aussiebirder: Recent Episodes
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Welcome to our website for the study and appreciation of Australian birds and their interesting behaviours.
Continuing our recent western NSW tour of the Corner Country I will present some more of the birds unique to this region of Australia. The three main bushes that populate our desert regions in the outback are Saltbush, Mallee and Mulga. Each has its own areas of habitation. Most of our colourful Parrot family live in the driest hottest arid […]
My wife and I recently visited and explored the arid wild west outback region of our state from Broken Hill to Cameron Corner, where NSW, South Australia and Queensland state borders meet. We took the 14 hour Silver City Express train journey inland to Broken Hill from Sydney and the one week Silver City Tour of Broken Hill, Menindee Lakes, […]
Spring has come around again for us who hang from the bottom of the globe here in the Great South Land or the-land-down-under of Aus or Oz as it is better known. Our beautiful and very active and accurate flying Rainbow Lorikeet parrot species are busy mating and searching for suitable real estate to nest in as it is very […]
The Australian Wood Duck from my personal observations over the years is the most faithful partner and father of the birds I have observed. When the male finds its partner for life they become inseparable, and will always be seen grazing, nesting, raising the young and resting together. With Father’s Day only just last Sunday, here in Australia, I thought […]
Last weekend we took a road trip up the Mid North Coast to Forster to witness my granddaughter’s witness of faith in baptism in the ocean rock formation known as The Tanks, It was lightly raining but this did not deter the 7 young people who testified to their faith in Jesus, witnessed by around 60 onlookers. While we were […]
We are having unusually hot days and nights as we approach the close of Winter, and in Australia it is customary to enjoy an early Spring display of flowers in our National Parks and Reserves. On my walk today I hardly saw or heard a bird, and the ones I did hear were not visible but for a few. Here […]
The Grey Butcherbird and is Pied cousin are two species of Australia’s most melodic songbirds. We are blessed having a family clan regularly visit our backyard bird baths and sing to us. Many generations of Butcherbird have visited from juvenile to adult, each being trained by example to navigate the washing and drinking process. Here is an adult Grey Butcherbird […]
Another beautiful warm Winter’s day, so my wife and I took a walk by the Georges River which flows into famous Botany Bay in southern Sydney. There were not many species seen since most of our migrant wader birds are doing winter in Alaska and Siberia where they are currently breeding. They will return early Spring. However, we did see […]
While we enjoyed a few days of glorious warm winter weather, my wife and I decided to have a birding date to our local Royal National Park (the Nasho) to see if the birds had returned after a long wet spell. Though many parts of the tracks were still wet, they were passable. We could hear that many of the […]
Having had a rather quiet year so far, not having travelled, since our traumatic ordeal last year, my wife and I took the opportunity to take a luxury escape deal to a resort down the south coast to the little seaside town of Mollymook and at the same time catch a concert of the an amazing and famous James Morrison […]
How lovely to have a day of warm sunshine with no wind or rain, quite a blessing ! These winter days are more greatly appreciated after weeks of wet cloudy unpredictable weather at a time when it is normally blue skies and sunshine. My wife and I set out on a much anticipated birding date picnic to local Sydney Olympic […]
As the unseasonable rain and winter cold continue to make our birding adventures unpredictable, often leaving many tracks impassable, I decided to share one of our many fruit eating rainforest birds, namely the Australasian Figbird, which is also in a family that includes the Olive-backed and Yellow Oriole, more migratory birds. which look very similar, and at times can be […]
This week following the continuing challenge of post deluge affected forests and the absence of many bird species, I thought it good to showcase the Gerygone family (pronounced: Ger-ig-on-ee after the sound of the call it makes). Despite the wet unseasonable conditions the Brown Gerygone continues to be present in our National Park, alongside its cousin the Brown Thornbill. All […]
While this may not be the right time of year to discuss the Rainbow Bee-eater, as it has migrated north for winter because it loves the warmth of the summer and desert heat, it is a bird seldom posted. This time of year the migratory population of Rainbow Bee-eater are already spending winter in far northern Queensland and WA, and […]
This week’s focus is on the two species of Spoonbill resident in Australia. The Spoonbill has a large spoon-like bill which has many vibration detectors, called papillae, on the inside of the spoon of their bill, which allow the bird to feel for their prey even in murky water and can feed by day or night. Once food is caught, […]
