Australian wildlife | aussiebirder

As we move into Autumn and the summer migrants, which are mostly waders, have taken flight north, we are left with our winter birds, and a period of not so many birds. However there are many waders and water birds that stay all year round and breed here in Australia. It had been a while since I was able to get time in Olympic Park, Sydney, to see how the resident waterbirds and waders are, so on Wednesday I took a look, and found this pair of Australian Black Swan alone in a pool among the mangroves. Note the male is the larger of the two. How beautiful and graceful they are when seen up close. These symbols previously peculiar to the state of Western Australia (found in its coat of arms), have been breeding well all over Australia and its surrounding islands now for many years. Click on photo to enlarge it.

It was good to see nests of Australasian Darter and Pied Cormorant in the usual breeding trees, however numbers were drastically reduced, possibly due to the extreme heat of the passing summer and prevailing drought conditions.

The commonly seen waterbirds that are more often seen grazing on grassy areas by water are the Australian Swamphen and the Masked Lapwing.

It has always humoured me when I hear the sound of the Masked Lapwing call in Australian movies, as a representative of Australia’s birds. I think what about Kookaburra, Currawong or Magpie? However, in many movies it is this bird call that is used.

As I walked to the larger lake I came across a most delightful experience where a family of Superb Fairy-wren came out from under small shrubbery to give me an excellent photo moment. What a beautiful gift! The adult male was in non-breeding plumage retaining just a bright blue tail and dark beak. This is called the eclipse stage of the male Fairy-wren. He may transform several times a year to breed, while the female and immature retain their brown tail and light orange beak and lores, only the mature males eclipse. Here is a comparison.

Superb Fairy-wren in eclipse

Superb Fairy-wren (in breeding plumage)

So this what the little family looked like as they moved about on this small bush together. You can distinguish the males from the females by the tail colour and beak and lores.

Female and Male Superb Fairy-wren

2 males, one in full and one in almost full eclipse.

Superb Fairy-wren female

The resident waders were in various stages of activity. Some slept, some preened, but most were foraging. Over the water a large flock of swallow were constantly circling.

The Chestnut Teal are in large number on the lake as usual.

Male Chestnut Teal

4 males with 1 female

But the birds I wanted to see were the three remaining waders who do not migrate. The Black-winged Stilt, Red-necked Avocet and Black-fronted Dotterel. I especially love the reflections these birds generate from the shallow water. The Black-winged Stilt is one of my favourite. Notice the immature Stilts also pictured below.

Black-winged Stilt

Black-winged Stilt immature

Black-winged Stilt

Immature Stilt balancing on a rock

It is interesting to see the scythe action of the Red-necked Avocet sweeping their uniquely curved bill through the water to sift for tiny brine shrimp. They sweep their bill slightly open just above the muddy bottom of the lake. It is also interesting to watch some Stilts copy this action which is not normally their own. The younger ones having grown up with the Avocets, being companion waders, copy the action.

The Red-necked Avocet, a friend to the Stilt, is also a bird seen in flock here.

Red-necked Avocet

Red-necked Avocet in all three stages of activity.

Red-necked Avocet

It was interesting to see this collision of the Avocet and Stilt foraging, it shows how serious food foraging is.

The tiny Black-fronted Dotterel was also on the shore foraging.

Black-fronted Dotterel

Of course the best place to view birds without disturbing them is the ‘Bird Hide’. However, this hide is some distance from the water, but it does give a good overall view of the lake, but you need a powerful lens to get good captures.

Bird Hide

Lastly, this Noisy Miner was attracted to my car rear vision mirrors, moving from one to the other he tries to find and make contact with the bird he is looking at. Finally, not being able to solve the conundrum he eventually leaves.

This bird’s quest is like our own, we often don’t know ourselves enough to appreciate who we are. We compare and impair the image we have of ourselves and so never really appreciate the beauty of the unique and wonderful creation we are. There is no one in the whole universe who will ever be you. Your DNA is uniquely yours, and so you bring a uniquely beautiful asset into the world in the place where God has placed you, as he has done also for me. How we understand and appreciate this gift will directly influence the way we live our lives and boldly love and accept the person we are. It is this person we must look at in the mirror and realize, we are God’s beautiful child and we are loved dearly by him our Heavenly Father. How we see ourselves affects how we enjoy life, giving confidence and acceptance to achieve great things.

“For you created my inmost being;
    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
    your works are wonderful,
    I know that full well.
My frame was not hidden from you
    when I was made in the secret place,
    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed body;
    all the days ordained for me were written in your book
    before one of them came to be.
How precious to me are your thoughts,^[a] God!
    How vast is the sum of them!
Were I to count them,
    they would outnumber the grains of sand—
    when I awake, I am still with you.” – Psalm 139: 13-18. (NIV)

Some of you my dear followers know that I am currently considering leaving my full time work as a Senior Scientist to go into part time work as a Eco Tourism Bird Guide. I was recently approached by a person following my blog to operate bird tours and introductory bird courses with Farm Club Australia, situated in the Southern Highlands, south of Sydney. I am currently considering this option and how this will look for my future. I know many of my followers, will be visiting Australia and the Sydney region in the coming years. I hope to put together birding packages which will hopefully make the Sydney region leg of the journey much easier. I meet birders from all over the world, especially from USA, Canada, New Zealand and Britain doing full on birding tours of Australia, and they are often looking for birders with local knowledge to guide them to the birds on their list, as many only have limited time in each city.

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

Red-rumped Parrot

Last weekend we ventured over the Great Dividing Range to the south west inland city of Wagga Wagga , for my wife’s brother’s 70th. The Great Dividing mountain range runs down the east coast of Australia’s mainland giving two distinct climates coastal and inland, and with it some distinctly different birds. Some birds do better in the hot dry climate than the humid moist coastal climate, preferring west of the ranges. many of our parrot species are found in this region including the Red-rumped Parrot featured above.

Female and male Red-rumped Parrot

This is the predominant parrot, small and robust as it is, and with its notable red rump in view, which is only a feature of the male. The female has a green rump, yet no body named her the Green-rumped Parrot, did they! These small seed eating parrots are often disturbed unexpectedly by passing walkers as they graze silently unseen on the ground on grass seed. They are found in small family flocks. Click on photos to enlarge them.

It was a rainy overcast Sunday morning early, after the party the night before, that I ventured out alone around Lake Albert, a place I have posted several times in previous years. I apologise for any not so clear photos, as some had to be enhanced with touch-ups due to poor lighting. Here is some movie footage of them grazing, there is nothing amazing about it, but it gives a better perspective of this little bird.

One of the features of the inland cities is that they were build on the large rivers that flow from the inland to the coast. The River Gums are a beautiful tree one sees by the Murrumbidgee river as well as along Lake Albert. A great haven for birds.

As I walked around the lake (not pictured here as my birding lens could not capture it), I saw various species of seed eating birds including the Galah, a common inhabitant of the west. These birds like others of the parrot family mate for life, and have a beautiful relationship of caring and preening one another.

A surprise find was this ‘Yellow Rosella’ a subspecies of the Crimson Rosella, which is usually found further southwest.

This Eastern Rosella turned up briefly to check me out before flying off.

Due to the persisting drought conditions inland, it has resulted in many bird species being either missing or in small number and/or not breeding here this year. It was surprising to see how the drought has affected the numbers and breeding of birds both coastal and inland this summer. Though some were not perturbed, such as the Australian Magpie where we saw an example of both immature black backed and white backed sub species.

