Wild Bird Wednesday - More Galah Antics

What do you do when your glasses are broken, your best 

camera out of action and 60,000 photos on file inaccessible?

Post a few more from the same batch as last week!

Phew, it's great  to have wings for a jump like this

ha, I can even dance on this slippery . . . oops

I've sid it before and I'll say it again, those wings sure come in handy!

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday

Wild Bird Wednesday - Nothing but Galahs

In this protracted heat, well into our autumn, months of it 

and the last ten days hovering well over 30C, 

sighting of birds has been rare. 

Having stepped on and mangled my glasses, has not helped 

one bit, nor that the programme on my Canon has gone haywire.

So, all I could manage, was these Galahs sitting on the front 

fence of my yard.

At least they are colourful.

Linking to Stewart's

Wild Bird Wednesday

OUR WORLD & World Bird Wednesday - Galahs

Just these Australian iconic parrots, Galahs, photographed in the 

inland. Dark clouds always set them off well.

I haven't managed to post or visit for a while, things have been

just a tad chaotic . . .

Do enlarge these so you can see the colour of their eyes.

World Bird Wednesday & Nature Notes - Farewell Biggles, hallo Egret

Biggles blundering in the bushes

or perched in the cherry tree or on my shoulder is but a sweet

memory. Last Saturday he was called to the Great Galah in the

sky. He had a misshapen tongue and yesterday there was another

dead baby galah on the paddock. Our resident flock of Galahs

nested away from home. Therefore they also could have ingested

pesticides on neighbouring farms. We steer clear of applying

chemicals on our land, it may look scruffier but at least we know

it is 'clean and green'. My neighbour with a property 4 times the

size of ours went on an aerial spraying spree against cockchafers

one year and we lost all the frogs in all our dams.

On a happier note, my first ever sighting of an Intermediate

Egret, Ardea intermedia, or any egret for that matter in our

area within the last 20+ years. I have only seen them on the

coast or much further north before.

Imagine my surprise when we crossed the Torrens river close

to its source in Mt.Pleasant. The footbridge made a great

vantage point while my ever lovin' trotted back to the car for

my camera. No zoom on the first shot to show you the habitat.

This one mainly for identification, the beak says it all, it is

yellow more than orange so it is in non-breeding plumage.

Our son was here for one night on his way to a shoot at a

steel plant so I was lucky enough to get an over breakfast

master class and will no longer be over exposing my whites,

well, providing I can surf the menu quickly enough!

Don't you just love the way birds have their knees bending

the other way from ours?

After fishing for ever so long, he decided to go mountain climbing.

I think he was just showing off as it would have been so much easier

to fly over those jutting rocks.

Finally, playing hide-and-seek in the bushes and giving a

perfect swan impression.

Enlarge them if you are so inclined . . .

Both these memes can be accessed from the relevant Logos on my side bar.

My thanks to Springman and Michelle for hosting them.

ah,

OUR WORLD, World Bird Wednesday & Nature Notes - A Rainy Day

The night before I left for Melbourne, It drizzled, a Scotch

mist obscured the view and dusk sent the birds into one

last baby-feeding frenzy. A family of Galahs was making a

racket directly in front of the house.

Nothing unusual you might think, except that galahs

normally keep a respectable distance . . . they will silently

sneak into the almond tree to steal the nuts while you are

weeding under it but this was different.

Here they were flying in again and again and making

encouraging calls.

I watched as the runt of the litter blundered around in the dense,

wet undergrowth in my rose bed. The parents kept calling but

not feeding it, so, out I trotted with camera of course . . .

it trustingly made a beeline for me at my approach. I picked

it up, unsuccessfully tried to make it fly, and sat it in the

cherry tree hoping the parents would take it from there . . .

it promptly went to sleep.

Later I saw it had flopped back to the ground and was heading

into the dripping weeds again. I was in a bit of a quandary,

with rain and darkness setting in, this was no place for a

fledgeling to spend the night. My morning it would have made

a feast for a cat or a snack for a fox.

Out I trotted again and it once more made a beeline for me

and clambered onto my shoe . . .

from foot to hand to shoulder it went and, 'though I seldom

feature myself in these pages, here is the old bird-lady herself

imitating a tree.

The little chap settled in for some serious preening

really getting into the swing of things

until he was ready for some conversation.

All well and good, but what now. He was hungry and

as yet unable to feed himself, his first flight was not a

great success and I was leaving in the morning . . .

when in doubt, 'look to the hills, whence cometh my salvation'

so, piratically perched on my shoulder, we crossed the paddock to

my dd's* house where grandson lit up like a Christmas tree,

a large cage and food materialised and young Biggles was

settled in.

* dd = darling daughter

All photos featuring me, by courtesy of obliging husband.

My thanks to all of you, my fellow bloggers who left encouraging

messages for my sister and wished me well on my pilgrimage.

A big thank you to the hosts of all three memes, it is good to be

back in the fold again.

