On The Wing

Out on the stippled waters of the one of the reservoirs at the Waterworks Reserve something a little different stirred. I could tell summer was making way for autumn because a seasonal traveller had arrived – a hardhead duck. The male was still in its breeding plumage and in the soft early-morning sunlight it looked a treat. Chocolate head on a textured brown body, blue-black beak with a silver tip and a distinctive white eye, which gives the species its second name, … [Read more...] about Hardhead headache for tixidermists

A splashing and dunking, a spray of water droplets sparkling golden in the late-afternoon sun. A passing parade of birds were taking a dip. In terms of a birding hotspot this bathing pool did not look much. The birds knew otherwise. A fallen wattle was spread across the shallow waters of the Sandy Bay Rivulet where the watercourse weaves its way through the foothills of kunanyi/Mt Wellington. The silver wattle’s twiggy, clustered upper branches trapped a pool of water and … [Read more...] about A splash and a dunk in cool waters

Dusky woodswallows soared into the sky to snatch at the last of the summer’s flying insects. In the upper bare branches of a dead gum, they were joined by tree martins. The two unrelated species jockeyed for position, the martins coming off worst. When a woodswallow returned from a sortie, the smaller martins had to make way for it. Despite a late spell of summer weather, I sensed the two species were looking north, they certainly seemed to head that way after taking off, … [Read more...] about Woodswallows linger for a summer feast

The “pick-pockets” of the bird world were busy with their nefarious trade, stealing treasure from unsuspecting victims. Tall, wavering stalks of red-hot poker flowers had attracted the attention of eastern spinebills and they were emboldened to take on the much bigger and more aggressive yellow-throated honeyeaters to steal the pollen and nectar. Usually the tiny spinebills are difficult to see. They operate under the noses, or should I saw beaks, of the bigger honeyeaters, … [Read more...] about ‘Pick-pockets’ in red-hot form

A maelstrom of whirling birds brought an air of chaos and confusion to the skies over Long Beach, Lower Sandy Bay. As sulphur- crested cockatoos and galahs shrieked and screamed in their spirals of flight, I gazed skywards, searching for a peregrine falcon. The fastest bird on earth, a passing peregrine was sure to have put the cockatoos to flight but I looked in vain for the raptor. Instead, I could only make out the shape of lone yellow-tailed black cockatoo. The … [Read more...] about Confused black cockie creates a stir