Immature white-backed Southern Magpie

Black backed immature

White-backed Magpie

Adult black-backed Eastern Magpie

Black-backed Magpie immature

White-backed immature

One bird common to most of the mainland is the Magpie-lark (PeeWee, Mud-lark) found usually in pairs. See if you can remember from my previous posts which is the male and female? I will tell you at the end which is which.

Magpie-lark

pair of PeeWees

A not so popular migratory nomadic introduced bird is the Common Starling, which I could tell by their squeaky call. This dead tree by the lake has always had these birds present when I have visited. I think they breed in it.

This Crested Pigeon is a beautiful specimen and posed for me so well so I had to include it, having one of the best crests I have seen in a while.

One little guy I have always enjoyed seeing here by the lake which we do not see down our way is the Dusky Woodswallow, as he was hunting and devouring a worm.

One of the sad things is that there was a great depletion in water birds since my visit last year. The drought had taken its toll and only a few Pacific Black Duck and Little Black Cormorant were present, along with Australian Swamphen, who were in good number grazing in the cow paddocks nearby. The White-faced Heron flew off before I could catch him on camera.

Little Black Cormorant

Australian Swamphen

This pair of Australian Pelican took the show with their beautiful photogenic synchronous pose.

Finally, the common honeyeater of the inland west is the tiny White-plumed Honeyeater, a very busy bird continually checking leaves for lerps, nectar, insects and blossom. How did you go determining the sex of the Magpie-lark. The female is on the left having a vertical black facial and neck marking and the male is on the right of her, and has a horizontal black facial feature through the eye.

White-plumed Honeyeater

So after a brief walk around the wetland portion of the lake I made my way back to where we were staying to find that everyone was now up and about and ready for breakfast. While they slept I had feasted on the local beauty surrounding the lake and watched the morning sun break on the lake. Sadly my birding lens could not capture this. Apart from the Noisy Minor and the Australian Raven, these were the birds I was blessed to see in that short hour. I am truly thankful that the Lord blesses us with an appreciation of his majestic glory and intelligent design displayed in the beauty and magnificence of his Creation. This always delights me that he shares his delight and enjoyment of all this with me, displaying another beautiful aspect of his abiding love and favor.

“The blessing of the Lord makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.” – Proverbs 10:22

“May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands.” – Psalm 90:17

Have a wonderful celebration of thanksgiving for Jesus’ Death and Resurrection.

“He who knew no sin became sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God through Him.”

Which puts us in a wonderful relationship with God the Father through faith in Jesus:

“In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” – Ephesians 3:12 (Quotes from NIV)

Check out the rest of my website from my homepage.

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

A most wonderful experience, while exploring the rugged coastline of Norfolk Island, was watching and listening to the flight of the Red-tailed Tropicbird, which many of you will recognize as my avatar. It was the bird that drew me into birdwatching as a recreational pursuit. My wife and I came up close to this bird here more so than ever before, with the added blessing of seeing the birds nesting and baby birds in various stages of development. Here is footage where we share some of our excitement at Rocky Point in the Hundred Acre Reserve, which we share in this post as a birders haven. These birds flew right over us continually with their unique call.

This bird seldom frequents human habitation and is mainly found on the rugged sea cliffs of the pacific islands in tropical and sub-tropical waters. It spends much of its time on the wing and has a reputation for its courting antics where it performs aerial acrobatics and the male impresses the female by flying backwards. This is partly made possible by the red streamer/s (tail) that protrudes from its backside. One of the birds in the video above and the first bird below has not yet gained its streamer, as a sign of full maturity.

Red-tailed Tropicbird in flight

From a distance this bird can be confused with a specie of Tern or Gull, but on close inspection the red tail and black feet give it away. Walking through the 100 Acre Reserve near the sea cliff, at the foot of Norfolk Pine trees we found several new born, juvenile and immature Tropicbirds. We saw several on nests incubating eggs, and one returning to its nest quite alarmed at our presence.

Recently born R-T Tropicbird

Parent with youngster

Parent with youngster by cliff side

mum sitting on eggs

An interesting find was this single juvenile Tropicbird which nobody noticed while filming the bridge, in an alcove of a pine visible near the famous convict built bridge (click on the name to find out the history of its name) Bloody Bridge.

Here it sits undisturbed by the many who pass by.

baby Tropicbird next to Bloody Bridge

Bloody Bridge

Another special sea bird which is found in the south pacific islands including Lord Howe Island (which I have previously blogged) is the beautiful White Tern, which has the very unique custom of laying its eggs only in the Norfolk Pine tree. It does not build a nest but lays the egg directly onto the tree branch high up, leaving it balancing there until it hatches. Interesting enough it survives very well, much better here than in Lord Howe where the mainland Pied Currawong hunts its eggs and rats. It has only introduced rats to contend with here which are in process of being eradicated. You may remember these pictures from Lord Howe Island, which also has many Norfolk Pines.

white tern family (newborn)

This beautiful Tern is ghost-like in appearance and is found flying constantly around the Norfolk Pines making its own familiar sound. It is often found in pairs flying in beautiful synchronous flight.

White Tern

synchronized flight

synchronized flight

As we stood on the sea cliffs we saw the White Terns, Red-tailed Tropicbird and White-capped (Black) Noddy fishing together.

We observed a continuous toing and froing of the White Tern parents constantly bringing small fish to their young waiting in the nearby Norfolk Pine branches.

The other bird that breeds on the island is the White-capped Noddy or Black Noddy as it is known. These birds nest also in the Norfolk Pine in large numbers in the 100 Acre Reserve, but they build simple nests of dry grass. These birds constantly fly about us to distract us as we walk through their nesting area. Their nests seem to hang in the branches in an amazing way.

White-capped Noddy

White-capped Noddy nest

White-capped Noddy nests

White-capped Noddy

Also in the 100 Acre reserve were many Shearwater holes. We had observed the Wedge-tailed Shearwater return one night to its holes after sunset, but we did not have a strong enough light to get good footage. There are many shearwater (muttonbird) holes around the cliff sides of the island, as is the case with many of the pacific islands. These birds nest in holes in the ground which they return to (the very same hole) every spring from Alaska, migrating back in winter. The other rarely seen large sea bird we saw in various stages of maturity (because it also breeds on the island during summer) is the Masked Booby.

Again as with the Tropicbird the young allowed us to get close without concern. The fluffy birds are the juvenile and the immature have the dark band around their neck. The Lesser Frigatebird, a recent visitor to the island, constantly checks out the the baby birds and the birds bringing food back to their babies. Thee birds are known to harass birds carrying food to make them to regurgitate their catch and steal it from them.

nesting Booby

Masked Booby various stages of maturity

Masked Booby breeding area near captain Cook monument

Masked Booby being checked out by the Lesser Frigatebird

juvenile masked booby

immature Masked Booby

juvenile masked booby

The Frigatebird is one of the largest sea birds and the lesser the smaller version of the Great Frigatebird. The male has a red baloon like feature on its chest which it blows up to attract the female. The female has a white chest lacking this apparel. These birds were seen cruising the coast constantly and often perching close to the Booby babies.

One last lone nester near the Masked Booby nesting site was this White-necked Petrel.

