More birds from Down Under Volume 2

Oh, hel, what really lovely birds. I'm amazed at how friendly they are. Lee

So beautiful hel!

They nibble at your toes? hahaha

Parrots can be so funny. :-)

I haven't seen that many honey bees in 2 years. Seems "they" are killing them off over here. Take care of them and watch that systemic insecticidel stuff. That's my belief in their demise. Grass keets are cute, looks like daddy feeding baby?

Is it expensive to live in Australia?

This message was edited Nov 22, 2008 7:27 PM

G"Day Guy's thanks for your comments, the little scaley breasted are very cute and they realy do nibble at my toes actualy my toe nails. We are still getting a lot of King Parrots at the moment and of course the Rainbow Lorikeets they are all year round. Our Regent Bowerbirds have gone but we still have the Satin Bowers, hard to get a photo of them, their a bit shy as are the Wonga pidgeons and White headed doves. The Pardalots seem to have abandoned there little nests in the clay banks.
Marg how is the Aussie Osprey going?

Hi Hel, What fabulous birds you have over there. The King Parrots are really spectacular. We'd be more than happy if the Rainbow Lorikeets would all go back to the eastern states, from whence they came. You don't have to pay for pedicures then, eh?

Little Aussie Osprey is coming along fine. It needs to grow fast from now on though, so he can be out of the nest by the time the hot weather arrives. I won't get to the nest again until tomorrow afternoon. Have a squizz at the thread.

Wormwood, I think the cost of living is on a par with the USA and although some things are much cheaper, some things much more expensive. For example, telephone calls and postage from Australia to the US are a fraction of the cost. Great Britain seems to have a higher cost of living.

Hello, hel, it still amazes me to just look out and see parrots. How wonderful that must be. The little guy you posted a pic of is quite beautiful. What is is disposition like? Must look up Regent Bowerbirds and Satin Bowers. Have heard of them.

Hello, MargaretK, haven't gotten to your posts yet as I am still trying to wake up. The blasted cat woke me about 30-40 min ago wanting out. Tonight, he's sleeping with Owen.

All have a good Sunday. Lee

Lee, Who is Owen??

Mrs_Ed, he is the friend with whom I live. We have know each other for 30 yrs. now. Lee

Oh, I thought maybe he was the dog, LOL!

No, Mrs_Ed LOL. My dog ran away back in the summer and never returned.. Lee

awww, that's too bad.

Great Shot Margaret...I've been away for a bit to S. Freestate...got some nice and not so nice pics...will start to add them as soon as I have time about 300 shots of animals, plants, birds and scenary....

So many beautiful shots on this thread...I am loving them all!

I took some shots of Rainbow Lorikeets in the Illawarra Flame Tree in our backyard about an hour ago. I'm going to post a few pics because there were several I couldn't choose between. They may be nuisances, but boy, they are beautiful.

Any which way is up to these guys.

There were several of them jumping or crawling from branch to branch, occasionally stopping to glance in my direction.

I love the combination of intense colours.

dellrose, how many would you like me to send you?

It'll only cost the price of a phone call

Last one of the beautiful pests.

applause on the Rainbos Lorikeets. Lee

Thanks Lee and dellrose. Welcome back Little_Things. I've been wondering where you've been. Looking forward to seeing your photos.

I've posted pictures of this particular Grey Butcherbird before. S/he is the one with the leg that has been badly dislocated, but it copes brilliantly with its disability. We've provided supplementary feeds for the last couple of years. It likes resting on the rotary clothes line, but finds this mat, hanging on a tree branch its preferred spot. Of course, the mat now remains in situ. This shows the (very) sharp hook on the end of its beak, which helps it grasp prey firmly enough to wedge it in the fork of a branch or impale it on a twig.

These gorgeous little birds are wonderful songsters and as I took photos of it it was singing the most beautiful song, interspersed with the sounds of other birds. They are brilliant mimics.

OK, something is really WRONG here!!!! You not only have the most incredibly colorful birds, you have to hog all the beautiful trees also? Beautiful pics, Margaret!

