Superb Lyrebird

All posts tagged Superb Lyrebird

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.

Golden Whistler male

Golden Whistler male

Golden Whistler male

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.

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.

Eastern Yellow Robyn

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.

Satin Flycatcher

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.

Green Catbird

Green Catbird

Green Catbird

IMG_8483b

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.

male Satin Bowerbird

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. ¹¹No 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.

Topknot Pigeons

After sharing our the progress of our resident Crested Pigeon family, who are currently taking daily excursions as they fly off each morning with a parent to learn how to forage, it was an interesting and timely discovery on our walk in the National Park last week to come upon the resident flock of Topknot Pigeons. While this most extraordinary looking bird is not a pigeon with a crest, it has a very unusual hairdo or head plumage, which actually looks like braiding or dreadlock hair, which some bright spark in the past thought looked like a knot, so it got its common name Topknot.

Unfortunately, several overseas websites, which I will not name, from which many draw their information from when they are too busy to properly research for themselves, or are unaware of the true Topknot Pigeon, also give the Crested Pigeon the name Topknot, which is incorrect. This has come about because people who have little knowledge of our birds, have continued to wrongly identify the bird, and so the error becomes acceptable over time because it was read on the internet. I don’t know how many times my wife and I have corrected our own Aussie friends and visitors, to their surprise, over wrongly naming the Crested Pigeon as a Topknot, as the Crest is just not a knot. I deal with a similar issue, using the Tawny Frogmouth, how many miss identify it as an Owl, in the Second Edition of my recent book release What Birds Teach Us.

This is a frugivorous pigeon, which feeds on the variety of native fruits of our rainforests, mainly figs. They are strictly a flock bird and extremely fearful of humans, and will lift as a flock at the slightest provocation. They are often seen feeding beneath the upper canopy on the very tall rainforest trees, which makes them a challenge to photograph, except when the sun illuminates them. Winter is a good time to catch them in the light, as they warm in the winter sun, as they are doing above.

Australia has two species of pigeon with head crests, the Crested Pigeon, which I shared in my previous post and is commonly found all over Australia on both coast and inland desert, and the desert dwelling Spinifex Pigeon, which gets its name from the grasses it hides and nests in, which grow in the desert areas.The Spinifex Pigeon has three distinct subspecies of which I feature below the white-bellied subspecies found in the far north west of the continent. These were photographed years ago in the Bungle Bungle NP. Here is a comparison of our two crested pigeons.

Spinifex Pigeons (White-bellied) race plumifera

Spinifex Pigeons (White-bellied) race plumifera

Crested Pigeon at Uluru

Crested Pigeon at Uluru

Note the size of the crest on this bird as it drinks at a spring in the desert. A variety of Finches can also be seen drinking. You will notice how the crest on this bird’s head looks like the top of the Spinifex grass it lives in, yet another provision of Intelligent Design, aiding their ability to hide.

I had to get a bird out of the sun on a fruiting native palm to see its full colour. Notice most of the fruit has already been eaten. Most of the passerine rainforest birds are basically fruvivorous. These include Fruit-doves, Doves, Pigeons and Bowerbirds (which include Catbirds). Sadly my flight shots were not good, but you can get an idea from this one.

After recent heavy rain again, which in the last two months has taken our huge Sydney dam from 40% full (and water restrictions) to now overflowing, all the creeks and waterfalls could be heard noisily making their way down to the Hacking River, which had also recently flooded over the road into the park. The sound of early spring were in the air as wild flowers bloomed and birds began pairing off and pursuing courtship rituals.

Bee on native flowers

Bee on native flowers

Dillwynia glaberrima

Dillwynia glaberrima

Hakea salicifolia

Hakea salicifolia

The New Holland Honeyeater, Lewins Honeyeater and Eastern Spinebill are enjoying the new blooms of the flowering eucalypt in our early Spring, as also is the White-cheeked Honeyeater for a short time.

White-cheeked Honeyeater

A pair of Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike glided over me several times to check me out. There glide was similar to that of a Dusky Woodswallow, at first I thought, but they were larger, and when they landed it was obvious what they were.

