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By Nola Thorpe
THIS year I’ve been lucky enough to see two birds in (or at least from) my backyard that are not usually seen in this area.
THIS year I’ve been lucky enough to see two birds in (or at least from) my backyard that are not usually seen in this area.
- Published on
By Nola Thorpe
MANY birdos in the local area are talking about a Tasmanian boobook owl sighted around Cape Liptrap recently.
MANY birdos in the local area are talking about a Tasmanian boobook owl sighted around Cape Liptrap recently.
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Galahs, ibises, ravens and black cockatoos were once rare visitors to Bass Coast. Nola Thorpe charts the changing face of our birdlife.
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By Nola Thorpe
ALTHOUGH the forecast was anything but promising, nine keen birdos decided to take the risk and spend the morning walking around the tracks at the Wonthaggi desal plant.
ALTHOUGH the forecast was anything but promising, nine keen birdos decided to take the risk and spend the morning walking around the tracks at the Wonthaggi desal plant.
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By Nola Thorpe
AT THIS time of the year some people are lucky enough to notice small black and red birds sitting on fences or in low shrubbery around the outer edges of the built-up area.
These could be either scarlet robins or flame robins and they come back to our area at this time of the year after having spent the breeding season (spring and summer) in the rainforests.
The gorgeous little male flame robin has a bright flame-red colour that extends from its belly right up to its beak. The female is a uniform light brown with a small white spot over the bill.
The scarlet robin is not seen as often but has the same visiting routine. It has a scarlet breast and a black throat with a white spot on the head and some white feathers on its wing. The female is brown with a pale red wash on its breast.
Another robin that is occasionally seen in ferny gullies is the pink robin. Where the scarlet robin is red, this one is pink. I have seen them at Walkerville and Tarra Valley. Rose robins can also be seen in these forested areas.
AT THIS time of the year some people are lucky enough to notice small black and red birds sitting on fences or in low shrubbery around the outer edges of the built-up area.
These could be either scarlet robins or flame robins and they come back to our area at this time of the year after having spent the breeding season (spring and summer) in the rainforests.
The gorgeous little male flame robin has a bright flame-red colour that extends from its belly right up to its beak. The female is a uniform light brown with a small white spot over the bill.
The scarlet robin is not seen as often but has the same visiting routine. It has a scarlet breast and a black throat with a white spot on the head and some white feathers on its wing. The female is brown with a pale red wash on its breast.
Another robin that is occasionally seen in ferny gullies is the pink robin. Where the scarlet robin is red, this one is pink. I have seen them at Walkerville and Tarra Valley. Rose robins can also be seen in these forested areas.
Flame robins. Above, the flamboyant male. Below, the much plainer female. Photos: Pauline Wilkinson
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Stockyard Point: Australian pied oystercatchers, gull-billed terns, whimbrels, eastern curlews, red-necked avocets, Caspian terns, silver gulls. Photos: Jack Airey
By Jack Airey
Jam Jerrup to Stockyard Point
ON A cool, overcast and windy morning in January, 27 members of the Ringwood Field Naturalists Club and two guests from the Peninsula Field Naturalists Club met at Jam Jerrup for an excursion to Stockyard Point, identified by BirdLife Australia as an important bird area in Western Port.
Western Port is the summer home to large numbers of international migratory shorebirds – birds that breed in Siberia and Alaska during the northern hemisphere summer and migrate south to Australia for our summer.
While in Australia, the birds spend most of their time living on intertidal mudflats and the edges of shallow bodies of water, hence the name shorebirds, feeding on the invertebrates, molluscs, gastropods and small crustaceans that inhabit these areas. Birdwatchers in Australia will regularly travel to good “shorebird sites” during the summer months to observe these beautiful and amazing birds.
Jam Jerrup to Stockyard Point
ON A cool, overcast and windy morning in January, 27 members of the Ringwood Field Naturalists Club and two guests from the Peninsula Field Naturalists Club met at Jam Jerrup for an excursion to Stockyard Point, identified by BirdLife Australia as an important bird area in Western Port.
Western Port is the summer home to large numbers of international migratory shorebirds – birds that breed in Siberia and Alaska during the northern hemisphere summer and migrate south to Australia for our summer.
