White-faced Heron

WHITE-FACED HERON

 
The Kilmore Cricket Club has a dam which it uses to water its ground. It is a rather deep dam with steep-sides so there is not always a lot of bird life around it.

Today, whilst the dam still has plenty of water in it, it is starting to shrink around the edges. There is a lot of grass, now turning to seed, growing along the damp edges. It is still October,  we are in for a very early summer season.












































A lone heron was amongst the grass at the water's edge. He or she was watching  the water, closely. A quick step and a beak-full of plump young fish.

Eastern Rosella

EASTERN ROSELLAS

There are plenty of red rosellas around Kilmore. Their bell like 'chinking' is everywhere in the bush,  around the town and amongst the town gardens.

The Eastern rosellas are not quite as common here, but their brilliant colours help them to stand out, particularly when they perch on a branch in the morning and afternoon sun.

One only needs to travel fifteen kilometres north to Broadford and the Eastern rosellas are more plentiful, particularly along the red-gum wooded lines of Sugarloaf and Dry Creeks

 

Grey Shrike-thrush

 

GREY SHRIKE-THRUSH

These beautiful grey and tan birds are very common around Kilmore. It is very easy to look past them to those little less common birds. They are very attractive birds about the size of our introduced garden thrush. Their colouring of soft grey with a tan back make them very handsome.




   

These birds are shrikes, they are hunters preying on insects and spiders, frogs and lizards, other small birds, nestlings and eggs. They do also seek out fruit and seeds at times.



 



On a day like to day their calling is beautiful to hear. They have many variations depending on the season and the time of the day. Today it was the sound of Spring. Michael Morcombe's book 'Field Guide To Australian Birds' describes it as 'quorra, quorra, quorra, WHIEET-CHIEW'.









 The Kilmore bush in the springtime, is loud with the calling of these birds.