Royal National park | aussiebirder

Last weekend my wife and I drove to Wagga Wagga to celebrate her birthday with her siblings who had congregated there, and catch up with extended family. As most of you are aware her sister lives on Lake Albert where we often go birding on our visits, for western birds not common to our area, of which there are few, especially during the present change of seasons and post heavy rains.

The main bird of interest was the Crimson Rosella of the yellow race, which was previously known as the Yellow Rosella, and rightly so, as there is very little crimson at all on the bird. I consider if you are going to change a name to group it with another it should at least look like the descriptive name. This beautiful bird is seen feeding from flowers in the bright morning sunshine on Resurrection morning. I love when it hangs upside down and looks at you.

Of course there are the usual waterbirds, but not many as the rise in water level meant the wetlands were difficult for waterbirds to feed on the weed below.

Australian Pelican resting in the morning sun

A pair of Australasian Wood Duck resting in the morning sun

The morning chorus always commences here with the resident Eastern Aussie Magpie clans calling in chorus to each other to remind each other of their territories and catch up on the latest news. We just sit on the verandah and take it all in.

This guy is listening for larvae which he can hear with his very acute hearing in the soil beneath the grass. This ability is taught to him as a youngster, and this food is a major source, which is another reason why we should not reed these wild birds. They actually protect our lawns from pests. These Crested Pigeons were also catching the morning sun as the morning begin to be cool.

Crested Pigeons

Down by the lake the trees were buzzing with the sound of the Common Starling which breeds there. They do look quite beautiful iridescent in the sunlight.

Common Starling

Starlings resting in afternoon sun

This lone Red Wattlebird tried to join them but was not welcome by the clan.

Red Wattlebird

As I walked around the lake I was pleasantly surprised to find this Grey Shrike-thrush under a bush foraging in the late afternoon light.

Also in the grass nearby as I sat on the grass and watched, was many Superb Fairy wren, hopping happily about close to the reeds, where they quickly find cover. Some were going through their first morph (coming out of eclipse to breeding plumage) as they can breed several times in a year, they are a very sexually active bird.

male morphing

two young females exploring

the rear of the morphing male

Non breeding male

Feeding in the grass was this pair of Red-rumped Parrot, which we always see here. The male constantly checked that I was not a threat. Only the male has the red rump, the female has the green one. This bird can be mistaken for the Turquoise Parrot from a distance.

This Willy Wagtail, a true Aussie flycatcher, was busily communing with members of his family as I studied him.

This bird is features in my first book as a very brave little bird, which it is when nesting, and a bird that survives well because of this. It is amazing how effective this little bird is, as you might remember how it stands up to much larger birds which could eat it, such as the Magpie and Kookaburra.

Most of the day flocks of Galah constantly fed on the grass seed by the lake, which is normal custom for the Parrot family after Summer has passed and the grass has seeded.

One last western bird we always see here is the very tiny White-plumed Honeyeater, as it busily feeds on the flowers high on the canopy of the River Gums, as well as searches for available lerps.

Have a most enjoyable week and weekend !

If you have not done so yet check out my new book release Flight of a Fledgling and take advantage of the 2 book deal (Book 1 and Book 2) which is going for a short time. Both books are available on my website. Click on the picture below to go to the page.

All adults, and especially Young Adults and late teens, can benefit from this book and gain insights into the modern research on our amazing birds. Posted to your address. Thankfully for you overseas Followers, due to our current absences of the Covid, Australia is able to send to most all countries.

Lastly, I want to share an observation of my little mate ‘Butch’ the Grey Butcherbird who sings to me throughout the day. He decided to clean out our gutters on the garage, and found food there, including a skink. This caused me to later clean them out properly, as I did not realise till he threw out so much leaf litter, how clogged they were.

checking me watching

Butch with skink in beak

““Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Can any one of you by worrying add a single hour to your life? …” – Matthew 6:25-34

W. A. Hewson (Adv. Dip. Counselling & Family Therapy).

‘To introduce people to our unique Australian birds,

So we can 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.

Grey Butcherbird

As Aussiebirder I often get asked “What is your favorite bird?” and many get surprised when I tell them it is the Butcherbird. They become even more curious when they immediately go looking for it in my book and discover it was not included. Many of you who follow my blog know how my resident Butcherbird family, headed by Butch, make me smile and say “How beautiful !”, as they sing constantly through the day. Further up the coast where I lived much of my life, the Pied Butcherbird has one of the most amazing chimes, which would also delight me every morning.

Pied Butcherbird

Sydney and the north east coast of NSW has been pounded with rain, breaking all previous recorded records, creating state of emergency due to the extensive damage and loss of life caused by massive flooding of our big rivers. As this is occurring as I write this, I have not had an opportunity this week to leave my house, other than to shop in the very small windows when the rain was least intense so this week the Butcherbird family are featured.

Black Butcherbird

Of the now five species of Butcherbird four are endemic to Australia. The Grey and Pied are the most common and are found over much of the continent, but only the Grey Butcherbird is present in Tasmania. The Black, Black-backed and Silver-backed are only found in the top end of Australia in Far North Queensland and northern parts of WA and NT. The Black-backed Butcherbird is also found in New Guinea. Of the five species we have only laid eyes on the three pictured above.

Juvenile Grey Butcherbird

As you can see from the profile of the juvenile Butcherbird, even from a young age, the large powerful hooked beak is a classic feature of this omnivorous bird, which mainly consumes small reptiles, birds and rodents as well as the odd insect and fruit. They derive their name from their unusual custom of hanging their prey like a butcher hangs his meat on a meat hook, usually in the fork of a tree or crevice or on broken branch for later consumption, like a butcher’s cool room. Though I personally have never seen one ever do this, this is how it apparently was named.

The male may also do this to impress a new mate and present her with food, to show he is a good provider and that he will feed her when she mounts the nest to incubate the eggs. The hooked beak is feature like raptors for tearing prey. Here are some immatures calling in the morning to their parent.

Butcherbirds usually have 2 to 3 nestlings each season. My father of our local Grey Butcherbird clan brings his juvenile youngsters to visit me and introduce them to our source of water and shade.

Butch’s youngsters

Butch growing up

The Butcherbird is one of Australia’s most musical songbirds, and can be heard all through the day calling with varied calls. At different times of year they will tend to use particular calls, but their laughing call delights me every time I hear it and makes me smile in my heart and give thanks for having the privilege of having this little clan so close. I can actually hear him laughing as I write this.

The Pied Butcherbird is not found around Sydney but is further up the coast. Listen to the melodious chimes of this bird, which are hauntingly beautiful in the early morning. These were the first sounds I would hear each morning when I lived in the country.

This immature Pied is practicing his song.

This is the Western race of the Pied Butcherbird which inhabits the desert regions and is more contrasting than our Eastern race. We saw this guy at Uluru in the red centre.

The Black Butcherbird we only see on our trips to Far North Queensland. It is all black, and has its own peculiar call but not as melodious as the other two. When we first heard it calling we initially thought it was the Orange-footed Scrubfowl which lives up there also as it sounded similar. When we could not find it after looking low in the scrub we looked up and found it was a pair of Butcherbirds, but they were very shy.

Black Butcherbird

We would see this juvenile each morning sitting out near our open air dining area.

juvenile Black Butcherbird

It is hard to believe that as the juvenile develops it will one day turn black when it matures.

Black Butcherbird immature

This little guy had found something but not sure what.

Black Butcherbird

Have a wonderful week. We are all recovering from the heaviest week of rain ever experienced on the east coast of Australia, with extensive destructive flooding which continues even today on a clear blue sky, as the rivers continue to rise. We had the drought, then the fires and smoke, then the Covid, and just when were starting to get back to normal, the flooding rains… this is Australia.

Click on the pic below to see some news footage from Channel 9, of a man saving his pet Emu from the flood waters:

“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you.
Which of all these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this?
In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.” – Job 12: 7-10 (NIV)

W. A. Hewson (Adv. Dip. Counselling & Family Therapy).

‘To introduce people to our unique Australian birds,

So we can 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.

