At Lake Burley Griffin

There was a report yesterday of an unusual number of waterfowl on Lake Burley Griffin, so I had a look this morning. Remarkably, despite predictions, the air was the clearest it has been for about 3 weeks. One reason for the number of birds (several hundred) is that the lake is so low . . . → Read More: At Lake Burley Griffin

FW: Finished

I mentioned to Michael, but I’ll inflict this on all of you.  The White Cedar is a favoured food of the western NSW population of Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo.  I used to visit Bourke each winter just for the spectacle. If you left it too late there would not be a single fruiting W Cedar . . . → Read More: FW: Finished

Remembering Mallacoota

It is yet another irony that this scenic and interesting place is now associated by most Australians only with the sad and dramatic events of recent days.  I made a short visit there last October driving back to Canberra from Melbourne.  Martin Butterfield had suggested as a vantage point for shorebirds a spot . . . → Read More: Remembering Mallacoota

Unfinished

–effectively shaping the tree to be quite compact. Despite it being very ornamental, with light green leaves, having delightfully scented lilac flowers in spring, being covered in yellow or orange berries, and almost always with birds in it, White Cedars are a very high maintenance proposition. They are deciduous, shed twigs, dead leaves and berries . . . → Read More: Unfinished

Regurgitation

White Cedars (Melia azedarach) are favourites of our local Currawong regurgitators, fouling every birdbath and fishpond in the garden Even water in house gutters, sprouting when they dry a sign that it’s time to clean th out. White Cedars (Persian lilacs), and we have one just outside the kitchen window, a spreading shady variety . . . → Read More: Regurgitation

Bird baths: the regurgitation factor

Our Grey Butcherbirds have for a number of years, particularly when raising young, visited for a hand out, generally a bit of mincemeat which they catch when it is tossed to them Often they park their reward in a forked tree branch and sit watching it, and after a minute or two, they regurgitate . . . → Read More: Bird baths: the regurgitation factor

Bird baths: the regurgitation factor

My local currawongs disgorge camphor laurel, privet and false tobacco seeds, which are our main pest weeds along the riverbanks in Gloucester. Sadly our rivers are no longer running. Perhaps first time ever. Certainly first time in living memory.  ——————– Penny Brockman On Sun, 5 Jan 2020, at 10:51 AM, Anthea Fleming wrote: A . . . → Read More: Bird baths: the regurgitation factor

Bird baths: the regurgitation factor

A long time ago we had two fledgling Willy Wagtails in our care, and fed them on meal-worms. Some of the meal-worms turned into beetles, which the birds pursued and ate. They then regurgitated the hard wing-cases. Pied Currawongs regurgitate Pittosporum seeds and the hard kernels from pomegranates. They also eat the seeds from . . . → Read More: Bird baths: the regurgitation factor

Bird baths: the regurgitation factor

Many years ago, my grandparents, who lived at Upwey, would occasionally put out strips of liver for the kookaburras. I remember being told (must have been about 1950) that sometimes they would cough up less desirable stuff they had eaten to enjoy the liver. I now believe this was regurgitation of undigested remains, . . . → Read More: Bird baths: the regurgitation factor

Birding-Aus Digest, Vol 75, Issue 4

Re rejected red bird bath from Bunnings; Take it back for a refund plus ten percent.

Seriously, try putting a rock in the red bird bath to speed up the approval process.

We have just survived the hottest day in the world here in Mulgoa, near Penrith, waiting for the fire which . . . → Read More: Birding-Aus Digest, Vol 75, Issue 4