Blog Archives
The gorgeous song of the Currawong
A couple of months ago, I heard these Currawongs exchanging snippets of song. It amazes me how varied the calls of these birds are, and how beautiful:
Common name: Pied Currawong
Scientific name: Strepera graculina
Approximate length: 45 cm
Date spotted: 15 October 2022 (spring)
In the video, the birds are just a silhouette. Here’s a photo of a Currawong from an earlier post:
If you’d like to hear more of the Currawongs’ songs, take a look at my earlier post, where the birds are excited about the fruiting Blueberry Ash trees.
Kookaburra, grass trees, and the Australian bush after a fire
It’s early summer now in Australia, and the weather is still relatively cool. It’s a good time for the Parks and Wildlife services to do a hazard reduction burn, before the weather gets too extreme. They set fire to selected parts of the bush, after plenty of ground clearing and other preparatory work. On the day of the burn, the fire services are on hand to keep the fire within its boundaries. (This doesn’t always go according to plan, though!) The goal is to burn away undergrowth that could later result in a fierce, uncontrolled fire.
In the days since a recent burn in my area, I’ve noticed that a kookaburra often spends time in a particular area of the burned forest. Presumably there are small creatures around, even in the burned area, that offer a tempting snack.
This picture shows a kookaburra surveying the forest floor carefully. The blackened trunks and rocks are evidence of a burn that’s a few weeks old:
Here’s a closer view of the kookaburra:
The trees and many of the native plants survive fast-moving, relatively cool fires. Even the trees with blackened trunks are alive inside, and their leaves at the top of the canopy often remain green.
One plant that survives a fire amazingly well is the iconic grass tree (Xanthorrhoea). The trunk of a grass tree burns black, and sometimes all the spiky leaves are burned away. At other times, the leaves after a fire form a multi-coloured fan of green, orange, and brown.
The above grass tree is a few decades old. They grow very slowly, at the rate of 2 cm a year, and it can take about 20 years for them to form a trunk. Before that, they’re just a clump of spiky leaves sticking out of the ground.
Here’s a wider scene with a few small grass trees:
The next photo shows a bush area a couple of years after a burn. There’s plenty of regrowth happening:
And here’s a kookaburra under a bright blue sky, in a different area of Sydney:
I love walking in the post-fire forest in the early morning. Well, I love walking in any forest at any time, but after a fire there’s a surreal quality to the air. The Sydney Red Gums glow orange. Every sound is magnified, because there’s no muffling undergrowth. The rock formations show the structure of the land, usually hidden by plants. And bits of green start appearing almost immediately.
I hope you’ve enjoyed a stroll through some Ozzie bush, blackened but not daunted by hazard reduction burns.
Three Tawny Frogmouths gazing at me
Tawny Frogmouths are some of the cutest birds around. They’re fluffy and cuddly, with an endearing tuft of feathers just above their beaks, and large eyes that glow brown and orange in the early light. I was strolling along a bush path when I noticed a group of three:
If you don’t spot the third bird immediately, that’s by design. Two of the birds are looking directly at me. The third is pretending to be part of the tree, with just one partly-open eye squinting at me. The bird is the furthest away of the three, and is partly hidden by the bird in the middle.
A closer view shows one bird hiding behind the other and trying to look like a broken tree branch:
When I first came along, the closest bird had a similar stance:
It takes a practiced eye to spot a Tawny Frogmouth. They’re nocturnal, and tend to stay very still during the daytime. And their camouflage is impressive. I was excited and awed to see three of them at once.
Although they look like owls, Tawny Frogmouths are actually members of the nightjar family. Like owls, they hunt at night, preying on large insects, spiders, frogs, and small animals. Unlike owls, they don’t catch their prey with their feet. To catch insects, they sometimes fly with their beaks open. Hence the very wide beak! One theory about the tuft of feathers above the beak is that it protects the eyes when the bird is hunting.