White-necked Petrel

White-necked Petrel in flight

As we explored the coast around the island we were so blessed with seeing these beautiful ocean birds fishing and just flying around for the fun of it. It was such a peaceful and enjoyable experience watching them playing above the rugged cliffs and rough ocean waves below. It just reminded us both of God’s beautiful peace and delight which the birds so beautifully personified for us.

Have a truly restful weekend and an interesting and inspiring week.

NOTE: All photos, videos and music used on this website are photographed, composed, performed by the site owner and remains his copyright 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

Splendid Fairy-wren couple

This week we will showcase one of Australia’s most loved bird species, the Fairy-wren, often commonly known as the Blue Wren. This small and very agile, constantly moving bird is often seen in many gardens, parks and around family homes. They are insectivorous annuals and can often be found circumnavigating the same territory many times in a day. Above photo is of a male and female Splendid Fairy-wren together, the male is in breeding plumage.

Those who have purchased my book will have seen these birds on my book cover. There are nine species of Fairy-wren endemic to Australia, each having several sub-species (races). I have seen five species, and look forward to one day seeing the other four. Each specie is found in a particular part of Australia, some being found not only in the same state, but also sharing the same habitat living next to each other. The Splendid Fairy-wren is found mainly in the south-western Australia (Western Australia) and inland arid areas including the other mainland states excluding Tasmania.

Male Splendid Fairy-wren in breeding plumage

A feature of these birds is the beautiful plumage of the male when breeding, compared to the lifelong brown uninteresting plumage of the female. When the males return to non breeding plumage they can at a distance be mistaken for females, but close examination of tail colour, facial colour and wing tinting will differentiate them. One of the problems in differentiating is young males from females, as is the design of many birds while they are juvenile and immature, the males resemble the earthy colour of the female till they reach maturity.

Female Splendid Fairy-wren

Female Splendid Fairy-wren

Young Splendid Fairy-wrens

This is our loving Creator’s design to help hide and protect the young as well as the female while nesting, making them blend in with the dark brown tree bark surroundings, protecting them from bird eating predators, in particular, raptors. of the Fairy-wrens probably the most well known and widely seen is the Superb fairy-wren which is mainly endemic to eastern Australia and also Tasmania. As this is where most Australians live it is the specie that most are familiar with.

Those who follow my blog know that I frequently post this bird, being a commonly seen all year round bird of the Sydney area, seen in most parks, reserves and many home gardens. Many of my international followers tell me this is their favourite Australian bird, and is the one that birders from overseas ask me to show them when they visit our national parks.

Superb Fairy-wren female

Superb Fairy-wren (female)

Fairy-wrens are often difficult to see and photograph when in among the low lying bushes and ferns, and often you will hear their soft high pitched call well before you actually see them. It is true to say that if they did not call you probably, most of the time, would never know they were there, but for slight vegetation movement. Eclipse is the term given for the gradual plumage change of the male when he undergoes transformation to and from breeding plumage. He may no longer look like a blue wren for a few months, but resemble his female partners, till he changes back, about twice a year. Most only notice him in breeding plumage.

Superb Fairy-wren male

Superb Fairy-wren male in eclipse

The Variegated fairy-wren is a more rarely seen specie often found with the Superb, being the most widely spread throughout Australia’s mainland, being in all states including desert regions. It is quite brilliant in the sunlight with its rich colours, and I have found it to be the most difficult to photograph.

Variegated fairy-wren (non breeding male)

Variegated fairy-wren male

The Red-winged Fairy-wren on the other hand, though looking similar to the variegated is the rarest Fairy-wren being found only in the very south-west tip of Western Australia. We saw it in the Margaret River area.

Finally, our most recent lifer as my blog followers would know from our recent bird experience in the Lamington Mountain National Park the Red-backed Fairy-wren. This bird is difficult to photograph due to its black face and body, but can easily be picked out at a distance due to the contrasting bright red back. This bird is found across far northern Australian mainland and down the east coast to NSW border.

Red-backed Fairy-wren male

Red-backed Fairy-wren

Red-backed Fairy-wren male

The Fairy-wrens are very small and very agile, constantly on the move, and when the male is in breeding plumage, you will often see the female leading a clutch of 3 to 4 chicks all staying close and following for safety. The male leads the way, and often becomes a distraction for possible predators, while the female leads the brood away to safety. The female builds the nest and the male helps the female feed the young. They form a small social group of fairy-wren helping each other out, the males sometimes in ways we may not ethically approve.

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take. Don’t be impressed with your own wisdom. Instead, fear the Lord and turn away from evil.
Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your bones.“– Proverbs 3:5-6 (NLT)

Have a wonderful week!

Learning from our Birds – The Leap of Faith

Posted by aussiebirder on February 10, 2018

Posted in: Australia, Australian Birds, Australian wildlife, Bird watching, Birding, Birds, Birdwatching, Fauna, Holidays, National Parks, Nature, Nature reserve, Outings, Uncategorized, wildlife.

The most interesting observation as a scientist that I have made over my years of birding and photographing birds is that of capturing what is termed the leap of faith. This phenomena is usually only observed in small passerines (tree perching birds) and not so much in larger species where much more effort is required to become airborne. The above photo was my first observation, taken of a Lord Howe Island Golden Whistler male leaping off a branch, into the air, quite confidently, with wings closed. My camera had caught something my limited human eye had not.

Yellow-faced Honeyeater leaping

Initially, as a fairly new bird observer, I thought this unusual photo to be a one off, but as my photographic library grew of many Australian bird species I captured from time to time, many other species airborne with closed wings. It appears that many small birds spring from the branch with closed wings and when their horizonal thrust expires, immediately open their wings in flight.

This action happens so very fast, we seldom see it, as the leap may vary in distance. This next photo depicts one of the greatest leaps I have ever seen a bird make, a male Rufous Whistler leaping at least a metre with closed wings in a very foggy Barren Grounds National Park (hence poor light).

Rufous whistler leaping at Barren Grounds NP

There are three premises on which a bird, or even ourselves, base our ability to take a leap of faith. One might think that they personally never do this, but in fact we all do it many times a day each time we sit in a chair, drive a car, fly in a aircraft and eat a meal. So much of our life depends on trusting others and trusting proven universal principles, otherwise we would be full of fear and be constant emotional wrecks.

like a torpedo at great speed he flies out

The first premise is Personal Observation. The young bird before it is fully fledged watches its parents, and other birds, launch into the air quite confidently and open their wings to fly, and also carefully land.

As children this is how we learn to trust and perform important functions vital to our survival. Observe and Obey. We call this having faith, but before faith becomes a personal reality, observation of the actions of others helps to begin building one’s own dossier of faith and trust.

Following considerable observation, often subconsciously, one develops Personal Trust (faith). It is in this vital step that the individual connects the possibility observed in others actions to their own, and take their first plunge, their first leap of faith.

the flurry

Many on their first flights may not leap but flurry their wings till they take off, but as they realise their full potential and actually do it, they develop the final premise of Personal Experience.

No one can argue with this, the proof is in the pudding as it is said, the object of one’s faith proves itself in the outcomes that follow and the peace of mind, abilities and accomplishments that follow from performing the leap on each new occasion.

leap of faith

In some of the largest birds, such as the White-bellied Sea Eagle, the parent will actually push the baby out of the nest if they do not start flying when they think they should. However, the parent undergirds their first few flights in order to catch them should they fail to fly initially. The parent carries the fledgling back to the nest on their back, and the process is repeated. It all depends on how quick the baby is to learn and how willing they are to leap in faith.

