aussiebirder

It was a beautiful crisp Autumn day once more and my wife suggested that we visit our local Taronga Park Zoo overlooking the beautiful Sydney Harbour. After catching the train into the city we took a ferry across the harbour, past the bridge, opera house and islands to the other side where we bussed up the hillside to the zoo entrance. Click on photos to enlarge them.

Since our local birds are few due to the season, we headed immediately, after a coffee of course, to the Australian bird enclosure. We always look forward to viewing the Regent Honeyeater, one of Australia’s Critically Endangered species which is now very rarely seen, even by birders. The zoo have a conservation breeding program where they breed these birds at the zoo and release a large number every couple of years. We were pleased to see a few, less than usual since they had made a recent release into the wild.

We wanted to see several of the rainforest pigeons which we never see, or seldom see. Most Rainforest birds on the east coast of Australia are fruit eaters because of the abundance of native fruits available to them all year around. Here are some of them we saw in the rainforest enclosure.

Each day the zoo had a wild bird show which showcases some of our less seen bird species. It ws lovely capturing this Black Kite gliding above the Sydney harbour skyline.

The Red-Tailed Black Cockatoo were a main feature also. We saw several flocks of these while we were travelling out west on previous road trip.

It was such a delight to see this pair of Budgerigar or Budgie as we know it , is one of Australia’s smallest parrots found mainly in the dryer arid western regions of Australia in large flocks. It was a delight for us to see a large flock flying on our visit to Broken Hill a few years ago with such coordination.

To our greater delight we managed to catch a glimpse of this very rare endangered family of Gouldian Finch, the bird we did not see when we birded the Top End a few years ago. The male has the red head.

It was a delight to see the finches bathing together.

Finally, we caught a clan of Diamond Firetail finches collecting grasses for their nests. We also saw a juvenile bird still with grey plumage and no colouring as yet.

Have a wonderful week and enjoy the warm crisp clear weather of the changing seasons.

As many of us are already aware, life comes in seasons just like our physical yearly seasonal cycles. We experience sometimes dark, difficult, cold times sometimes experiencing the winter of the soul. This may be due to a significant loss be it a loved one, finances or relationship. We all need a loving caring empathetic embrace and someone to share our load with from time to time. Likewise it is a wonderful opportunity to be there for someone else when they need it be they a friend or stranger. To listen quietly without trying to fix it or give suggestions, just listen with understanding and empathy. Our presence, and follow-up is all that may be needed at first as grief sets in. Some like to grieve alone, and we need also to be sensitive to that. Your loving Heavenly Father is always there for you to call on in these times and find comfort for your soul if you call on him.

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” – Psalm 34:18

My second book “Flight of a Fledgling” deals with grief and the seasons of the soul and is a great help to those who are venturing into the world as a young adult. Many adults have been blessed by its encouraging help. It uses our Australian birds to help, as birds experience grief and loss like we do also. Find out how to make grief a healthy experience as God intended. Click on one of the images below to find out more.

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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, 2026