The tops of high dead trees are excellent surveillance points for many birds, particularly raptors, which love a 360° view, and with their extremely keen eyesight can see small rodents quite well from up there. This is the best viewing tree in the reserve and always one of the first spots for birders to check, as there is always something in it. This Australian Raven was calling from the top of this tree but no one responded. He eventually gave up calling and went to ground level and just stood for some time. The Australian Raven is our most intelligent bird, on par with our Magpie, often displaying very innovative ways of finding food. Notice the beard-like protuberance under its chin, called hackles.

Like many birds coming into the early Spring, many are already in search of mates, which may be what the Raven is looking for and also this lovely female Golden Whistler who was continually calling to a male nearby. She tried hiding from me, but to no avail.

Watch as she puts out her location call for a response.

Another female further on had an insect which it appeared to wondering what to do with.

Of course there is always a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo not far away making a raucous racket, but not this lone individual. Notice the roughed up plumage surrounding its large beak. Cockatoos have movable feathers around their beak. When they are relaxed and feeling friendly, possibly trying to attract a mate, they may do this, as covering ones beak is a non threatening friendly stance, as against aggressively bearing it and opening and closing the beak angrily at your opponent. Cockies are known to be aggressive to one another, especially young males trying to prove themselves. This is another bird features in my book for this reason. Notice the feathers gradually retract in each photo as it becomes uncomfortable with my presence.

Here is an example of an aggressive stance by a Cockie defending its nest.

If this is your first visit to my blog and website, take a few minutes to explore my Home Page. You will find helpful birding tips and information on making birding a healthy recreational pursuit.

Know a young person in the family who is having a Birthday or maybe you’re looking for a Christmas present for them ? Check out my book “What Birds Teach Us”. It is an excellent gift introducing them to our birds. Click on the book cover below to find out more.

In a similar way to the Cockatoo we just observed, body language: facial expressions and how we hold ourselves, shout loudly to the astute and trained observer, without a spoken word. Body language often discloses far more than what the person speaking wants to voluntarily disclose. Pride, shame and fear of rejection can cause people to feel awkward, anxious and insecure causing them to mask their true feelings. For example, when you are talking with someone, and they suddenly portray the defensive stance, by folding their arms and looking serious and sullen, possibly starting to stare or look away not making eye contact. They may prefer not to continue the conversation, or attempt to aggressively justify the behaviour being discussed. Respectful and skillful questioning may bring to the surface the underlying issue, the source of their insecurity, which is usually a false belief about themselves or what they think others think about them, which they have been secretly struggling to deal with. False fears and false beliefs about self, if allowed to persist and grow, are a formula for depressive disorders due to the unrelenting emotional stress, which eventually results in burn out. Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is helpful to replace the lie with the truth, they need to believe about themselves and others. We can help people to health, often by sharing our own experiences, but the most important thing for us all is to find true peace and contentment in self, knowing that we are accepted and loved dearly, and never have to prove ourselves to anyone, as each of us is a unique creation, fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139) by a loving Father God.

“Cast all your anxiety on him [God] because he cares for you.” – 1 Peter 5:7

Have a wonderful week, and stay safe, especially to our dear friends in forced lock down, our thoughts and prayers are with you.

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.

Superb Lyrebird male

This week has been Wild Wet Windy Weather, and quite cold, a good reason to stay inside. So I continue with a walk I did deep into the rainforest last week, where I went to clear my mind to walk and talk with my Father in his Rainforest Garden, in the Royal National Park. Last week I featured the female Superb Lyrebird, this week the male (above). The male with the beautiful tail. I saw both male and female Lyrebirds foraging quietly, and they allowed me to come close, which is unusual. I was only 2 feet away from one and it was not alarmed. How wonderful that they trusted me. These are birds that feed deeper in the forest away from most human traffic, and are more trusting. If you want to see Lyrebirds, find where visible recent scratchings are on the track and be in that area, early morning after sunrise when they are having breakfast.

The other two rainforest floor dwellers along with the Lyrebird, that I mentioned in the above video are the Bassian Thrush and the Australian Logrunner. These two are very secretive birds and difficult to both find and see as they are found on the dark forest floor among the leaf litter where they find their food. They have excellent camouflage and will stop dead still when they see you. Check them out and you will see what I mean. The Logrunner is a very small bird and often heard before seen, as it flicks the leaf litter with its legs, leaning back on the tail.