Parent undergirds youngster

Undergirded by the parent the young eagle takes its first leap of faith

Eventually, the parent leads the fully fledged youngster and the deed is done. The parent’s love joined with the youngster’s faith brings hope and fulfillment to the life of the young bird. Now it can fly and hunt for its own food and live a truly fulfilled life.

Finally the young eagle is fledged

So it is with much of our life’s learning, for example, we observe people sitting on chairs, we determine that it is safe and believe so (faith in the chair to not fail you, but fully support your weight), we finally put the faith to test and actually sit in it, and after many occasions of sitting in chairs, and trying many different kinds of chairs, the experience becomes accepted without any forethought, fear or concern. However, should a chair collapse unexpectedly, you will for a short time, have to to observe, examine and trust chairs all over again till you return your confidence, and accept it was a uniquely unusual experience.

Red-backed Fairy-wren

Our belief systems affect how we trust and how we do life. What we believe affects the way we behave and how we understand ourselves and the world around us. There are many belief systems (religions) and many gods, which makes it difficult for many to know, as Pilate asked Jesus Christ “What is Truth?” in John 18:38.

If we are to take a leap of faith we need to be sure that our belief system has credence in Truth and in a God that is true and observably consistent and believable throughout history.

We don’t want to be left hanging in the air with our wings not open, to fall disappointingly to the ground with no undergirding because the substance of our belief delivers no truth or credence to our faith, thus failing us. In this age of global travel, science and the quest for knowledge and understanding, also predicted in the Bible just before the end time.

“..Those who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who turn the many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever. But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book until the time of the end. Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” – Daniel 12:3,4 (NEV)

Many today say that there is no god and that science has replaced God, and so people in this fast changing, Post Christian, Secular Humanistic, hedonistic, selfish society have created their own gods, which they align with their desired behaviour. As a scientist, I have clarified the error in this logic in a previous post. They claim their are no longer any absolutes, no right or wrong and no normal and abnormal. As the apostle Paul predicted and declared in Romans 1:18-32. I know the God whom I believe in, and have a personal relationship with Him because He is real and true to His Word. Have a wonderful week!

NOTE: All photos, videos and music used on this website are photographed, composed, performed by the site owner and remains his copyright 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

Seven Bar-tailed Godwit, the perfect number flock

Happy Australia Day! all you Aussies out there enjoying the holiday weekend. It was hot and humid, though the cloud cover and sea breeze kept the morning more pleasant, so my wife and I decided to go looking for waders, as the tides finally lined up with our free time. I have not blogged waders this summer so far so I thought it time to visit the river mud flats of the Georges River, which flows into Botany Bay, the place where Captain James Cook landed at Kurnell to take on water in 1770. Eight years later on the 26th January the First Fleet of 1,420 people, mostly convicts, made the first British settlement in Sydney Cove in Sydney Harbour at the mouth of the Parramatta River, just a little up the coast from here. The small reef next to where Cook rowed to shore from the Endeavour, is now part of the Botany Bay National Park, with monuments and explanatory narrative signs .

This humble reef today is the scavenging ground of the endangered Pied Oystercatcher, endangered because it lays its eggs on beaches where people unwittingly inhabit.

Pied Oystercatcher on first landing reef.

Pied Oystercatcher.

This year has seen much protest and debate over the authenticity of this day as a true Australia Day, as many, original inhabitants and non indigenous fellow citizens call it ‘invasion day’, as many terrible atrocities followed in the pursuing years in a land wrongly reported originally to be terra nullius or no bodies land (uninhabited). Though the original inhabitants, unlike the greedy possessive British, never made ownership of their land an issue of power or wealth. They respected the land, preserved it and shared it. Some are advocating a compromise of a separate day for indigenous Australians. You may have wondered why my opening photo was seven Bar-tailed Godwits. Many of you know from my previous posts how much I love this – the world’s most endurant bird, which flies about 32,000 km a year migrating from Alaska to Australia and back again in one year. It travels around the moon, two and a half times in a lifetime. It is always where summer is, and currently is here after 16,000 km non-stop, 8 day direct flight across the Pacific Ocean. Yes, this same seven Godwits are back on the same beach mud flats again this year. Most people swimming and fishing on the beach have no idea how amazing these little birds are.

Bar-tailed Godwit family flock

with remains of breeding plumage

Godwits in conference

Bar-tailed Godwit family flock preparing to fly

Godwit with crab in beak

If you look carefully you will notice two of the males having bloches of orange breeding plumage. This will intensify in March, covering their whole neck and upper body before their exit flight to Alaska, where the females will give birth. You may see it better in these flight shots. It is interesting how they fly in a line, slip-streaming along. Click on photo to enlarge.

Bar-tailed Godwit in flight

Bar-tailed Godwit flock in flight

I apologise for the poor light and focus, as I had my prescription polarising sunglasses on at the time, which made photographing a real challenge not to mention the clouds. The photos further up the river were with my normal gasses. Also on my favourite wader beach was a pair of Pied Oystercatchers, not unlike the ones seen on the reef in Botany Bay. It is always encouraging to see these birds on beaches in NSW. Unfortunately they were grazing the beach apart from one another so there is no pair shot.

A golden moment was captured as this juvenile Silver Gull was pestering its mum for food, a common scene this time of year in many bird families. Notice how the mum tries to escape the persistent pestering. I apologise for the jerky video clip, again monopod was in car. See how they bob their heads lowering it to below the head of their parent as they beg. This custom is seen in many different species of juvenile birds begging.

Silver Gull family with juvenile

After drinking our take-away coffees and complete our time there with a walk along the shoreline to get our feet wet, we headed off to one of my secret wader viewing areas near Taren Point Shorebird Reserve. The many waders that we see during the day on the beaches at low tide roost at night across the bay in the Towra Point Nature Reserve which is a locked up (restricted access) park cared for by Botany Bay National Park. Many shorebird species breed here and it is a significant bird conservation area for Australia.

from Towra with Sydney CBD in distance

Towra sign

Shorebird sign

One of the amazing features of the city of Sydney is that it is surrounded by many National Parks and nature reserves, and I mean surrounded all around it, coastal, bush land and mountain. Why secret spot behind the mangroves? Because this bird, the beautiful Eastern Curlew, our largest threatened wader is extremely timid and takes flight at the approach of humans. We were so thankful that our Lord gave us the gift of one on the day. Of course the bird finally saw us and took flight with his standard alarm call ‘cor-eek, cor-eek’. The Eastern Curlew is also a summer migrant to our shores.

A common resident wader nearby was the White-faced Heron, fishing the shores.

Then unexpectedly the appearance of another resident shorebird, the timid Striated Heron or Mangrove Heron as was its past name. In this case he was living among the mangroves. I have seen him here in past years, but not for a while, this could be one of the offspring, fishing the shallows of the shoreline, with his very classic crouching method, similar to the White-faced Heron.

It was quite spooky to note the coastal trees and mangroves were silent of birds. I have been saying it has been a ‘birdless summer’ here, and many species, especially waterbirds are not breeding here this year. maybe they know beforehand by divine instinct to be elsewhere through this extremely hot dry summer. However, the classic Australian Eastern Magpie has produced young this year, as we found this youngster walking on the grass at Taren Point Reserve. Note the brown immature colouring, not yet fully black and the dirty white neck, which resembles the female. This will change to pure white if it matures to a male.

