Birding
August 3rd, 2011
Boat Harbour send off
WELL, IT WAS very miserable taking my last looks at those little Red-necked Stints and the cormorants and the gulls and terns of Boat Harbour today as I wrapped up my role in the survey project. Walking down the trail to the beach, my old friend the Australian Kestrel was there, just as he has been every week these past 5 or 6 years, but this time to say farewell. The pipits and cisticolas were there in force and the fairy-wrens were all very active too, bobbing about in the newly regenerated acacia scrub. I sensed that they had a mood of celebration as the breeding season approaches. Just to confirm the coming breeding season, the aural backdrop was filled with much trilling from the growing number of Fan-tailed Cuckoos making their ominous presence felt – I had a very nice view of one sitting on a fenceline when driving in to the top car park. more »
July 22nd, 2011
Sydney fairy-wren identification
IS THERE anyone who doesn’t adore fairy-wrens? The stunning breeding plumage of the males during the warmer months brings plenty of colour into every nature outing and the hives of activity which are the extended family groups of these birds brings plenty of life to the bush and, for the lucky few, their urban gardens. Adding to their charisma is the charm of those perky cocked tails as these tiny gems of the Aussie bush bounce around the understorey.
For many in the Sydney region, however, there is a dark side to these colourful little birds, a source of deep and enduring frustration that leaves bird watchers with a sense of worthlessness in their trade and embarrassed downward glances as they describe circles in the dust of trails with their feet every time they encounter these birds . . . for the uninitiated, the females are simply very difficult to identify, as are the males when not in breeding plumage. more »