Australian Logrunner (male and female)

Australian Logrunner (male and female)

Bassian Thrush

Bassian Thrush

If you do hear a Logrunner calling and communicating with partner it may sound like this:

If it is a territorial dispute it will sound more like a squeaky toy (a rubber ducky being repeatedly squeezed quickly).

The so called Naturalists from the early European settlement here in the 1800s, invaded our forests with rifles in the name of science (or today scientific research as with the whales Ha Ha). The so called bird lover John Gould dined on Australian birds and bragged about it, as he claimed fame for his 7 volume work on our birds in 1848. They killed thousands of Lyrebirds to stuff for display back in the homeland, eat, extract their tails from for display and just for the fun of it… don’t that make you a little upset ?

Eventually the Conservation Movement stopped the meaningless slaughter of these and many other native species, some now extinct. Now the ferule cats, domestic cats and foxes continue the slaughter, both here and in the forests near Melbourne, especially Sherbrooke Forest where the population was almost decimated by domestic cats. Local residents by Law now must keep their cats caged.

Eastern Grey Kangaroo family

Eastern Grey Kangaroo

Last week, my wife and I also visited one of our western Sydney birding spots, as we delivered a book shipment to a warehouse nearby, but most of the birds were gone, that once were in abundance. I have noticed that many left during the months of bushfire smoke late last year. Here’s what we found.

The New Holland Honeyeater is found in abundance in the southern Sydney National Parks and Reserves, especially along the coastline heath. This bird is featured in my book: “What Birds Teach Us” for its Diligence, here is a sample page:

New Holland Honeyeater

The good news is, the final part for my lens has arrived and the camera should be ready by Saturday and this era of movie filling up my website storage may end. It has been like having a best friend in hospital, and you can’t visit, having my lens out of action for four months. Though my wife has enjoyed having her photos receive encouraging remarks for my dear blog followers.

Thank you to those of you who have purchased my recent release 2nd Edition of “What Birds Teach Us”, some purchases are still making their way through the slower than usual Corona time, especially in the USA, but we are keeping track. We are working at present on new Promo videos and preparation for a book launch at a group of private schools.

Koorong Books has the 2nd Edition now in stock and is available online and in store. Koorong have stores all over Australia, mainly in the larger cities. Sadly, my previous best sellers, NSW National Parks Visitor Centres are still closed due to Covid. However at present the best price is to buy here online.

“We want each of you to show this same diligence to the very end, so that what you hope for may be fully realized.” – Hebrews 6:11

Have a wonderful week birding… and….

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.

Last week my wife and I went for a longer than usual walk into the rainforest in the Royal National Park. We have been enjoying these long walks in the fresh sunny Autumn weather, and it has been therapeutic emotionally and physically as I continue to come to terms with social distancing, accepting retirement, my camera still being repaired and my book promotion put on hold.

Continuing from my previous post we left early in search again for the female Superb Lyrebirds nesting, as Autumn is the time when she builds the nest and lays her eggs, while the male continues to do his song and dance performances to woo his female fans for mating. Click Here for some of my previous footage, which some of you have seen, to give you an idea how they dance to their own beat, and use their repertoire of mimicry to impress the female.

Male Lyrebird performing mimicry

Male Lyrebird performing mimicry

Male Lyrebird dancing to his own beat.

Male Lyrebird dancing to his own beat.

Like the Bowerbird, the males spend most of their life, and time practicing their performance for that short period of several weeks when they mate. Notice the female photo above (again the work of my dear wife, who wants to thanks those who complemented her for her beautiful Fairy-wren photo featured last week)) has an ordinary feathered tail and a rufous throat, unlike the beautiful male tail. As we walked deeper into the forest we noticed increased scratchings by the track, and soon we started finding the females preparing their nests and just very quietly foraging for food.

It was not long before we found what we were looking for, a female collecting sticks and moss for the nest. Again, she was very careful to not give away the location of the nest. I watched how particular she was collecting the correct stick. She would stop, add to the bundle, pick it up and move to her next pick up.

This particular day we saw no males, though the following week I saw 3 males and 3 females. As we made our way through the forest our stress levels fell and we felt more relaxed.

We started hearing and then seeing the White-throated Treecreeper ascending a tree, silently. Usually you only find them by hearing their loud repeating call. This is a female, because of the orange spot on her ears.