Immature magpie

Driving further up the Georges River beaches we found more Godwit and also some Australian White Ibis actually grazing where they should be, on the mud flats and not in city garbage bins, as they are known to do.

White Ibis

These Godwits did not mind us getting close to them at all. All of these waders showcased here today, with the exception of the Herons, are hunting for tiny mud crabs which burrow beneath the sand. At low tide these crabs often come to the surface or just below and are easily accessed in wet sand by long beaks both curved and straightish, as the Godwit beak is slightly curved upwards at the end.

With thankful hearts my wife and I returned home having had a small feast of waders ( viewing feast that is) on Australia Day morning. We did hear and see some Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo fly past in the distance but were not able to track down their landing spot. This last shot of a Silver Gull resting with one eye open reminds us of the need to be alert at all times due to the dangers of life that may surround us. Jesus warns us to be wise about the evils of this age we live in, but not to be afraid or alarmed: “Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.” – Matthew 24:12

Many are wondering why the churches have lost their effectiveness, why integrity, respect, good will and justice have deteriorated in our society. Many are unaware as they disown Christian concepts and laws, which have given them many of the freedoms they currently enjoy in our western Post Christian society, that they stand to loose these freedoms, by their rejection of the One True God. These freedoms came from Godly caring people making a difference in a selfish society. The enemy of human souls, Satan, seeks to deceive the masses using fear through popular opinion, the media and so called political correctness to draw one’s life values from:^“Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations in the four corners of the earth.” -Revelation 20:7,8

So the message to us all is…

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” – 1 Peter 5:8

“Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.” Mark 13:33

The Good News is that Jesus has defeated Satan and disarmed Satan by his death on the cross and resurrection from the grave, as a free gift for all who put their life’s trust in him, as their representative before God. He has broken Satan’s power and hold over death and won for us a victory which is free to all who put our trust and life in his hands, and receive the help and power of his Holy Spirit to live a life free of the fear and condemnation. Keep in mind that Satan might have a very threatening roar, which may evoke fear, but he is toothless, because Jesus has disarmed him. Through faith in Jesus we can overcome Satan like he did. We only give Satan power in our life when we believe his lies and allow fear rather than faith to rule our life. The only tool that Satan has to influence us in life is our fear, especially our fear of death. Jesus paid the price for all our wrong doing by taking all our punishment due to us, on himself when he died on the cross. For a child of God, Satan no longer has any power over them, unless they give it to him.

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” – 1 John 4:18

“…in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. – Romans 8:37

Have a enjoyable, peaceful and restful weekend!

NOTE: All photos, videos and music used on this website are photographed, composed, performed by the site owner and remains his copyright 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

Two weeks ago my post featured the New Zealand Kea, which was voted as New Zealand’s Most Popular Bird of the Year 2017. Guardian news and Birdlife Australia recently ran a survey in Australia to find their most popular bird, and a surprising result, the Australian Magpie won first place. I will showcase the first seven place getters, all of which I have featured in my blog from time to time.

This bird is known for its beautiful song, but during nesting season, is known to Australians, to perform ferocious attacks on many who pass by its nesting tree. It is one of our most commonly seen birds on the east and southern coast regions. The Australian Magpie has 5 subspecies or races, of which the most common, the eastern black-backed magpie is featured above.

To keep it simple there are four subspecies of note: Black-backed (eastern), White-backed (southern), Tasmanian and Western, of which I have pictured below from different parts of Australia.

Black-backed Magpie

White-backed (southern) Magpie

Eastern female

Western female

Western male

Tasmanian female

Tasmanian male

The Australian White Ibis surprisingly gained second place being Sydney’s ‘bin chicken’, always ratting through garbage bins when it should be pressing its beak into mudflats at low tide or grassy fields.

Australian White Ibis in flight

Australian White Ibis

Australian White Ibis nesting and with baby

The Laughing Kookaburra gained third place, and for many years was Australia’s trade mark in the early years of film. Many of our early movies started with the laughing Kookaburras calling. This is always a very popular bird, especially to tourists from other countries. I remember last year an American tourist asked me where the Kookaburra was in the Australian bird enclosure, and I told him to go outside the enclosure and he would find one sitting on a sign post near the pathway, he was so delighted when he found it there, outside the zoo confines. If you check out my last weeks post you will see and hear it laughing.

Laughing Kookaburra

Kookaburra

Laughing Kookaburra in flight

Laughing Kookaburra

Fourth place went to the Tawny Frogmouth, our unusual and very unique owl-like bird currently featured on my home page under Something Special. There are many families of this bird breeding in southern Sydney forests, and are more closely related to Nightjars rather than owls.

Tawny Frogmouth (female)

Tawny Teens

Tawny Frogmouths

Our fifth place goes to the beautiful Superb Fairy-wren, which was the first place getter in the 2003 survey. From the comments I receive on my blog, this is the most popular bird to my overseas bloggers, and also I believe the most loved Australian bird because of its cute size, beautiful colours in the breeding males and agility, being often seen in gardens. The Fairy-wrens look nothing like the English Wren it was named after, and is found in several different species and subspecies, the superb being the most common, being found in south eastern Australia. It is often known as the Blue Wren, but this only refers to male with full breeding plumage, the female, juveniles and non-breeding males are common brown in appearance.

Male Superb Fairy-wren

Female Superb Fairy-wren

Superb Fairy-wren male in breeding plumage

Superb Fairy-wren male

Superb Fairy-wren (female)

Superb Fairy-wren (in breeding plumage)

Superb Fairy-wren male

Superb Fairy-wren (female)

Superb Fairy-wren male in eclipse

One of our most popular birds overseas and sixth place goes to our beautiful Rainbow Lorikeet with its amazing colour mix, which looked so brilliant in the afternoon sun yesterday as we sipped our wine in the courtyard. This bird is found in great numbers around the Sydney area where it breeds inside the holes of the angophora costata trees, alongside the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo. We constantly hear the chatter of these birds as they feed on the flowers and nectar of the bottlebrush and grevilea bushes. They are often found in pairs as they breed for life.

Rainbow Lorikeet

So it follows with the Willy Wagtail making seventh place, being a popular fantail seen all over Australia. In fact it was often the very first bird we heard and saw on almost every trip we did throughout Australia. It is a very brave, curious and bold little bird with a beautiful song that is often confused for other birds. It gets it name from the way it flitters about moving side to side wagging its tail and fanning it at times. It is often seen catching insects on the fly.

Willy Wagtsail pair

Willy Wagtail nest with young

Willy wagtail

Fanning and wagging his tail

So there it is, voted Australia’s most popular birds 2017. You can read the whole list if you have time, but seven is enough for now. This survey shows it is the birds we most commonly see around us that we tend to favour, rather than the exotic. The birds we see, know and interact with in our back yards and parks. The birds we grow up with, even the ones that attack us at times, can top the list as a favourite, which proves a well known sales perspective, that if you frequently expose the public to a product by advertising it, or by playing a song many times on radio, people will eventually come to like it and even say it is good, making it popular, when their first impression may have been quite negative, disapproving or even disinterested. In this same way, through constant media exposure, movies and television programs, our society has grown to approve and even embrace unhealthy moral and social standards, causing the breakdown and moral decay in our post Christian world. The fruit of which is beginning to be seen in the selfish, dangerous, insular and disrespectful attitudes of many of the current and especially the new generation, who are being programmed to accept many selfish or immoral standards as being normal and acceptable. These words of Jesus ring true today more than ever before, speaking of the last days of our world in which we live:

“Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.” – Matthew 24:12

The only protection from becoming like this is to connect with God’s love through faith in Jesus, who is God’s love gift to us all. He came to earth and gave up his life to reinstate God’s love in our hearts, so we can enjoy life the way it was meant to be enjoyed, and discover the true person we were created to be. This is God’s best for us, for God is love. Connecting with God through Jesus, by trusting in him and receiving God’s forgiveness as a free gift is the beginning of a wonderful journey of transformation and rediscovery of true love.

