Spotted Pardalote

SPOTTED PARDALOTE Pardalotus punctatus

  A pair of Spotted Pardalotes were among the low shrubs along the Dry Creek, Broadford. They were flying around each other, the male taking time to flutter  his wings and show off his brighter colours to his mate.

 

 

 

 

 

This the male, it is just possible to see the his yellow throat and his white spotted head. The female has yellow spots in the crown and does not have the yellow throat colouring.

 

 

 

White-browed Scrubwren

WHITE-BROWED SCRUBWREN Sericornis frontalis

These scrub wrens are plentiful, yet remain almost unknown to many people.













They have a secretive nature, spending much of their time hidden away in dark places, under logs, amongst fallen branches and amongst the dense branches of small shrubs. They are usually heard before they are seen, as they search for food in heavy undergrowth.










I seem to go a long time without seeing these birds then they reappear and are seen over a wide area.

Australian Swamphen

AUSTRALIAN SWAMPHEN Porphyrio melanotus

 

It is too easy when out walking, to ignore the most common of our birds. It requires an open mind to continue to remain in awe of the beauty and uniqueness of the everyday.

 
These Purple Swamphens or Australasian Swamphens are very common in and around the reservoir in the centre of the Kilmore Golf Course.

 
The wander out on to the fairways and will venture across roads to nearby gardens to feed on grass and other greenery, quite able to also pull out whole reeds from our lake.

It is quite common  to see them climbing through and amongst the low branches of fallen trees as they make their way back to the water.





The male and the female are alike with beautiful regal porphyry   feathers contrasting with  deep red legs and feet.


 
They are timid birds and will fly off if one gets too close, looking very awkward in the air with the long legs trailing behind as they move to safety.





The Swamphens are very vocal with a number of distinctive cries. The voices can be a harsh 'kak,kak,kak' as they call a warning to each other. They will make a sound like like a small dog with an higher pitched squeal at the end, Ka,ka kiiak. They are vocal at night also. I sometimes wonder if these night calls might be warning others of  hunting foxes.

 

Brown Thornbills

BROWN THORNBILLS Acanthiza pusilla

 

 


When there is little movement in the bush, there are always, at least, Thornbills to be seen.












There is a mass of Cassinia shrub growing on the lower parts of the Monumnent Hill in Kilmore. The area has been cleared of pines recently and the area, now opened up to light is covered in young Black Wattles, Blackwood wattles and Cassinia-acuarta.









The Thornbills are very happy playing and feeding in amongst this low lying shrubbery.

I usually only have to sit still for a short while, before a group of eight to a dozen of these little birds, comes by. They pick away at leaves, looking for insects and bugs.







Often there are other birds with them. It is common to see Buff-rumped and Yellow-rumped in the same area, as well as a Grey Fantail, flitting in and around the group.

Crimson Rosellas

CRIMSON ROSELLA Platycercus elegans elegans

 The Crimson Rosellas love the cotoneaster fruit on the bushes at our gate.



I think they wait every year for the autumn, just so they can feast on the ripening  fruit.

The fruit and the birds are the same colour, beautiful to see. 

 

White-winged Chough

WHITE-WINGED CHOUGH Corcorax melanorhamphos

We always know that autumn is under way and winter is approaching when the choughs return to the area.

 One rarely sees a lone chough, they are very social animals, with a strong sense of family. They gather together on a tree branch so closely that it is difficult to see where one bird starts and one finishes.

 
They hunt together on the ground, turning over grass, branches and litter, looking for whatever there is to eat,  invertebrates, seeds corms and tubers. When disturbed they will all fly off together to a branch, whistling and calling on the way.

When excited the eyes becomes engorged with blood and become bright red. This makes the birds become very demon like.

 

There is so much of interest about these birds. Their social units are very strong and all work together to bring up the new young. There are even stories of choughs 'kidnapping' birds from other clans so that they can assist with the chores of the group. Some say these kidnapped young are never fully accepted into the group but are treated like the 'step sisters' of our fairy tales. Is this is a form of animal slavery? 

Does it really happen?

 

There is some fascinating reading in Gisela Kaplan's book, Bird Minds about choughs and other Australian birds. It is published by CSIRO Publishing. It is well worth reading.

 

 

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Scarlet Robins

SCARLET ROBINS  Petroica milticolour

Kilmore is in lock-down due to the Corona virus, as are all other parts of the world. We are allowed out of our houses only for a)  work, b) shopping, c) exercise, and d) medical appointments.  

 

 

 

 

 

There is much debate  regarding definitions of exercise, work and shopping. I think I am able to walk in my neighbourhood as long as I am walking alone or with just one other.  

  

 

 

 

Therefore I can walk in the bush adjacent to my house with my camera on my back. The walk is for exercise and the camera for whatever I see on my journey.

There were a number of Scarlet Robins about today.  They seem to favour the hill tops, with taller trees an less undergrowth than the flatter areas covered with wattles and cassinia scrub. 

 

There are a number of other robin varieties in the area, today, just the Scarlet Robins.

They vary in colour from brilliant, brilliant scarlet to a much milder, almost orange-red. It is the males which stand out so well. The females, whilst having a pink to red chest are much duller in colour. However they are quite beautiful, with brown, black, white  and pale red markings.

 

 

The birds do not seem concerned about corona virus.  They only worry about bird flu.

 

Australian Darter

Australian Darter, female

AUSTRALIAN DARTER Anhinga novaehollandia

 

It was a cool, overcast morning in Kilmore today. We have had very heavy rain over the last few days, almost 90mm. A  number homes have been filled with water and creeks have risen well over the normally low levels. The wind today was very cool, 9 to 10 degrees.

Australian Darter,  male

This did not stop the cormorants and darters sitting on logs and tree branches, trying to catch a little of the drying sunlight.












 

There were  group of Little Black Cormorants sitting high in the branches of trees. Down lower, just above the water level there was a family of Australian Daters, doing the same.


There were males and females in the group. The males have a rust coloured patch on the lower neck, above a dark chest and body. The females are less distinctly marked with white or buff underbody parts.

Both have long thin necks which taper to a small head  and a very fine, pointed bill.

They are often seen, with just their long thin necks protruding above the water. They can look like snakes swimming through the water.

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.