Yes its that time of year again when I honor the bird featured in my previous book as our most endurant bird, the Bar-tailed Godwit, which many of you know is one of my favorites. Click on photos to enlarge them.

As the first tastes of Autumn have come in for an early Winter blast, these birds will be taking off this week and next on a 12,000 to 16,000 km journey via the Asian coastline to Alaska and Siberia, returning to this same beach next Spring. The Bar-tailed Godwit is one of the highest flying birds in the world, able to reach heights of over 6,000 meters (20,000′). They can fly very high in flock rising to travel on the upper winds.

In Spring they will fly back non stop across the Pacific Ocean to Australia and New Zealand, guided by the sun and stars, spending between 6 to 8 days in the air. In the photo above you will notice the rufous breeding plumage almost complete in this male, but the females and juveniles have no visible changes. The females may change later but not as intensely as the males, and the juveniles will in a few years when they mature.

You will notice the subtle differences in plumage differentiating female from juvenile below, as the youngsters have darker primary markings as well as a neck band similar to other juvenile bird species. It can be difficult as they look fully grown from a young age, but are seen trailing and keeping close to the parent during Summer months, but often staying back for a sabbatical non migratory year in Australia during the winter months, until strong enough to do the amazing flight. With the absence of adults, other juveniles will group together and forage each day in a tight little group. The female is slightly larger than the male and has a slightly longer beak.

So now the furious feeding race is on against time to fatten oneself up enough for the long flight. Sadly many of their feeding wetlands and beaches are being filled in along the Asian coastlines due to large land reclamation schemes, which is causing these birds much stress and threatening many species to extinction, as these birds will only stop at their historical places, taught them from generations of migrations. Check out the PDF articles on this problem posted by Birdlife International and our CSIRO here.

Notice above how these birds, with their long slightly curving upward beaks, will push it right down into the wet sand in search of food. The amazing thing is that this bird is slightly smaller than a Silver Gull, and my photos can be deceptive.These birds can be a challenge to locate on a low tide mud flat far out near the water line, as they blend in so well with the sand.

Here is an example of a family walking together with juveniles trailing. In this case the female has a crab and is not letting anyone take it.

Here is one furiously feeding male…

The Crested Tern family were unimpressed by all this activity, as they are non migratory and had recently fledged their young here. Several were in resting mode after an early morning feed.

Crested Tern resting

Terns resting

The other shorebird that I saw last week feeding from a creek that flows into the same the same river was the vary shy and elusive Striated Heron (previously known as Mangrove Heron). This bird has always quickly walked or flown away when it sees me viewing it from the walking bridge at low tide. I have to always view this bird from a great distance, which makes my photos of lesser quality, as I have enough trouble just trying to see its small shape blending so well with the dark muddy sand. I spent some time unnoticed and watched it catch and eat several fish.

First, we stalk the fish in Heron style…

Secondly, we wait by the water with those small beady eyes and pounce at lightning speed to catch the fish…

Thirdly, we bring our catch to the beach and work out how we will consume it, as we have to get it into position to swallow it whole…

Last of all, we need to stretch our neck as we swallow to allow it to travel down into our stomach…

That’s that, ready for the next process.

Have a wonderful week and hope you are able to get out and enjoy some birding. My book is now at the printers and we are waiting for it’s release.

If this is your first visit to my website and blog check out my home page and other birding pages, you may find them of interest.

I love watching these birds seek out their food, which lies deep within the sands of low tide river beds. They use their beaks to quickly press down hoping to feel a small crustacean or worm. Sometimes they press their whole head into the sand, or push their head below the water in search. They commonly use a jack-hammer approach to search.

The words of Jesus have been repeated by many a parent or teacher over the years, implying that those who seek and keep on seeking (which is implied in the original Greek text being in present continuous tense), will be the winners in the end to achieve their goal and destiny.

To have this mindset one must first of all: need what they are seeking and then believe or have a reason to hope that what they seek can be found.

Paul the apostle of Jesus puts it simply to the great Greek minds of his day in his famous Areopagus address on Mars Hill (a place we never got to see last year due to Covid):

“The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.‘For in him we live and move and have our being.” – Acts 17: 24-28 (NIV)

Many have asked why Jesus, who for many, made trusting God so simple, yet for others made it so hard. Why speak in parables and answer each question with a question? It all comes down to the fact that he knew the hearts and intentions of those who gathered around him,

“because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.” – John 2:25

In so many places in each of the accounts about Jesus, the writer mentions how Jesus’s response was due to the divine insight he had about each of the people who confronted him, and this is why he shows mercy and love to the underdog, persecuted and outcast but is harder and more serious with the corrupt and hypocritical temple (church) leaders of his day.

“But Jesus perceived their malice, and said, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites?” – Matthew 22:18

This was the reason Jesus spoke in parables, which he explains to his disciples who ask that very question:

“The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” – Matthew 13:10

It is here that he draws a definitive contrast between those who truly seek him for who he is and trust in him, as against those who seek to put him down and actually fear him because he reveals what they are truly like and thus is a perceived threat to their power and lifestyle.

The problem is the same today as it was then.

I can remember as a teen when I played in my first band at dances and concerts, we all admired the Beatles and each of us had our favorite.

Abbey Road record cover

Our take off of Abbey Road cover

I can remember when the Beatles went searching for meaning and spirituality in their lives, led initially by George and John. They tried various means and religions and drugs to find the answer. The songs Eleanor Rigby and Nowhere Man are excellent examples of that time. Above are photos taken during our visit to the place where the Beatles started their music career in the Cavern Club in Liverpool.

The Beatles original instruments displayed in the Cavern Club

The Beatles playing in the Cavern Club in Liverpool. From a photo in the club

Sadly the Christian church of their day in Britain did not communicate a relationship of love, peace and joy with Jesus nor the fulfilling life they were searching for, and eventually settled for an Eastern religious influence. Sadly many today continue to seek the experience and not the Person? My own personal experience was that I also was disappointed by the church of my day as a teen and was challenged to read the Bible for myself, and the words of Jesus spoke to me and that’s how I met him.

Today

As in Jesus day,

Men again get in the way

Instead of living what they say

For Jesus himself said “I am the Way”

And comes to all who humbly seek and pray,

W. A. Hewson (Adv. Dip. Counselling & Family Therapy).

‘To introduce people to our unique Australian birds,

So we can 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.

Barking Owl swooping

Last week I featured most of Australia’s majestic daytime raptors, and this week I will showcase but five of our ten Owls. The reason I have so few is that we do not go night birding and my collection is of birds seen during the daytime usually resting deep inside trees out of general sight. The Owl takes over at night while the Eagles, Kites, Falcons, Harriers, Kestrels etc. sleep, continuing to prey on small birds and animals. These kings of the night have some different characteristics to their daytime cousins, but first lets list features in common which they share.

Let’s use the Barking Owl pictured above as an example, to list the similar defining features of a raptor:

⇒ Superior Eyesight with binocular telescopic vision

⇒ Hooked beak for tearing flesh (swallows prey in pieces)

⇒ Powerful Legs and Talons used to kill and carry prey

⇒ Large powerful wings

⇒ Nests in tree hollows

⇒ Tactically hunts its prey consisting of birds, small animals and reptiles.

Let’s now list the differences that intelligent design has granted this killing machine:

⇒ They have large eyes able to see in very dim light. The large retina has many more light receptors but is unable to see in total darkness.

⇒ They do not ride the thermals and generally do not hunt by day but hunt by night and sleep by day.

⇒ They generally sit and wait for their prey to come near to them and do not fly or hover searching for their prey.

⇒ They have extra soft feathers which allow them to take off and fly silently, enabling them to successfully stalk their prey.

⇒ They can rotate their head 180° without moving their body to observe surroundings.

Some may have wondered why it is called the Barking Owl, well…

It makes a barking like sound as you can hear. This one was seen at a Raptor Bird Show, and is a common inhabitant of the eastern Australian mainland.