It has been a challenging couple of weeks for my wife and I passing through a Covid infection followed by the death of my Auntie, my brother and I care for. Birding has been on hold with the extremely unseasonable wet weather in the past weeks and these most recent challenges. I thought it time to share one of our […]
The weather has been classic crisp, cloudless, sunny Autumn weather at last, after the week long deluge. Not a lot of passerines about during this change of season, as many have not only fled the colder weather but also the rain. Here are some of our finding on our most recent birding date. See how well this Fairy-wren hides amongst […]
After a week of unseasonable torrential rain, I managed to get out and about as we were becoming like hermits again at home in an almost deja-vu post-Covid feeling. After a coffee at the cafe, I ventured out alone detouring around large puddles and flowing water in our local National Park, only to be disappointed as most of the birds […]
This week my post is dedicated to good parenting, being the special time of year we honor, celebrate, treat and appreciate our mothers. Bird mothers are extremely devoted in their nesting and parenting duties and when required also sacrificial in the giving of themselves for the welfare of their young. They set an excellent example for us humans. Their skills […]
We have had a week of unseasonable Autumn rain, and we face another week of the same, which is not compatible with our birding dates. However, we did enjoy a few of the beautiful classic crisp days before the rain, though bird numbers were certainly lower this year making the forest much quieter. We saw this Tawny Frogmouth alone and […]
Last week the Powerful Owls had gathered for breeding. As I shared, many Australian birds breed during the Winter months. One bird starting to take residence again is the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo. Below is a clip of it defending its nest and using its alarm tactics to ward off perceived intruders. You will notice the wing flapping and squawking which is […]
The cooler Winter months of Autumn herald the beginning of the breeding season for many raptor species. You may remember my posts from last year where I tracked two local species, the Collared Sparrowhawk and Australia’s largest Owl, the Powerful Owl, both which nest annually in the same park, and the owl in the same tree hole. It is wise […]
As the season turns and the beautiful Autumn days return, we notice on our recent birding date, as we walk through our local National Park that since the Summer migrant birds have left, the Winter migrants are beginning to return. While some bird species such as the Scarlet Honeyeater have been here most of the year, which is unusual, in […]
Many of you may have heard on recent news reports of the destructive deluge, known as a rain bomb, that dropped its load on the Sydney area and surrounds last weekend, throwing all means of transport into chaos. Some areas had over 300mm rain in several hours, others over 200. We managed by God’s grace to drive through the thick […]
As we enjoy this beautiful crisp and sunny Autumn weather, we took the opportunity to include a couple of birding dates both riverside and in our local parks. We walked along the river walkway in Botany Bay at Doll’s Point as families were out and about enjoying the day together. We checked again on the Bar-tailed Godwit to see how […]
As the seasons turn, the weather is changing, birds are on the move and our coastal forest is left with fewer birds than have ever been experienced. The only three birds of any note we saw on our last walk together in our local nature reserve were one male Tawny Frogmouth, one Rufous Fantail and many Grey Butcherbird. We did […]
Yes, Autumn is the wonderful change of seasons, and for birds all over the world the flyways become busy as migratory species move to warmer or cooler climates to breed. The Bar-tailed Godwit, my favorite wader (shorebird) as many of you know, is once again preparing for its 16,000 km flight back to Alaska and Siberia mainly via the Asian […]
It’s Autumn again here, and the cool mornings is starting to sneak in around the hot days. It is also our wedding anniversary, and since we are not going away to celebrate this year we thought a lovely brekkie at our favorite National Park cafe and a morning bird walk (birding date as we call it) would help to celebrate […]
We are back visiting Wagga Wagga again in the south west of our state, where we were caring for my wife’s sister in recovery from recent surgery. First impressions around the usually green grassed lake area under the river gums, were dry dying grasses and a lake that was slowly receding. Our last visit in late November saw a very […]
This week I have a post with a difference, highlighting Australian wildlife road warning signs, which I have not posted for many years. Since that time more new signs have been added from our travels from all over our great expansive nation. If you have travelled all over our country you will know that most places are long distances apart […]
Another walk through our now very quiet forest, devoid of the calls of many of the Summer birds, with just a few of the regulars, and of course the raucous screech of the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo and the noisy chatter of the Rainbow Lorikeet always present from time to time. As they nest and roost in many angophora trees in our […]