^“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions ” – Ephesians 2:4,5

Have a wonderful week everyone!

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

Last weekend, early in the morning, on our hottest day ever recorded for January in Sydney, my wife and I went in search of the very rare Pied Currawong with leucism. Our young media connected family and friends showed us a photo of the bird, and after reading the articles, which had spread world wide, we got a little excited wanting to see it. We drove to the Sydney Botanic Gardens and entered just after they were opened, while still in the cool of the morning before the heat of the day. Next to the harbour, these gardens make a beautiful diversion from the glass and steel of the noisy city nearby.

AView of Kookaburra flying, harbour in background

Government House next to gardens.

We walked around the entire gardens for around 2 hours and did not see the bird. We had been told it had been nesting and that she was raising two normal coloured Pied Currawong babies. As we walked around the gardens we saw many families of normal Pied Currawong grazing the mowed lawn for insects. Similar to the Magpie the pied aspect is expressed in the black plumage with white in the wings and tail feathers, but not on its outer plumage as with the magpie.

Leucisim (leuco = white) is a genetic mutation which very rarely occurs in some birds and animals. Leucism results in a reduced amount of natural colouring in the plumage and thus appears blochy white, with only traces of black. It is not albinism (albino) which is a complete lack of pigment or melanin. The most important distinguishing feature is the eye colour. Albinism has red eye and the leucism normal eye colour. Albinism is all white but Leucism has blochy patches of natural colour, as seen in the female leucistic Pied Currawong. The sunfowers were stunning as their faces pointed toward the morning sunlight.

Disappointed we were just about to leave the gardens and my wife prayed, as she does in these situations, “Father, we don’t deserve to see it, but we know you show you love to us regsrdless.” Just then we met a family of Danish tourists photographing the Kookaburras with us. As we chatted we both saw a flash of white fly past about 30 metres away and we were suddenly in pursuit, and what a blessing with a visual of the bird and its babies. Strangely enough, the garden tour guide we spoke with earlier, knew nothing of this rare bird residing in the park. Here are some of the many photos I was blessed with as we followed the bird and its hungry babies. At times she tried to escape their pestering behaviour, but you will see in this very shaky video clip (due to long lens extension without tripod) she feeds them grubs from a rotting tree root.

As you will see I managed to get photos of the bird in many positions as it moved arounf the gardens. The Danish family followed with excitement.

Pied Currawong with rare genetic mutation (leucism)

Leucistic mother Pied Currawong with baby

Leucistic mother Pied Currawong with baby

New babies was the bird theme of the gardens with parents feeding and training throughout. The immature Pied Currawong, like many juvenile and immature birds has a dark eye. The immature Currawong also has a light grey mottled chest and a distinct yellow gape (a marking between beak and eye). Mature birds have the yellow eye.

This Rainbow Lorikeet was continually squawking to its parent which was trying to ignore it. I had to enhance the lighting as it was under the tree.

But interesting as it was, the Kookaburra families were the main attraction at the gardens. Kookaburras. The garden tour guide said that it was amazing how the Kookaburras, which had not previously been in the gardens had come in large numbers and were breading there.

However, these birds are very territorial, and their laughing call, which was happening continually on and off during our time there, was probably due to families competing for territory. The immature bird has an all dark beak and the mature has a lighter coloured lower beak.

Immature Kookaburra

Mature Kookaburra

This was further confirmed by the way they chased each other around the gardens in quite vicious pursuit.. Several Kooka babies were seen, learning to call. How strange to see so many in one place, possibly the extreme hot weather may have attracted them to the large shady trees there, and fresh water ponds necessary for nesting. Here is some footage of a baby trying to get the attention of an older Kooka.

Again please excuse my jumpy video as I had left the monopod in the car. Here is a pair calling to another family across the field, the youngster sits and watches as they declare their territory.

It was interesting to watch this young Grey Butcherbird who flew from the tree he was calling beautifully from, to lie on wood chips in the hot sun. It is thought that when birds do this they are helping to spread their preening oil throughout their feathers and more so for passerines to expose any lice or irritating insects to the sun and so cause them to leave. Ants sometimes will come and help remove the lice, as the birds spread their wings over warm sand.

The magpie is known to do this, and I have seen Pied Butcherbirds do it when I was in Queensland recently. Here we see two young Pied Butcherbirds copying their parent spreading their wings in the hot sun.

Pied Butcherbird sunbathing

We left the beautiful botanic gardens very thankful and rejoicing at God’s kindness in allowing us to find and then photograph this rare bird, which amazed our young when they saw the evidence that we had actually seen it when many had failed, because it lived in a section of the gardens seldom visited. e crossed the road for a swim in the Olympic Pool, which was quite refreshing in the by now, heatwave conditions.

Take a look at this picture of a pair of Kookaburras. On first view you might think they are a breeding pair of adults, but on the basis of the facts I shared earlier, examining their beaks, you would conclude that they are a pair of juveniles, and the picture below them might be their parents.

How easy it is to assume what we see is what we want to see, when without the wisdom to apply these facts we can get it awfully wrong. So it is with our understanding of life and the facts concerning our origins and destiny. The issue is never with the observable facts ( true observable science) but with how we interpret them and what we try to make them say (the philosophy behind the hypothesis). As a scientist it is so important to not declare something fact which is based on assumption, but to have the integrity to say “I really don’t know, but these facts may possibly fit my philosophy in some ways but not in all ways.” Science can only measure observable events and material evidence in the present, everything else is postulation. Have a wonderful week exploring God’s beautiful garden… our earth.

“For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” – Romans 1:20-22

“The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge…” – Proverbs 1:7

“God alone understands the way to wisdom;
    he knows where it can be found,
²⁴for he looks throughout the whole earth
    and sees everything under the heavens.
²⁵He decided how hard the winds should blow
    and how much rain should fall.
²⁶He made the laws for the rain
    and laid out a path for the lightning.
²⁷Then he saw wisdom and evaluated it.
    He set it in place and examined it thoroughly.
²⁸And this is what he says to all humanity:
‘The fear of the Lord is true wisdom;
    to forsake evil is real understanding.’” – Job 28:23-28

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

As the past year fades away, my wife and I set goals for the new year and look at ways to improve our life together. We ask what can we do better? What do we need to change? What do we need to start doing to achieve our goals for 2018? When we go birding in our local Oatley Park Reserve we find this male Superb Fairy-wren pictured above, eclipsing (this means it is changing its plumage from non breeding to breeding plumage). The male Superb Fairy-wren when not breeding looks very similar to the female, but for its blue tail. You can see the blotchy changes, as it starts to gradually change to its blue coat.

