Gang-Gang Cockatoos

GANG-GANG COCKATOOS

This afternoon when most other birds were quiet, there was quite a lot of chattering in a tall gum beside the golf course lake.









This pair of gang-gangs was busy at a hollow in the trunk. I watched as the male disappeared into the hole and the female looked on. After just a moment, the male bird reappeared with a chip of wood in his beak. This he dropped to the ground. He repeated this a few times before calling on his mate to take over.
 






She then disappeared in and out of the hole several times, also dropping chips to the ground. And they continued for all the time I watched. It was wonderful to see them working together to prepare their hollow for nesting, with some time for a bit of a gossip along the way. 

A Mixed Lot

BUTCHER-BIRD, RED ROSELLA AND FOXES

It was very quiet walking this morning in the bush around the Monument Hill.











I was trying to get close enough to some choughs for some pictures, when they took off with cries and whistles. They perched in the lower branches of a peppermint gum, looking attentively into a patch of cassinia scrub and all the while whistling to each other.







I waited a few moments and was then surprised to see this young fox sniffing around an uprooted tree stump. He seemed quite inattentive to his surroundings. At this time of the morning he should have been more watchful. I stood for quite a few minutes photographing, until a waft of breeze blew from behind me, letting him know I was there.



 

Red Rosellas always add a patch of colour to the bush

Scarlet Robin

Grey Butcher-Bird

White-plumed Honeyeater

WHITE-PLUMED HONEYEATER

 
Kilmore sewerage works and adjacent paddocks were very quiet this morning despite the bright Spring sunshine.



There were plenty of magpies but little else.


I did see a group of  honeyeaters but they were very fidgety, settling for just a few moments before flying off. They'd settle again, flirting with each other, then off again chasing each other in and around the small trees and saplings.



Springtime! I think they had things on their minds other than food today.

Pardalotes

STRIATED PARDALOTES

Out past Kilmore East is Nanny's Creek Road. It runs between Kilmore East and Sunday Creek. 

 

Half way, is a bridge across Nanny's Creek. No-one is quite sure who Nanny was but, she has creek and a bridge to carry her name. The bridge is a modern concrete affair and underneath are many mud swallow nests. It is rather cold and dark under the bridge and the nests are empty for most of the year.

 

 

 

There are often swallows about this area, flying about, over and under the roadway. There are usually families of pardalotes here also, busy amongst the grass and the wattle trees. For such small birds they are very vocal and the air is always filled with their chattering and calling. 

 

 

 

I was under the bridge today, hoping to see whether or not the swallows were using their old nests for raising this year's chicks. There was no sign of occupancy, but after sitting for quite a while, there was some movement. Not the swallows but pardolotes. In and out of two of the 'blocks of flats' were pardalotes. Carrying pieces of grass, it was obvious they were preparing themselves a place for their coming families.

 

 

Busy as they were, they seemed to have plenty of time for a little play, hanging upside down outside different doorways, taking time to preen themselves and even a little exploring of the various openings. Great fun!

 

 

 

 

 

I wonder will there be some confrontation when the original owners come looking for their old homes over the coming weeks. maybe, but it is good to see that even in the bird world, there is an ability to share and recycle resources. 

 

 

 

 

 

Pardalotes it seems,  are pretty good at making use of all sorts of nooks and crannies for their nesting,