Green Catbird

All posts tagged Green Catbird

Rainforest Reclusion – Hard To See Birds

Posted by aussiebirder on January 13, 2021
Posted in: Australia, Australian Birds, Australian wildlife, Bird Book, Bird watching, Birding, Birds, Birdwatching, Fauna, National Parks, Nature, Nature Reserves, Outings, Rainforests, Royal National park, Sydney, Australia, Uncategorized, wildlife. Tagged: , , . 18 Comments

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.

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.

 

Down in the Dark Damp Depths – Rainforest Birds

Posted by aussiebirder on December 16, 2020
Posted in: Australia, Australian Birds, Australian wildlife, Bird Book, Bird watching, Birding, Birds, Birdwatching, Fauna, National Parks, Nature, Rainforests, raptors, Royal National park, Sydney, Australia, Uncategorized, wildlife. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , , . 19 Comments

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.

 

Spring Brings New Things – Birding Date with Table Service

Posted by aussiebirder on October 4, 2020
Posted in: Australia, Australian Birds, Australian wildlife, Bird Book, Bird watching, Birding, Birds, Birdwatching, Fauna, National Parks, Nature, Nature Reserves, Outings, Royal National park, Sydney, Australia, Uncategorized, water birds, wild flowers, wildlife. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 11 Comments

Rainbow Lorikeet in flight

Having enjoyed the beautiful Spring weather on a birding date with my wife, I decided to have a break from continuing with Part two of our journey out west and share our latest birding date very early Friday morning in the Nasho (The Royal National Park). Early, to avoid the crowds that would come now that school holidays are underway, and early to hopefully see Lyrebirds and other people shy birds, that bikers, joggers and loudly talking  walkers often drive back into the bush on their approach. To our delight we were some of the first to arrive. It was a cool 11°C in the crisp valley air as we made our way along the trail, which initially was faily quiet but for the noisy Rainbow Lorikeets feeding on the eucalypt blossom.

As we continued the sound of the Whipbird nearby as the male and female were communicating, but they both remained illusive as per usual. Several groups of Golden Whistler were in song along the trail, each singing a different tune. We only managed to catch one male just after he caught some food. He held on to it and waited for us to go before leaving for (what most likely is) the nest, since her did not eat it immediately.

The native wild flowers were in bloom as many varieties lit up the trail. This variety of Red Spider Grevillea had an Eastern Spinebill feeding from it. These nectar rich flowers feed our many Honeyeaters, as they grow in our very nutrient poor Australian soils, this is a miracle in itself.

The very large Gymea Lily flower which has been developing for months is finally in full flower throughout the park.

Here are some of the other unique and beautiful wildflowers currently in flower in our park.

As expected this early in the morning we came upon this female Superb Lyrebird foraging for worms and insects. This rainforest bird spends most of its life scratching through leaf litter and moist soil for its food, and only flies out of necessity to avoid danger or cross the  river. The female is easily identified by its rufous throat and very plain tail plumage.

Female Superb Lyrebird.

As usual the Eastern Yellow Robin followed us for a bit of the way, from tree to tree. This bird feeds from the ground also, and would currently be nesting and out looking for food.

Suddenly the lens is pointed skyward as we both excitedly hear the call of the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo and saw this pair fly over head.

As we walked on the buzzing sound was heard in a nearby tree, the classic call of the Satin Flycatcher which I only managed these two shots.

As we walked deeper into the rainforest we heard the classic sound, we had never heard here in our own Nasho, but had heard in others, the sound of a pair of Green Catbird calling to one another. This usually occurs at night, but here as loud as anything we heard and finally with much effort finally sighted this very elusive bird which is very shy and very difficult to see in a dark canopy. The Catbird is actually a member of the Bowerbird family and has many attributes like the Bowerbird. Listen to what we heard:

These were the only decent enough photos one of the birds would permit us before leaving.

You can appreciate why this bird is so difficult to locate in a dark rainforest, and this photo has been light enhanced.