Superb Fairy-wren male in eclipse

Superb Fairy-wren female

It is quite amusing to watch the eclipse process taking place, as the blotchy appearance forms into the beautiful male in breeding plumage. This is how it is for us during seasons of change, where there is uncertainty and fear of the unknown ahead. As with the Fairy-wren, we courageously move forward, trusting God to bring us through our blotchiness to the blessing of eventually being transformed into the person we are becoming, with a beauty we display in being wiser, more thankful, gracious and loving.

Superb Fairy-wren (morphing male)

As many Australian birders know, the male fully eclipses to breeding plumage, he dons his beautiful blue suite, attracting the female to breed with him and have his family. When the breeding season is over he reverts back to his brown and white plumage, retaining only his blue tail to signify his maleness. Click on images to enlarge them.

Male Superb Fairy-wren

Superb Fairy-wren male in breeding plumage

Superb Fairy-wren male

We all have to adapt to the season of our life, and the changes it brings to us, and we need to do this gracefully, to meet the challenges that may lie ahead. Some birds like the Red-browed Finch do not undergo any change at all during their breeding season, and stay the same throughout their life.

We may not change our appearance but our circumstances may change and call for a change in the way we live our lives. This White-faced Heron shows the difference in breeding plumage to non breeding but it does not change what he does each day. How we accept these changes is part of our character development which is so important in our growth as a person.

White-faced Heron non breeding

White-faced Heron breeding

Change and new experiences should not be seen as problems to be solved but as challenges to encounter. It is a positive approach to what life throws at us that gives us the ability, enlisting God’s help, to meet the challenge and win the day. This Royal Spoonbill undergoes this head dress development during breeding season which offers a challenge to its normal life for a time.

Royal Spoonbill

Royal Spoonbill in breeding plumage

Royal Spoonbills in breeding plumage

As I have shown in previous posts, colour change is a common breeding appearance in waders during breeding season, as with this Bar-tailed Godwit, the worlds most endurant bird, develops an orange appearance in our Autumn, before flying 16,000 km to have their young in the Arctic region of the Northern Hemisphere, returning in Spring.

Bar-tailed Godwit

Male Godwit in breeding plumage

Let the changes that come into your life be used for growth and positive change in the new year. Look for the treasure in the trials of life and remember that everything that happens to us is for a reason, for growth and development into the person we are being formed to be. So make the changes work for good in your life, as my wife and I are seeking to do in ours. Have a truly happy and prosperous new year, and may you prosper and grow in each aspect of life: not just physically but also, mentally, emotionally, socially and spiritually as Jesus did when he lived with us here on earth, thus developing our whole person.

“And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man.” – Luke 2:52

“If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.” – James 1:5

Check out the various pages of my website for more birding information and life skills.

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

On Friday I drove out early in the morning to Capertee National Park, a conservation park kept behind a locked gate for the preservation and protection of the critically endangered Regent Honeyeater. Even in this protected area among the flowering Mugga Ironbark trees, nesting numbers have been reducing each year.

The Capertee River was dry in the park, which would affect nesting, as the bird, as do other birds, normally nests near water and food source for commonsense reasons. But water is not there, but the beautiful pink blossom is in full bloom on the mature Ironbark trees behind Port Macquarie Homestead ( large accommodation buildings within the national park) on Port Macquarie Road.

It was here as I watched for over an hour without any success, as the Noisy Friarbirds fed on the blossom with a raucous cacophony of sounds.

The Friarbird is a honeyeater of unusual appearance, usually found in flocks. You always hear them before seeing them. Click on photo to enlarge it.

These birds are quite aggressive to one another and like miners and cockatoos will over take a tree by shear noise and number.

I searched and searched the several flowering Ironbarks for over an hour in the hot sun, as I started to burn on my face. But no Regent. I did however hear this unusual call coming from a small tree nearby where I found this immature Noisy Friarbird alone in the centre of the tree, possibly waiting to be fed.

I stood there quite disappointed, so I prayed a simple but earnest prayer to my loving Heavenly Father “Lord, Please let me see this Regent Honeyeater before I leave, that my faith might be renewed.” I immediately looked up into the blossom and there it was as plain as day, a Regent Honeyeater feeding from the blossom right in front of me. As I worshipped with thankfulness I clicked the shutter numerous times. However many of my photos are not crisp due to the constant movement of this bird and the poor lighting.

Regent Honeyeater earting from Ironbark blossom

Regent Honeyeater

Regent Honeyeater feeding on Ironbark blossom

Many of my blog followers know how my wife and I have pursued The Regent Honeyeater over the past few years, and how to view it in the wild has been on my bucket list. As you know from my posts, Taronga Park Zoo has been the only place I have seen the live bird, till now. I was given the privilege to actually see an unbanded bird in the wild feeding on its favorite food blossom the Ironbark. Most of these trees were cut down to make railway sleepers due to its extremely hard and durable qualities. The bird flew off down near the river in the valley below, so I followed it and found it and another Regent (possibly its mate) playing in the Casuarina trees.

Other wildlife appeared while I was there including large Grey Kangaroo and Common Wambat. The very large male Roo kept his eyes on me the whole time I was there, making sure I did not go near his concubine. You can see the Wambat hole nearby the Wambat in one photo.

Another seen bird here were small flocks of White-winged Chough, a bird commonly seen west of the range. They are mainly ground dwellers scavenging and turning leaf litter for insects and worms. They have a distinct red eye and white on their wings which is only seen when they fly.

White-winged Chough

See here how the small flock move together and display their white wings in flight.

Very satisfied that my long journey was worth the effort, after thanking the caretaker I made my way back to the locked gate. I passed by this loud noise of many birds which I could not recognise. I stopped and after looking into the white blossom of the eucalypt trees near the road finally spotted small groups of small green birds with bright red faces, hidden inside the foliage. I later identified them as Little Lorikeets, another bird that I had only previously seen in cages at zoos. Another wild lifer. It was sooo difficult getting photos, but finally one came onto the blossom in the sunlight for a short time. The noise was amazing, considering these birds were so well camouflaged.

As I continued to leave the park I passed a dam where I suddenly stopped because I heard a loud zitt zitting sound which sounded like a flycatcher, and to my surprise I spotted two Restless Flycatcher drinking from the dam and playing together. The female has the light buff breast. It was a beautiful sight watching these love birds playing together. The dam would provide a good water and insect source for a nest nearby.

To round off a perfect day of special birds, yet an absence of many usually found in the Capertee Valley, I stopped suddenly just before leaving the valley when I saw this unusual bird walking off the road into the bush up the hillside by the road. I looked for it and found a bird I have never seen before walking quickly far up the hill taking shelter from my view behind a small bush. I managed two quick photos, slightly blurred due to the distance and not having time to adjust focus. To my surprise I later identified a male Spotted Quail-thrush a lifer for sure, as I had never seen this bird before. This is another ground forager of insects, seeds etc, seldom flies, found in eucalypt scrub and bushland and grassy arid areas in south eastern Australia, including Tasmania. It is not a commonly seen bird, in fact one subspecies recently became extinct. What a gift! What a generous loving God!

The message was The King of the Universe has renewed in us the Regal position we had before the fall of man, through his Regent, Jesus, his kingly representative who has granted us his authority through faith in him. I eventually arrived home around 5pm that afternoon my faith renewed. My mission with God had been accomplished. May this Christmas bring to you personally as you stop and be still during these holidays, an epiphany of Jesus bringing renewed faith, hope and love in a loving kind and generous Father God. This has been my experience. A Joyous and Blessed Christmas celebration to you and your family as we remember the birthday of the God’s Regent, Jesus, who’s coming changed the world forever to restore us and our relationship with him through the renewal of our life, drawing from his love, faith and hope.