World Bird Wednesday - Feeding Time

I am slowly coming to terms with my new Canon EOS 600D.

Haven't got it quite set up to what I want but here are a few

rushes from yesterday's trial run.

An uncropped view of a Magpie youngster waiting to be fed

and here comes mom with MacDonald's take-away.

A high-wire balancing act as they change places

and a bonus of a Galah feeding session.

Not quite as sharp as I would like them but, given a little time,

even I will get my head around the myriad possibilities of all

the settings.

Meanwhile, Happy birdwatching and sharing on World Bird Wednesday!

Birdphotography Weekly ~ Red Wattlebirds

The Red Wattlebirds, Anthochaera carunculata, have
dramatically increased in numbers as our garden has
started to mature.



With Grevilleas flowering for many months before
the Eucalyptus trees begin, food is plentiful.



They are quite large birds, up to 33cm, and can be
extremely frightening when dive bombing my poor
antique cat.



Swooping low over her back and loudly clicking
their beaks, they do not actually harm her, but
give her one h... of a fright.



The red wattles are clearly visible in these two photos.
Wattle birds have a very loud and grating raucous call,
a very unmusical sound indeed, and are not particularly
nice to smaller birds in their vicinity.

The bird was so intent on terrorising the cat at my feet,
that I was standing no more than 2' from it, snapping
away with my camera and it did not even notice me.



There is nothing like getting up close and personal
to catch all its antics.

This year they have had an absolute population exlposion

with a whole flock inhabiting the park. I have never seen

a flock of these birds before.

The vast numbers of Galahs we have had in other years seem

to have moved elsewhere. This year for the first time we have

had Crows and Wattlebirds vieing for nesting space with

the large numbers of resident Magpies.

For more birds around the world, click on the Logo and enjoy.

A Few Silly Galahs

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This is for all you birders, a few fledgelings
from this summer just ended...
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...showing off, or hangin on for dear life...
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in Australia we have an old expression: 'ya silly Galah'

it is dual purpose, it can be used lovingly as when

someone gives you an unexpected present just because,

as in 'ya shoodna done that , ya silly Galah!' or con-

versely yelled loud and clear across an intersection when

someone pulls out in front of you. It is also handy

when someone is over dressed to liken them to the

proverbial Galah.

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When young they are ungainly and quite silly, but

there is nothing to compare with a large flock of a

few hundred veering across a late afternoon sky, one

moment a sunset cloud of red, the next a gleaming

pearly grey, that keeps you spellbound just watching

the shifting colours against our deep blue skies.

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For a complete change, a Crested Pigeon. They are

in the habit of camping in the middle of dirt roads at

night and taking off at the approach of people or

vehicles with loud whirring wing beats.

BIRD PHOTOGRAPHY WEEKLY ~ 5 Parrots

Please scroll down for MY WORLD,
TODAY'S FLOWERS & SkyWatch.

GALAHS, Eolophus roseicapillus,
at sunrise



Galahs are very pretty birds, over the last
16 years, fron just a small handfull of birds on
our farm,they have multiplied to a flock of more
than200. When roosting in trees, they can strip
them of leaves, even large 100 year old
eucalypts, in a few days. Being seed eaters , they
multiply like rabbits where there are fields of grain
and stock water available. Before farming their
numbers were limited in dryland areas by the
lack of availability of water.

SULPHUR-CRESTED COCKATOO,
Cacatua galerita, in my garden.



Sulphur-crested cockatood have leonine strength in
their beaks. They can crack through finger bones as
easily as they tear apart pinecones to get at the seeds.

For more beautiful birds, click on Logo on the right.

My Weekend of Birds

Goldfinch, Carduelis carduelis



Not yet identified



Galah, Eolophus roseiccapillua drinking at our dam



Take a sip, and swallow it down

One of my favourite songsters, the Grey
Shrike-Thrush, Colluricincla harmonica

I have narrowed this little darling to a Sittella
either Black-Capped Sittella, Neositta pileata
or Striated Sittella, Neositta chrysoptera

The same little bird in the shade camouflaged
as a bluebird

If anyone can help with identification , I would
be most grateful.

The Pond in the Park

Shortly after we bought the third part of the farm

we had this pond dug. Twice in the last 15 years

it has overflowed. Last summer it was dry.

Although there is not much water in it at present,

there is some evidence of life.

This little tortoise was wandering along our dry
and dusty road, when one of my granddaughters

spotted it and put it on the grass. Oddly, it has one brown

and one gold rimmed eye for easy identification

I helped it to the pond and with it's dry, mud caked
shell lapped by water

It decided that the pond was a good place to be

A pair of Wood Ducks, Chenonnetta jubata territorially

protecting their pond from a pair of thirsty Galahs

Our resident pair of Wood Duck this evening

Electing to take to the water
please excuse the quality , I only had a fleeting chance.

Click to enlarge photos.