Baffled???

ANY IDEAS??

Philip found this little bird at his gate the other day. It was dead under a tree and it has us both puzzled.

It is the size of a finch and we think the blue beak is very finch like.

It has a very white body and tail Wings too are mainly white with some brown  feathers among the white. There are several brown feathers in the wings. Perhaps these are part of the emerging adult plumage.

The head and rear of the body are a pale brown apart from a white patch on the forehead.

Neither Philip nor I can remember seeing anything similar before nor can we find anything like it in our books.

This little bird is a bit of a mystery at the moment.

 

 

White-fronted Chat

WHITE-FRONTED CHAT ( Epthianura-albifrons)

There were a number of these little birds about the edge of the sewerage ponds the other day.



I often see them, usually at a distance. They are very hard to get close to. The moment I  begin to get close and lift my head above the pond bank, they are away.

They don't travel far, thirty or forty metres, just far enough to be out of range of the camera. Then they stop, sit on some rocks or on the stems of a shrub and watch. "Well what are you going to do now?" they say.

 If I try to move forward on my my belly with my head well down, one or more will fly up over the bank to see where I am doing. They soon pass the message along before moving on another thirty or forty metres.


They are often on groups of ten to twenty, but just as often a single bird will be sitting amongst the rocks on the edge of a pond.

The first of these pictures show males with quite strong markings. They have a black half cap which extends down to the bib across the breast.

The female in the lower photograph has much more subtle colouring. She does not have the black cap of the male, more a grey buff coloured cape covering her head and shoulders.

Australian Pipit

AUSTRALIAN (RICHARD'S) PIPIT (Anthus novaeseelandiae 0r Anthus australis)

It was a beautiful summer day today. There has been much heavy rain over the last few weeks and there is plenty of green grass around. A late start to summer is always welcome. Dams are full and the fire season is yet to start.






I sat in a grassy hollow for an hour or two, watching these birds cavorting. I can only assume, they birds are still mating and nesting. There was a lot of action and much calling from one bird to the next.

There were a number of birds about, individuals and pairs. All seemed vert busy. The pairs would browse together on the ground before flying vigorously into the air. Up they would go, dropping before flying up again with much calling as they did so. Then off they would then fly to another clump of grass.

I believe they are Australian Pipits. Several had stripped chests rather than the creamy colour my books show, more like the Little Grassbird than the Pipits. Several I could see were quite tall and thin, larger than the Grassbirds. I think they are Pippits.

White-plumed Honeyeater

WHITE-PLUMED HONEYEATER (Ptilotula pencillatus)

A lone honeyeater was in the area of the Kilmore Hospital reservoir this afternoon.

I have seen them further out from Kilmore, but not here on the golf course before.

There is plenty of blossom on the trees this year. The yellow box trees are flowering well, the dams are full so the birds and bees are all busy.




The name comes from the Latin  word  'penicillis' which refers to a brush stroke, which describes the white plume across the birds chin.

Striated Pardalotes

STRIATED PARDALOTES Pardolotus striatus

A Puzzle!

There are always pardalotes around the bridge on Nanny Creek Road, Kilmore East.

In late Spring there are many pairs, very busy flying around between the creek, the trees and the bridge. I can see with insects and spiders in their beaks but nowhere can I see nest burrows. I know they will also build nests in tree hollows and around buildings but they are so very busy around the concrete bridge which spans the creek. But I can see no signs anywhere of nests anywhere.

In the same area I have seen fairy martins, not so many recently, but over winter quite a few.Under the bridge there are plenty of signs of their presence, lots of beautiful mud nests with large piles of droppings underneath. Obviously the martins have been nesting here over a number of years.



Last week, I was sitting under the bridge hoping to photograph the martins returning to their nests. I sat for almost an hour but there was no movement. As I got up to leave, I could hear the squeaking of chicks in a nest. Something was not at home. I couldn't see any martins, just the pardalotes.

Could the pardalotes be nesting in the martin nests?The entrances almost look like the tunnel entrance of the holes in the banks they usually occupy.






I need another expedition to see what's what.

.

Common Bronzewing

COMMON BRONZEWING (Phaps chalcoptera)

This single bronzewing pigeon was digging amongst the grass,fallen leaves and twigs under the peppermint gums in the Monument bush yesterday.






There was just this one single bird and he looked very lonely. I think this is a male, the pale area over the beak is more buff coloured than white and the "White cheek stripe curves back and wider down towards blue-sided neck." (quoted from Michael Morcombe's Field Guide To Australian Birds).

I had seen a single bird here a few days previously, perhaps it was the same bird or perhaps it was the mate.The Bronzewings share the duties of the nest, taking turns to sit on the eggs  whilst the other feeds.