The largest Owl in Australia is the Powerful Owl, which nests in several places near where I live. It is found along the east coast of NSW and Victoria, This owl lives up to its name and will feed on domestic and ferule cats, but mainly enjoys various species of Australian possums, as you can see below body remains of the previous night’s kill hanging from the talon. They eat the head of the animal and then display the remainder of their kill into the next day. He may give his partner some of the kill later, but they both catch some shut eye for now.

Powerful Owl male displaying last nights kill

The owls help to keep the possum population under control, however, when the possum was introduced to New Zealand, the numbers exploded causing major concern as they did not have a natural predator. But they found a good use for their pelts which do make very warm gloves and winter attire. It makes up most of New Zealand’s roadkill. The owls sometimes wonder what the fuss is below and take a look:

Owls are known to return to the same tree each morning to rest until the hunting pickings become too slim or their privacy is challenged and they will move to another nearby park or forest.

I remember the first time my wife and I sighted a family of Powerful Owl resting high up in a tall eucalypt well away from anyone. We saw the two juvenile looking at us and I said to my wife “Hey, there looks to be 2 Meerkats in the tree looking at me !” We saw the parents sleeping in a nearby tree well out of sight.

Another more commonly seen owl in our local parks is the Southern Boobook which again I have only seen in daylight, usually sleeping inside a tree hollow or perched nearby it as it prepares to go hunting in the evening. This owl is found all over the mainland and also Tasmania. I have lightened up the photo so you can see the bird in the tree hollow. Passers by have no idea it was there. When they look into the hollow all they see is darkness. A few weeks after this photo a swam of native bees took over the hollow and Mr Boobook was gone. In my next book I will use this bird to demonstrate the importance of shedding light on our understanding and improving our perception. One of the fine points of recent digital camera sensors is the much higher ISO (light sensitivity) settings now possible.

I always find Owls difficult to get good photos of in the wild and have to doctor up my photos. As a rule I do not use flash on birds as I respect their well being, especially night birds which can suffer blindness for days, though I know of some photographers rather than bird lovers, that use flash at night on birds to get that perfect photo. Many Penguins die for the same reason, blinded by the light and unable to find their way safely to their burrow.

Another very common Owl, probably the most common both all over Australia and world wide, as it is an introduced species, is the Barn Owl. I can remember when I lived out in the country up north on my rural property walking to the neighbour’s gate to pay a visit at night and as I go to open the gate I get this shock as this brilliant white object flies off the gate almost into my face off into the night with barely a sound.

This is the only Owl featured in my book “What Birds Teach Us” as the very last bird and was only included at that stage because a dear friend said her niece loved owls so I needed one. I would include the Powerful Owl if I were to do a 3rd Edition. This is the famous wise poem, by an unknown author, which I quote as my book’s last word:

A wise old owl sat in an oak,
The more he heard, the less he spoke;
The less he spoke, the more he heard;
Why aren’t we all like that wise old bird?

The above photo will be familiar to those who have my book as the Owl flies from its nesting hole.

Our last Owl is one of Australia’s less seen and rarer Owls found only in far northern Australia and in the Queensland rainforests. We were blessed to see this pair of Rufous Owls resting in a very tall native fig tree in one of the residential parks in Cairns. They were extremely high up and hidden from the light as our photos show, having to have some post production work. We just happened to meet a local birder who knew exactly where these birds were otherwise there was no way anyone could have found them.

The male, as also with the Powerful Owl, is larger than the female and seen usually hanging its prey as in the above photos. It was a neck breaking experience to get these shots.

Female Rufous Owl in the light

Well that concludes our little Raptor stint, maybe one day I will see the others to share with you.

Have a wonderful weekend, we are going away for a few days to celebrate our wedding anniversary and may be do some birding along the way. Stay safe and do someone a random act of kindness each day, and notice the difference it makes.

Let’s take onboard the wisdom of the Owl as the poem above suggests. It is by watching and listening that we do most of our learning. As a male of the species I have learnt over the years and from my family counselling studies that the answer is not to necessarily solve our partners problems for her when she shares her heart, and give a quick fix, but to just shut-up and listen and empathize. Those who watch and observe are best scientists, inventors, leaders and politicians, not those who think they have all the answers and cut off and interrupt the sharer before the person finishes speaking. In my book the Superb Lyrebird was featured to share the qualities of active listening, but for the Owls it is how they get their food each night, a matter of life or death, as it is not safe to be flying through thick trees in the dark. As Epictetus is quoted: ‘We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak. ‘ He was a Greek philosopher who spent his youth as a slave in Rome before gaining freedom after the death of Nero, under whom he served until around 60 AD.

“My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry,” – James 1:19 (NIV)

Suffering Job addresses his so called friends as they accuse and give foolish advice when all he wanted was some compassion, empathy and understanding:

“If only you would be altogether silent! For you, that would be wisdom.” – Job 13:5

Wise King Solomon is quoted saying there is a time for everything under heaven:

“a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,” – Ecclesiastes 3:7

“A fool takes no pleasure in understanding, but only in expressing his opinion.” – Proverbs 18:2

W. A. Hewson (Adv. Dip. Counselling & Family Therapy).

‘To introduce people to our unique Australian birds,

So we can 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.

Black-shouldered Kite

Australia is blessed with many different species of raptor. Raptors are probably the most popular birds photographed, and many birders only seek to photograph these bird species.. Since birding was not an option this week due to weather, and simply not seeing many at all in the forest on our birding date, I thought it good to showcase some of our beautiful raptors. These exceptional birds are the kings of the sky and their image is used to denote power and authority in defence forces, police and governments. Above a Black=shouldered Kite alights from the top of a dead tree. Let me list some of the important traits that group these amazing birds into a unique and beautiful class of their own.

Very elderly Wedge-tailed Eagle

⇒ They have the keenest and sharpest eyesight of any creature: They can see small rodents over one kilometre away and most of them, such as the Wedge-tailed eagle have, not only binocular vision, but also telescopic vision, as they are able to press out their eye socket in a way that zooms their eyesight making it over 5 times better than our own.

Wedge-tailed Eagle about to land on prey

⇒ They have powerful retractable talons: Unlike other birds they do not only have claws, but they have large scissor-sharp talons controlled by powerful muscles in their feet which they can advance and retract. This is how they kill their pray and carry it in the air. The Osprey has very unique talons designed for carrying fish with opposing toes. Wedge-tailed Eagles have been seen carrying in flight small lambs and and even young wallabies. Click on photos to enlarge them.

Sea-Eagle with fish

Eastern Osprey with fish

⇒ They have very strong hooked beaks: The hook on the beak allows them to tear flesh off their prey, which for the most part if smaller animals and birds. They lack teeth and have to break off pieces small enough to swallow whole.

White-bellied Sea-Eagle beak

⇒ They have very large wingspans which enable them to soar: One of the features of these birds similar to many other birds is their ability to catch the warm upper currents off land (called thermals) and once they reach a certain height using their powerful wing beats, they spread their wings and soar motionless with the winds up to 2000 meters, usually going up in a circular trajectory. This a good reason why keen eyesight is essential for these birds to be able to spot their prey from high in the sky. Not all raptors prefer this technique, but most can do it. They can move and turn in the air with barely a visible movement. The conservation of energy as they aeronautically soar on the thermals allows them to spend hours in the sky, but they can only do this by day..

Square-tailed Kite

⇒ They primarily prefer to hunt alone and prefer a very high 360° view when resting: Mostly lone hunters, though when breeding are training young they will accompany spouse and young. The place to look for these birds is usually on the highest point of a dead tree, or even green tree, when they are resting, as they like to purvey their complete surroundings, like a king surveying his kingdom, able to spot prey from some distance away.

Australian Hobby

⇔ They build some of the largest nests: Some Eagles build nests that weigh several tons and are many metres wide and deep. Our Wedge-tailed Eagle and White-bellied Sea-Eagle, being our largest raptors, build the largest in Australia. Here is a link reporting one of the largest reported from the USA.

