Tassie IX - garden birds near Rocky Cape

So, nearing the end of our adventure.

Our final few nights were near Rocky Cape National Park in the NW. Wonderful garden around the B&B, including a woodland and extensive vegetable plot. Here are some bird highlights from my wanderings on this property.

And I must point out the omissions from this post - the green rosella was featured in the Tassie III post, so I have resisted the temptation to duplicate some of that here!

Loads of supoerb fairy wrens around this property. Playful and very used to human interaction so have managed a few good clear shots as you will see.

Another regular, quick to hassle other intruders from its preferred territory (bushes) was the little wattlebird. Again features well in this post as you will see.

 

Here is evidence of the comfort of teh fairy wrens to visit the human environment - often alighting on the verandah and rails, not just the lawn and shrubbery. The male below caught "using the stairs"; the female being complemented by the lawn flowers.

Little wattlebird peeking atop the banksia.

New holland honeyeater on the poop deck of a pine.

A young female superb fairy wren practising its calls.

The next two photos are "rescued" birds 😀. A significant portion of the vegetable patch is netted for protection against possums mainly. The little birds manage to find ways in! They panic a bit and often end up in folds of the netting in the corners (and panic even more!). It was nice to be able to "release" these two, a silvereye (still looking very startled!) and a young new holland honeyeater (looking rather nonplussed). 

I included the next four as a set because it was a special moment for me as I was wandering around the circular "scented garden bed". It turned special because this new holland honeyeater deigned to allow me right into its space for these portraits. I was able to literally wander around (read walk slowly and cautiously) the path to get in front and closer without the bird feeling at all threatened. It seemed to be as curious about me as I was about it. So a privilege to be able to share these with you 😁. Enjoy.

The superb fairy wren is even more magnificent set among the flowers and different types & coloured leaves.

Here are two photos showing a little wattlebird in full voice. Clearly a LOT of effort goes into to some communciation with full body movement exerted 😄.

I tracked this noew holland honeyeater for some time as it was active at work drawing nectar from the banksia flowers (first photo) in the hope it might move up the bush to the top flowers for a more clear photo - pleased to show my persistence paid off (second photo)!

Being given a tour of the bush block by our host we heard some yellow-tailed black cockatoos. After a while we located them high up ripping into the bark looking for grubs. The one I had the clearest shot of, also managed to be caught taking off from its perch offering a great glimpse of the "yellow tail" (third photo). The middle photo of the set is the single photo of a laughing kookaburra I took on this trip in a naturally wild setting - all others (and sightings) were on telegraph wires! This one was guarding a nearby nest hole.

Out near the Rocky Cape lighthouse I (finally) managed a clear shot of a pacific gull - as I was trying to move closer along the jetty it took off, and I managed to snap it in flight (not that clear, but still nice with the wings at the top of their flap.

And after many attempts to capture this noew holland honeyeater when it flitted from the bansia over the lawn to the protea flowers next to the verandah, I finally managed to get it. Just, because it is not so clear, but you can see the bee was frightened off by the arrival of the bigger creature 😊.

Tassie VII - road south to the end

A little cryptic, perhaps. Less so if you have toured some extremities in Tassie. One day we drove as far south as is possible in a normal vehicle - to Cockle Creek. While we struck some drizzle and wind when we got there, we did find a coffee cart 😁! Along the way and back we saw a range of birds among the many wonderful views across waters and bays and villages of shacks. Well worth the drive.

A pair of pied oystercatchers

Kelp gull walking on water?

Pair of black swans doing what they do.

Both for a fuller context!

A wading white-faced heron on the hunt.

A single sooty oystercatcher on one leg eyeing me.

Our other big drive for a day was to Bruny Island. Here is a selection of birds we sighted along the way to, and at the lighthouse. Another exploration we enjoyed, though the island deserves much longer than a single day look around for sure.

A juvenile pacific gull

A flock of very juvenile pacific gulls figuring it all out!

Not to be outdone, a large flock of floating silver gulls.

A Richard's pipit

Finally, willingly and often posing atop the pushes astride the path to the top of the lighthouse and return were several new holland honeyeaters. Glorious in such a setting.