White faced Heron

WHITE FACED HERON Ardea novaehollandiae 

They are a very common bird but oh so elegant.They stand so straight and hold their heads erect, just as our mothers told us to do.

This individual was very sleek looking, smooth and shining grey. During the breeding season the herons show longish plumes on the back and the neck. The plumes on the neck and breast will also be grey with a rufous tinge.

The voice to our ears, is harsh and grating; aarrrkk, aarrrkk with croaks and grunts. Not the most pleasant voice in the choir.








                    



  

                                                                                    
   
This bird was hunting in the shallows around the edge of the Kilmore Hospital Reservoir, evening of a very hot day. It is a little hard to see but the creature caught was small yabby, which the heron carried a little distance onto the bank, before swallowing it it.
                                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                                                          
                                                                                                                                                              

Little Corellas

LITTLE CORELLAS Cacatua sanguinea) 

It has been very hot over the last few days, 38 degrees Celcius now at midday, and very humid after a heavy storm two days ago.





The Kilmore Hospital Reservoir was very busy early this morning, the birds were wide awake, feeding and drinking before the heat of the day.

 


 

The Little Corellas were down from the trees along the water's edge. In small groups they came down to drink, taking turns; before returning to the trees to let another group come down.






 







 
 















 




Also around the reservoir this morning were many Long billed Corellas, Cacatua tenuirostris. These are larger birds with extravagantly long bills. These birds are a little more highly coloured than their smaller cousins, with pinky-red chest markings.   



 They cause a great deal of angst around the local golf course because of the habit they have of picking large holes in the fairways and greens in their search for bulbs, corms and grass seeds.

 

Rufous Whistler

RUFOUS WHISTLER Pachycephala rufiventris

 



There was plenty of singing around the base of Mt Piper yesterday.








While everything was quiet the Rufous Whistlers were filling the empty spaces. I am never sure about the singing of birds. It always sounds beautiful, but is it. Perhaps they are shouting insults at each other, warning trespassers to keep away. Perhaps the are singing love songs to each other.  Could it be shouts of  'Watch out for the fellow with the camera'?


There were several pairs calling as they fed amongst the trees, so perhaps this time it was love songs,

 

Satin Flycatcher

SATIN FLYCATCHER (Myiagra cyanoleuca)

I was sitting on the banks of Dry Creek, which does have some water in it this year, just up from the ford on Jefffrey's Lane, when I thought I was watching a kingfisher sitting on a branch.

On a  closer look I think this might be a Satin Flycatcher. The Leaden Flycatcher Myiagra rubecula, is very similar, but it is slightly lighter in colour. I have not seen either of these before so it was a nice surprise.

This is a male, the females are ireys with a buff to orange chest.

He did not stay around for too long, just long enough for a quick photograph.

The name comes from that of a Greek hero by the name of Myiagra, the Flycatcher. Wikipedia tells me about cyanoleuca,  "Its name is derived from the Ancient Greek κύανος, transliterated kyanos, meaning "dark blue, dark blue enamel, lapis lazuli". 

I will sit on the creek again soon and watch to see if he is still about.

 

Striated Thornbill

STRIATED THORNBILL Acanthiza lineata

 

 There were plenty of these thornbills around yesterday. One group were very active under Mt Piper towards Broadford and again at the ford over the creek on Jeffrey's Lane.

 
 I often hear the thornbills' voices through the trees but it is hard to get close to them. They are quite timid and very tiny, about the size of a small mouse. They are constantly moving from twig to twig, seldom stopping long enough to gain focus. 


Yesterday they were feeding on the trunks of small wattle trees, pulling insects and grubs from the broken bark.



They were very intent on their work and the longer I sat still, the closer they came.

Galah

GALAH (Cacatua roseicapilla) 

The pink galahs are always about. You can hear them at all times of the day, their harsh voices carry for miles,and they always seem to be talking, complaining or boasting about something.










They will fly past in large groups with their bell like calls ringing.

They will rest from the heat, in the tops of trees talking with voices like claws down a blackboard.

The young will beg for food from their parents for hours on end, a constant 'screee, screee, screee" almost like cicadas, which the adults seem able to ignore.

But they are beautiful birds, elegant extroverts, playful larrikins. To see them as large group, flying, roosting and grazing is a great delight.
  

 

John Williamson, a much loved Australian songwriter, has a song describing the beauties of the bush called "Galleries Of Pink Galahs". It is an apt title and first line for a song about Australia.

 

Musk Lorikeets

MUSK LORIKEETS (Glossopsitta concinna)

These noisy little parrots were very busy in a red flowering gum tree yesterday morning. They have been around Kilmore now for several weeks. Wherever trees are flowering, the musk lorikeets are busy.


There were a  dozen or more of them feeding in a small tree which was bursting with flower. The birds  seemed to be a mixture of mature and young, some of the young  sitting passively on branches, calling to be fed.






I am not sure how these nectar feeding birds feed their young. I could not see any actual beak to beak feeding. Perhaps the parent birds teach  the young by example.  I will need to spend more time watching carefully.

Although male and female are very similar the female birds do not have the strong blue cap of the male, their colouring a more subdued turquoise.

 They are all very agile whilst feeding, often hanging upside down with their beaks buried deeply in the flowers of the tree. So engrossed were they in the feast on this tree, I was able to photograph them from a very close distance. Several times, birds would alight within arms length as they moved from bud to bud.