A Wedge-tailed Eagle eyrie (with chicks in nest)

White-bellied Sea-Eagle eyrie (chicks just visible

⇒ They train their young for several years in every aspect of life: This not so for all raptors, but is for the larger eagles, however they require persistent adult teaching to learn to fly and hunt. Much of their learning is simple observation and listening, as it is for us. Adult eagles are known to push their young out of the nest if they do not brave it themselves, when they think they should.

Initially parent flies beneath fledgling

when the fledgling has fledged the adult leads it away

This is where the phrase “I carried you on eagles wings” (Exodus 19:4) comes from in the Bible, when God was referring to Israel being delivered from Egypt’s slavery. After pushing the youngster out of the nest, the adult flies rapidly beneath it. If it fails to fly it catches it on is back and wings it back to the nest to try again, as many times as it takes. Finally, as the youngster starts to fly of its own accord,it flies beneath the youngster until it can fly alone, and then leads it away to strengthen its wings in flight. These photos and this training process, among others appear in my first book. Notice in the above LH photo how the youngster looks down to check the parent is there.

⇒ They can deliberately hatch their young at different times: Most raptors, in particular eagles, usually only have one to three offspring at a time, and only two out of three may survive. This is because the mother deliberately lays her eggs 2 to 4 days apart, so they each are born larger than the hatching that follows. This can lead to the smallest becoming the weakest due to feeding priority given to the larger birds, and often the first born will compete for food being stronger, causing the youngest to eventually die. Because of the amount of hands on effort in feeding, teaching and raring the young for several years, it is to their advantage to raise only one healthy youngster in each clutch. Even though the juveniles are fully fledged, they continue to need feeding for some time till they learn to successfully catch their own without help, as it is with us training a child to use a knife and fork.

⇒ They are mostly monogamous: Most raptors spend their lives with the one mate and raise their families together. If a mate dies they may go looking for a replacement and continue breeding. It is not uncommon to see pairs of adults and junior tagging along as they soar on the thermals.

Sea-Eagle family out touring together

family of Black Kites (2 adults+2 juveniles LHS)

⇒ They vary between species in size and hunting methods: While the larger eagles and kites swoop down on their prey at speed from a distance above or from the top of a dead tree, Smaller Goshawks, Kestrels and Black-shouldered Kites hover above waiting for their prey to appear and then suddenly descend on it from above. Pacific Baza fly into the trees and catch their prey as they fly through. Harriers fly very low over the ground and drop suddenly down on their quarry. A Black-shouldered Kite shows us (below) an example of hovering over prey, but alas on a very cloudy day.

⇒ They have beautiful distinctive plumage: The main form of identification of these birds when they are soaring is their specific under wing plumage, as this may be all you see. Here are some examples…

Little Eagle light morph

Whistling Kite

Wedge-tailed Eagle

White-bellied Sea Eagle

Brahminy Kite

Nankeen Kestrel

Red Goshawk

Eastern Osprey

Black-breasted Buzzard or Kite

Black Kite (which is actually brown in colour)

Spotted Harrier “Harriering” low over the paddocks

Swamp Harrier male

Pacific Baza flying into trees (hunting style)

Brown Goshawk juvenile

Collared Sparrowhawk

Grey Goshawk

Brown Falcon

Peregrine Falcon

That is enough raptors for this week, otherwise you will be raptored out. This is a summary of the kings of the sky by day. Part 2 will look at the kings of the sky by night, the eagles of the night we know as owls.

Hope you all have an enjoyable week despite all the hardships that many of you are going through at present with both weather and virus. Praying you all keep alert and well during this unusual season in our history. Many have shared how bird numbers are reduced this season.

If this is your first visit to my blog, a warm welcome to you. Have a look around on my website pages from my menu or Home Page. I have updated several pages recently. Check out my book, I am the final stages of publishing process of my next book. Here is a last plug for my current one on an unused clip I found.

Here is a joke a dear friend shared on Facebook I am sure the ladies will appreciate:

White-bellied Sea Eagle – hunting instructor

Raptors carry an air of majesty and authority in the way they do life, which makes them the ideal emblem for use on law enforcement and defense force coats of arm. Their ability to soar for hours motionless, yet always moving with outspread wings is always a delight for every birder and for many who are enchanted by their presence. The raptor has the best of everything, eyesight, powerful body, hunting ability, is omnivorous to name a few. But as I shared above, and from my book (page example shown above earlier), the more complex, intelligent and able the creature, the more learning and listening is required of the trainee nestling and fledgling. These birds, similar to the Raven, Magpie, Bowerbird and Lyrebird take several years of training before they gain their full maturity colours and can breed. It is also interesting from recent research and personal observation that in a similar way to us humans there are good and poor learners with varying results of success in life.

The White-bellied Sea Eagle perched above has been trying to get its juvenile fledgling to hunt for itself, but it just remains in the nest squawking to be fed. The boat captain on the Arthur River laughingly said that these parents have been endlessly trying by example, to make this reluctant youngster hunt for itself. The video above shows the father adult catching a fish and carrying it away from the nest out of sight to eat it. This is followed by the juvenile trying to follow, but stops when it loses sight of it. This is old movie so it lacks quality.

reluctant juvenile pupil

Simply put the lesson is: no matter how well we may parent and set a good example for our children, it is ultimately up to the child what they choose to learn from and respect. Many hurting parents have shared their false guilt over how they blame themselves for their children not turning out the way they had hoped, after much loving commitment to their development and instruction. Each of us are ultimately responsible for our own destiny, and what we do with what we have been given. It is the hardest thing for many to allow their child to suffer the consequences for their bad decisions, but it is important that they learn for themselves and sometimes the hard way. We need to always show them love, acceptance and forgiveness , sharing our concern, but always letting them live their own lives and not try saving them, as this is also part of their normal growth and maturity Often they will have a light bulb moment and realize the error of their ways and apologise to the parents down the track. Many children become spoilt and dependent on parents, who eventually become co dependent to the child’s carelessness, bailing them out and suffering the use and abuse syndrome, with the child never maturing or learning to correct their bad habits.

“Listen, my son, to your father’s instruction and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.” – Proverbs 1: 8,9 (NIV)

“Discipline your children, and they will give you peace; they will bring you the delights you desire.” – Proverbs 29:17

^“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” – 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7

W. A. Hewson (Adv. Dip. Counselling & Family Therapy).

‘To introduce people to our unique Australian birds,

So we can 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.

It was mid-week and my wife and I decided to have a birding date preceded by a lovely breakfast at the local Nasho cafe before our rainforest walk, as we expected their would be less walkers and riders on the tracks, which to our delight was the case, in the early part. We met several couples, like ourselves, and some birders, enjoying a stroll along the track, which brought to our attention this Collared Sparrow-hawk while chatting.

It was quiet, but for some pockets of cicadas, which had driven many songbirds deeper into the forest, because of their loud incessant noise. Many birds had also finished nesting and are fledged, so their parents had become quieter. This was the first warm day we had in a week of most unseasonable cold, wet windy weather. We came across this Red-browed Finch, one of the Firetails, which could be called Red-browed Firetail, as you can see below. This little guy was using a small tree to position a blade of grass seed while he ate from it.

Extracting the seed

The firetail displayed

We just loved its little expressions as it wondered what we were up to watching.

Further on this female Superb Fairy-wren was preening in the sun. The male kept out of sight from us. The female is the unattractive one in the species and does not change its plumage during breeding like the male. This of course is of great value in keeping hidden from predators when nesting. Click a photo to enlarge.

To our delight I spotted the Rufous Fantail again. It has appeared now that several families of this bird, which mainly see in Winter for a few of weeks are now residing here, possibly because of destruction of habitat by devastating 2020 bushfires. It is always a buzz to both capture this bird in bright sunlight and while not moving around too much, both seldom occur.

As we approached the picnic clearing this Eastern Water Dragon was sunning himself on one of the seats. Males have a rufous chest that becomes bright red during breeding season.

As we walked further, one of the walkers was photographing this Short-nosed Echidna foraging by the track. These unusual monotremes, of which the Platypus is the other, are the only mammals that lay eggs outside their body.

These creatures were called Spiny Ant-eaters and are not at all a kind of Porcupine. The echidna has spines like a porcupine, a beak like a bird, a pouch like a kangaroo, and lays eggs like a reptile. What an interesting creature.

