Birdwatching and Photography of Australian Birds.
Welcome to my Birding Website where you can view weekly posts and Learn about our beautiful Australian Birds.
You can also purchase my book “What Birds Teach Us” click here.
Click on links below or from the above Menu to connect with my weekly blog posts and website information.
Now Posted
Current Blog Post: Down Among the Leaf Litter – A Walk in the Rainforest Part 3
If this is your first visit to my website and you are wondering: Whats so Good about Birdwatching? check out my Benefits of Birding page.
If you are new to Birding and seriously thinking of embracing it as an enjoyable recreational pursuit or hobby, visit my Birding for Beginners page where you will get lots of helpful information.
“What Birds Teach Us” 2nd Edition: Improved and Enlarged find out more about this unique book introducing Australia’s beautiful birds!
Buy the Beautiful Bird Book here
>>>>>>>Click Here to Find out More on my Bird Book page<<<<<<<
My book is also available at: NSW National Parks Visitor Centres;
and Koorong Books (where it is also available online or in store).
Click here for the full range of places where my book is sold.
Attention: NSW Primary School Parents and Teachers!
A Great Fundraiser for your School or Group!
Aussiebirder addressing a Primary School
Ashley as Aussiebirder delivers a dynamic illustrative interactive presentation of his book “What Birds Teach Us” 2nd Edition, using bird behaviour to encourage good life values. His book will sell for the Special Price of $25 on the day, of which $5 per book sold will go to the school. Please use contact provision below to book or inquire as to a visit to your school or organisation. For more information click here or contact author: ashley@aussiebirder.com
The Enjoyable Daily Experience of the Humble Birdbath
One of the most enjoyable experiences we have each day is watching our local native birds drink, wash and cool off at our birdbaths. This can be quite entertaining. Birdbaths can be purchased from Garden and Landscape Centres or homemade by just fixing a large dish or bowl, firmly to a small table or very secure base. It is important the bowl does not move when birds land on it, otherwise they may not return.
Refill it with fresh water daily and clean it weekly, and let the birds do the rest. We have found having a large and small bath next to each other advantageous, as it allows several birds to make use at the same time.
I often get asked: “What can I do to attract our native birds to my backyard?” or “Is it alright to put seed, fruit or meat out for birds?” In Australia the land of drought and hot summers water is the bird’s most pressing need. Providing a constant source of clean water is the best we can do for our native birds, and a birdbath is the most practical means.
Australia is the home of several of the worlds most aggressive birds. Feeding native birds can not only lead to a dependence but more so to aggression from particular bird species, which can result in personal and property damage. Australian birds can find food most of the time and it is in their own interest to do that.
All birds need water, especially in time of drought which has been 4 years now for us. They need to drink and bathe and cool off, just like we do. The best thing you can do for your local birds is to buy or build a birdbath or two, and keep it filled daily, and cleaned weekly. If you want to feed your birds, in particular the many honeyeaters we have, plant nectar producing native shrubs, especially Bottlebrush (Callistemon) and Grevillea.
Plant native fruit trees, these include varieties of native fig, Lilly Pilly and other native fruit trees trees as most of our birds are fruit eaters. Many birds are small seed eaters so allow your grass to seed at the end of summer and any other seed producing plants.
female Figbird enjoying native figs
If you are struggling, grieving or going through a difficult time at present…
If you need renewed courage and peace to step out and face life afresh…
To send me a message or inquire regarding books please use the Contact Form below:
My Mission: To encourage young people to make good life choices, using birds to teach important life skills.
W. A. Hewson (Adv. Dip. Counselling & Family Therapy).
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, 2019, 2020.
Beautiful image of Black necked Stork
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Thank you Hiren for your welcome comment.
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Nice to meet you both at The Town Common in Townsville today and really glad that despite a slow start our birding pride and joy came to the party with a few birds for your enjoyment 🙂 My highlight today ended up being the pics I got of the Rufous Fantail, my nemesis has been defeated!!! Safe travels and I look forward to exploring your blog.
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Thanks Matt, it was lovely meeting you and having a birder chat. We both enjoyed meeting a local birder. We were so blessed to have what appeared earlier to be disappointment turn into pleasant surprise. It is a great feeling to finally capture the ever elusive bird. The rufous eludes me at times also. Enjoy your birding and thanks for talking the time to look us up.😊
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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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