Here’s another view of the two Tawny Frogmouths that were huddled together:
Common name: Tawny Frogmouth
Scientific name: Podargus strigoides
Approximate length: 34-52 cm
Date spotted: 5 December 2022 (summer)
Location: Reef Beach Track, Balgowlah Heights, New South Wales, Australia: 33°48’23.1″S 151°16’21.2″E
Fluffy little Scrubwren has big feet
At the entrance to Manly Dam Park, a little White-browed Scrubwren examines the tarmac for tasty bits of seeds. I watched this bird for a while as it hopped about. One thing that struck me is how big the bird’s feet are! The little wren is also quite fluffy, and the white markings on its face aren’t as distinct as I’ve seen in other birds of this type. Perhaps it’s a juvenile, the season being spring and all.
Common name: White-browed Scrubwren
Scientific name: Sericornis frontalis
Approximate length: 12 cm
Date spotted: 28 November 2022 (spring)
Location: Manly Dam Park, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’55.7″S 151°15’25.3″E
3 parrots on one walk
A few days ago I went for a walk and saw three different types of parrots all within a few paces of each other. How amazing is that!
First up, a trio of King Parrots. Two were males, the other a female. This is one of the males:
King Parrots are quite large, at 44 cm from head to tail. The females have a lot more green in their colouring. I think they’re prettier than the males, with their softer shading:
This video shows all three of the birds enjoying the flowers of a Grevillea bush. First you see the two males together. Then one of them flies over to join the female on the other side of the bush:
In the trees around the parrots, the smaller Rainbow Lorikeets chattered and scolded. Here’s one in a more contemplative mood than most:
One of them stood still for a while to examine me, before launching itself in my direction then swerving at the last moment as they are wont to do:
At the next tree, a group of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos examined a tree hollow. Perhaps a good place to raise a family? But competition is fierce!
Here’s one of the cockatoos making a point about ownership, or perhaps just being its usual excited self:
The walk itself is lovely, starting in Balgowlah and winding along the coast of Sydney Harbour, with bushland and forest on one side:
And pretty views of the waters of Sydney Harbour on the other side:
The birds:
Common name: Australian King Parrot
Scientific name: Alisterus scapularis
Approximate length: 44 cm
Common name: Rainbow Lorikeet
Scientific name: Trichoglossus haematodus
Approximate length: 30 cm
Common name: Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Scientific name: Cacatua galerita
Approximate length: 50 cm
Date spotted: 26 November 2022 (spring)
Location: Near Forty Baskets beach, Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia: 33°48’03.2″S 151°16’07.2″E
Peregrine Falcon at Dobroyd Head near Sydney
On an early morning walk at Dobroyd Head in Sydney Harbour, I spotted this beautiful falcon:
The bird sat quietly on a bare branch, observing the world from on high. I think it’s a Peregrine Falcon. My other choice would be an Australian Hobby, but the lighter-coloured collar doesn’t curve upwards as much as I’d expect in an Australian Hobby:
On the other hand, adult Peregrine Falcons in this area of Australia have a white collar. This bird’s collar is buff-coloured. It could be a juvenile bird, or it could be one of the buff-fronted form of Peregrine Falcon strayed all the way from Western Australia.
Both Peregrine Falcons and Australian Hobbies are uncommon, though widely distributed. The Peregrine Falcons are more rare than the Australian Hobbies.
Here’s another view of the falcon. Let me know if you think it’s an Australian Hobby rather than a Peregrine Falcon:
The bird was far away from me. Here’s a picture using less of my camera’s zoom. The falcon is perched on the bare tree to the right. To the left is another bird, most likely a Noisy Miner:
Birds of prey in Australia are often accompanied by a minder — another bird, usually a Noisy Miner, ready to sound the alarm if the hunter looks likely to hunt. This falcon was so peaceful that even the Noisy Miners were quiet!
Common name: Peregrine Falcon
Scientific name: Falco peregrinus
Approximate length: 35-50 cm; wing span 85-100 cm
Date spotted: 27 November 2022 (spring)
Location: Dobroyd Head, Sydney Harbour, New South Wales, Australia: 33°48’35.5″S 151°16’27.5″E
Great Cormorant reflections at Manly Dam
In the early morning, a Great Cormorant holds its wings up to dry:
The cormorant waves its wings gently in the still air. Every now and then, it turns to check the noisy Australian Ravens in the background. As I approach along the path, the cormorant decides to take off and head for a safer spot further up the dam:
Common name: Great Cormorant
Scientific name: Phalacrocorax carbo
Approximate length: 85 cm; wing span 1.5 m
Date spotted: 19 November 2022 (spring)
Location: Manly Dam, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’34.5″S 151°14’50.5″E
Orange-breasted Sunbird sticks out its tongue
A couple of weeks ago, I was on top of Table Mountain in South Africa. One of the birds I saw was an Orange-breasted Sunbird:
It’s a small bird with a black head, orange chest fading to yellow lower on the front, and iridescent blue markings above olive and brown wings. Super pretty!
