Superb Fairy-wren

All posts tagged Superb Fairy-wren

Autumn Birthday Birding – Lake Albert

Posted by aussiebirder on April 8, 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, water birds, wetlands, wildlife. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , . 21 Comments

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
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
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

<<< Back To Top of Page >>>

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.

 

The Great River Walk – What Winter Birds Are There ?

Posted by aussiebirder on June 6, 2020
Posted in: Australia, Australian Birds, Australian wildlife, Bird Book, Bird watching, Birding, Birds, Birdwatching, Fauna, National Parks, Nature, Nature Reserves, Outings, Sydney, Australia, Uncategorized, wildlife. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , . 14 Comments

Male Superb Fairy-wren                                            Female Superb Fairy-wren

Having picked up my camera and lens from having its 5 month hospitalization and major surgery, my wife and I headed out west of Sydney to the The Great River Walk, which runs along the Nepean River at Penrith. You may remember we visited this walk for the first time in Summer, so we thought it good to check out the Winter birds here. They were fewer and much the same, and in much the same places, but no nesting this time or males displaying. Though as you can see above the male Superb Fairy-wrens were well decked out in breeding plumage, as they can breed several times in one year. 

It’s inland cousin, the Splendid Fairy-wren is the one featured on the cover of my book and also as the first bird in my book.

It was quite cool in the morning and many walkers were on the track, but this did not perturb the birds as they sang and hopped about in the scrub by the track. We checked were the previous nesting sites were during Summer, but they were long gone, though we did see a pair of Dusky Woodswallow that had previously nested there, hunting and resting nearby on top of a lamp post.

Earlier my wife had spotted this PeeWee (Magpie-lark) which she noticed look different, and yes it was, lacking the full front black breast plate. It appeared to be a male possibly immature.

See several Yellow Thornbills in the sunlight was one of our greatest delights, as this is more of an inland birds we seldom see in the coastal forests. These tiny birds make their beautiful little buzz and piping notes as they busily move over trees for insects. 

It is interesting that several birds that normally migrate north to warmer weather during Winter are remaining during these months, possibly because they have adapted to our warmer winters. The Red-whiskered BulBul is one such bird. We saw this pair and several other family groups also.

Of course the Red-browed Finch is present as always. These little Firetails are always a delight to watch flocking about the grass seed.

The male Golden Whistler made a short appearance, escaping my camera. However, I managed to catch this shot. He was calling out of season. This is another bird featured in my book for his joyful song. Recent studies in bird neurology have found that birds such as the Whistlers sing not just to communicate and ward off intruders but also just for the sheer pleasure of it, as it releases the feel good endorphins in the brain, in the same way as it does when we sing and are happy. 

The loud melodic ring of the Bell bird dominated one area of the walk, where these birds had taken control of several eucalypt trees, where they were busily moving throughout the trees harvesting the bird sugar candy called lerps. They constantly and deliberately eluded my camera. One bird had just bathed in the river nearby and was quite disheveled, as he preened and cleaned himself.

This is another bird featured in my book for its amazing social and community structure. This is what it sounds like. The sound can be so loud in some forests when hundreds of these birds are calling that it is almost deafening. The sound is amazingly amplified off the eucalypt leaves in a similar way to the sound of the Whipbird (also featured in my book).  Here is a sample.

Lastly, we saw a small flock of yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo fly off into the distance toward the Blue Mountains in search of seed cones. This one I managed to capture flying into the mist.

In summary, many of the territorial non migratory birds remained in the same areas we found them last Summer, though several of the other species, particularly the honeyeaters,  had left for warmer areas or chasing blossom.

Error
This video doesn’t exist

It is interesting to watch how many species of bird can co habitate together in harmony, and share the experience of being with others, even if they are different species, gaining the advantages of the Mixed Feeding Flock (MFF) whereas others show aggressive tenancies to all of different species, excluding them from their social network. This is similar to human behaviour, and is featured in recent violent occurrences in both Australia and the USA, where aggressive Miner-like behaviour caused the death and injury of two men.

“For the Lord is right and good. He loves what is right and good. And those who are right with Him will see His face.” – Psalm 11:7

“This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.” – 1 John 3:10

Enjoy your long weekend and the returning freedom to move about, to explore, to dine and to meet with others again. Remember to continue social distancing and be vigilant to prevent a second wave. 

My Mission: To encourage all people to make good life choices, using birds to teach important life skills.

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

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.