life as you re-earth yourself in the Creators magnificent garden.

If this is your first visit to my blog, please take a minute to check out my website Homepage menu and helpful birding and counselling info. Check out my unique book which can be purchased through secure PayPal here online on my BirdBook page.

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We were doubly blessed to see two juvenile Pink-eared Ducks for the first time ever. Click on photos to enlarge them.

One of the most popular freshwater ducks which are found in very large flocks in northern Australia and in some of our lakes and dams here in our state also, is the Plumed Whistling Duck. These are migratory as they return to the top end in the wet season of summer to breed.

You may remember seeing this video clip from a previous post, highlighting the cacophony of sound the whistling of thousands of ducks can produce.

The Musk Duck gets its name from the musk like scent the male liberates from a gland on its rump, it sports an unusual leathery lobe, and because of its greasy grey appearance is always difficult to photograph from a distance.

One duck most people here in NSW would not have seen because it only lives in the far north of Australia is the Radjah Shelduck which we have posted here in our far north travels earlier this year.

Two other birds only found in Far North Queensland that I also featured in previous posts are the Cotton Pygmy Goose and the Green Pygmy Goose which are extremely elusive, but are called geese rather than ducks, but are elusive, fresh water and seldom seen, so included them.

The Wandering Whistling Duck, which lives up to its name, as it is not endemic to Australia, but is found in south-east Asia and moves about in northern Australia, occasionally seen as a vagrant here. It is found in large flocks similar to its Plumed cousin.

“And now a word to you parents. Don’t keep on scolding and nagging your children, making them angry and resentful. Rather, bring them up with the loving discipline the Lord himself approves, with suggestions and godly advice.” – Ephesians 6:4 (Living Bible)

“A wise teacher makes learning a joy;” – Proverbs 15:2

“Teach a child to choose the right path, and when he is older, he will remain upon it.” – Proverbs 22:6

Have a wonderful and restful weekend. We are facing a heatwave today with total fire ban which is not good for the many birds nesting after recent rains. Breeding numbers here remain down this year also.

If this is your first visit to my blog, please take a minute to check out my website Homepage menu and helpful birding and counselling info. Check out my unique book which can be purchased through secure PayPal here online on my BirdBook page.

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“Shout out praises to the Lord, all the earth!
Worship the Lord with joy!
Enter his presence with joyful singing!
Acknowledge that the Lord is God!
He made us and we belong to him;” – Psalm 100: 1-5 (NET)

“Let’s enter his presence with thanksgiving!
Let’s shout out to him in celebration!” – Psalm 95:2 (NET)