Blog Archives
Rescued a Powerful Owl from Australian Ravens
As I was walking in the bush this morning, I heard a lot of noise coming from an open space just off the track. Currawongs chiming, ravens yowling, miners bleating. I went to investigate, and found a Powerful Owl under attack.
Here’s the Powerful Owl, looking decidedly jaded after facing off the most recent jabs from a couple of Australian Ravens:
The Australian Miners and Currawongs were making a lot of noise, and even a couple of kookaburras swooped in to join the fight. But the principal attackers were the Australian Ravens.
At first, the Powerful Owl was able to fend off the attack:
But the ravens were pretty vicious. The owl was high in the tree at this point, and there was nothing I could do to scare off the attackers.
I phoned the Manly Dam bush ranger centre and reported the problem. A ranger promised to come immediately. In the meantime, the owl was suffering and it was distressing not to be able to help:
At last, the owl ceded ground and flew to a lower spot in the tree:
At the same time, the attacks became more vicious, with the ravens grabbing both wings and pulling at the same time, stretching out the owl’s wings.
The owl was at this point only about 2.5 metres above the ground. A jogger came rushing in to help, and together she and I were able to scare off the ravens and other attackers.
The bush ranger arrived soon afterwards. After a bit of discussion, we decided the best thing was to phone WIRES for advice. WIRES is the Australian Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service.
In the meantime, we had to keep chasing away the ravens. They were extremely persistent, returning every few minutes to see if the coast was clear for another attack. The owl looked on, more relaxed than when under attack, but still alert:
Common name: Powerful Owl
Scientific name: Ninox strenua
Approximate length: 65 cm
Date spotted: 7 October 2019 (spring)
Location: Manly Dam National Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’55.8″S 151°15’12.1″E
The advice from WIRES was to leave the owl where it was (don’t try to scare it into flying away) and to keep chasing away the ravens. Evidently Powerful Owls tend to stay in one place during the day, even when under attack. Besides which, the jogger had seen the owl flying from one tree to another earlier that morning, with the ravens dive-bombing it in flight. So flying off was probably not a good option anyway.
So we kept chasing away the ravens. After a couple of hours, two families arrived and settled in for a day of boating and picnicking. We handed over the job of raven-scaring to them, and the bush ranger said she would drop by every couple of hours to check up on the owl.
Not a restful day for this nocturnal bird. But at least this is one case where it was a good thing for the bird that people were around. I do hope the Powerful Owl had a more peaceful time for the rest of the day.
Call of the Pale-yellow Robin is a bit dull
From high above the bush path came an insistent cheep-cheeping. After a bit of searching amongst the swaying branches (it was a windy day) I spotted the noise-maker: a Pale-yellow Robin:
Pale-yellow Robins are very similar in appearance to Eastern Yellow Robins. I’ve seen a few of the latter (see all my robin posts) but if my identification is right then this is the first time I’ve spotted a Pale-yellow Robin. Pale-yellows are smaller than Eastern Yellows (12 cm in length as opposed to 15) and have more white around the beak and throat. My bird book says they’re sedentary and common. They like rainforest and dense eucalypt forests.
Common name: Pale-yellow Robin
Scientific name: Tregellasia capito
Approximate length: 12 cm
Date spotted: 7 September 2019 (early spring)
Location: Manly Dam National Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’27.0″S 151°15’01.5″E
Australian Brush-turkey, so ugly it’s beautiful
An Australian Brush-turkey pops its head up from a sea of fern fronds. Up periscope!
I was walking the Gibberagong trail in Ku-ring-gai parkland when the brush-turkey appeared. The bird puttered around me for a while, went down to the creek, then came back past me:
Just look at the size of those feet. The bird is a member of the megapode family. Megapode means “big feet”.
The Australian Brush-turkey is not a very pretty bird, but its surrounds made up for that. On one side of the path was Cockle Creek:
On the other side of the path, and in fact all round, the Australian forest:
Common name: Australian Brush-turkey
Scientific name: Alectura lathami
Approximate length: 60 cm
Date spotted: 28 August 2019 (late winter)
Location: Bobbin Head, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°40’11.0″S 151°08’59.5″E
Sulphur-crested Cockatoos at Bobbin Head
A group of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos gathered on the mud amidst the mangrove stalks at Bobbin Head:
It’s the first time I’ve been to Bobbin Head. I started with the Mangrove Boardwalk and also walked part of the Gibberagong Track, which follows on from the boardwalk. This is the sign at the start of the Mangrove Boardwalk:
The cockatoos had gathered next to this bridge at the start of the Mangrove Boardwalk:
From time to time the birds flew up into the surrounding trees to have a peaceful snack:
And a bit of mutual grooming:
Common name: Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Scientific name: Cacatua galerita
Approximate length: 50 cm
Date spotted: 28 August 2019 (late winter)
Location: Bobbin Head, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°39’48.5″S 151°09’21.3″E
Yellow-tufted Honeyeater at Bobbin Head
A pair of Yellow-tufted Honeyeaters darted through the mangroves around the boardwalk at Bobbin Head. I managed to catch a snap of one of them before they both disappeared.
The photo shows the yellow tuft of feathers behind the black mask around the eye. The tuft is what gives the bird its name:
This bird is related to the Helmeted Honeyeater, a subspecies of Yellow-tufted Honeyeaters that is critically endangered and is found only in three small areas of Victoria.