Thanks GP. You could probably grow these trees in Florida. They are a native of Queensland and northern New South Wales. Hel is probably very familiar with them. There are 31 species of Brachychiton, the most well known being the Illawarra Flame Tree (Acerifolius - as shown in my pics), the Queensland Bottle Tree (Rupestris), which looks similar to a Boab, the Discolor also know as the Queensland Lacebark and the Kurrajong.

They are the most fascinating trees and do exactly what they like in their own good time. They don't flower on cue, they lose their leaves at the height of summer, they may not flower for several years and then put on a fabulous display, as ours is this year (and for the first time in years). I love them. There is a Illawarra Flame Tree specimen in one of the University of Western Australia college grounds and when it flowers it is quite literally a show stopper. I might drive by there tomorrow and see if this is one of the years it has decided to flower.

What is the Grey Butcherbirds favorite prey, Margaret?

Outstanding shots Margaret! Love the Lorikeet and the Butcherbird!

Thanks, Pelle.

GP, my observations have been that they take little lizards and insects, but I'll quote directly from one of my books on Australian birds:

Grey butcherbird .............. This charming songster rates with hawks as the terror of small birds, but it feeds mainly by flying down from a perch and
seizing its prey on the ground. Sometimes it wedges food in a fork or on a thorn - an action from which its ame derives - stands back and pulls it apart with its hooked bill. It is unable to hold down prey while tearing it up, in the manner of a hawk or crow, because its legs and feet are too small. Grey butcherbirds also eat insects, lizards, mice and a few fruits and seeds.........

Sounds like our Shrikes.

hmmm... I think I will wait a few before I go eat breakfast...LOL

Great pics Margaret!

Wonderful pics Margaret, the third one really shows how cheeky they can be, but they are all very good!

I'm pleased to see you provided a comfortable seat for the Grey Butcherbird, lol.

Those Lorikeets are just gorgeous and I would love to have some here...when are you gonna send me some? LOL! As Pelle mentioned the Butcherbird's behaviour is very much like the Shrikes we have here. That Flame Tree is gorgeous and well worth the wait to see them...of course my favorite tree in Australia will forever be the Eucalyptus! Thanks for the great pics Margaret and also for the Lorikeets that are coming my way!

G'Day Guy's, Marg your pics are fabulous, yes I know the Illawarra Flame well its a beautiful tree. Do you have Poinciana trees? very similar colour but the shapes are awsome, like huge umbrellas.
This pic is of a male Regent Bowerbird hard to get a good one they don't keep still long enough.
Hooroo Hel

Thanks nanny, Rose, wallaby and Hel.

My pleasure, Rose. Keep you eye out for an extremely noisy seatainer. Should arrive in a couple of weeks.

Hel, you are so fortunate to have the Regent Bowerbird there. Do they either nest or build a bower at your place and are they attracted to the colour blue, like the Satin Bowerbirds are? Yes, I'm very familiar with the Poinciana. Without doubt my favourite tree on earth. Everything about them is beautiful - the shape, the foliage and those unbelievable flowers. If you don't have frosts where you are, you should investigate the Pride of Barbados. Almost like a miniature Poinciana.

Pelle and Rose, I'll have a look in my bird book to see what your Shrikes are like.

I went for a drive past the university this morning to see if the Illawarra Flame Tree in the college grounds was in flower. Nope. Looks like it's going to have a year off. Funny things - they are absolutely unpredictable.

Marg yes they do build bowers but not sure if they collect blue trinkets like the Satin's. I think without a doubt the Ponciana is my favourite too. I will look up the Pride of Barbados thank you.

Margaret, with a temp. of 101.2F, I had to take the to opportunity to comment on the above pic. Great. Hello hel. Take care. Lee

I went completely nuts today. went to three different sites, including the Ospreys nest. Half way through my shoot, I realized that the lens mode was set wrong. Consequently, I deleted several million shots that were focused too softly to consider keeping. Lesson learned.

I'm really keen to get some good shots of the Rainbow Bee Eaters. They don't stop still for long and are quite shy. Here's one of their nest hollows in the side of an embankment at Herdsmans Lake.

Here's a male (right) and female together. The female is slightly less colourful than the male.

Rainbow Lorikeet drinking nectar from a Banksia flower.