I Have A Knotty Problem

https://www.ararelitus.com/birds-1 Sorry about knot another bird ID question. Chris Shawseashore@internode.on.net+61 409 675912www.ararelitus.comExperts possess more data than judgment.COLIN POWELL, attributed, Doing Business in the New Latin America

Odd Pied Monarch plumage

I got my first sighting of a Plumed Monarch at Lake Eacham a few days ago. Alan Gillanders saw the photos and suggested I post them to see what people think about the rufous or worn plumage on the wings / tail.

You can see the images on Birding-Aus Facebook page:

www.facebook.com/groups/35835604880/permalink/10159504142604881/

Russell . . . → Read More: Odd Pied Monarch plumage

Mystery Bird – photo

Here’s a snap (only slightly more than 200kb) of the bird seen at Blackheath  Thoughts? Andrew Ross

Wedge-tailed Eagles and Power Vs Airspeed

Wedge-tailed Eagle is a large bird. It’s at its limits when taking off and the power vs airspeed graph may explain some of its shyness and other stuff. It may be even influential in Bergmann’s rule.As usual on my blog: https://www.ararelitus.com/birds-1 for those who like eagles as I do. Chris Shawseashore@internode.on.net+61 409 675912www.ararelitus.com

. . . → Read More: Wedge-tailed Eagles and Power Vs Airspeed

Houtman Abrolhos: tour recommendation please

Hello all, only now that we have well and truly buried 2020 I dare looking more closely at 2021, and what to do this year. The Houtman Abrolhos Islands, off Geraldton WA, have long been on my bucket list, actually since we are living in Perth, i.e. since 2005. This year the planets seem to . . . → Read More: Houtman Abrolhos: tour recommendation please

Hybrid Golden/Rufous Whistler?

Hi all Escaping Sydney last week we spent 5 days in Blackheath. While walking in the local bush we heard a Rufous Whistler calling. The bird was very accommodating in showing itself. Which was a problem. Because it had the distinctive black cap of a Golden Whistler.  And it seemed to be a black . . . → Read More: Hybrid Golden/Rufous Whistler?

Channel-billed Cuckoo aggregations

G’day

My most common CBC observation is a single bird calling in flight, with numerous instances of coordinated duos.

A while back I came across a group of 4 hanging out in a eucalypt and I was struck by their similarity with hornbills.

This morning I saw a combination of 7 CBCs (6 in . . . → Read More: Channel-billed Cuckoo aggregations

Covid – birding

I am passing this on for anyone who is interested to do this survey. It is pretty easy and the context of some questions fits the northern hemisphere a bit better. I believe it is genuine. I certainly know that the name Dr Jukka Jokimaki (one of those responsible for this survey), is . . . → Read More: Covid – birding

Mystery swamp call (Altona, Vic)

Just wondering if anyone here has heard this call before: https://www.xeno-canto.org/613468 It's the "mir" call you can hear every few seconds. I suspect it's a Spotless Crake, and found one other similar recording on Xeno-canto labelled as such, but this call isn't described in the field guides, and isn't in any apps or the BOCA . . . → Read More: Mystery swamp call (Altona, Vic)

Start of 2021

2020 ended in Norway the way most of the year has been: awful. A catastrophic landslide on 30 December partly destroyed a village just north of Oslo, and killed 10 people. Just when we thought we had weathered the year not too badly (with ‘only’ 450 dead Norway escaped hitherto comparatively lightly, even . . . → Read More: Start of 2021