Nest Building

September is spring in Sydney. The flowers bloom ( if we get rain) and the birds start to nest. Its been a while since we've had one nest so close. We have had the magpies, the crows and the willy wag tails nest in the gum trees of our neighbours yard in the past, but these have been cut down now and the birds have moved to the park.

Over the last few days I have seen the turtle doves around. They have been feeding on the back lawn, walking all over the roof of the garage next door, along the fence between us and our neighbours, and fluttering in my climbing rose.

This morning I saw one with a twig in his beak. Mmmmmm................... building a nest! I wonder where.

Earlier this morning I was taking some things to the bin and heard them fluttering again in the climbing rose , so I decided to investigate. Low and behold they are building their nest in amongst all the thorns! I've seen them since with more twigs, jumping from the roof of the garage onto the fence, then into the rose bush. So they have not been deterred by my finding them.

So..... I will watch this space, and try to keep my Fluffball away. She does know that they are there.

Yellow Tailed Black Cocatoo

On a recent trip away to one of my favourite places, I spied these yellow tailed black cockatoos. Here they were making use of the bird bath supplied next door. They had had their drink, and were getting ready to fly.

There were only two in this pic, but at the time there were three flying around. In the past I have seen up to eight in a group in a nearby location.

We get lots of the sulphur crested cockatoos at home, but these ones are rare at home, so it was great to capture them with the lens.

Windy Weather

Spring in Sydney brings very changeable and unpredictable weather. Yesterday was supposed to be a hot day, ending with thunderstorms in the late afternoon. As days went, it was warm and cloudy, but not hot. The storms, when they came, brought us a little rain, but not much else. It looked menacing on the way home, but a few drops of rain and a little wind was all we got.

Later in the night it was a different story. The wind howled around as it rattled everything in it's path, and the rain came tumbling down. Everything was safe though, or so I thought.

This morning when I went to go out, I found this birds nest on my back lawn. There were three nests  in the neighbour's gum tree, and on closer inspection it was the kurrawong's nest that was missing. The two crow's nests at the very top of the tree were both still there.

On close inspection again, I could see two baby kurrawongs sitting in the tree. Babies because their tail feathers are not very long. I only managed to get one baby in the photo though, and he is being protected very well by one of his parents. I am not sure how well they can fly yet, I will watch and observe.

A Garden View

Another view of the lake and garden in the grounds of the Golden Temple. I am not sure what the bird is, it could be a crane but I don't think his neck is long enough. He looks quite at home here surveying his kingdom.

Galahs Pt 2

There were actually two galahs that came visiting, obviously having breakfast on the bark. Once again the quality is poor due to zooming & cropping.

Galah

We only get visits from the galahs occasionally so when we do I try to capture them with the camera. I could hear them squawking but it took me a while to find them hiding in the gum tree down the back. I apologise for the quality, I had to zoom & crop.

Nest Building

It's that time of year again, nest building time for the crows. This would have to be about the fifth year in a row that they have made their home in the big gum tree next door. I must admit I think it is still a little early, but I guess by the time they finish building, lay & incubate eggs, the worst of winter will be hopefully over. Here we can see one of them on next door's garage roof, with a beak full of bark that was gathered from my back yard.

Visitor In Pink

Look who was sitting up high watching me below. I first saw him from my back door, then went to get the camera, expecting him to be gone by the time I got back. Lucky me, he was still there, but watched me warilly. I got my pics, went away to do something else, came back to check & he was still there, so I got still more pics, even closer than before. Something is up, he is either cold, tired, wet, sick or old, otherwise he would have flown. We quite often see these galahs around, but they rarely stay sill long enough for the camera. I sure do hope he is OK.

Pretty In Crimson

Occasionally we visits from the crimson rosellas, but usually by the time I get the camera out, they fly. Last week I was lucky enough to get a shot (or two) of one sitting in the power lines out the front. He watched carefully as I took his pic but once again flew before I go too close. I'll have to see what I can do to get him closer more often.

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Rainbow Lorikeets Pt 4

Oops, I'm being watched!

Rainbow Lorikeets Pt 3

Mmmmmmm................................ it tastes better further down.

Rainbow Lorikeets Pt 2

Mmmmm.........................

Rainbow Lorikeets Pt 1

A Rare Treat

The birds were making a huge racket this morning. Currawongs, noisy minors & the crows were all going to town. Then I heard the cause, a kookaburra. We rarely get to see the kookaburras in this part of Sydney, so it was a treat to hear him. So racing with the camera to see if I could get a pic, I followed the lead of all the birds that were fluttering around in the gum tree and found him. I only managed one pic before the other birds chased him away. You will need to look in the center of the pic to find him & hopefully if you click on the pic it will enlarge so you can see better.

Exploring Sydney - Parramatta River

Although I have lived in Sydney for quite some years now, there is still a lot of this city & surrounds that I have not seen. So last weekend we took the rivercat from Parramatta to Circular Quay. The mangroves & the birds line the upper reaches, in between the industries at Rose Hill & Silverwater,

then give way to housing with million dollar views from Rhodes all the way down to the city & beyond.

The views of the city are vastly different looking from west to east, and at some point the name changes from Parramatta River to Sydney Harbour.

About an hour later the rivercat docked at Circular Quay, where with local ferries, train station, & overseas terminal we can go any where. But who would want to when the harbour looks like this?

Bye Bye Birdie

There are only so many camera clicks a bird can take.

After The Rain

The gum trees in my neighbour's yard have come out in flower. I am not sure whether this is a time thing (should take more notice) or wheter it is because of all the rain we have had. Anyway, the bees are having a field day, as are the Rainbow Lorikeets. They arrive before sunrise to feed on the flowers, maybe a flock of about 60 of them. The screech & play in the trees for a while, fly away & give my ears a rest for a while, them come back again. They do this quite a few times during the day. They are pretty to see, but hard to catch on the camera as the zoom lens is not quite big enough & the trees are the height of a five story building.

Turkey Watch

Away from the heat now & into a rainforrest. This turkey sat on the fence as we entered the skywalk at Dorrigo National Park last year. More info on Australian Brush Turkeys can be found here.

A Kookaburra

I love the sound of the kookaburras, they always seem to laugh when we do something stupid, it is like they are watching us, waiting for us to do something silly just so they can laugh. It also takes me back to my child hood, when we used to have them around home all the time. In my part of Sydney, there are few of these birds. We hear them sometimes, but they are rare in this section of town. I saw this one on a recent trip away. Check out this page for more information, and scroll right down, nearly to the bottom to click on the "Call in MP3 fromat " to hear their laugh.

A Visitor

Look who came for a visit. Obviously this pidgeon was on a home flying trip & needed a rest. He stayed on my path for quite a while & let me get quite close to take this pic. At first I wondered if he was hurt, but then I noticed the band around his leg, and figured he was just having a rest. I never saw him fly, but he was gone later when I checked. I am sure he could tell some great stories about his adventures if he could talk.