We commenced our return along the track on our way back to dine at the park Cafe which now for the first time on many months (pre-Covid) now with the return of table service, for their beautiful cooked breakie we love, to celebrate our anniversary for tomorrow. Oh, I best remind you if you are unaware, we celebrate our wedding anniversary every 3rd of every month, as it was on the  third of the third we were married. This allows us to ask each other how we are going and assess what we can do better, a good practice for a good marriage. As we walked we heard a an immature male Superb Lyrebird practicing hsi courtship song and dance from a very young age, considering he still had his tummy fluff, and resembled his mother with rufous throat and plain tail, but with male plumes finely developing beneath it on close observation. As will most juvenile birds they resemble the female until they approach mature breeding age around 4-6 years. By then they should have learnt and perfected their repertoire of many different bird sounds and dance routine to his own beat. Watch and note that this one has not developed his song list and most of his sounds are his own specie sounds. Note in the second part of the video he is starting to move his wings with is beat song.

This the very early stages of his dance being constructed, which he will perfect with much enthusiasm with daily practice for the next few years, and all for his few moments on his performance mound to impress females enough to mate with him. Notice he even practices his vocabulary as he preens, which made me chuckle.

As we came to the Big Fig Tree where many of the fruit eating birds are currently feeding as ripe native figs are on offer, we looked for Satin Bowerbirds which frequent it, and could be heard with their purring call. Both male and female were present feeding, but also very shy, especially the male, as usual. The male has the beautiful satin plumage and the female the olive green patterned chest with olive brown primaries.

Mature female Satin Bowerbird

As we looked, to our pleasant surprise, we sighted a small flock of Top-knot Pigeon, a bird we had seen some weeks ago feeding from the palm fruit deeper into the rainforest, which they had finally depleted. Most of the rainforest birds are native  fruit eaters. They do not normally eat nectar, lerps or seed as most other passerines.

Finally we made our way to the cafe where we sat outside and had a wonderful breakie served by very efficient and friendly staff. We were greeted with a very excited “We have table service now, please take a seat and we will come and take your order.” It was only a few weeks ago where we were served outside through a window and had to sit out on the grass distanced from each other. We are very pleased with our government and their handling of the pandemic in our state and pray they be given wisdom to navigate us through it daily. We are blessed to be living in one of the worlds best managed states. This is the photo my wife took while waiting for our meal. A Waratah flower (our NSW state floral emblem) on our table next to her very good and compact binoculars (she purchased at the London Wetlands Centre) and her summer hat.

Welcome to my blog, especially if this is your first visit to my website. Check out my Home Page menu to discover  more. If you have not already done so check out my book, it will make the excellent Christmas or Birthday gift, especially for a young person. To find out more click here.

Have a wonderful long weekend!

Spring is the time of hope, new life and new beginnings. We saw Dusky Moorhen with their new babies busily feeding them. So dependent, so trusting, so ready to learn and grow strong. As their parents feed them, they are also learning where and how their parents are retrieving their food. This will soon become their way of life also, there means of survival, so it is important they observe and learn, and not just wait to be fed, thinking this will be their future. Watching to learn.

Nearby the Chestnut Teal family, foraged. These little ones knew what to do as they are now copying their parent’s example, but still they are in the process of discerning what is edible from what is not. They soon realised after ingesting indigestible matter what is food and what is not. Here the parents are able to rest a while as they watched their keen young students practice what will become their way of life. Practicing to become Independent.

Every aspect and moment of our lives is teaching material for us to build on and grow in wisdom and character from, in a similar way to these young ones above. The most constructive and positive take on life is that we learn from its difficulties and challenges. As a CEO has hanging above his head in his office “There is no such thing as problems only challenges.” and likewise my saying concomitantly agrees saying to always look for the Treasure in the Trial. I believe there is a purpose in all of life’s buffetings and challenges, it all develops character and respect if we choose to learn from them.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” – James 1:2-4

For those of us who believe that their loving Creator Father God is working in their life to grow and mature their character:

“Endure hardship as discipline; God is treating you as his children. For what children are not disciplined by their father?  If you are not disciplined—and everyone undergoes discipline—then you are not legitimate, not true sons and daughters at all.  Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness. 11 No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it. – Hebrews 12:1-11 (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.