aussiebirder

This is the quiet time of the year for the birds in our local nature reserve as they either migrate back to the warmer regions further north or just become quieter since they are out of their active exciting breeding seasons. However, some birds continue to breed into our winter months as it stays warmer now longer. This Rainbow Lorikeet pair I found as I was passing their tree hole and heard strange sounds of the them communicating quietly with each other. The female was inside the nesting hole while the male stood guard at the entrance. She would occasionally poke her head out for a look. When I later returned to show the nest to a new birder friend named Astrid whom I met on the track , the pair were sitting beside each other preening in the shade in direct view of the nest. There is frequently competition for nesting holes between Lorikeets, Cockatoo, Boobook Owls and Kookaburras in the park, but mainly between the first two.

The female will sit on the eggs for about 23 days and the youngsters will fledge in about 54 days.

The Silvereye is a tiny bird also seen this time of year moving about the trees in search of insects and lerps, often with other small birds. When different species move about feeding together they are called MFF (Mixed Feeding Flock) This is common with small insectivorous birds. Lerps is a special food all tree birds (passerines) love as it gives them an energy sugar hit. The birds lick it off the back of eucalypt leaves . It is the white outer coating of the psyllid larvae of the sap-sucking insect that infects the leaves. Note the brown spots on the leaves in the images below, these are dead patches where the insect larvae were, which has killed parts of the leaf.

This Grey Fantail is another year round resident of our local nature reserve. It is a very bold little bird and will fly right up to you and check you out. Later it will follow you down the track a little way to see if you stir up any insects from the track, which it will rapidly fly down and catch. This little bird is classified among the flycatchers and fantails and are basically insectivorous, catching insects on the fly in a similar way to the Welcome Swallow.

The following territorial birds remain in our park all year round and breed here in spring to winter: The Rainbow Lorikeet, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Laughing Kookaburra, Australian Magpie, Brown Thornbill, Pied Currawong, White-browed Scrubwren, Red-browed Finch. These resident waterbirds also: The Australasian Swamphen. Dusky Moorhen, Chestnut Teal, Pacific Black Duck and Australasian Grebe.

The Rainbow Lorikeet is featured in my book ‘What Birds Teach Us’ which is available here online. Click the image below to find out more about the Beautiful Bird Book which not only features beautiful colour images of our popular Aussie birds and their interesting and clever behaviours, but each bird teaches a useful and helpful life skill (lesson) which makes it an excellent gift, especially to a Primary aged child or grandparent , to be read to younger children. It puts them in good stead to live a happy healthy life. The author, Aussiebirder, holds an Adv. Dip. in Counselling and Family Therapy as well as a working knowledge of the behaviours of many Australian birds. Click image to be directed to the Birdbooks page. It will open in a different tab.

Have a wonderful week. If you live in Australia and have seen a bird you have had trouble trying to identify. You can email me a pic of it or video clip. I often receive these requests. Though often the photos are not very good for identification. It is most important to get the face and head and describe where (town) and what sort of habitat you found it in.

When it becomes cold, windy and food sources diminish, especially insects, fruit and nectar, life is not so easy for those who stay behind for the Winter months. However, they manage and as my old friend says repeatedly: ‘Just get on with it !” We need to always continue to move forward in life regardless of what is placed in our path. Growth and experience and character are developed and honed through difficulty and adversity. It is when we get stuck in our grief, fear, doubt, anxiety or addictions, that we start to sink and stop moving forward to achieve and accomplish the growth to our wisdom and understanding which is such a vital blessing to our lives, not just for us but more so for our families and friends when we share our skills learnt with them. As I have shared in previous posts many of the great and famous achievements in history came as a result of resilient courage and faith in the face of momentary failures and disappointments to eventually achieve what was believed to be previously impossible. As one CEO is reported having overhanging his office seat for his employees to see:

As a result no one dared coming and saying: ‘I have a problem’, but they may say: ‘I have a challenge which I am proceeding to overcome can you assist me ? This is what I am planning to do ?’

Thomas Edison is a great example. He says: “I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work,” Wisdom has the ability to learn from its mistakes and not to scorn them, for they are an important part of our growth and learning process. This wisdom we need to instruct our children and employees. It is alright to make mistakes as long as we learn from them a better way. It is an opportunity for us to share the better way with our children, but also allow them the freedom to make mistakes and learn from them.

This is a time of year for us to remember that Jesus, God’s dear Son suffered the Winter of the Soul for us, being accused and punished in our place. He pressed on in the face of great adversity performing the greatest act in history. He faced head on and alone the challenge of precuring the salvation and redemption of his people, those who would repent receive and believe in him to die to destroy the power of sin and pour out his life blood to atone fully for their sins (disobedient acts) so that all who believe in him would not perish but have eternal life, restored to the original loving relationship Almighty God originally intended for us all.

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Adv. Dip. in Counselling and Family Therapy.

Member of Birdlife Australia

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, 2025.