Named from the Greek Khalkos, copper or bronze and pteron, wing

Australian (Richard's) Pipit

AUSTRALIAN PIPIT (Anthus novaeseelandiae Or Anthus australis)

 


The Kilmore sewerage ponds are out to the west of the town. Adjacent to the ponds is a Trust For Nature property, so there is always something to see.











This little pipit,whilst a long way off, sat long enough for me to get some pictures. This one was on a graveled road way so was easy to get a good look at. Often they are in and out of the grass and very hard to see.

Willy Wag Tails

WILLY WAGTAIL Rhipidura leucophrys

 

Adjoining the Kilmore Sewerage Ponds out at Willowmavin, is a paddock belonging to "Trust For Nature". It is a small allotment, perhaps20 to 40 acres in size. It contains quite a lot of timber and is generally ungrazed land.


It is a pretty spot, very quiet, and being adjacent
 to the to the sewerage ponds, there is plenty of water.

The Willy wag tails were very busy. I watched a pair for quite a while, flying up and down to a forked branch. It took a few minutes before I realized they were building a nest. It seemed a little exposed, in the fork of a branch, quite a distance from the trunk, out on the end of the limb.  One, I assumed to be the male, would wind some cob webs into the nest. He would stand back a little, whilst his mate would sit on the nest, as if to see that it was the right size and shape for her.



One of the birds had his whole head covered in spider's silk. When I looked closely, spider web was a major part of the construction of the nest.

 I have just finished reading a wonderful book called 'Bird Minds'  by an Australian writer Gisela Kaplan, which beautifully describes birds flying, as they carry cob webs for their nests.




Between visits, Mrs. Wagtail, seemed to be trying the nest for size and comfort.

A little distance away, I came across another pair. These were busy feeding  a couple of, almost fully fledged chicks.

Whilst they were aware I was watching, they seemed unconcerned. Each took a turn to stand watch, while the other flew off to gather food for the young.









They would then swap positions. The first watching whilst the first went off to forage.

Yellow-faced Honeyeaters

YELLOW-FACED HONEYEATERS Caligavis chrysops

Out at Kilmore East on the beautifully named 'Nanny's Creek Road,  I was watching  a family of pardalotes. I was hoping I might find a nest or two in the creek bank.

I was so busy watching, it took a few moments for me to hear the commotion coming from a tall white gum behind me.



This old tree contained a lot of mistletoe, hanging in large clumps. When our children were young we would hang a branch above the fire place as a Christmas tree.

Today the  mistletoe was in full flower, large red flowers and a family of Yellow-faced Honeyeaters were very busy amongst them.

They seemed very happy with themselves, like a lot of noisy children at a birthday party.I have heard these birds called quitchups which must come from  sound of their calls

 

The name chrysops comes from two old Greek words, gold and face; very appropriate. 

White-eared Honeyeater

WHITE-EARED HONEYEATER Lichenostomos leucotis

There were a pair of White-eared Honeyeaters calling to each other along the train line at Kilmore East this afternoon.  I watched this one as he called to his mate, a shrill call which I at first thought was a grey fantail. The pair continued to call as the evening trains went past just thirty metres away, quite undisturbed  by the clatter and rush.

 

 

 

They are very beautiful birds with vivid olive plumage which glows yellow in the sunlight.


It was interesting to see this bird as it caught and ate a large spider. It is easy to assume that honey-eaters are fruit and nectar eaters. For the times when there are neither fruits or nectar, these birds can be seen peeling back the bark on old wattle trees,  as they search for food.

 

Sacred Kingfisher

SACRED KINGFISHER (Todiramphus sanctus)

There are numbers of these little kingfishers around just now. Perhaps they are more visible as they hunt. Usually I just see a flash of blue; by the time I turn and focus, there is nothing to see.

 I was at the ford on Jeffrey's Lane, just where it joins Dry Creek Road this morning. There were several birds calling to each other with high pitched chirrups. They were very vocal and whatever it was they were discussing, they were vert intent and ignored me watching them.

I had assumed these were Azure Kingfishers but their call described in Michael Morcombe Guide, '..a loud sharp penetrating far-carrying kik kik kik kik .... these calls repeated almost incessantly ...' was a give away.

I have noticed one bird sitting on the power line directly over the Seymour railway line, on three different occasions now, each time in the exactly the same spot. I assume it is the same bird I see each time. There must be something special about that place.


This ford is a nicely timbered area with a creek that actually has water in it most of the year. This despite the name 'Dry Creek'. So there is always activity here, lots of honey eaters, grey thrushes, parrots, fantails and kookaburras. It is a good spot to vist when other areas are quiet.