While in Australia, the birds spend most of their time living on intertidal mudflats and the edges of shallow bodies of water, hence the name shorebirds, feeding on the invertebrates, molluscs, gastropods and small crustaceans that inhabit these areas. Birdwatchers in Australia will regularly travel to good “shorebird sites” during the summer months to observe these beautiful and amazing birds.
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By Nola Thorpe
I HAVE started 2015 with a new bird app (The Michael Morecombe eguide to Australian Birds) for my phone so I am filling in my year's lists with fresh enthusiasm. I have lists for The Rifle Range, Campell Street Bush, Baxter's Wetland, the cemetery, Tank Hill, Screw Creek and home.
My longest list so far is at home and you never know what might turn up next.
For instance, last Friday I just happened to glance into the back yard and spotted a very unusual bird sitting quietly on a garden stake At first I thought it looked like a common pigeon that happened to be passing through but on closer inspection decided it was something I hadn't seen before.
I HAVE started 2015 with a new bird app (The Michael Morecombe eguide to Australian Birds) for my phone so I am filling in my year's lists with fresh enthusiasm. I have lists for The Rifle Range, Campell Street Bush, Baxter's Wetland, the cemetery, Tank Hill, Screw Creek and home.
My longest list so far is at home and you never know what might turn up next.
For instance, last Friday I just happened to glance into the back yard and spotted a very unusual bird sitting quietly on a garden stake At first I thought it looked like a common pigeon that happened to be passing through but on closer inspection decided it was something I hadn't seen before.
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By Nola Thorpe
A FEW years ago we decided to put some wooden nest boxes in the trees that line the back lane that runs between our house and McMahon's Reserve in Wonthaggi. Eric had a great little book about birds and the type of nest boxes they like to use. We chose a great kookaburra box in the hope that a pair of kookaburras we often saw in the area would like to make the reserve their home.
We placed it so we could see it from the sun deck and the house, and waited. Sure enough, they took a look and decided it was for them.
For three years we were privileged to enjoy the comings and goings of the kookaburra families, as sometimes the previous year's chicks would be still around for the new hatchlings.
A FEW years ago we decided to put some wooden nest boxes in the trees that line the back lane that runs between our house and McMahon's Reserve in Wonthaggi. Eric had a great little book about birds and the type of nest boxes they like to use. We chose a great kookaburra box in the hope that a pair of kookaburras we often saw in the area would like to make the reserve their home.
We placed it so we could see it from the sun deck and the house, and waited. Sure enough, they took a look and decided it was for them.
For three years we were privileged to enjoy the comings and goings of the kookaburra families, as sometimes the previous year's chicks would be still around for the new hatchlings.
- Published on
By Nola Thorpe
FOR a month or so I had been hearing reports of a beach stone-curlew being seen around Inverloch. A beach stone-curlew would normally be found around the shoreline of northern states from Shark Bay in WA to Nambucca Heads in NSW.
It is a very large thick-set wader that is readily distinguished from all other waders by its size, massive bill with yellow patches at the base and a bold black and white pattern on its head.
I had been down three times to see if I could catch a glimpse but with no luck. Then
one sunny Sunday we had been down to Inverloch to one of the markets and I thought,
“Here goes, I’ll try again”.
FOR a month or so I had been hearing reports of a beach stone-curlew being seen around Inverloch. A beach stone-curlew would normally be found around the shoreline of northern states from Shark Bay in WA to Nambucca Heads in NSW.
It is a very large thick-set wader that is readily distinguished from all other waders by its size, massive bill with yellow patches at the base and a bold black and white pattern on its head.
I had been down three times to see if I could catch a glimpse but with no luck. Then
one sunny Sunday we had been down to Inverloch to one of the markets and I thought,
“Here goes, I’ll try again”.
- Published on
By Nola Thorpe
One day last week I received a call from a friend who lives in North Wonthaggi. She had a bird in her garden that she didn't recognise. Did I have time to come over and have a look? So armed with my trusty bird books and my iPod, I went over immediately. Usually when someone makes that request, the bird is well and truly gone by the time I arrive but this time I was lucky.
One day last week I received a call from a friend who lives in North Wonthaggi. She had a bird in her garden that she didn't recognise. Did I have time to come over and have a look? So armed with my trusty bird books and my iPod, I went over immediately. Usually when someone makes that request, the bird is well and truly gone by the time I arrive but this time I was lucky.