Outside my window

Working on my computer this morning when I looked up to see a pair of Pardalotes just outside the window perched on the stem of the bamboo palm. They were quite happy to stay for some photos although through the window with not ideal light meant lots of focus and movement problems but a few shots were OK.

Pardalotes are flower peckers and spend most of the time in the tree tops but it is breeding time and they build their nests in tunnels in earth banks, tree hollows and even hanging flower baskets. There are a number of species in Australia but the two that I have seen here are the Spotted Pardalote or this one the Striated Pardalote this form being Pardalotus ornatus also called the Eastern Striated Pardalote ranging down the coastal forests from mid Queensland, NSW and Victoria. They are quite tiny birds and very attractive and I always look forward to this time of year when they are visiting. When they are in the trees one of the give aways to their presence is the pecking as they attack scale and lerp insects on the leaves of eucalyptus.

They spent some time during the day back and forth to the palm and at time some activity took place, stretching wings and fluttering which I expect was mating display.

 

Photo shy

Managed to get a photo today of a bird that we see quite often I have found very difficult to get close enough for a photo although I have posted a couple of photos of young birds that are not as shy.

This is the male Satin Bower-Bird Ptilinorhynchus violaceus and this was the only photo I could get as he moved around from tree to tree and generally keeping within the foliage.The males develop their full satin plumage after about 7 years and the iridescent blackish blue colouring gives the bird its common name where as the female has brown and green plumage as do the juvenile birds.
The Satin Bower-Bird male along with a number of others in the bower bird family builds a bower to impress the female, his consists of walls of sticks and grasses curving over an avenue which he decorates with berries, flowers and found objects. The Satin Bower Bird is partial to blue so blue clothes pegs, pen covers, bottle tops etc are often found in the bower.

Nesting is not in the bower but a cup shaped nest in the branches of a tree which the female tends. Where I have had difficulty getting close a number of our neighbours who feed birds have no trouble as the birds will come to the feeding tray for the fruit that is placed out for them. They are notorious for stripping the fruit trees and at present they are busy in our orchard picking strawberry guavas and cumquats, but we have plenty to share.


(on a recent trip to the Northern Territory I took photos of the Great Bower-Bird that favours white ornaments to decorate its large bower)

All the colours

My ears picked up a bird call that was not usual at our location so I grabbed the camera and went to see if I could locate the caller. My luck was in, as it did not take any time to find my photo subject. On our powerline a Rainbow Bee-eater Merops ornatus was perched ready to swoop on any insects flying by.

The tail streamer is an immediate indicator to it being a male and then I noticed the female a bit further away on a eucalyptus branch.

I have seen Rainbow Bee-eaters in our area occasionally but this pair was the first I have seen on our property.

Of the 24 species of Bee-eaters in the Merops Genus found worldwide, the Rainbow Bee-eater is the only one found in Australia. Found in all states other than Tasmania, they are migratory spending the winter months in the north and into New Guinea, Indonesia and as far as the Solomon Islands. 

As the name suggests they do have bees as a favourite food source but also wasps and other insects are taken on the wing.

Lacy Emerald

A small night visitor which I managed to bring inside for a photo before it was once more into the night.

This pretty moth is the Lacy Emerald (m) Eucyclodes insperata with a wingspan of about 2.5cm  and is one of the GEOMETRIDAE family, found throughout the Eastern States of Australia.There is quite a difference in colouring between the sexes with the female bot being as "lacy" but with some strong markings.
The caterpillar is a looper and  feeds of a variety of plant species such as Guava, Angophora and Exocarpus.

No barns around here

Picking grapefruit in the orchard this morning and disturbed a bird that was in the nearby macadamia tree and I caught a glimpse of white as it made off to a branch in a handy eucalyptus. Thought is was likely to be an owl or possibly a goshawk but didn't go for a closer look instead went for the camera.

Getting back and looking to the tree where it headed, I found it was indeed an owl, a Barn Owl Tyto alba. It was a bit concerned that its perch was a little exposed so moved off to a higher position in another eucalyptus where it stayed and watched me as I took its photo.

  

The Barn Owl is found throughout Australia as well as all other continents except Antarctica which makes it one of the world's most widespread bird.

We often sight them in the cars headlights at night sitting on fence posts or swooping in to catch something flushed out of the grass on the road edge, however this is when they are often hit by cars.