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 […]
Last week my wife and I travelled to South Bruny Island, Tasmania in search of the tiny, rare endangered Forty-spotted Pardalote which is now only found in small groups in the far south-west of Tasmania, Australia’s island state. After catching the car ferry across from Kettering, south of Hobart we drove from the North Island onto the South Island to […]
A cool brisk sunny Winter’s morning and we went for a walk in our local Nature Reserve to check out the activity at the owl nesting hole, as this year there appears to have been some disruption to the Powerful Owl (Australia’s largest owl) having its usual nesting hole now inhabited by the Southern Boobook (Australia’s smallest owl). It was […]
Now that the massive deluge has passed and many thousands of people on the mid north coast of our state are in recovery mode, counting their losses from flood and rain damage which includes loss of human lives, many farm cattle as well as pets and wildlife, washed out to sea – then – the sun came out and the […]
Finally, there came a day when I could walk in our favorite reserve after days of rain. While it was still overcast and my wife was busy teaching English for Living, I decided to take a walk alone and chat with God in the quietness of our Autumn forest, which is characteristically the most bird few month of the year, […]
This week following our Federal Elections we learn how important team work is to achieving our goals. I have previously referred to the excellency of the male Australian Wood Duck as a father and how he stays with the one female to breed and live for a lifetime. And how he faithfully remains with her throughout the life long process, […]
Several of Australia’s endemic birds are known for their boldness, opportunism and ability to learn techniques often copied from other birds they have observed to steal food from the hands of unsuspecting picnicers. This has been our experience here and that of many others. So this is my topic for this post. We took my second grandson while he was […]
This is the quiet time of the year for the birds in our local nature reserve as they either migrate back to the warmer regions further north or just become quieter since they are out of their active exciting breeding seasons. However, some birds continue to breed into our winter months as it stays warmer now longer. This Rainbow Lorikeet […]
Last weekend my wife and I travelled to Canberra our nation’s capital city to visit family and visit the Pompey Exhibition in the National Museum. Canberra is a completely man made city constructed on sheep grazing areas half way between Sydney and Melbourne our two major cities. The reason being that each city thought it should be the nation’s capital, […]
It is that time of year again when the Bar-tailed Godwit and other migratory waders are fattening up for their epic journey back to the Arctic Circle to Siberia and Alaska, travelling some 8.000 km (5,000 miles) to nest and give birth to their next generation. Notice the orange plumage of the above male Godwit as he is already breeding […]
Last Saturday we took a lovely young couple of new birder friends to our local Royal National Park for a walk and a lunch. At first it was fairly quiet with birds but quite noisy with Cicadas, as it is here mid Summer. We saw a good selection of species and my wife and I were glad to pass on […]