aussiebirder

Another walk through our now very quiet forest, devoid of the calls of many of the Summer birds, with just a few of the regulars, and of course the raucous screech of the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo and the noisy chatter of the Rainbow Lorikeet always present from time to time. As they nest and roost in many angophora trees in our national park. This Cockie appeared to be a late nester, guarding the nest.

You can always tell where Cockatoos have been grazing by the mess of broken seed pods and bitten off twigs and blossom from flowering eucalypt trees lying on the ground beneath the tree. They delight in destruction, as they love testing the power and strength of their very strong thick beaks. They need it to be strong to chip out their nests later in life, and to break open hard pine cones and seed pods. I have witnessed Cockies completely felling a small tree over several days.

Last weeks post mentioned the benefits of experiencing intentional Mindful Moments during your birding adventure (walk). I was able in the quietness, with even the Cicadas being silent, which is unusual for this time of year, to consider my life and relationships to God, my wife, family and friends. It is a to reflect on what sort of person I am, and am becoming. There is chapter in my second book Flight of a Fledgling which deals with the important of doing regular checks on the five aspects of our person, asking: How an I doing physically, mentally, emotionally, socially and spiritually ? You may find my book very helpful, especially for your young adult and late teen also, about to leave the Nest and spread their wings and fledge, becoming a responsible adult. This could be the most helpful book they are given, and is written by a qualified Counsellor and Family Therapist which has the wisdom of years and experience in life. The interesting lives of our amazing Australian birds are used to help communicate healthy life values in a non confronting manner.

As I was about to venture onto the main track I stopped to enjoy a family of Superb Fairy-wren RESTING from their busy morning feeding rounds of an insectivorous nature. Here I found them busily preening themselves, and each other, in the sunshine on a bush by the river, completely oblivious to me watching and slowly moving closer. As the male and female parents were preening another female came between them, possibly a youngster, and joined in preening the couple but was soon moved on. Background music: The Baby Elephant Walk – Henry Mancini for movie: Hatari.

This will give you a better idea of how tiny these active little birds are.

Here are some lovely captures of the female up close. It is rare to get such close up shots as these birds are always on the move. The female has distinctive orange eye surrounds, feet and beak

This male is in Summer breeding plumage. Here is a comparison with the metamorphosis he undergoes when he eclipses from breeding to non breeding plumage. It is always a delight to catch them eclipsing where you see the plumage changing.

This morphing process is discussed also in my second book Flight of a Fledgling as it deals with time management.

This is what the Superb Fairy-wren sound like as they communicate with one another. Some of their high pitched calls are slightly outside our hearing ability.

The only other bird I saw was this male White-throated Treecreeper WORKING its way as it climbed a small tree with his unusual call. This insectivorous bird ascends the tree calling. Below is usual identifying call they usually make. These birds are often difficult to locate, so the call intensity is often all you have to go on to locate them. They tend to climb the tree preferring the side not facing the sun, making them all the more difficult to photograph, as they are always on the move upwards. On reaching the top of the tree they fly down to the base of another one nearby and repeat the process.

I love how birds can operate quite unperturbed upside down or even while the object they are feeding from is moving violently in the wind. I love how they hold on during violent storms and wind gusts, they are just so readily adaptive and uncomplaining, accepting of whatever comes.

To conclude our set consider these crazy Little Corella as they PLAY. They love to show off to their female and male friends. They are always good for a laugh and known for their antics. When birds play it helps de stress them and refreshes them. It is a stressful life being a bird, especially one who is under constant threat of predation, which many are, being on constant lookout.

In a similar way to us birds enjoy the variety in life of Work, Rest and Play. Having these in moderate balance is good for our emotional, physical, mental and social health. I spoke with my son today and he shared how he is tired and stressed from being overworked, and had to rest today. Our busy stressful and more demanding modern lives pay a toll on our health, and we each need to keep a healthy balance, and be aware of our limits.

Have a wonderful week. May you be blessed with some delightful birding moments. The weather has been quite bazaar these past few weeks, we never quite know what we are going to get, and the weather app is often wrong. The current thunderstorm raging outside was not due on the app till 7pm and it has been going for the last hour from 1pm. If you are new to my site Welcome ! and please check out my helpful pages on birding from my Home Page. Also check out my books, also available securely here online, many of my post followers have purchased them and some have reviewed them. They make great gifts for your children and grand children.

Why not take advantage of the 2 Book Special and get both books at a reduced price delivered to your home by Australia Post, and able to be sent anywhere in the world for the one price. Please note there is a separate price for Australia and International addresses. CLICK HERE.

If you do not prefer purchasing Online these selected Booksellers sell my books.

My books are available at all NSW National Parks Visitor Centres, many Local Council Visitor Centres and most Harry Hartog Bookshops.

CLICK HERE for the Complete List.

Sadly, friends and family often do not heed the kind advice offered to them when we see them out of balance with their health, we can be just as stubborn when others advise us. How we spend our rest or down time; what we eat; keeping our work at work; taking time out to play; spend regular family time; time spent outdoors walking, riding, swimming, playing sports etc are all important to a healthy balanced life.

The one that is often left out is spending time alone in a quiet place to muse [consider and ponder our life seriously]. Time to gather our thoughts and consider how we are going and where we are going with our lives. We know that the noisy media of our day are always providing a kaleidoscope of movies and shows to amuse us. If you know your grammar, you will know that to place an a before a word will make it opposite in meaning. Amusement seeks to stop us thinking seriously about our life. Sadly many of us plunge ourselves into addictive amounts of mindless amusement each day/night.

We never give our minds and emotions time to de stress, rest and refresh. It is spiritual musing or personal quiet time that is most recreative for our personal wellbeing, and it is this aspect that we most neglect, and are even completely unaware of its importance to our lives. Yet it is this aspect of our lives that importantly drives and feeds all the other aspects so that we keep them in balance and achieve the very best outcomes for our lives, our goals and achievements.

King Solomon, the wisest and wealthiest man who ever lived writes in his wise observations about our lives in Ecclesiastes 2:22,23 :

“ What do people get for all the toil and anxious striving with which they labor under the sun?  All their days their work is grief and pain; even at night their minds do not rest. This too is meaningless.“

 Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” – Matthew 11:28

Jesus tells us that if we follow him and his way of life…

“…you will find rest for your souls.” – Matthew 11:29

True soul rest Restores us in each aspect of our lives.

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Adv. Dip. in Counselling and Family Therapy.

To introduce people to our unique Australian birds,

And learn from them how to live a healthy and happy life.

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, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024.