As she ascended you will hear in the background the sound of another Treecreeper climbing, foraging for grubs and insects in the bark of the eucalypt tree. This is a bird seen in greater number during the colder months.

The Golden Whistler is quieter during the winter months also. The males are usually hard to spot during Winter months, as they are shy and not singing as much as they Sing in Spring. The females on the other hand are very curious and will come close to get a good look at you.

One bird you will always hear in our rainforest all year round is the Lewin’s Honeyeater. Their call is similar to the Treecreeper but much faster in staccato. You may remember the call from a previous post, it was also in the background of the female Golden Whistler clip (above).

On this occasion I was able to get closer. Most of our Honeyeaters migrate around following blossom, and avoiding colder weather, but the Lewin’s is a rainforest Honeyeater and is usually territorial remaining all year round, similar to the Miners and Wattlebirds.

One of the encouraging signs after the drought beginning to break from recent rains, is the sound of the many Eastern Whipbirds, which went very quiet during the driest part of last year, as they forage on the forest floor turning moist leaf litter for grubs and insects, in moist gullies. They are very elusive birds, and in my early birding years had me standing for hours trying to catch a glimpse. This one eluded us also.

Eastern Whipbird sees us and plans his escape

Eastern Whipbird sees us and plans his escape

Eastern Whipbird making his gettaway

Eastern Whipbird making his gettaway

As we finished our 9 km walk we noticed this Australasian Darter resting, and doing an excerpt from some Bird Ballet for a few seconds.

Aussie Darter

Darter Ballet

Darter Ballet

Darter Ballet

Little Pied Cormorant watching on

My contemplation for this week comes from the following film clip during my rainforest walk this week. The National Park was spared the horrific bushfires this past year, but has been burnt out years ago in 1994 with a horrific fire click here to see some of the photos. This tall straight forest hardwood in the thick of the rainforest was burnt out but continues to grow strong, because enough of the vital cambium layer just under the thick bark, which feeds the tree, survived the intense heat and fire.

This tree reminded me of me, when years ago I suffered burn out from being too busy and too stressed from the demands of job, family and life itself. Thankfully with God’s provision and help I survived and managed to to come back even stronger, like the tree, which spurred me on to study family counselling and write the books. While I remain connected and rooted firmly to my Life Source I can continue growing and enjoying life, having learnt how to avoid further burn out. My birding walks help achieve this,in a mindful way, like Adam (the first man) I can walk and talk with God alone in his beautiful garden, and be at peace, because I have come to realize his faithful love and provision for me. If you feel safe to check out my Birder Sanctuary pages you will see some of the principles that helped me through the difficult times, and continue to. Interesting enough God used birds to teach, help and even feed man many times throughout history, and Jesus mentions them more than any other animal.

Enjoy your week, and especially enjoy a fresh appreciation of freedom, food, family and friends and our beautiful country as we begin to navigate a new normal as we hopefully come out of the Covid Crisis.

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.

Golden Whistler male

In response to an email from NSW National Parks, my wife and I made our way to our local Royal NP for an exercise walk, after a week in isolation at home. It was interesting to see the police and ranger presence, but even more interesting was that there were more people present on this beautiful Autumn Sunday in the NP than I have ever seen at one time, and I am a frequent attendant. It was impossible not to pass another person, but of course always maintaining the 1.5 m distance. It was the most therapeutic option for us locals given the circumstances. Families playing together enjoying the sun on the grass, bike riders peddling past, and many couples and families walking the trails and dodging the many mud puddles along the way, evidence of recent good rainfalls. The creeks and waterfalls were all flowing again. At the start of our walk on each occasion we always scan the banks of the river where 80% of the time we spot the Azure Kingfisher (or its cousin the Sacred, or both). Sure enough my wife spotted it across the river on the far bank.

Azure Kingfisher

This beautiful little bird is always a delight to watch fly and fish. Funny to watch is his head as it bobs up and down every time he moves it. My wife is again the photographer of the stills, and these shots were from some distance away, I could not see the bird at all. As we walked we noticed how quiet it was with very few bird sounds, like last week. My wife was cautious, looking out for the Red-bellied Black Snake again, that we saw a couple of weeks ago. Sure enough it was again on the side of the trail hidden in the grass catching the warmth of the sun, hiding from all the passers by, and thankfully quite unperturbed by our presence.