As we walked on I heard the chime of the King Parrot as he hid in the dark of a tree, but I managed to enhance his appearance for you.

King Parrot male

Finally, we saw a pair of juvenile Pacific Baza resting in trees high on the side of the track. The rufous neck markings indicate their immaturity. We have seen Baza here a year ago being harassed by Noisy Miners. However, the main diet of Baza or Crested Hawk as they are also known because of their head dress, is large insects, frogs and native fruits.

They have an unusual hunting technique whereby they fly into trees and catch prey as they move rapidly through the canopy. Here are some flight shots we managed to catch. Remember that these have had to be lightened up because of the dark under-story.

Though we did not see or hear as many species as usual on this walk, we were delightfully rewarded with some special moments, for which we are truly grateful.

Have a most enjoyable week. I have noticed our northern friends are experiencing extremely cold conditions at present, which in itself is a challenge apart from the Covid. We pray you all stay well through this season. We have been experiencing a colder and wetter Summer in contrast to the drought, heatwaves and bushfires this time last year. If this is your first visit to my Blog and Website, Welcome. Check out my Menu at the top of this page. Some of my pages have been recently updated. Don’t forget fellow Aussies to keep your birdbaths filled and cleaned, especially during the Summer months when you can enjoy your local birds calling around for a wash and a drink. To find our more about birdbaths Click here.

I was walking in my local park yesterday and sighted several immature Magpies. One of a pair was acting strangely. After walking about foraging it simply laid down by the track, unperturbed by my close presence. A little time later I found it in this position, which was even stranger. Was it sick or wounded, I did not know? Its sibling seemed to continue foraging normally.

It just lay peering into the weeds. Birds are known to lie down and spread their wings in the sun, but it was not doing this, and it was not sunny. It also occurred the bird may have just been resting in an unusual manner, or maybe It may not have been successful in its foraging and was undernourished. Such thoughts came and went. Many times when we hear and see people do things out of character we easily make judgments based on what we know or think when the person may be having a difficult or stressful time and just need some encouragement and someone to ask “How are you going ?” Just listening to a person share their pain and their story actually lowers their stress level and helps them process their thoughts, which gives better understanding to both them and yourself. A life can be saved simply taking the time, when we see someone acting out of character and removed and quiet, by asking and listening.

“let the wise listen and add to their learning, and let the discerning get guidance—” – Proverbs 1:5

“To answer before listening— that is folly and shame.” – Proverbs 18:13

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W. A. Hewson (Adv. Dip. Counselling & Family Therapy).

‘To introduce people to our unique Australian birds,

So we can 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.

Green Catbird

One of the features of a recent walk with my wife in our local Royal National Park (The Nasho) was that many of the birds we saw tended to be rather shy species which most walkers and cyclists would never see, even birdwatchers may have difficulty. Even if it was only several birds it was enough to delight us both, since a feature of birding is that you are always surprized each time you go out, as you never know what you will get, epitomized in Forrest Gump’s mum’s box of chocolate analogy. As we walked on this beautiful Summers day after a week of rain and cold winds, quite uncharacteristic of the time of year, we heard the classic catbird sound and looked up to get this unusually good footage in sunlight, of this most difficult rainforest bird.

We could see two of three Green Catbirds (an extremely shy and difficult bird to see amid the dark green canopy), loudly fleeing the opportunistic attack of a Pied Currawong which was pursuing the youngster in the family, leaving this one on watch. Eventually the Currawong left without a meal.

Green Catbird on Carrington Drive (best)

The Pied Currawong stealthily steals birds from many surrounding nests to feed its young, possibly taking at least 20 to 40 nestlings. It actually positions its nest after surveying the nesting population in a territory. As I have shown in previous posts they fight other Currawongs furiously for prime territories. The Second Edition of my current book features this bird as Opportunistic. That sneaky bright yellow eye will secretly peer at you waiting for the right opportunity to act.

Pied Currawong resting with prey in mouth

As we walked on I could hear the call of a Sacred Kingfisher next to its arboreal white ant nest, which they use, along with Kookaburras to nest in. They can be difficult to spot when they are sitting in the shade along the river’s edge. We would not have noticed it high in the tree had it not been yapping with its advertising call.

As we passed the palm forest we are always hopeful for the return of the rarely seen and most difficult to photograph beautiful Rufous Fantail, but again not found there today. But we did hear the melodic call of the Black-faced Monarch warning its mate which flew away. This shy, elusive rainforest bird which is here during Summer months, normally keeps out of sight. It freely preened as it did not notice us some distance away. Today we got some good views, rather than grainy shots hidden beneath dark canopies.

From the side of the track we saw a flash of red as a very small bird disappeared in among the grass, which we saw after much observation to be a Red-browed Finch feeding on grass seed. This flighty little bird remained for a short while as the flock fled.

Red-browed Finch feeding

Red-browed Finch

Of course the Golden Whistler male came and made himself known. Usually he is shy and keeps away and the female curiously comes for a look, but she may be with her young or in the nest. As the male hunts down the odd insect for his nearby nestlings. He is easy to find when he calls during Spring and Summer, but very quiet and elusive during the non nesting Winter months.

As we reached the end of our walk for the day we turned to walk back and there hanging off a tree was a young Lace Monitor sunning itself. This huge reptile is seldom seen, and always scurries away when spotted. He saw we were there but did not move at all.

Here’s a close up of his face…

On our walk back we saw another fast elusive small bird, the Brown Gerygone, a couple of juveniles which had not long left the nest, so they tended to rest, allowing us to a photo moment, more than their extremely active parents.

Of course the loud call of the White-throated Treecreeper is always a treat. The fun is in trying to locate the bird climbing the tree. It is so well camouflaged against the brown bark that most people hear the call of it ascending the tree, but never know where to look to find it. It is another mindful skill one gains over time. After reaching the top of the tree foraging for insects and grubs it flies to the foot of the next nearby tree and repeats the process.

As we walked on we saw this bird fly off under a bush several yards up ahead. I sensed from its profile it was the seldom sighted Wonga Pigeon, which puts out its loud monotonous call throughout the rainforest for hours at time. I managed to get this flash shot (I try to avoid flash photography with birds).

As many of you know, my wife often sends up a prayer during our walk asking our God if he has anything special to show us, which we are often rewarded with an unexpected bird sighting, and yes we did, we actually saw for the first time in over a year, one Rufous Fantail, which caused several passers bye to stop and enquire as they saw and heard our excited activity. We tried desperately to catch a glimpse and photograph this fast moving elusive bird when it came out of the bush into sunlight. This is all we got of any value:

For this we were truly grateful to our gracious Father, for we had not seen this bird all winter and believe many hundreds of these birds were lost while nesting down south during the horrific bushfires last year and early this year.

Thankfully we have sighted two families since, residing here now, away from the burnt bush down south. Though we have not been able to get them in the light to photograph. So we rejoice that at least these have survived to breed.

Have a most enjoyable week despite the circumstances we all share at this time, some more affected than others. As we move into a new year it seems like the beginning of the last all over again, but for the absence of extreme heat and bushfires.

However, one aspect to bear in mind is that ‘happiness’ depends on what is happening in current circumstances, where as joy is a much deeper more consistent attitude of one’s soul, which exists regardless of the circumstances. This is an aspect dealt with more fully in my next book “Flight of a Fledgling”, and again is something we can learn from birds. We now know from recent research that many songbirds as well as communicating with their song, also sing for the pure joy of it as it gives them a feel good release as endorphins are released in their brains, in a similar way when we laugh, encourage people, do spontaneous acts of kindness and also when we sing.