Common name: Yellow-tufted Honeyeater
Scientific name: Lichenostomus cratitius
Approximate length: 16-19 cm
Date spotted: 28 August 2019 (late winter)
Location: Bobbin Head, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°39’50.8″S 151°09’18.3″E
Azure Kingfisher in Ku-ring-gai Chase Park near Sydney
Today I visited Bobbin Head in Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park. I started at the Mangrove Boardwalk, then followed the Gibberagong track along Cockle Creek. It’s a lovely walk. Quiet and cool.
At one point I started hearing something plopping into the water at regular intervals. A flash of colour swooped up into a tree. I stopped to watch. It was a tiny bird, shining blue and orange. Only the long zoom of my camera revealed what I was seeing.
An Azure Kingfisher, sitting on a rock, waiting for prey to pass by in the river below:
Azure Kingfishers are common further north in Australia, but are uncommon this far south due to loss of habitat. They like banks of creeks with lots of vegetation and mangroves. This area of Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park certainly fits the bill.
The next video shows the bird diving into the water. It’s far away, so all you get is an impression, but it’s pretty to watch:
Here’s a still shot of the bird – fuzzy because of the max zoom on my camera:
Kingfishers are related to kookaburras. (See my previous post about a wet kookaburra.) At only 17-19 centimetres long, this kingfisher is a tiny cousin of the Laughing Kookaburra, which comes in at a whopping 40-47 centimetres.
The next photo gives a good idea of the very short length of the tail, which is an identifying mark of this bird:
Common name: Azure Kingfisher
Scientific name: Alcedo azurea
Approximate length: 18 cm
Date spotted: 28 August 2019 (late winter)
Location: Bobbin Head, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°40’10.5″S 151°08’54.9″E
Cormorant poses on Manly Oceanides statue
The Oceanides, or The Sea Nymphs, is a graceful sculpture on the edge of the sea pool at Cabbage Tree Bay in Manly. Today a Little Pied Cormorant added its grace to the work of art:
(Click on the picture to zoom in.)
Common name: Little Pied Cormorant
Scientific name: Phalacrocorax melanoleucos
Approximate length: 60 cm
Date spotted: 27 August 2019 (Late winter)
Location: Cabbage Tree Bay, Manly, New South Wales, Australia: 33°48’02.5″S 151°17’40.0″E
Wet Kookaburra
It’s been raining quite a bit recently, which is a good thing for the environment and our water supply. Sometimes, though, I do feel sorry for the wildlife caught out in the deluge.
Crikey, that was a downpour, mate!
A view of the bird’s head from behind isn’t any prettier:
Turn me upside down, and I’d do a good job of mopping your floor.
You know that feeling, when your feathers just feel like old, wet fur…
I feel like I’ve been hung out to dry:
Common name: Laughing Kookaburra
Scientific name: Dacelo novaeguineae
Approximate length: 47 cm
Date spotted: 27 August 2019 (Late winter)
Location: Manly Dam National Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’54.6″S 151°15’09.4″E
Song of the Golden Whistler
It was exciting to see this pretty little bird and hear its call. This is the first time I’ve seen a Golden Whistler, though my bird book says they’re common. This one is a male, brightly coloured with clearly-delineated yellow, black, and white patches. Its song ripples through the forest.
In this video, the Golden Whistler makes a brief appearance and utters its call. Off stage, a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo squawks, and the Golden Whistler dives for cover:
Here’s a still shot of the bird. My apologies for the fuzziness – the bird was high up and far away, and my camera lens is on maximum zoom. The moon-shaped white patch is the white throat of the bird:
Here’s another brief video of the bird calling before he darts off again:
In the next video, the Golden Whistler enters from the right and has his say. The shot is taken with a lower zoom, so there’s more chance to stay with the bird:
The last video doesn’t show the bird, but you can hear its call and enjoy a general view of the forest, including some fungus growing on a dead tree trunk. The Golden Whistler’s call is slightly different from the earlier videos:
Common name: Golden Whistler
Scientific name: Pachycephala pectoralis
Approximate length: 16-18 cm
Date spotted: 24 August 2019 (late winter)
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’48.6″S 151°14’52.3″E
Australian Ravens building a nest and crooning
Nesting is a tricky business. If you’re an Australian Raven, there’s a lot of moaning involved. I heard the fuss while walking along a bush path, and peered up high into the trees to see what all the commotion was about. This video starts with the two ravens weaving twigs into their nest. The nest looks more like an untidy platform of sticks at this stage. The birds croon to each other throughout the process. One of the birds flies off. It lands close to me, grabs a stick, and makes a bit of a fuss about getting just the right grip before taking off for the nest:
Australian Ravens are large birds, with ice blue eyes, black plumage that shimmers blue in the sun, and a thick ruff of feathers under their beaks. When they’re flying, they make a long drawn-out cawing that can sound like a wailing cat.
The next video shows more of the nest building and crooning. At first one raven is alone in the nest, and takes time out to have a bit of a stretch. Then its partner arrives, and the serious business of nest building starts again. It’s funny how the birds’ voices wobble when they bob their heads up and down, trying to get those pesky sticks into the right position:
Common name: Australian Raven
Scientific name: Corvus coronoides
Approximate length: 50 cm
Date spotted: 24 August 2019 ( Late winter)
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’59.7″S 151°15’14.8″E
Sydney Birder 