Striated Pardalote

STRIATED PARDALOTE Pardolutus striatus ssp ornatus

 

Nanny's Creek crosses under the Nanny's Creek Road,  the road between Kilmore East and Sugarloaf Creek Road. 

This creek carries just a little water for most of the year, a little more in the wet months, although there is always some water there to attract a population of birds.

 

 

 

At any time of the year, one can be assured of finding pardalotes around and under the bridge. 

During the late Winter and Spring, these birds make use of the abandoned mud nests of fairy martins to raise their own young.

 

Approaching the bridge, the calling of the pardalotes, announces their presence, They call constantly to each other, particularly during their courting times. The  highly pitched 'witta, witta, wittas', sometimes with an upward inflection on the final 'witta' fill the air.

 

 

 

 

The females signal their readiness for mating by calling from a branch, whilst crouching with their heads down and wings extended. 

 

 

 

Whilst pardalotes are known for their nesting in little tunnels scratched into the banks of creeks and cuttings, this community seems to nest exclusively in the mud nests made by fairy martins.  

Do the fairy martins leave their old nests or could it be that the pardalotes push the martins out of their homes and take over?

 

 

Brown-headed Honeyeaters

BROWN-HEADED HENEYEATER Melithreptus brevirostris 

 

 

I was watching a group of these small honeyeaters at Lake Eppalock last week. There, they were very busy feeding amongst a small forest of young red gum saplings. I could not see clearly, but they appeared to be feeding off inswcts on the leaves of the young trees.

 

 

 

They are small birds with beautiful olive backs, a distinctive white band spreads around from the back of the neck, contrasting with the deep brown head. 

 

 

 

 

 

Whilst I was watching them feeding on insects, they also feed on nectar and pollen from the flowers on trees.


 

Blue-faced Honyeaters

BLUE-FACED HONEYEATERS Entomyzon cyanotis

There were a number of honeyeaters about this morning.












My neighbour has a beautiful garden and at this time there is a glorious protea in heavy flower.

The big honeyeaters are attracted to feast on these large flowers.

Among this group was a young bird with plenty of cheek. This adolescent bird had a beautiful green-yellow eye ring, unlike the adult birds which have vivid blue patches on the bare skin around the eye.








Despite the name honeyeater, these birds are omnivorous and can be quite aggressive in their hunt for food. They will feed on nectar, fruits, insects, the eggs and young of other birds as well as small reptiles. They can often be seen foraging along bark of trees, tearing off shreds in the search for whatever might be living underneath.

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.