Verandah views (May)

Starting to cool down as autumn passes, but some nice sunny days still to enjoy our recently re-boarded and re-roofed front verandah. The view through the trees and across the bird baths offers much daily bird activity to savour when you make the time to just sit and observe. 

This a long post. 

Long because there are a couple of new birds for our yard to show-off as well as some old favourites that enabled me to snap quite the range of behaviours that show glimpses of why birds are to be cherished. Many of the poses, in my view, demonstrate how the birds also seem to be just as curious about what we are up to, as we are of their behaviours.

You be the judge - and remember, if you click on an picture you will have access to just the pictures and larger versions of them showing more detail ... well worth it for many of these in my humble opinion 😉.

First up, we have had some cuckoos visit the front trees for the first time (that we have noticed). Sitting quietly on the front verandah, a shadow passes and there is movement noticed on some lower hanging branches of the trees. There, just sitting quietly in plain view, soundlessly but exhibiting no small degree of curiosity was a fan-tailed cuckoo. A little later, after that bird had moved on, another one perched on an even closer branch showing itself to be a young fan-tailed cuckoo. Even clearer poses showing the more patchy down on the breast.  

Then a larger more distinctively striped oriental cuckoo turned up also being most curious about my activity. Initially I thought this was a pacific baza until it revealed itself more clearly. The oriental cuckoo is a vagrant so apparently not often sighted, making this an even more special treat. They were all very photogenic ...

Then, next day the young one turned up again for even more photogenic poses showing off it's curiosity.

This next sequence shows off a regular visitor to our bird baths around the garden - this time in the front yard. A lewin's honeyeater. In stark contrast to the statuesque poses of the cuckoos, these guys are all movement and constantly checking their surroundings. Checking out the bath first, then in various poses and positions after dunks in the water and shaking the excess off. Always fun to watch the antics of this not so shy bird.

If the level of activity increased from the cuckoos to the lewin's honeyeater, they move onto steroids with the brown thornbills! Tiny birds, hyperactive but it works for their safety as we seem to have had pairs in our yard for several years now. Always communicating with eachother as they move about the bushes, you hear them coming towards the birdbath in the morning moving clockwise and returning in the afternoon as they move anticlockwise returning to their nests. Regular as clockwork. They nearly always choose the small birdbath unless it is dry, when they will venture to the big one.

Quite the lenghty sequence for you below. I wanted to try to convey a sense of their hyperactivity (a challenge with the stills of course!) but also curiosity - perhaps hyeralertness - in the variety of ways they seem to be keeping an eye on the camera 😁. These little guys have a special place given their regular spot in our garden and their vivacious personalities Long may they live (buggar the King!).

I guarantee you will smile & love these tiny delights😍.

TOLD YOU 👌👍

Birds bathing

During separate visits to friends and relatives, I was privileged to witness and capture some images of birds taking advantage of bird baths on very warm late January days - a very good place to be. Notable also for several instances of different types being quite comfortable sharing the space - necessities of nature being shown off.  

This first set was in the garden of friends in Wollongbar. It was a treat to be able to get so close for these photos and noticeable to me that it was a lone bird - we are used to pairs of these frequenting our front bird bath twice a day very regularly at home. One always watching and chirping warnings or clearances that it is OK, the other bathing (or quickly taking off into foliage). The first four photos show a lone brown thornbill contemplating taking the plunge, in the bath, enjoying the coolness and finally taking a moment to shake dry and think about going again. The tiny size of these constantly moving birds is evident from the context.

This next sequence was in Grafton and shows to ubiquitous feral pigeons even finding solace in the cool water of the bird bath. Then a house sparrow waiting its turn once the Indian (common) myna was done and finally another house sparrow deciding with a brown honeyeater who would be next to dive in! Simple pleasures on a hot day!

Backyard and Sunshine Coast

 Well, despite an intention to be more active in 2022 seeking birds to photograph, the weather continues to remind us of the power of mother nature. It remains so wet! So, keeping an eye on activity in the backyard during breaks in the rain and we also had a short break to the Sunshine Coast recently - surprise, surprise, it rained for all but the final two days of our visit 😉. 

So here are a few offerings to show the range of birds I have become accustomed to extend well north.

First up, some very familiar locals.

While the flowerettes on the umbrella tree open and leak their nectar, the noisiest of the noisy enjoy the feast on offer. A pair of blue-faced honeyeaters, a single one (though the body and wings of another are also visible), then a rainbow lorikeet. Despite the noise, there is always plenty of sharing during this event.

Next up is an opportunity we have been waiting for while some golden pendas have reached flowering stages along our eastern fence line. Due to the persistent rain, I thought this may not happen this year, but one day this rainbow lorikeet was enjoying the foliage and blooms and the break in rain enabled a decent position to capture the images. The glorious bright palette even on dull day is striking.

Consistent with our decision to try to take a few short breaks, we spent a week in the Sunshsine Coast hinterland. I was struck by a lack of birds, notwithstanding the rain. Around home they still abound in the wet. In any case, during a few short walks during respite from the rain as we explored the hinterland, here is a sample of what we saw.

Brown thornbill

Pale-yellow robin

Noisy miner

Not 100% sure 😀

On our final morning I went for a wander around a nice park at the back of the Montville shops. Some movement in the long grass beside the path just as I set off revealed a pair of pale-headed rosellas enjoying a feast of seeds.  

Further along, beside one of the beautiful lakes there was change in shadow and a rustle of leaves off to my left. Seeking and detaching seeds was this brown cuckoo dove. A little later, a grey butcherbird was taking a rest on the rail of the bridge across the lake just as I returned to the carpark.

During our drive through the country back roads heading back into Brisbane on our final day, we stopped for an afternoon coffee at a small cafe in Mt Nebo. One of three shops roadside, surrounded by trees and with an eclectic outdoor seating area, this coutnry stop provided bird delights featuring a pair of king parrots (female first below, then male) and a pair of sulphur-crested cockatoos atop a towering gum. You never know what these remote roadside stops might offer 😉.

Until next time ... perhaps winter will provide what autumn skipped this year?