Brush turkeys, bananas & bird baths (Jul/Aug 2021)

After quite a bit of out and about with a few less restrictions in June, it was back to being more cautious and less mobile across July and August. Not to worry. Still ample activity around the yard.

We have often had brush turkeys visit, but until now they had been very transitory and buggared off after sratching around for a day or two at most. This time we had a team of three and they were in no hurry to head anywhere ... between our yard, the backyard next door and the spare green space along the road out front, these three decided they were on a clean up mission. And can they move some earth and anything else in their way in a hurry - very powerful legs & feet. After a losing battlle with them for a couple of weeks (though they did a good job clearing weeds out back for us!) I borrowed a trap from a friend. A successful capture happened on the very first afternoon it was set and the bigger dominant turkey at that ... not happy (the brush turkey ... I was ecstatic)! However, once relocated the issue has not been an issue (at least for the time being).

So I could not resist sharing a few photos in this post of a couple of the protaginists in action. The first one is a younger one (smaller yellow collar), while the next one is the gang leader in action and the final two the third gang member (you can see the yellow collar is a different size on each bird).

One sunny afternoon I decided to set up with my book and a folding chair in the backyard quite close to the bananas. I figured I could get some reading done on a lovely warm winter afternoon. As a bonus I had my camera and hoped by sitting quietly reading, the blue-faced honeyeaters might just go about their business and not feel threatened, allowing me to get some photos of them feeding from a bit closer than I had managed before. Here is a sample of my bonus 😀.

As I have noted in various posts, always amazing how agile and acrobatic birds are. They seem to be able to latch on to just about anything and eat from any angle!

Since the focus is on the garden, this fellow is included as the blue-tongue lizard was taking advantage of the sun trap. It is really bronzed up too ... perhaps taking too much advantage!

Our two remaining chickens wandering the garden beds too ... much more domesticated and less aggressive in their scratching around than the brush turkeys!

Here I snapped a pied currawong in one of teh front yeard trees devoid of her foliage coat. Not so clear in the form and plummage of the whole bird, but certainly those bright yellow eyes are clear. I really included this photo because it captured the powerful black bill open mid-call. Quite a lovely sound too.

The next set shows a variety of birds and their activity on our front bird bath. Each having fun while all carefully checking surroundings constantly ... and even a few full-on glares at the photographer too 😜. You will see the pied butcherbird, lewin's honeyeater, pied currawong, noisy miner and a peewee (magpie lark). The lush green foliage offers a dappled background in the sunlight too. Enjoy.

And finally for this post, I had been trying (rather unsuccessfully) to photograph some blue-faced honeyeaters across the road in low hanging branches. I had just turned to head back down the driveway feeling a little disheartened when I saw this noisy miner fly into the plumbago bush near the letterbox. Really close and seemingly not worried about my proximity at all. I gratefully snapped the two close-ups shared here, and only noticed on review the insect it had caught and was in the process of savouring. Quite the treat (for the miner and the photographer 😁).

June kept on giving (2021)

A few more random drives as June drew to an end provided several more bird encounters of interest (and one non-bird one). These demonstrate why it is wise to always have your camera handy when out and about - especially locally where we are blessed with many roads that are seldom busy catering for a slow meander and time to peruse the environment.

First set involves another visit to a favoured location - the wetland walkway at the back of Byron at Byron (now called Crystalbrook). Here I encountered several black cormorants perched on dead branches over the water enjoying the afternoon sun, preening and drying their wing feathers.  

On the return walk I had one of those moments where you hear a bird call very near - so near you feel you could touch it! But ... look around as you might in the direction of that sound you just seem incapable of seeing the source of the song. In this case I "knew" the song of the white-faced honeyeater and had seen them flitting through the melaleucas. Fortunately, may patience and perseverence eventually paid off - there it was ... and just as close as I felt it was 😁, even managing one photo (third one below) with the beak and lungs in full voice (always delightful)!

Now for the non-bird treat at this location. Almost back to the start of the walk and in the stillness and quiet a rustle just off the walkway in the under story of the forest. Initial seeking of a brush turkey turned up a much more delightful creature. An echidna enjoying the feast of the forest floor. The dark eyes, sensitive snout and protective spikes clear in these photos.

Driving along this black-shoulderd kite was doing a hire-wire act while waiting to detect any movement in its field of vision. After a while you notice from quite a distance when there is something taking advantage of the powerlines for their perch. Saves sudden braking and resulting heart flutters and likely frightening the bird off too! Further along that same drive (where I had previously spotted a single one of these numerous times) my attuned vision picked up a diffferent pattern as I approached these favourite pines. Could I be so fortunate? Yes, indeed! A pair of white-bellied sea eagles captured looking to the north and then at each other. The final one in the set was a little further along where one had alighted in another pine after they took flight. Ah, you just never know 😀.

This photo I wanted to share because the light shows very clearly the dazzling iridescence the dark plummage of the straw-necked ibis possess. Really striking.

The final sequence I have included to show how pesky and agressive some territorial birds can be - no matter it is a bird of prey they are harassing 😈. Here a black- shouldered kite is perched precariously (but with remarkable stability) near the top of a broken bamboo stalk ... doing what they do ... scanning for any sight of movement indicating potential prey. The first two photos show a scan to the east (in the late afternoon sun) and a look down to the ground. Thereafter, the precarious nature of the snapped off bamboo perch becomes more evident as magpies and noisy miners let it be known its presence is not welcome. As you see, for this battle atleast, the kite remained undeterred 😜.

A flock of royal spoonbills (June 2021)

My wife was heading to a weekend pamper getaway with our daughter. We had arranged to meet in Woodburn for my wife to transfer to our daughter's car for the remainder of the trip to Yamba. Continuing my good fortune this month with birds, there was a flock of royal spoonbills inhabiting the riverside park in Woodburn. 

Enjoy the moment.

Some were content to roost in the poinsiana tree, others feeling more relaxed on the grassy bank by the reed beds. You will notice on some the distinctive red patch in the centre of the forehead flanked by two yellow eye shades - these are the adults. Those patches and their plummage are a little dull and do not have the same lustre and brightness when they are breeding (see this example for comaprison). Also distinctive in some photos are the dimples and pitting on the bill with the shape of a spoon. Their powerful legs and feet catering for wading and ripping up underwater foliage are evident when they are standing or sitting on the water-edge pavement.

Oh, in addition to the spoonbills, there were a few little corellas frollicking in the palms. Here is curious one checking my photographic positioning out.