A male Golden Whistler joyously whistling

As mentioned on previous occasions, when we consistently choose to maintain a positive encouraging attitude of gratitude, we develop (hardwire into our personality) a joyous spirit or persona. This healthy state of mind and emotion actually improves overall health and longevity. To name a few, it improves our immune system, sleep, lowers stress, lowers blood pressure, releases feel good endorphins in the brain, endears us as a friend, makes us more creative and productive, enables us to better endure pain and misfortune, can maintain a more youthful appearance and make us feel more energetic. Smiling and laughter are part of this persona which also include the above benefits. The attitudes that work in reverse and are most unhealthy include unforgiveness, resentment, bitterness and unresolved anger. The greatest help that has been found to encourage a joyous state of being, is to have a firm and settled hope for the future through faith relationship with God our Creator Father. The efforts of modernism, secular humanism and political correctness to remove God from our vocabulary and life has only served to heighten the confusion, fear, anxiety and uncertainty many are currently experiencing.

“A cheerful heart is good medicine [brings healing], but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.” – Proverbs 17:22 (NIV) – from King Solomon one of the world’s wisest and most successful of men.

“And forgive us our debts, [in the same way as we have forgiven others] as we also have forgiven our debtors.” – Matthew 6:12 – the reality and profundity of Jesus words is often missed when this prayer is repeated by rote. In other words a person will not feel or experience forgiveness from God through Jesus sacrifice on their behalf, if they refuse to forgive. Jesus explains in a parable that unforgiveness creates a prison of self torture. (see Matthew 18:34)

“I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God;
I myself will see him with my own eyes—I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!” – Job 19:25-27 – a most remarkable man in history who tragically lost everything, and suffered great loss, even his health was afflicted, but maintained his hope and faith and love, and later had everything restored to him in greater abundance than previously.

“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.” – Hebrew 11:1

“Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful.” – Hebrews 10:23

W. A. Hewson (Adv. Dip. Counselling & Family Therapy).

‘To introduce people to our unique Australian birds,

‘So we can 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.

As time unrelentingly drives us into 2021 we all hope for a better year, but for many it is already appearing to look a lot like the last, as new spikes and clusters occur and restrictions are again enforced. The lone Royal Spoonbill stands high on a dead tree overlooking Lake Albert in Wagga Wagga pondering the New Year on its first day, as the wind blows through its breeding plumage.

The Australian Pelican joined the Spoonbill possibly curious as to what it was seeing up there, and then a pair came to also see, finally one left for the water, having failed to catch the Spoonbills vision.

What unknown events and experiences lie before each of us in this new age of uncertainty and rapidly changing circumstances, only time will tell ? Our year started with the morning chorus of the Australian eastern Magpie calling to another magpie from a nearby clan. This little guy is still immature and about 2 years old. Listen to the changes in vocal content communicated between the birds as these highly intelligent birds converse.

An older and younger Magpie greet us on New Years Morning

Later my wife’s niece showed us a walk along the Murrumbidgee River in Wagga Wagga where we saw beautiful old River Gums and a very large flock of Long-billed Corella grazing on the grassy horse paddocks nearby. These birds have become more frequent in eastern Australia in recent years and vary from the Little Corella (which we have at home) in that they have a longer beak, bright red lores and a red neck line marking. Similar to others of the Parrot family they pair for life.

Long-billed Corella

Pairs of Long bills

River Gum

This one caused me to consider on this first day as he scratched his head pensively while looking at me.

Young Nikki, my wife’s niece, has been confined to a wheel chair for several years and she said she would love to see a Sacred Kingfisher by the river. I sent up a silent prayer for one to appear, as we could hear one calling but could not see it, and one appeared to me on a branch just then on a nearby tree in the horse paddock, which was an instant delight to us all, as she viewed it through my wife’s binocs.

The local council had developed lovely walks and wetlands access to a portion of the river where we saw this small brood of juvenile Australasian Grebe with parent displaying breeding plumage.

My wife sighted a black snake swimming rapidly in the water nearby, but I was not able to capture a shot of it as it approached the grassy bank. Later returning to the lake we saw a pair of Galah, a bird commonly found in large flocks out west, another member of the Parrot family that pairs for life.

But the bird I wanted to see again was the Dusky Woodswallow which was nesting last time we visited and now has a couple of juvenile offspring which the parent guarded relentlessly, attacking approaching birds and even myself at times.

Dusky Woodswallow adult

juvenile Dusky Woodswallow

juvenile Dusky Woodswallows

juvenile Dusky Woodswallow

It was good also to review the PeeWee (Magpie-lark) family as we saw the mother with her hungry child. Notice the face markings, as these determine both sex and maturity.

Mother with hungry child

immature PeeWee waiting

mother and child PeeWee

Another bird we love seeing here are the Red-rumped Parrot pairs, and yes they were here by the river feeding on grass seed and resting in the shade with their young. The female is green with a green rump and the male has a beautiful iridescent turquoise head with a red rump. I was delighted to see a juvenile sitting with its mother in the shade, as well as an unusual view of an immature male sitting near a Little Friarbird in the shade..

adult wards me off from her youngster

mother and child

Male adult

Immature male resting with Little Friarbird

the parrot pair

Male Red-rumped Parrot

Female Red-rumped Parrot

Male returns to be with his wife

The tiny White-plumed Honeyeater, another bird we see inland here had a youngster also she was feeding.

gathering food

White-plumed Honeyeater with food

resting/rubbing ones head

mother feeding youngster

immature White-plumed Honeyeater

We saw a lone Little Friarbird, which is another honeyeater also quietly foraging.

Lastly the other bird we love to see here which is only found inland south, the Yellow Rosella which is strangely classified as the Yellow Crimson Rosella.

A wonderful New Years Day birding gift to start the year, for which we were truly thankful. There were of course other birds, but it just all gets to big to include them.

Have a lovely first week of 2021 as best you can considering the current circumstances.

If this is your first visit to my blog, you will find lots more interesting info on birding and bird behaviour in my web site pages and at my Home Page.

I will let you know more about my new book as we move through the publishing process in the month ahead.

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One of the topics covered in my new book is about flying with purpose and the importance of using our time wisely by having good achievable life goals for each year. The adult Dusky Woodswallow below is flying with purpose to protect its offspring from intruders and possible predators. It is wise for me to have a sense of purpose and direction for this year, even though some areas are closed to me, such as school talks due to the continuing Covid. I seek the Lord’s guidance, since the manufacturer knows whats best for the product he has made, and it is wise to follow his instructions for a enjoyable and fulfilling life. Below are some words from one of the world’s wisest and wealthiest kings, Solomon, to take us into the new year:

“In their hearts humans plan their course, but the Lord establishes their steps.” – Proverbs 16:9

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight. Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil. This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.” – Proverbs 3: 5-8 (NIV)

Sadly, James the Just, brother to Jesus, wrote these words to people who had lost focus on their primary life goal and become selfish, self focused and distracted:

“You desire but do not have, so you kill. You covet but you cannot get what you want, so you quarrel and fight. You do not have because you do not ask God. When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures.” – James 4:2-3

W. A. Hewson (Adv. Dip. Counselling & Family Therapy).

‘To introduce people to our unique Australian birds,

‘So we can 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.

Thank you my dear friends for following my blog throughout turbulent 2020. This will my last word for the year. Interesting enough I went for a walk today to exercise, as Sydney is dealing currently with another Covid outbreak. After the rain and almost winter-like weather of the past few days it was very quiet in my local bush park, with very few birds and people. So I figured this last one will be simple and short. We are all very thankful that our government is very proactive and responsible to the health and well being of us all, and grateful that we have made it thus far in what is the most extraordinary year in our lifetime.

Australian Christmas Bush flowers

My Christmas card above features the Scarlet Honeyeater male, a bird that appears before Christmas, coinciding with the flowering of our native Christmas Bush, as well as, the call of the Eastern Koel in the early morning.

