Tag Archives: blackbird

Coronavirus Lockdown Day 2…..Feeding the Kids

21 Nov

Coronavirus Lockdown Day 2…..Feeding the Kids

Dear Reader:

Even though it is the end of spring a number of bird species are still feeding their newly hatched offspring. Blackbirds, Honeyeaters. and Wattlebirds and Rainbow Lorikeets have all raised young in and around my garden. And, it has been a real treat to watch a range of different behaviours.

 

Got one

Got lots

Blackbirds are a non-native species but I must admit to enjoying their beautiful range of songs. When their young are hatched both males and females feed them. However, it is the males that I have observed collecting worms, grubs and spiders from the garden especially when the ground is wet after the watering system has come on during the early morning. Males are easy to distinguish as they have black plumage with a yellow ring around the eye. Females are brown with no distinctive eye marking.

 

Please

 

 

OK

Red Wattlebirds are the largest of the honeyeaters and they are aggressively territorial. Like most species wattlebirds continue to feed their young after leaving the nest until the they can fly and fend for themselves. During this time they are extremely vulnerable and many fall prey to cats, foxes and birds of prey.

I hope you have enjoyed these to Lock Down posts and continue to follow my blog and enjoy virtual visits to many of SA’s wonderful wildlife destinations.  

Cheers

Baz

If you follow my blog then I apologise for the delay as it took a while to get the best shots. In the meantime, our restrictions have been shortened. As a consequence, this will be my last Coronavirus Lockdown blog and I will return to my usual one or two blogs per month.

Please pass on this blog title and or contact information (URL) to any person or organisation with an interest in taking walks and enjoying wildlife in SA.

Click on this link and see more South Australian stories and pictures in my Weekend Notes articles

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Spring Garden Moments

3 Nov

Dear Reader:

There is a Mudlark foraging in the garden bed. At first I think it is searching for food. The garden has just been watered which makes it easy for birds to probe the soft soil for grubs. Besides, there may be a few seeds left over from those that I scatter each morning for the doves. I peer through the telephoto lens and realise that the little bird is collecting small twigs and leaves from the mulch around the flowers. It is also adding mud from the soft soil around the sprinkler head. Ahh; realisation dawns. Nest building time.

 

Magpie Lark with nesting material in beak

 

Spring has arrived in my Prospect garden and all about there are signs of the changing seasons. Flowers are blooming and insects are hatching. Tiny Lynx Spiders are hunting amongst the blossoms and leaves, and a variety of colourful bugs are crawling across the foliage.

Lynx Spider with prey

 

The Mudlarks have flown off and I can walk around the garden without scaring the nervous little birds away. I take stock of the different flowers that are emerging; bright yellow and white daisies, tangerine Abutilons, and pink Rock Roses. They attract a wide range of small creatures and I get close enough to a yellow daisy bush to capture images of a Hoverfly, Shield Bug and Woolly Bear caterpillar all feeding on the same plant.

 

Jewell Bug
Woolly Bear Caterpillar feeding on emerging blossom

 

Spring also heralds a time of intense gardening with plants to trim and weeds to pull. And it is while I am cutting back a patch of Lantana that I disturb a lovely, slender lizard about 15 cms in length. I take note of its hiding place and get the camera. Luckily the lizard hasn’t moved too far and I manage a couple of nice shots. It is probably a Four-toed Earless Skink.

 

Skink digging into soil

 

I sit back at my garden table, rest the camera on my lap and watch the honeyeaters flying between the blossoms and hawking for insects. They appear to be feeding young ones that are roaming around in the undergrowth. There is also a pair of blackbirds hunting for worms and grubs where I have extracted weeds from the lawn. They get a mouthful of the wriggling creatures then fly off; obviously feeding chicks too.

 

Blackbird with beak full of goodies for chicks

 

All of these events are occurring in the back garden but I know there are different interactions in the front yard. Armed with a camera and cup of tea I sit on the front porch and wait for something to happen….I do not have to ‘sit and sip’ for long. A pair of Rainbow Lorikeets fly into a nesting hole in one of the White Cedars that line my street. A nice way to end a spring garden experience.

 

Rainbow Lorikeet perching
Rainbow Lorikeet entering nesting hole

Check out what is happening in your garden and share some observations in the comments section of my blog.   

Cheers

Baz

For this [project I used a Canon Eos camera and a Tamron 16-400 lens which helped me work in lower light conditions and for close up macro images….very versatile set up.

