Blog Archives
Cockatoos on a shed roof
A gang of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos dropped by to examine our shed roof and munch some grass seeds. One of the birds rather liked the noise the roof made when he jumped on it. Another bird is rather mucky, with brownish feathers. Perhaps he’s been dumpster diving? It’s interesting watching the interaction between the birds as they share a spray of grass flowers.
Coot cuddles
Coots always look so calm and cute. Here are two of them having a Coot cuddle.
And a Coot conversation:
Common name: Eurasian Coot
Scientific name: Fulica atra
Approximate length: 35 cm
Date spotted: 7 November 2024 (spring)
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’35.4″S 151°14’49.5″E
Powerful Owl dozing in the treetops
It’s a while since I’ve spotted a Powerful Owl. A few days ago, I saw the tell tale dark blob high in the branches of the forest. Using my camera’s zoom, I could identify the bird. The only view I had is from behind, with the bird’s head turned slightly towards me and one eye partly open:
It’s always a privilege to see these impressive birds. Powerful Owls can weigh well over 2 kilograms, and reach up to 65 centimetres in height. They hunt at night and roost quietly during the day. Their prey consists of small creatures such as possums.
Common name: Powerful Owl
Scientific name: Ninox strenua
Approximate length: 65 cm
Date spotted: 7 November 2024 (spring)
Location: Manly Dam Park, New South Wales, Australia. Approximate map reference: 33°46’55.8″S 151°15’12.1″E
Bird on a wire – Eastern Rosella
Eastern Rosellas are medium-sized parrots, found on the east coast of Australia. We’re lucky enough to be visited regularly by a pair of them. I don’t know if it’s the same two birds each time, or if our phone line is somehow part of the flight lines for a family of birds.
In this video, the male Eastern Rosella struts along a phone line, spiffy in his breeding colours. Alas, the background sound is noisy, but you can just hear the bird chirping as he does his little hello dance:
The next picture is somewhat whimsical. It’s what my camera made up when the bird flew off. I love the colours and motion in this picture, even if the bird’s head is off camera:
The female glowed in the sunlight:
The male’s colours are brighter, with the divisions between the coloured sections more clearly defined. Deep blue and black scallops outline the wings, while the rest of the bird is yellow and black, and red and white:
He knows he’s gorgeous!
Common name: Eastern Rosella
Scientific name: Platycercus eximius
Approximate length: 30 cm
Date spotted: 28 October 2024 (spring)
Location: Allambie Heights, NSW, Australia
My first Buff-banded Rail
This bird is very very shy. I’ve seen it twice, and this is the best photo I have. It’s my first sighting of a Buff-banded Rail, or any kind of rail.
The bird has a distinctive wide white eyebrow, with a chestnut stripe through the eye. The top of the head is a darker brown, and the beak is orange and quite long. (At first I thought the bird was some sort of quail, but I couldn’t find any quails with orange beaks.) The body has black and white barring on the sides, whereas the plumage on the back is mottled brown and cream.
The bird hides in the low growth at the edge of Manly Dam, on Sydney’s northern beaches. I’ll keep a look out, to try and get a better photo.
Common name: Buff-banded Rail
Scientific name: Gallirallus philippensis
Length: 28-32 cm
Date spotted: 26 October 2024 (spring)
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’40.0″S 151°14’50.2″E
Glossy Black-Cockatoo
Five Glossy-Black Cockatoos are frequent visitors to the Casuarina trees on the edge of Manly dam at the moment. Here’s one of the birds:
Common name: Glossy Black-Cockatoo
Scientific name: Calyptorhynchus lathami
Approximate length: 50cm
Date spotted: 27 October 2024 (spring)
Location: Manly Dam Park, near Sydney: 33°46’16.4″S 151°14’30.9″E
Mmm, Mountain Devil flowers make a nice change from those tough Banksia pods!
A Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo contemplates life while demolishing the flower of a Mountain Devil bush.
Common name: Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
Scientific name: Calyptorhynchus funereus or Zanda funereus
Length: 58-65 cm
Date spotted: 26 October 2024 (spring)
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’40.0″S 151°14’50.2″E
Fairy-wren an early Christmas decoration
A Variegated Fairy-wren paused for a second on a tree draped with lichen. It brought to mind a Christmas scene, with the bird a bauble that adds its bright colours to the grey of the tree and the rather surreal green tinsel formed by the lichen.
Common name: Variegated Fairy-wren
Scientific name: Malurus lamberti
Approximate length: 13 cm
Date spotted: 17 October 2024 (spring)
Location: Manly Dam park, near Sydney: 33°46’23.1″S 151°14’35.9″E
What does a Darter sound like? Plus random turtles.
Darters are large water birds, a bit like cormorants. They make a weird cackling sound, a bit like a sardonic duck. And they only do it every now and then, for a short time, so you have to just be there with your camera ready if you want to record the call.
I was lucky to be looking at a kingfisher through the camera lens when a darter started cackling nearby. Here’s what I got on camera — the darter call is right at the start of the video. Also, when watching the video I noticed there are a couple of turtles on a log at bottom left of the shot, visible just as the camera starts zooming out.
Here’s the darter with its beak open. I’m not sure if it was thinking of cackling again or if something was tickling its throat. It is, after all, rather a long throat:
Here’s a pic showing the turtles on the log at bottom left. I didn’t know they were there until I saw the photos on a big screen. There are at least two turtles, one behind the other, and possibly a third below them:
This bird is a male, with its black neck and red throat.
Common name: Darter
Scientific name: Anhinga melanogaster
Approximate length: 90 cm; wing span: 1.2 m
Date spotted: 10 October 2024 (spring)
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’34.7″S 151°14’48.9″E
Very light-coloured Grey Goshawk
This is a Grey Goshawk, but it’s a lot lighter in colour than others I’ve seen, and it doesn’t seem to have the barring on its front (though I didn’t get to see it fully front on). It was at Manly Dam in Sydney’s Northern Beaches area.
There are two colour variations in the Grey Goshawk: the white morph and the grey morph. The white morph is found in north-western Australia, Tasmania, and the Victorian coast. It isn’t known to be found near Sydney. Besides which, this bird has light grey plumage as well as white, whereas the white morph is entirely white.
Whatever the answer to the question about its colour, this is a gorgeous bird.
Common name: Grey Goshawk
Scientific name: Accipiter novaehollandiae
Approximate length: 40-55 cm. Wing span: 70-110 cm.
Date spotted: 1 October 2024 (spring)
Location: Manly Dam Reserve, New South Wales, Australia: 33°46’22.5″S 151°14’35.7″E
Sydney Birder 