Australian Birds 14

An Autumn Bird Date – Azure Kingfisher

We finally received a beautiful Autumn day amid the preceding unpredictable weather, so my wife and I decided on a birding lunch date in our local Royal National Park with our turkey and cranny rolls. We had only just sat down on a seat by the river’s edge and this beautiful Azure Kingfisher landed on a branch about 2 metres […]

Australian Birds 5

Exploring Capertee National Park – Where the Critically Endangered Regent Honeyeater Nest – Part 2

Continuing with our visit to the Capertee Valley, we had a day when it wasn’t raining to visit the actual locked Capertee National Park. This is where the Critically Endangered Regent Honeyeater nest each year during September and October, by the Capertee River. Many mature Mugga Ironbark (Eucalyptus sideroxylon) trees flower during this period providing vital nectar to the birds […]

Australian Birds 11

Exploring Capertee National Park – In the World’s Widest Enclosed Valley – Part 1.

Last weekend while recovering from our recent illness my wife and I celebrated our wedding anniversary in the Capertee Valley in Gardens of Stone and Capertee National Parks staying at a luxury accommodation called Belle Bois (beautiful timber or trees) which we highly recommend which is owned and run by Wendy who is the chairperson of the annual Capertee Valley […]

Australian Birds 9

Hooks on Beaks – Intelligent Design III

Another interesting aspect to Intelligent Design in bird morphology is the appearance of hooks at end of particular species of birds and what they are used for. As is the case of meat eating raptors, which have a small hook on their upper mandible for tearing their prey into swallowable pieces because they lack teeth to chew their prey. You […]

Australian Birds 8

The World’s Best Mimics – The Lyrebirds

Australia is blessed with some of the world’s best mimicry birds. Many of our endemic birds have the ability to mimic and understand the language of other bird species that share habitat in their territories. Should one visit the rainforests in the National Parks along the east coast of NSW and Victoria, Australia, they may be surprised to hear flowing […]

Australian Birds 4

Purpose Built Nests – Intelligent Design 2

As the weather has not been the best for birding I thought it good to continue my thread on Intelligent Design, only this time with nesting variations among species. We may wonder how birds know what kind of nest to build as there are so many variations. Birds learn from observation, watching their parents, they also are given a wisdom […]

Australian Birds 12

Purpose Built Bills – Intelligent Design

This week, after last weeks bizarre anti-birding weather, our focus is on the Intelligent Design variations in the bills of some of our fresh water waders . The feature photo is of the Red-necked Avocet, a flock bird of around fifty to several hundred birds. They use a fast scythe action to scoop from the bottom of the shallow lake […]

Australian Birds 8

Birdbath Babies – Crested Pigeon Surprise

Our backyard has become a nursery for three of our local native bird species that frequent our birdbaths. In the last few days we were surprised to find two juvenile Crested Pigeon emerge with both parents. We thought something was happening again in our courtyard Bottlebrush tree that overhangs the birdbaths, where these birds usually nest each year. We were […]