Mullens in the Morning.

This post is for World Bird Wednesday.

It was low tide the other morning when I went for a walk along the foreshore to the Mullens roost. I wanted an easy walk without having to carry a lot of weight so left the big 150-500mm lens at home. Oh well, we all make mistakes of that kind sometimes! There were small birds everywhere in the bushes and trees and the 70-300mm lens was just not long enough!
Because there is still a lot of blossom on the Paperbark trees there were numbers of honeyeaters around. The easiest to see in that area are the Mangrove Honeyeaters. This one stopped just long enough for a quick photo even though the light was not in the right direction.
There were also lots of Brown Honeyeaters flying around.
There were a number of other small birds flitting in and out of the Mangroves that are all around the edge of the salt marsh. I waited for quite some time hoping that one would stop where I could actually see it rather than just fly into the bushes where I could only see leaves moving. This is the best I did - not a clear photo of the bird but unmistakeable with that pale ring around the eye - a Silvereye.
The biggest surprise of the morning were a group of small waders that flew up ahead of me then dropped down into the saltmarsh plants again. I couldn't tell what they were just from their flight pattern but even a distant photo was enough to ID Black-fronted Dotterels. These are another of the small shorebirds that are resident in Australia. They are not common in this area although I had been told that there were two there a couple of months ago. There were at least 4 in the group I saw. I took better photos of one I saw out in SW Queensland last year and have posted that photo again.
The most colorful photo of the morning was of a Scarlet Honeyeater that flew high up into a dead tree and then sat up there and let me get a couple of distant photos against the deep blue of the sky.

Brown Honeyeaters Nest

Cold weather came suddenly this year and with the change in temperatures there was the usual outbreak of colds and flu. I have had a prolonged attack of flu and haven't even felt like walking around my yard to watch the birds that I could hear. Blog posts were something I didn't want to even think about :-(
Technically, May is counted as the last month of Autumn - but Autumn in the sub-tropics is certainly not the same as Autumn in other parts of the country or the world! Do away with any idea that birds nest in the spring-time. They are nesting right now!
My friend Helen phoned me a couple of weeks ago to tell me that there was a very tiny nest in a shrub right outside the window of her house. I was too sick to even want to go and look at that stage but when she phoned again the other day and told me that the parent birds - Brown Honeyeaters - were now feeding young ones I decided that it was time that I made the effort and started to get out of the house again. This morning I went and sat on her veranda and waited. The nest was in the shade and Helen said even later in the day it was still shaded.
Brown Honeyeaters are always noisy birds and they have a range of calls. I listened and sat still while they scolded and made warning cries from close by. Then they came a little closer and made their more melodious calls and finally came closer still and made their little contact calls. Patience paid off and they eventually came in to the nest and clung to the branch and fed the babies. The branch the nest is attached to is very small and the adult birds set it swinging wildly as they clung to it. Brown Honeyeaters are small - only 11-15cms long.
My bird book says that the Brown Honeyeater's nest is a deep cup of bark strips, grasses, plant down, wool, spiderwebs and cocoons. When I looked closely at the photos I had taken I could see the spiderwebs they had used at the top of the nest to help to attach it to the branch.
Click on the photos to enlarge them.
Photo of the nest cropped to show the spiderwebs at the top.
For more bird photos visit the Bird Photography Weekly.

Brown Honeyeater

Nearly every morning before it is light, one of these little birds starts singing in my yard. Brown Honeyeaters (Lichmera indistincta) are small - only 12-16cms - and easier to hear than see. However, the ones that are in my yard seem to be used to me and as long as I make gentle noises and let them know I am coming down their way they let me get quite close. This one was sitting in one of the Callistemon trees which is an Australian native tree. It was preening first one side then the other and finished up by reaching right over its back and catching its tail and giving that a good preen as well.
This little video has a Brown Honeyeater singing in one of the trees.

For more bird photos visit the Bird Photography Weekly.

Garden Birds

It's rather exciting to know that the plantings in my yard are now attracting small birds. When I first came here nearly 7 years ago there was nothing but overgrown grass and weeds. This was a new housing subdivision and everything had been leveled to make it easy to build. I put up wire fences to keep my dog and cat at home then started planting all the perimeters so I could look out at green growth rather than more houses. I noticed as I walked around the nearby streets that grevilleas attracted lots of honey-eating birds so they went in next. That brought in all the bigger honeyeaters and especially the Lorikeets. It wasn't until a year ago that I noticed another shrub that was attracting a lot of small birds. I found out it was another grevillea - Grevillea 'Orange Marmalade'- but with a much less showy flower. I immediately bought one from the nursery and planted it. Now this is where I see the smaller birds on most days. Of course the trees that I planted have also now grown to a good height and the small birds fly up into these if they feel threatened.
The Brown Honeyeaters came into the garden even before I had planted much that attracted them and they have kept coming. They frequently go into the bigger grevillea flowers but seem to prefer the smaller flowers on the Grevillea 'Orange Marmalade'. For the last couple of months White-throated Honeyeaters have also been coming in regularly. I seldom saw them before this. They only come into the Grevillea 'Orange Marmalade'.Now I am starting to look at the front garden again. I planted a number of flowering trees and shrubs there but none of them seem to attract the birds. I wonder if there is room for just a few more shrubs that will bring the birds into that part of the yard as well?
For more bird photos visit the Bird Photography Weekly.

Honeyeaters in the Early Morning.