^“The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” – John 1:14

This Christmas maybe God is speaking to you, as he did to me, when I was in my late teens. One Christmas night walking home under the stars, I asked God to show me if he is real. I started reading the New Testament account of Jesus, in modern English, each night before bed. During the following months he became my closest friend, took away my failure and depression, and gave me a joyful purposeful future, which has been my delight ever since.

It was good to see nests of Australasian Darter and Pied Cormorant in the usual breeding trees, however numbers were drastically reduced, possibly due to the extreme heat of the passing summer and prevailing drought conditions.

The commonly seen waterbirds that are more often seen grazing on grassy areas by water are the Australian Swamphen and the Masked Lapwing.

It has always humoured me when I hear the sound of the Masked Lapwing call in Australian movies, as a representative of Australia’s birds. I think what about Kookaburra, Currawong or Magpie? However, in many movies it is this bird call that is used.

So this what the little family looked like as they moved about on this small bush together. You can distinguish the males from the females by the tail colour and beak and lores.

The resident waders were in various stages of activity. Some slept, some preened, but most were foraging. Over the water a large flock of swallow were constantly circling.

The Chestnut Teal are in large number on the lake as usual.

The Red-necked Avocet, a friend to the Stilt, is also a bird seen in flock here.

It was interesting to see this collision of the Avocet and Stilt foraging, it shows how serious food foraging is.

The tiny Black-fronted Dotterel was also on the shore foraging.

Of course the best place to view birds without disturbing them is the ‘Bird Hide’. However, this hide is some distance from the water, but it does give a good overall view of the lake, but you need a powerful lens to get good captures.

Lastly, this Noisy Miner was attracted to my car rear vision mirrors, moving from one to the other he tries to find and make contact with the bird he is looking at. Finally, not being able to solve the conundrum he eventually leaves.

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One of the features of the inland cities is that they were build on the large rivers that flow from the inland to the coast. The River Gums are a beautiful tree one sees by the Murrumbidgee river as well as along Lake Albert. A great haven for birds.

A surprise find was this ‘Yellow Rosella’ a subspecies of the Crimson Rosella, which is usually found further southwest.

This Eastern Rosella turned up briefly to check me out before flying off.

One bird common to most of the mainland is the Magpie-lark (PeeWee, Mud-lark) found usually in pairs. See if you can remember from my previous posts which is the male and female? I will tell you at the end which is which.

A not so popular migratory nomadic introduced bird is the Common Starling, which I could tell by their squeaky call. This dead tree by the lake has always had these birds present when I have visited. I think they breed in it.

This Crested Pigeon is a beautiful specimen and posed for me so well so I had to include it, having one of the best crests I have seen in a while.

One little guy I have always enjoyed seeing here by the lake which we do not see down our way is the Dusky Woodswallow, as he was hunting and devouring a worm.

This pair of Australian Pelican took the show with their beautiful photogenic synchronous pose.

“The blessing of the Lord makes a person rich, and he adds no sorrow with it.” – Proverbs 10:22

“May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us— yes, establish the work of our hands.” – Psalm 90:17

Have a wonderful celebration of thanksgiving for Jesus’ Death and Resurrection.

“He who knew no sin became sin on our behalf so that we might become the righteousness of God through Him.”

Which puts us in a wonderful relationship with God the Father through faith in Jesus:

“In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.” – Ephesians 3:12 (Quotes from NIV)

Check out the rest of my website from my homepage.

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An interesting find was this single juvenile Tropicbird which nobody noticed while filming the bridge, in an alcove of a pine visible near the famous convict built bridge (click on the name to find out the history of its name) Bloody Bridge.

Here it sits undisturbed by the many who pass by.

This beautiful Tern is ghost-like in appearance and is found flying constantly around the Norfolk Pines making its own familiar sound. It is often found in pairs flying in beautiful synchronous flight.

As we stood on the sea cliffs we saw the White Terns, Red-tailed Tropicbird and White-capped (Black) Noddy fishing together.

We observed a continuous toing and froing of the White Tern parents constantly bringing small fish to their young waiting in the nearby Norfolk Pine branches.

One last lone nester near the Masked Booby nesting site was this White-necked Petrel.

Have a truly restful weekend and an interesting and inspiring week.

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The Red-winged Fairy-wren on the other hand, though looking similar to the variegated is the rarest Fairy-wren being found only in the very south-west tip of Western Australia. We saw it in the Margaret River area.

Have a wonderful week!

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This action happens so very fast, we seldom see it, as the leap may vary in distance. This next photo depicts one of the greatest leaps I have ever seen a bird make, a male Rufous Whistler leaping at least a metre with closed wings in a very foggy Barren Grounds National Park (hence poor light).

The first premise is Personal Observation. The young bird before it is fully fledged watches its parents, and other birds, launch into the air quite confidently and open their wings to fly, and also carefully land.

As children this is how we learn to trust and perform important functions vital to our survival. Observe and Obey. We call this having faith, but before faith becomes a personal reality, observation of the actions of others helps to begin building one’s own dossier of faith and trust.

Following considerable observation, often subconsciously, one develops Personal Trust (faith). It is in this vital step that the individual connects the possibility observed in others actions to their own, and take their first plunge, their first leap of faith.

Many on their first flights may not leap but flurry their wings till they take off, but as they realise their full potential and actually do it, they develop the final premise of Personal Experience.

No one can argue with this, the proof is in the pudding as it is said, the object of one’s faith proves itself in the outcomes that follow and the peace of mind, abilities and accomplishments that follow from performing the leap on each new occasion.

Eventually, the parent leads the fully fledged youngster and the deed is done. The parent’s love joined with the youngster’s faith brings hope and fulfillment to the life of the young bird. Now it can fly and hunt for its own food and live a truly fulfilled life.

If we are to take a leap of faith we need to be sure that our belief system has credence in Truth and in a God that is true and observably consistent and believable throughout history.

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This humble reef today is the scavenging ground of the endangered Pied Oystercatcher, endangered because it lays its eggs on beaches where people unwittingly inhabit.

A common resident wader nearby was the White-faced Heron, fishing the shores.

Driving further up the Georges River beaches we found more Godwit and also some Australian White Ibis actually grazing where they should be, on the mud flats and not in city garbage bins, as they are known to do.

So the message to us all is…

“Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” – 1 Peter 5:8

“Be on guard! Be alert! You do not know when that time will come.” Mark 13:33

“There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.” – 1 John 4:18

“…in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. – Romans 8:37

Have a enjoyable, peaceful and restful weekend!

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To keep it simple there are four subspecies of note: Black-backed (eastern), White-backed (southern), Tasmanian and Western, of which I have pictured below from different parts of Australia.

The Australian White Ibis surprisingly gained second place being Sydney’s ‘bin chicken’, always ratting through garbage bins when it should be pressing its beak into mudflats at low tide or grassy fields.

Fourth place went to the Tawny Frogmouth, our unusual and very unique owl-like bird currently featured on my home page under Something Special. There are many families of this bird breeding in southern Sydney forests, and are more closely related to Nightjars rather than owls.

“Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold.” – Matthew 24:12

“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions ” – Ephesians 2:4,5

Have a wonderful week everyone!

^“But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions ” – Ephesians 2:4,5