Taking a quiet walk in my local Nasho park, It was interesting that most of the birds I saw on the walk were juvenile, or at least they were being guarded by very invested parents. But before my visit I watched our two juvenile back yard Crested Pigeon as they rested together on the rooftop, which was their favorite place […]
Our backyard has become a nursery for three of our local native bird species that frequent our birdbaths. In the last few days we were surprised to find two juvenile Crested Pigeon emerge with both parents. We thought something was happening again in our courtyard Bottlebrush tree that overhangs the birdbaths, where these birds usually nest each year. We were […]
Firstly I want to thank those who visited me at my pre-Christmas book signing event at Harry Hartog Bookstore – Miranda last Saturday. It was a wonderful time of sharing, answering questions and introducing my books. This week we will focus on two very peculiar endemic Australian bird species called the White-winged Chough (pronounced ‘chuff’) and the Apostlebird. Both species […]
After a peaceful walk by the Hacking River in our local Royal National Park, fondly known as the ‘Nasho‘, I decided to feature the birds we saw today and have seen in recent days that dwell along the river banks. The word riparian is a quaint word we seldom use which means ‘by the river‘. Birds use the river for […]
In the last post we saw Endangered bird species from the west in Perth WA, this week we focus on an endangered bird in rapid decline in the east, meaning our state of NSW where before the early European invasion and settlement Black-necked Stalk (Australia’s only endemic stalk species) also falsely known as the Jabiru (The South American Stalk), were […]
My wife and I recently took flight to the west coast of our vast continent to Perth WA (currently 3 hours behind our east coast time), to visit my son and cousin as well as visit some other sights around Perth, including their zoo and famous King’s Park. Thankfully the Aveley Community Festival 2025 was also on the day we […]
One morning shortly after our return from our Far North Queensland tour we heard the persistent calls of a juvenile bird begging for feeding from somewhere in our back courtyard. We looked in our Bottlebrush tree but could not find it, we looked and there in the flowerpot it was, still apparently with some remaining nestling feathers having not fully […]
This is the final post for this series featuring several more lifers and the important cultural and spiritual connection between one bird species and the people of the Torres Strait Islands just north of Cape York, which we visit after finally standing on the very Tip of Cape York, Australia’s most northern mainland point. This is the sign that awaits […]
As my granddaughter is spending a few days with us during her school vacation, so I will share a brief post of Australia’s only endemic crane which is known as the Brolga, which we saw on several occasions during our adventure north on the Cape. This name is derived from the Indigenous Gamilaraay word burralga for this bird. We were […]
We have been away up Far North Queensland on a tour of the Cape York Peninsula right to the very Tip of the Australian mainland. We even went further to the Torres Strait Islands with a premium touring company called Outback Spirit which we have toured with on previous occasions. My wife was hoping to see the Palm Cockatoo, which […]
Last weekend we spent the morning with a younger couple of ‘novice’ birders as they described themselves. This was our second outing together, and focused on Mt Annan Botanic Gardens in the hope that the endangered Swift Parrot flock, wintering here, which I had posted several weeks ago, were still present in the eucalypts of this park. Before we got […]
Finally a blue sky and a chance to walk again, though much damage had been done to tracks still filled with puddles of water from the intense rain in the recent week. I thought I would check out the nesting hole again where the resident Southern Bookbook Owl had been lodging, preventing the resident Powerful Owl from nesting again as […]
As the cold days of rain continue into weeks and now months with the occasional break birding has become challenging to say the least. However on a recent weekend we did have an afternoon of sunshine to explore our local bird reserve along the bay in search of the birds that Winter-over every year. These include the Bar-tailed Godwit and […]
This post explores more birds from our Mt Annan bird dates. It is interesting how varied particular bird species nesting seasons are, especially for the Rainbow Lorikeet which may nest in Spring Summer or Winter Spring depending on the present food supply and prevailing weather conditions. We found several nests in old eucalypt trees near areas of flowering Grevillea ‘Superb’ […]
This is the final post in the series of our recent stay in South Bruny Island, Tasmania at Inala Nature Reserve. One of the birds we would have seen at Inala if it were Spring and Summer, when it breeds there in the Tasmanian Blue gum (Eucalyptus globulus pictured here), would have been the Critically Endangered Swift Parrot or ‘Swifty‘ […]
During our stay on South Bruny Island and also in the forests surrounding Hobert we managed to see many of the endemic birds and several of the endemic animals, which was a great delight for us. Endemic meaning they are only found in this part of the world and no where else. we saw one other lifer, the Tawny-crowned Honeyeater […]