These among many other signs tells us that we approach the time for us all to kick back , relax and celebrate both the birth of Jesus and the coming new year, as we put the passing one behind. For many this will be a time of grief, suffering and sorrow. We pray for the comfort and recovery of the hundreds of thousands experiencing this in this moment. Every one of us has lost something or someone this year, we are all grieving at different levels. No one escaped loss, just as if it were a world war, and it is not over yet. As I walked along the quieter than usual bush track I stopped to watch and hear something very special and unique. A Grey Butcherbird conversing with a pair of Australian Magpies. In my recent studies and research I have learned that many of Australia’s intelligent birds can communicate between species, as they learn their languages by listening and observing intently. I apologise for the loud Cicada background, yet another sign of Australia’s bush Summer. I recorded this:

What one needs to be aware of it that the Butcherbird is quite capable of copying and speaking with the Magpie, as is the Magpie to the Butcherbird. The call of the Butcherbird in the above recording is not one of his usual Butcherbird calls, he is actually speaking in Magpie. For example, listen to this immature Butcherbird practicing, and recalling mimicry it has learnt from other birds.

This exercise between birds is not only good for improving relationships, but is very useful in times of emergency when either of the birds need assistance to locate and mob a common predator or warn to take flight. This brought me to think, what have we learnt this year? Great challenges are opportunity for greater learning.

Eleven lyrebirds around a small farm dam with smoke in the air.

Eleven lyrebirds can be seen in the image as a bushfire near Wollombi approached (Supplied: PJ Wallis for ABC News 30th Jan 2020)

Bushfire, drought, flood and Covid were all great challenges in 2020 from which many positive lessons were gleaned, to help us navigate the future. They rallied the community back to the mate-ship of the Aussie battler, that made Australia great back in our early post convict days when ex convict married ex convict and toughed it out in the bush to carve out a home and a family, because they could not afford to go back to Britain. My ancestors also married as ex convicts and established a town in NSW. For those interested rediscover the old the TV series “Against the Wind” to get an idea of the difficulties. These new settlers (all mostly ex convicts) learned to trust and assist each other through the difficult times of establishing a living from nothing, from which arose the Aussie mate-ship, which carried us into the world wars and helped make our nation famous for the ANZACS and the friendly warm helpful reputation we once received from other nations.

The Superb Lyrebird knew what to do to save itself from the firestorm, gathering their mates they fled to the dam. Many species managed to survive using amazing survival skills, learnt and possibly passed down from somewhere in the past.

The Australian Wood Duck has always survived well because both parents have their priorities always before them, keeping them faithful in both relationship with each other and care of the family. Many have rediscovered the importance of family and family relationships, and had to modify the importance of the peripheral things of life, such as job, possessions, sports and money, which for many had taken the place of THE most important – family relationships. The Covid made us all aware of our own fragile humanity, and that we are all vulnerable and all need each other to survive. We are not a rock or an island as Simon and Garfunkel once erroneously suggested. For our northern friends this song is set ‘in a deep and dark December’.

Thankfully we already had the technology to create such meeting places as Zoom to tide us over the Covid lock downs, and create new and more efficient ways to work from home, and have more family and home time. We began to carve out a new kind of normal. A list of new words arose which became common place in daily conversation, and a new awakened responsibility for one’s own health and the health of those in their daily life. The Australian White Ibis in my book “What Birds Teach Us” is an example of support, security and strength in community.

I wish you all a very enjoyable Christmas and a healthy, blessed and prosperous New Year. May it be better and may we all grow more resilient and mindfully learn to experience peace and contentment in what ever circumstance we find ourselves in so that we can be comfort and strength for others. Regardless of what popular opinion has become in recent years, and the removal of Christ from Christmas, he remains: The Reason for the Season. It still amazes me that one so loving and kind, who has brought so much good into our world and our culture, can be feared and despised by so many, even fear from declaring his name with respect, fear that even drives people to kill and injure people who love him and live the life of love he encourages, which continues to be the case in many countries in our world today.

“Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.” – 2 Corinthians 1:3,4 (NIV)

W. A. Hewson (Adv. Dip. Counselling & Family Therapy).

‘To introduce people to our unique Australian birds,

‘So we can 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.

White-browed and Yellow-throated Scrubwren

Last week I needed a walk so I went into the darker part of the rainforest beneath the thick tall tree canopy of the Royal National Park, or Nasho to us. I was hoping to complete my walk before the the cloudy windy weather set in, but it came earlier than predicted, and suddenly dark the forest became. I did not see many birds on this occasion, and the photos I have featured here have all been light enhanced, so evidence of image noise will be apparent. With rainforest photos it is often unavoidable, especially when the sun is hiding. The one delightful find was to see several active White-browed Scrubwrens jumping, flitting and chattering loudly around about me, as if I was invisible. The icing on the cake was to find among them a different species we seldom see, the Yellow-throated Scrubwren (both pictured above). One little guy had an insect and was wanting to take it to its nest but would not move till I turned away, so as to keep the nest location secret.

Many of Australia’s rainforest birds spend their time foraging among the dense damp leaf litter on the dark forest floor. I would not have seen the Yellow-throated Scrubwren, and easily mistaken it for is cousin, had I not due to poor light, just taken images willy-nilly, as it was not till after post production at home that I detected the difference.

One of the features of the rainforest are the Bird’s Nest Fern, epiphytes found high up in the ancient tall straight rainforest trees, which some birds, have been known to nest in.

One of the most commonly seen birds in rainforests, the Eastern Yellow Robin will always make its presence known along the track, due to its curious nature, and the hope that as you walk you will turn up and disturb insects on the ground. I saw this guy for several minutes, but he sat in darkness, so most of my photos are of very poor quality. This Robin feeds primarily from the ground, diving on insects and worms, then returning with them to the same branch. This guy watched me from a distance, which was unusual.

This is how we usually like to see it, up close and personal. Notice its curious look…

Many of the tall rainforest trees here produce native fruits which provide food which is why most of the canopy dwelling birds, such as Top-knot Pigeon, Brown Cuckoo-dove, Green Catbird and Satin Bowerbird are fruit eaters.

Male Satin Bowerbird

Female Satin Bowerbird

Green Catbird with fruit

They follow the fruiting trees feeding high out of sight above the canopy, and are seldom seen, just the sounds of falling fruit is heard. While these birds fly frequently, most of the forest floor foragers seldom need to fly. These include the Eastern Whipbird, Bassian Thrush, Australian Logrunner and Superb Lyrebird, all of which are found in the area I was walking. Here are photos from previous walk sightings here. Note the beautiful camouflage plumage of the Bassian Thrush and Logrunner. Both these birds stand perfectly still when they sense being observed, and so blend in well with their surroundings. Data from research on rainforests has stated that the foraging of Lyrebirds and other forest floor dwellers contributes to prevention of bushfires in forests they inhabit.

Bassian Thrush

Logrunner

Male Superb Lyrebird

Male Eastern Whipbird

The Wonga Pigeon is an exception to the other fruit eating pigeons in that it tends to forage on the forest floor similar to the other floor foragers, eating insects and fallen fruit. If you listened to my Avian Aria last week, this bird was the very first bird calling.

There are other birds that feed above rain forest canopy which include the Sulphur-crested and Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo, but do not live in the forest, which is why they are not included. The featured birds above are the most common residents I see on my walks. The only way they can be noticed is usually by their call. If they remain silent you could walk through the forest and easily miss them as they are all good at camouflage and remaining still when observed. One unique bird which is heard loudly calling here, as it ascends the tree, and inhabits both lower and upper canopy areas, is the White-throated Treecreeper. Most untrained observers can never detect it, as it blends into the bark of the dark tree, and usually climbs on the dark side of the tree. This is a female, noted because of the orange ear marking.

Of the lower canopy feeders the Lewins Honeyeater (also a fruit and nectar eater) is the most common, along with the Scrubwrens (featured earlier) and the Brown Gerygone (featured last post).

For those who listened to my Avian Aria last post and tried guessing the bird calls click here for the answers.

I congratulate Sue from My Wild Australia blog for getting closest to the answer, well done Sue ! Check out Sue’s blog where she has recently been featuring beautiful and interesting birds and places in Tasmania.

Have a wonderful week and remember the perfect gift for your loved ones, to encourage them in birdwatching is only a few clicks away.

The encouraging news is that my next book is now with the publisher and on course for an early 2021 release.

A Big Thank You to the many loyal blog followers who have already purchased the book, and shared how they have enjoyed it. You can also read some of their reviews at the foot of the purchase page.

