observing birds

Synchronised swimmers in disguise?   Almost....  It's Karivon and Karitu the Currawong twins having a drink at the lilypot. 

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The 30 day blog challenge is over for those of us who live down under in Australia.  It's already 1 hour into the 1st July (yes I am so addicted to writing for you that I'm still up at 1.00 am.)

Thank you all so much for your interest and comments.  I really appreciate all of you who made the time to read my stories and give me your feedback.  I've had a wonderful experience sharing a little of what I have learned from these remarkable creatures with all of you.

We have so much more to learn and this can only be achieved if we share our stories and learn from examples.

I believe we all have an amazing bird story hidden in our memories. 

What is Your Bird Story?

It's time to tell all the rest of us. read more »

This is one of the first pictures I took of our birds back in 2001 with a film camera. (Any one remember those things that had to be handled carefully and in the dark?)

Here sitting on an old gum tree is Molly the mother magpie teaching juvis Maggie and Cindy to sing.  They had the most brilliant voices and loved singing at top volume.  This was during my early days of friendship with them. 

In today's post we will explore tips 4-7 of getting to know your wild birds. read more »

 There's definitely a list of do's and don'ts when it comes to talking to birds.   Wild birds have a big advantage over us, if they don't like what we're doing or saying they can fly away and avoid our company altogether.  So in this case it is useful to understand the don'ts.  

Birds scare easily - so the very first point is - Take care not to frighten the bird.  This is surprisingly not as obvious as it seems. We humans get excited and enthusiastic and in our eagerness to make friends we sometimes don't give the birds enough time to get to know us.

Friendship is a two-way street and we have give the bird the time and opportunity to observe us as well.  In the beginning, the bird will scare easily.  Their reflexes and inherent instinct is to escape at the very slightest movement in the shadow or flutter of one's sleeve or dress in the wind, or the vibration on the ground when we walk.  This is not due to a direct response to us per se.  But birds are tuned to avoiding danger from other predatory birds, cats and other animals that prey on them.  Even when they know us well, there will be times when they will just fly off and you'll be left wondering what on earth you did to frighten them! Don't be offended when that happens,  and it will happen many times.  

Once some birds notice your bird bath or water bowl, they'll spread the word very quickly and other birds will also try it out. 

There are a few things you must do to keep them coming:

1. Clean the bird bath and refresh the water daily: if you can, if not, then every second day.  A bristle brush is ideal to scrub the sides, followed by a rinse with fresh water.  This is a necessary step, or else water will get stagnant, even mouldy, certainly filthy and eventually become a source of disease.

if you have placed a big stone or rock in the middle of the bowl to stop it from tipping over, you may find that this will get mouldy over time.  When that happens its best to have a couple of stones, and use them alternately, that gives each one the chance to dry out before being used again.

If the bird bath is not cleaned and refreshed regularly, the birds will stop coming as this will no longer be a viable drinking spot for them.

2. Observe Your Visitors:  Make a note of which birds have started to visit your place.  Are they able to drink comfortably?   read more »

Wild Birds love communicating with each other, with birds from other species, with other animals and they absolutely love talking to humans.  They may fly off in a flurry at the very start because they may not be sure of your intentions, or they may befeeling particularly shy or self-conscious.  But once they realise that you are sincerely interested in them, they begin to respond and take an interest in you.

Once one bird gets the idea and starts  read more »

In this picture Vicky magpie has just landed on the branch with some food for the young chicks in her nest. 

The start of winter, i.e. June is the mating season for magpies.  By July the early breeders will have laid their eggs which usually hatch 4 weeks later.  The young hatchlings  spend a month in the nest developing and growing before they fledge.

Vicky is a late breeder. She doesn't lay her eggs until September and it is well into October before we see her fledgelings.

Magpies tend to keep the same nest over the years unless it is destroyed in a storm or other extreme circumstances.  But Vicky  has changed her nest quite often. 

The most remarkable time was when a few years ago she swapped nests with a crow.  The crows nests are bigger and stronger and she immediately got to work to line and soften the inside.  The crow on the other hand lost no time in reinforcing Vicky's old nest and making it more  read more »

After the tragic loss of three gorgeous chicks (and possibly more) Maggie and Vicky were happy to be blessed with Monty and Mindy from Vicky's second clutch in 2007. Sophie loved the pair dearly, they help her heal from her loss. Wendy was happy to have two younger playmates - but was a bit overwhelmed by them at times.  read more »

by Shirley Oelman

I have magpies that visit every now and then and would like to talk about them. 

They first came calling regularly in late July 2009.

 
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When Ron rescued a small bird running desperately for its life from a crow, little did he know how much joy and learning the day would bring.  The full story is in our blog A Lucky Rescue Makes A Happy Family and in the pictures below.

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