A few months ago I was very pleased to see and hear Brown Honeyeaters in my garden. At first there were only a couple of birds at a time but now I think they must have raised a family and brought them back to my garden to visit and to take advantage of all the flowering trees. Most mornings now I hear them busily chattering and can see them flying around amongst the various trees and shrubs that are flowering right now. They seem quite used to me watching them and when I mimic their contact call which sounds like a little tongue click they look up but then simply get on with what they have been doing.
This morning it is very bright and sunny and these are some photos I have just now taken.
This bird sat just behind the branches and preened and then shook out its feathers.
Having finished its morning 'brush-up' it needed some nectar. Sorry I don't know what the tree is - I grew it from one that had sprouted under a similar tree in a neighbor's yard.
A close-up of the bird's head shows pollen all over its face and neck. Hardly surprising when it pokes its long beak so far down in the flower. (You will definitely need to click on the image and enlarge it to see the pollen.)
It moved around a number of flowers. Rather nice, I would think, to be able to choose the precise texture and flavor of an early morning feed!
It looked right at me as if to say "Are you still there?"

Brown Honeyeaters and Grevillea Flowers

Part A: The Birds
These Brown Honeyeaters are quite common around my area but they are so small and fast that they are more often heard than seen. They start singing before it even gets light and have a very loud song for such a little bird. They have a range of calls including a very soft contact call that is like a tongue click. This bird is in an 'Orange Marmalade' Grevillea bush which is growing in a friend's yard.
They were constantly flying in and then off again while I was watching and I managed a rather blurred flight photo as one flew off.
The video has the sound of the Brown Honeyeater. It was taken outside a friend's house which has a Paperbark Tree just coming into flower in the front yard. There was a Brown Honeyeater singing in the tree and another one answering from close by – as well as a dog barking somewhere in the distance!

For more bird photos visit the Bird Photography Weekly

Part B: The Grevillea
Some time ago Denis over at The Nature of Robertson challenged me to try some macro photography on some of the grevilleas in my yard. He also very patiently told me what to look for and gave suggestions about photographing. Thanks Denis for your help and encouragement. I now have a much better idea of the difficulties of macro work – even harder than photographing an LBJ! I also know from practical experience the limitations of both my lens and my own photographic technique. Again – practice and patience required!

Grevillea 'Orange Marmalade' is a cross between G. venusta and G. glossadenia. It is one of the group known as “cat's paw” grevilleas. I planted it less than a year ago in my garden because I saw the number of birds that it attracted to a neighbour's yard. It is an open shrub which grows 2.5m tall by 2m wide. The flowers are certainly not as showy as other common grevilleas but the small birds seem to like it even more.
The flowers are short terminal racemes. When they first appear they are a green color and the style is tightly tucked into the floral tube (perianth). In this photo the styles are just beginning to come out of the of the perianths. The top part of the flower has ones where the style is not visible at all. The styles are covered with long brown hairs and the leaf (on the lower left of the photo) is also covered with grey hairs.
In this next photo the flower tubes are now an orange color and the styles are springing out of the perianths. The base of the style has tufts of brown and grey hairs. The style does not spring out of the perianth until it has been polinated from other flowers. This staged development avoids self-pollination.
The styles stand right out from the rest of the flower and the perianth is now swelling at its base with developing seeds.
Looking at the perianth from a different angle the anthers are clearly visible. The tufty hairs at the base of the style (top of the photo) are clear.
A seed pod developing. The floral tube has all dropped off although the style is still attached.
Unfortunately my photo skills were not good enough to show pollen on the presenter at the end of the style. I also could not find any fully developed seed pods on the plant. Maybe it is too soon to expect that, as it has only been flowering a little while.

Brown Honeyeater in the garden

Of all the birds that pass through my garden the Brown Honeyeater is the hardest to ignore. Its song is certainly the loudest per body weight of any other bird. However, it is so small that I usually find it is hard to see among the tree leaves unless it obligingly breaks into song right in front of me.
Yesterday I had been listening to and intermittently trying to photograph a couple of these birds. Then I heard such a noise! It was the harsh sound that the bird makes for alarm or distress and there was such a fuss going on that it had to be more than one bird. I hurried out and tracked the birds from one bush and tree to another. There were three of them and making such a noise! They were so intent on each other that I got quite close to them before they even saw me and then one flew away. The other two immediately started to settle down. There were still a few bursts of harsh noise but when these were not answered they settled down and started on the important job of finding honey in the flowers of a banksia plant.
So what was I seeing and hearing? Was this a matter of three being a crowd - prior to mating and breeding? I don't even know when the nesting season happens in my area. I still find the seasons in this tropical area where I now live so very different! I am hoping that some of the Aussie nature bloggers will be able to give me some answers.

A Brown Honeyeater hidden among the leaves and singing loudly.
Hanging upside down on a banksia flower.
Please let me see a front view!
Finally one clear view.
Poor DOF but a record shot to show the two birds.

Unexpected.

Part of the fun of birding is that one never knows exactly what to expect. This morning I went for a walk at low tide expecting to see shorebirds out feeding on the exposed sand banks - and there were none! Instead I saw and photographed a bird that has been impossible to photograph until now - a Grey Fantail. These birds are quite common - so what have I done wrong? This morning one came and sat and looked at me - and even spent a while preening - so I guess finally it was just the right time and the right place. Of course next time it would be nice to get photos without dappled shade on the bird!
Just to make the morning even better a Brown Honeyeater sat on a top branch in clear view long enough for me to get photos.
Another 'unexpected' morning - soon - would be great!