Suburban White-necked heron

Over the last 18 months White-necked heron seem to be popping up more frequently in southern Victoria. I went several years prior to this without seeing one at all.

They are even appearing in in the suburbs. This one was spotted at a man-made chain of ponds fed by freeway run-off alongside Heatherdale Creek in Ringwood (Melbourne, Victoria - see geotag).

White-necked heron Ardea pacifica in non-breeding plumage. There is a little of the plum colouring that would indicate a breeding bird but the absence of colour on the breast and line of spots down the front of the neck tell otherwise.

White-necked heron beside the Eastlink bike trail, Ringwood

A very "suburban" view!

In my earlier years I remember this bird going by the name Pacific heron which somehow seems a better name! Some sightings data ....

2001 and 2004 look to be the best years in recent times for White-necked heron in Victoria (screen grab from www.eremaea.com data). The data also suggests that the spring months September - November are the most likely.

And a few other birds photographed this day ...

New Holland honeyeater

Eurasian coot

Pacific black duck

Bird on!

There for the "ticking"! Red-browed finch

I'm sure many birders wonder about birds they've unwittingly walked past or under without realising. It must happen every day. We do rely on movement or noise.

I had just turned away from photographing a New Holland Honeyeater to spot a group of a dozen or so finch feeding on the grass within metres of me. A couple of birds obligingly perched briefly then returned to the fray.

I turned from photographing this New Holland honeyeater and encountered these finch

The striking thing was that after this introduction they disappeared but without flying away. Whatever interested them was deep enough in the grass root and stem system to require a little grass "burrowing". I was about 5 metres from the birds but couldn't get a clear view of them!

The birds are here at the bottom left of the picture but can't be seen!

From a distance the grass did not appear long. This is a parkland adjacent to a freeway and transmission lines. There is a bike trail with a steady flow of cyclists. The scene made me ponder just how often I might walk, jog or cycle past an unseen something I would happily stop for!

I spent some 20 minutes waiting for some individual shots!

Red-browed finch

What's Mick got?

Bird on!

Birdin' in da city

I grabbed 45 minutes to visit the very metropolitan Westgate Park, Port Melbourne. Of the pictures taken I was most pleased with this shot of an Australasian grebe.

Australasian grebe Tachybaptus novaehollandiae

"Aargh! My reflective toupee has come off" 

I'm not sure why the bill of this New Holland Honeyeater looks over-sized! 

That's a little more like it!

Chestnut teal and Pacific Black Duck looked very much at home

Pacific black duck - motoring towards a prospective feed - none forthcoming!

As I was leaving I spotted this dull bird I take to be a Golden whistler (female / immature)

I invite you to click the Location geotag to see where Westgate Park fits into this very industrial area nestled amongst freeway, port and factories.

A little Instagram filter action happening in this shot!

Bird on!

Lorikeets in the Silver Princess

I always assumed that the gorgeous small tree Silver Princess Eucalyptus caesia was a nursery-created hybrid for gardens. Not so! I read today that it is found naturally in granite outcrops of southern Western Australia (Australian Native Plants Society E. caesia page). In our winter and spring months the gumnuts swell and burst their caps revealing pretty flowers laden with nectar.

Rainbow lorikeets are not found in the wheatbelt region of WA but they certainly know what to do with a flowering Silver princess eucalypt.

Rainbow lorikeet enjoying Silver princess nectar. Several stages of flowering evident here.

Each winter and spring this tree in our front yard receives attention from passing lorikeets so long as they can tolerate the militant Noisy miners!

From mid June this tree replaces our autumn-flowering Queensland firewheel tree as the tree of choice for nectar lovers in our yard.

I am reminded that this little blog's very first post in 2010 features similar scenes! Now 187 posts later I'm still trotting out the same stuff!

It's quite enchanting watching the birds clamber amongst the branches. The clumps of flowers are sparsely distributed and there is a little game to be had positioning oneself for that close shot. The fun is getting a good angle and proximity to a flowering branch the lorikeets have their eye on. You gently get there first and they come to you! Here are a couple of shots showing use of the bill to navigate through the pendulous foliage.

My what a long tail you have!

As you can see I did not hold back with the number of shots and found it hard to cut down to this "short" list!

You can see video of these birds by visiting the blog of my nephew Moses. At 9 years of age he is becoming an excellent birder and can ID a raptor better than me hands down! On Sunday he posted a short video of the Red-collared Rainbow lorikeet sub-species feeding near Darwin which is at the other end of the continent! He would love you to visit!

Sharing with Wild Bird Wednesday

Bird on!

Treecreepers deep in The 100 Acres

I have visited this reserve in the Melbourne suburb of Park Orchards on a few occasions now. On each visit I have enjoyed getting lost in the myriad of marked and unmarked trails! Imaginatively called "The 100 Acres" the reserve is sometimes described as containing "preserved bushland". The educational signage points out that the area had been developed for farming and orchards in the 1800s. Bob Padula provides a little of the reserve's history in his bushwalking blog here.

On this day White-throated treecreeper caught my eye (well actually my ear in the first instance, the incessant piping making its presence very obvious). I followed it to this tree where it spent a good two minutes picking some sort of nutrition from this .... is it a fungus? The bird appeared to be extracting insects from this thing apparently growing from a flaw in the tree some 3 metres above the ground.

White-throated treecreeper (26 June 2013)
Whatever this growth was, it's underside had endured quite a bit of earlier pecking!

Whenever I get a chance to photograph treecreepers I do love enlarging the view of those amazing claws. Not great pictures here but do have a look!

White-throated treecrepeer Cormobates leucophaea with a snack

Superb fairy-wren eclipse male (female below)

Grey shrike-thrush

Golden whistler (female)

I reckon this map only represents half of the trails that you come across. Conversely a few that are marked here are actually quite overgrown. This does all result in a feeling of exploration and isolation in suburbia! 

There is quite a nice collection of birds to be seen here. Being near my home, The 100 Acres provides my closest reliable vantage point for some of these species! The Eremaea species list also provides a good description of the habitat(s):

"Significant bushland remnant, contains five communities of native plants which include stringy bark/box peppermint open forest on the ridges and southern slopes; red box open forest on exposed northern slopes in the eastern section; candlebark open forest on lower north-west slopes and on north-east and south-east slopes; manna gum/swamp gum in gullies and aquatic communities scattered on stream lines. Located in the suburb of Park Orchards in the north-east of Melbourne. Melway Map 35 F9. 24-hour public access. Criss-crossed with walking tracks."

Other links:

• There's been a bit of a local newspaper debate (read "whinge") about the prohibition of off-lead dogs in the reserve.
• Manningham Council's 2010 Draft Management Plan for The 100 Acres includes references to weed control, planting of native vegetation, dog walking restrictions etc. On page 103 there is a bird list.

Bird on!