As mentioned above, one of the challenges of birding in rainforests is poor light, and the way birds either hide on the forest floor beneath bushes and palms or high up in and above the canopy, both very dark places for observation, even more so on an overcast day. Birds tend to move about more and call frequently when the weather is crisp, warm and sunny, with no more than a slight breeze. This enables the birds to see the colour of blossom and source their food more easily, communicating their whereabouts as they go. Birds tend to be much quieter and less detectable in very hot, windy or rainy weather. This is why we see less bird activity in the middle of the day during Summer months. Singing and moving about burns energy which creates heat, so many birds rest in shade and are quieter in the heat of the day, as was featured in my recent post. It is wise to conserve one’s energy and work with the current conditions or circumstances rather than angrily react against them, because they do not fulfill our immediate expectations.

Wedge-tailed Eagle soaring on the thermals.

Peace and contentment come from being able to appreciate and adjust to changing circumstances, just as the birds do and demonstrate so well. Character growth comes with challenges in life. A CEO of a very large successful company had a sign above his head, which said: “There is no such thing as problems or failures, only challenges and opportunities.” This immediately resets our attitude, re framing our mindset and placing us on a positive path to accept and work with the difficult aspects of our lives, presenting opportunities to learn and invent new ways and skills to adapt and achieve our goals.

“ I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” – Philippins 4:11-13 (NIV)

“Do not be angry and frustrated. Do not fret. That only leads to trouble.” – Psalms 37:8 (NET)

W. A. Hewson (Adv. Dip. Counselling & Family Therapy).

‘To introduce people to our unique Australian birds,

‘So we can 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.

Autumn Birthday Birding – Lake Albert

Of course there are the usual waterbirds, but not many as the rise in water level meant the wetlands were difficult for waterbirds to feed on the weed below.

The morning chorus always commences here with the resident Eastern Aussie Magpie clans calling in chorus to each other to remind each other of their territories and catch up on the latest news. We just sit on the verandah and take it all in.

Down by the lake the trees were buzzing with the sound of the Common Starling which breeds there. They do look quite beautiful iridescent in the sunlight.

This lone Red Wattlebird tried to join them but was not welcome by the clan.

As I walked around the lake I was pleasantly surprised to find this Grey Shrike-thrush under a bush foraging in the late afternoon light.

Feeding in the grass was this pair of Red-rumped Parrot, which we always see here. The male constantly checked that I was not a threat. Only the male has the red rump, the female has the green one. This bird can be mistaken for the Turquoise Parrot from a distance.

This Willy Wagtail, a true Aussie flycatcher, was busily communing with members of his family as I studied him.

Most of the day flocks of Galah constantly fed on the grass seed by the lake, which is normal custom for the Parrot family after Summer has passed and the grass has seeded.

One last western bird we always see here is the very tiny White-plumed Honeyeater, as it busily feeds on the flowers high on the canopy of the River Gums, as well as searches for available lerps.

Have a most enjoyable week and weekend !

If you have not done so yet check out my new book release Flight of a Fledgling and take advantage of the 2 book deal (Book 1 and Book 2) which is going for a short time. Both books are available on my website. Click on the picture below to go to the page.

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W. A. Hewson (Adv. Dip. Counselling & Family Therapy).

‘To introduce people to our unique Australian birds,

So we can learn from them how to live a healthy and happy life.’

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The Bird That Makes Me Smile – The Butcherbird

The male may also do this to impress a new mate and present her with food, to show he is a good provider and that he will feed her when she mounts the nest to incubate the eggs. The hooked beak is feature like raptors for tearing prey. Here are some immatures calling in the morning to their parent.

Butcherbirds usually have 2 to 3 nestlings each season. My father of our local Grey Butcherbird clan brings his juvenile youngsters to visit me and introduce them to our source of water and shade.

The Pied Butcherbird is not found around Sydney but is further up the coast. Listen to the melodious chimes of this bird, which are hauntingly beautiful in the early morning. These were the first sounds I would hear each morning when I lived in the country.

This immature Pied is practicing his song.

This is the Western race of the Pied Butcherbird which inhabits the desert regions and is more contrasting than our Eastern race. We saw this guy at Uluru in the red centre.

We would see this juvenile each morning sitting out near our open air dining area.

It is hard to believe that as the juvenile develops it will one day turn black when it matures.

This little guy had found something but not sure what.

Click on the pic below to see some news footage from Channel 9, of a man saving his pet Emu from the flood waters:

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W. A. Hewson (Adv. Dip. Counselling & Family Therapy).

‘To introduce people to our unique Australian birds,

So we can learn from them how to live a healthy and happy life.’

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Fast and Furious Feeders – “Godwits Are A Go !”

Yes its that time of year again when I honor the bird featured in my previous book as our most endurant bird, the Bar-tailed Godwit, which many of you know is one of my favorites. Click on photos to enlarge them.

Here is an example of a family walking together with juveniles trailing. In this case the female has a crab and is not letting anyone take it.

Here is one furiously feeding male…

The Crested Tern family were unimpressed by all this activity, as they are non migratory and had recently fledged their young here. Several were in resting mode after an early morning feed.

First, we stalk the fish in Heron style…

Secondly, we wait by the water with those small beady eyes and pounce at lightning speed to catch the fish…

Thirdly, we bring our catch to the beach and work out how we will consume it, as we have to get it into position to swallow it whole…

Last of all, we need to stretch our neck as we swallow to allow it to travel down into our stomach…

That’s that, ready for the next process.

Have a wonderful week and hope you are able to get out and enjoy some birding. My book is now at the printers and we are waiting for it’s release.

If this is your first visit to my website and blog check out my home page and other birding pages, you may find them of interest.

The words of Jesus have been repeated by many a parent or teacher over the years, implying that those who seek and keep on seeking (which is implied in the original Greek text being in present continuous tense), will be the winners in the end to achieve their goal and destiny.

To have this mindset one must first of all: need what they are seeking and then believe or have a reason to hope that what they seek can be found.

Paul the apostle of Jesus puts it simply to the great Greek minds of his day in his famous Areopagus address on Mars Hill (a place we never got to see last year due to Covid):

Many have asked why Jesus, who for many, made trusting God so simple, yet for others made it so hard. Why speak in parables and answer each question with a question? It all comes down to the fact that he knew the hearts and intentions of those who gathered around him,

“because He did not need anyone to testify concerning man, for He Himself knew what was in man.” – John 2:25

“But Jesus perceived their malice, and said, “Why are you testing Me, you hypocrites?” – Matthew 22:18

This was the reason Jesus spoke in parables, which he explains to his disciples who ask that very question:

“The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?” – Matthew 13:10

It is here that he draws a definitive contrast between those who truly seek him for who he is and trust in him, as against those who seek to put him down and actually fear him because he reveals what they are truly like and thus is a perceived threat to their power and lifestyle.

The problem is the same today as it was then.

I can remember as a teen when I played in my first band at dances and concerts, we all admired the Beatles and each of us had our favorite.

Today

As in Jesus day,

Men again get in the way

Instead of living what they say

For Jesus himself said “I am the Way”

And comes to all who humbly seek and pray,

W. A. Hewson (Adv. Dip. Counselling & Family Therapy).

‘To introduce people to our unique Australian birds,

So we can learn from them how to live a healthy and happy life.’

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Raptor Review – Eagles of the Night – Part 2

Let’s use the Barking Owl pictured above as an example, to list the similar defining features of a raptor:

⇒ Superior Eyesight with binocular telescopic vision

⇒ Hooked beak for tearing flesh (swallows prey in pieces)

⇒ Powerful Legs and Talons used to kill and carry prey

⇒ Large powerful wings

⇒ Nests in tree hollows

⇒ Tactically hunts its prey consisting of birds, small animals and reptiles.

Let’s now list the differences that intelligent design has granted this killing machine:

⇒ They have large eyes able to see in very dim light. The large retina has many more light receptors but is unable to see in total darkness.

⇒ They do not ride the thermals and generally do not hunt by day but hunt by night and sleep by day.

⇒ They generally sit and wait for their prey to come near to them and do not fly or hover searching for their prey.