Red-bellied Black Snake sun bathing

It was lovely to see many of the local Gymea Liliy plants preparing to send up stems. This park is known for them as they are a native plant endemic to the coastal areas around Sydney. We even have a town nearby called Gymea which the lily is named after. This healthy specimen has sent three stems up which will be flowering soon.

This is what the flower head will look like when it opens…

Since we were here last week the Banksia ericifolia flowers have started coming to full bloom, which becomes one of the main nectar sources for honeyeaters during the early Winter months, as does the Bush Fuchsia, flowering also at the moment. This Lewins Honeyeater is enjoying a feed.

We often would hear the high fast staccato call of this bird as it seemed to follow us down the track. You will get to see it calling in a later video in this post, and how it involves its whole body. Finally, we arrived at Bill’s Rock as us locals know it. This is where Bill a large male Superb Lyrebird flies up to from across the river, to make his way up the embankment on the other side of the track. The amazing Angophora tree is growing on top of the rock, where we and others sometimes sit and wait for Bill.

Bill’s Rock with Angophora costata tree growing on top of it.

Lo and behold, we were both confronted with the sounds of several Golden Whistlers calling to one another nearby, quite out of character for the season, though they were communicating and the male was not delivering his courting and nesting warnings, as that season had passed.

We looked for them and finally laid eyes on both a male and a female. My wife took the lovely photo of the male featured at the beginning of this post. They called continuously to one another the whole time we were there. There may have been a youngster also as there were several callers.

Golden Whistler male

Lo and behold again! We could hear Bill calling from below near the river, practicing his display for his courting dance and song, which consist of a repertoire of mimicry formed from the sounds of neighboring birds and noise making things. Listen as I identify some of the sounds in the following video. At this stage the Superb Lyrebird male is performing out of sight in the bush below the cliff face. He will have his tail feathers up over his head and will be dancing to his own music.

Here is another recording to listen to…

Finally, as we both stood together on Bill’s Rock, we saw him in the bush scratching for worms and insects in the leaf litter.

While he was calling continuously, our Lewins Honeyeater who was following us came to take a look at us. You will hear the Lyrebird calling in the background and at the end of the clip see and hear the call of the Lewins Honeyeater as he declares his presence.

We also caught a glimpse of this Eastern Spinebill, another nectar eater common to the park, usually in great numbers during the Summer months, but numbers are reduced due to lack of nectar producing flowers.

Eastern Spinebill

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OR Continue and discover lessons we can learn which have been gleaned from today’s post. If you proceed please be aware, at times quotes from the Christian Bible and other sources are used with reference to my own personal faith context:

My Personal Bird Reflection for this Week

Several times I have posted the following photo when visiting the Royal NP because of the beauty and aspect of this Angophora tree as it hangs over the bend in the Hacking River. It is one of my favorite pics.

These remarkable trees seem to grow in the most unexpected and impossible places, where other trees could not survive. The weight and size of the tree make one marvel at this tree, which almost crosses the river with its topmost branches, as it remains solidly fastened to the rock base. These trees appear to grow out of the rock. See also the tree on Bill’s Rock previous.

Angophora costata (Sydney Redgum)

It is in times like the present, when many of us are having our ability to stand strong and secure tested, that we need to ensure we are firmly and securely planted. Many would say we need faith to ride the storm, but faith is of no use if it is not in something that is strong enough to hold us as we lean or falter. It is not faith that saves, but the object of our faith, what we are believing in that has the saving or securing power we seek that brings peace. Even as we lean perilously out over deep river, it is not our ability to hold on that saves us, though it is an important factor, it is the solid, secure, unmovable rock my roots are fastened to. Yes, it is the platform or base upon which our faith is grounded that holds us safe and secure, bringing peace in uncertain times. Jesus explains this using a parable comparing the house built on sand and the house built on rock. When they are tested, or put under trial, only one remains.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” – Matthew 7:24

“I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire;
He set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.” – Psalm 40:1,2

“The Lord has become my fortress, and my God the Rock in whom I take refuge.” – Psalm 94:22

Enjoy your week ! Stay Safe! We commence our staycation this week and will have to decide which part of the house we will travel to, since we are not travelling over seas as was the plan.

My Mission: To encourage young 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.

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