Gang-gang Cockatoos

GANG-GANG COCKATOOS Callocephalon fimbriatum

Looking back over some previous entries of various birds sightings, I am interested to see how often new entries often appear at the same time each year.


I have entries for the Gang-gangs in this early autumn time, in 2018 and 2019 and now again this week.





 






The Gang-gangs have been around for several weeks now, announcing themselves with their creaky-gate calls. This afternoon a small group of adult and young birds flew lazily between the Kilmore East hills to land beside the Nanny Creek bridge.










Several young males and females were with an adult pair.


The adult male has a vivid, fully coloured head with his beautiful mo-hawk style crest. The young males are not quite so highly colored and have a wispy, still growing hairstyle.

The females, without the bright red head feathers, have  beautifully coloured  mid grey feathers which are fringed with a white line.The adult female has fringing on the chest feathers of an orange to red colour.

Black Swan

BLACK SWAN Cygnus atratus 

It was a welcome sight today to see this lone Black Swan on the Hospital Reservoir. We hope it is a sign of things to come.

 

I cannot recall seeing one here for many years. There are plenty a little to the west on the sewerage farm, but not here in the town.

 

 

 We usually see swans in large groups or at least in pairs. This one was quite alone.

 I watched for over an hour as it fed placidly on grass and weed it drew up from the bottom.

 

 

I watched for over an hour as it fed placidly on grass and weed it drew up from the bottom of the reservoir. It certainly was not concerned as I moved around to get a better view.

 

 

A pair of Eurasian Coots were very interested in the swan. They swam in close to gather the fallen pieces of weed that the swan dropped. The water in the reservoir is quite deep after all the recent rain, too deep for the short legged coots.  A long necked companion was a great help. 

 

 

New Holland Honeyeaters

NEW HOLLAND HONEYEATERS   Phylidonyris novaehollandiae

 

Kilmore is a small town.  Even though a small town, it is fascinating in terms of it's bird population. There are some birds which are common in one part of this small town and rarely seen in other parts of the town.

The New Holland Honeyeater is a good example of these differences of place.

When walking  in the new estates to the south of the town, there are always  New Holland Honeyeaters to be seen. Many of the new houses on the new estates and the retirement village, have extensive plantings of native plants. These of course attract the honeyeaters.

Around the Kilmore Station at Kilmore East too, there are also lots of native shrubs plants and flowering trees planted.



In the area where I live, what long time locals call the old part of Kilmore,  the gardens are full of  1960 plants, roses, camellias daffodils and European trees.
Hence not a great deal to attract the the native birds.


Well perhaps things are changing.

Today I found a group of New Holland Honeyeaters across the road from my home, on the Kilmore Golf Course.

Early March, but after all the rain in late summer we have trees and plants flowering out of season. Trees and plants which have been planted over the last ten years.


The honeyeaters were having a wonderful  time in amongst the bottle-brushes, the flowering eucalypts, and even the just coming into fruit, cotoneasters 

 So  nice to see and hear these busy little birds on our side of he town for a change.

Yellow-faced Honeyeater

YELLOW-FACED HONEYEATER

 It has been a very wet start to 2020. The rain has come early enough to set the grass and the trees growing strongly. Everything is green and lush. Amazing for February and March.

There was plenty of movement in the air and in the trees this morning. There were numbers of these Yellow-faced Honeyeaters in the low shrubs along the train line. Each time the sun came out from amongst the clouds, there would be a flurry of birds. 

I was watching a group of three and four birds sitting on the end of a branch. I thought they were just watching the world go by. And then the adult bird arrived and there was a frantic fluttering and calling to be fed. The young birds had obviously flown the nest but still expected mother to provide the food.