Sunbirds have long, tubular tongues that they use to suck nectar from flowers. This next picture shows the bird’s tongue protruding from its beak:
Being up on Table Mountain is one of my favourite experiences. If you’d like to see more about being there, take a look at my bookmark’s blog: Atop Table Mountain in the clouds.
White-capped Red-winged Starling on Table Mountain
A couple of weeks ago, while on a short visit to South Africa, I saw this bird on Table Mountain:
I didn’t know what type of bird it was, but it looked to have a messy white cap.
Then the bird started poking its beak into the nearby flowers:
See how the flower touches the top of the bird’s head? The flower is dumping pollen grains — a handy way to get its genes transferred to the next plant visited by the bird!
The bird is a Red-winged Starling. The male is black with red flares on its wings. It typically doesn’t have a white patch on top of its head! The female’s colouring is softer, with a grey head and blue hues in the rest of the plumage. She also has orange-red wing flares:
The two birds spent some time playing together on the edge of the mountain. In the next photo, the male shows the red wing flares nicely as it comes in to land:
Being on top of Table Mountain is a magical experience. It really is flat up there, like a table top. The morning that we were up there was misty and quiet:
If you’d like to see more about being there, take a look at my bookmark’s blog: Atop Table Mountain in the clouds.
Australian Brush-turkeys, a wallaby, and me
Back in Sydney after a short visit to South Africa, I’m delighted to walk among the Ozzie birds again. Among them are the endearingly stupid Australian Brush-turkeys.
Here I am, following some Brush-turkeys along a path. The birds make that peculiar grunting noise that is all their own. I suppose it’s a big chicken’s version of a cluck:
Australian Brush-turkeys are funny to watch when you’re sharing the same path as them. They’re a little concerned that you’re there, but they’re also very reluctant to cede the path to you. So if you walk at normal speed, they get quite flustered and rush around trying to race you. (While taking the video, I was walking very slowly.) Eventually, one smart bird stands aside just off the path. With luck, the others decide this is a wise strategy and do the same. Alas, though, they come to this conclusion at varied times, which means there’s a lot of clucking and fluttering involved to rally troops again after the danger (you) has passed.
Here’s a still picture of the birds making their way up the path ahead of me:
A closer view of one of the birds, who has realised that she’ll have a more peaceful life if she stands on the side of the path and waits for me to pass:
I reached the highest point of my walk and looked back down the path. The birds have found each other again and have the path to themselves:
On my way back, I encountered the same group of birds, but this time with an interloper:
A Swamp Wallaby, sometimes called a Black Wallaby, was peacefully examining the path alongside the brush-turkeys. I often see these kangaroo-like marsupials out in the early morning. They’re much smaller than kangaroos, typically reaching the height of my hips when standing on their back legs. Here’s a still photo of the wallaby with the brush-turkeys:
A few weeks ago, I filmed a Swamp Wallaby in the same area of the path. It could easily be the same animal. The video shows a good view of the animal’s head and front paws as it munches away at a bush:
In the background on the video, you hear some magpies carolling, a wattle bird squawking, and a lone whip bird calling.
Australian Brush-turkey
Scientific name: Alectura lathami
Approximate length: 60-70 cm
You can see more about this bird, including some chicks and the male’s strange call, in my other posts about Australian Brush-turkeys.
Swamp Wallaby
Scientific name: Wallabia bicolor
Approximate length: 66-85 cm
Date spotted: 12 November 2022 (spring)
Location: Dobroyd Head Track, New South Wales, Australia: 33°48’35.5″S 151°16’19.7″E
Sydney Birder 