Please pass on my blog title and or contact information (URL) to any person or organisation with an interest in taking walks and enjoying wildlife in SA.

Click on this link and see more South Australian stories and pictures in my Weekend Notes articles

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Coronablog 3 Watching the bird baths or how to pass the time in Corona Virus Isolation…Day 10

23 Apr

Coronablog 3 Bird Baths

 

Dear Reader:

I am not a huge fan of feral Pigeons or Rock Doves as they are more correctly named. However, as I am writing this piece there is a pair sitting quietly together in the bird bath just a few meters from my desk. They make rather a nice picture despite having to shoot through the windows which upon reflection could do with a clean. My excuse for the somewhat soft nature of the image.

 

Pigeon pair

 

We all have certain manufactured features in our homes and gardens that attract animals. It might be a vent in the wall that is home to a spider, a shed where geckos thrive or a wood pile that is home to ‘who knows what’. My focus today are the three bird-baths that sit amongst the shrubs in both my front and back gardens.

 

In I go

 

Shaking my feathery butt

It is late afternoon and the terracotta bird bath in the back garden is cloaked in shadow making photographs difficult. Even though the Nikon P900 that I use adapts well to the situation I must brace myself and make every effort to keep the camera still. A Blackbird lands on the lip of the bowl and steps gingerly in before taking a quick dip. A few moments later a New Holland Honeyeater follows suit.

 

I’ll just sit in the seed

 

As mentioned, there is also a birdbath in the front garden and that appears to attract a different set of customers. Both Spotted Doves and House Sparrows like to feed on the seeds I leave in a bowl that sits in the centre of the dish. And, I have spotted several White-plumed Honeyeaters drinking which is a treat as they rarely come into the yards.

 

In these long days of isolation, it is a pleasant distraction to sit quietly on the porch reading the paper with a cuppa and a camera watching the local bird life feeding, bathing, drinking and squabbling at my bird baths .

 

Cheers

Baz

Please pass on this blog title and or contact information (URL) to any person or organisation with an interest in taking walks and enjoying wildlife in SA.

 See more South Australian stories and pictures in Weekend Notes

https://www.weekendnotes.com/profile/651267/

 I have recently spent time in Africa and the link below will allow you to enjoy images and field notes describing some of my encounters with the wonderful wildlife of Botswana and Zambia. I will try to attach a new image and notes each month.

https://wildlifemomentssa.blogspot.com

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Sandra’s Back Garden

24 Oct

Sandra’s Back Garden

 Dear Reader:

Sometimes it is both a challenge and simply fun to take out a camera and explore the wildlife of a familiar patch of land…..and gardens are one of the best places to do this. A surprising amount of wildlife resides in our own gardens.  A close look might reveal anything from fascinating insects that live in our flower beds to nocturnal geckos sheltering in a shed.

Marbled Gecko…a nocturnal inhabitant

 

Probably a Katydid, a relative of crickets and locusts

 

Sandra lives in the hills face suburb of Tea Tree Gully and a variety of birds and other animals regularly visit her garden. Some, like possums and foxes, are nocturnal and only leave traces of their comings and goings. Others, like magpies and butterflies are around in the daylight hours making the far easier targets for a photographer.

 

Tabbi breakfast

 

Each morning after breakfast Sandra throws the remains of her Weetbix onto the back lawn. This daily offering is greatly appreciated by two of the local cats as well as a small group of Noisy Miners.

 

Young Noisy Miner

 

Later in the day an apple and an orange are ritually sacrificed on two nails driven into an old tree stump; Blackbirds, New Holland Honeyeaters and the occasional Rainbow Lorikeet enjoy these treats.

 

Blackbird takes a look around……..

                                                                 

 

 

 

 

….gets the apple

That about covers the back garden’s feeding program. None of the food is in sufficient quantities to interrupt the animals’ natural feeding cycles or harmful to their diet. However, it does make sitting under the back veranda with a cup of tea rather an interesting experience.

In another post I will explore the equally charming world of the front garden.

 Cheers

Baz

 See more South Australian stories and pictures in Weekend Notes

https://www.weekendnotes.com/profile/651267/

 I have recently spent time in Africa and the link below will allow you to enjoy images and text describing some of my encounters with the wonderful wildlife of Botswana and Zambia. I will try to attach a new image and notes each month.

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