Another weekend and another group of friends to introduce to birding. One of the advantages of taking our non birding friends birding, and introduce them to our healthy recreational hobby, is that they often sight birds for us. We commenced by having a coffee at the park cafe where we saw this Sulphur-crested Cockatoo trying to get table service. Our […]
Since ‘Spring has Sprung !’ here in Aussieland, the Great South Land, it is the ideal time to take friends and family out for a bird walk, to introduce them to the joys and delights of bird spotting and just enjoying the peace and tranquility of the bush and the sounds of the birds as they call and beckon one […]
This week for a change we will focus on a very unique group of Australian birds known as Babblers, named accordingly for what sounds like a noisy continuous chattering babble as they busily and quickly move among the trees communicating among their small family clan. They can be a challenge to photograph when they are on the move, and shy […]
Last Sunday morning, my wife and I decided we needed a 6 km walk, so we headed off to our local National Park where I have blogged many previous birding adventures. It was an absolutely perfect windless warm Winter’s day, and many families and couples were availing themselves of the day by also enjoying the park’s main walking track. We […]
The days begin to warm as the early Australian Bush Spring begins to blossom with the emergence of our bright Spring flora. When the Golden Wattle comes out it means Spring is just around the corner. This last few weeks has been very exciting for us Aussies as our Matilda Woman’s World Cup Soccer Team have hosting the World Cup […]
It was a quiet walk, with the usual sounds of the Winter Honeyeaters feeding from the canopy of the tall eucalypt trees at our local national park. The calls of the Yellow-faced Honeyeater and the Scarlet Honeyeater rang through the forest as they dined from the backs of eucalypt leaves on lerps high in the canopy, too difficult for us […]
Last weeks post has now been added as a new website page called: Australian Birds in Community Check out my website Home Page to discover all my birding information if you have not already done so and learn more about our amazing Australian birds and how best to make a pleasurable and healthy recreational past time of Birding. The feature […]
Birds are very intelligent creatures and share many traits common to us humans. Many species of Australian birds, which are non migratory, live the whole year round in communities or territories in a similar way to our towns and cities, where they share common resources. Bird communities vary in bird species due to the habitat or territory that they share, […]
During the recent school holidays my third grandson asked to come and stay with us a few days. Of course he knew some birding would be in the itinerary. So with binoculars ready my wife and I took our grandson birding. We decided to do a rainforest walk under the thicker canopy, hoping to see classic rainforest birds such as […]
Another walk by the Shorebird Reserve on the riverfront at low tide brought into view a bird we seldom see during winter. and occasionally during the Summer months, the Grey-tailed Tattler. A small family group were working the shoreline in the late afternoon. Similar to the Bar-tailed Godwit, this is normally a migratory bird which migrates to Russia and Alaska […]
We have been enjoying some beautiful crisp, clear, warm Winter days so far, and it has been ideal for Winter birding in our area. My wife and I thought to take our birding date along the tidal river mudflats to see what birds have stayed over from the Autumn migration, and of course stop in for a hot chocolate along […]
On another clear crisp Winters day I took a health walk in our local park to check out the progress of the resident Powerful Owl nest, which I have showcased in recent posts. At first a few birders, including myself could not see him viewing the nest on a branch deep within the mangroves branch opposite the nest. While discussing […]
Last week we went to the beach where we usually check out our Summer migratory shorebirds, in particular, the Bar-tailed Godwit. This bird has the yearly record for being the bird that flies about 16,000 km over 6 – 8 days without stopping, from Alaska to Australia directly over the Pacific Ocean. However, being Winter, we were checking the beach […]
This week we will showcase some of the birds that have the amazing ability to survive and flourish in Australia’s most arid dry desert regions. We shall see how Intelligent Design has equipped these same birds to enable their existence and favoring for these vast dry regions, making up most of Australia. What makes these regions so appealing to them […]
This weeks post will showcase one of Australia’s smallest birds the Spotted and Striated Pardalotes. This unusual little bird spends most of its life high inside the canopy of tall eucalypt trees feeding almost exclusively on lerps, tree lice larvae and insects. It is difficult to see because it is not only the size of a eucalypt leaf, it actually […]
My wife and I returned a week later to revisit the Powerful Owl nest we posted last week, to find the male sitting in the same tree well back hidden among the mangroves, where he was able with his keen eyesight, to view the nesting hole directly through the trees, inside which the female would be nesting. This time he […]
As one week elapses since my recent surgery, we thought it time to take a walk in our local birding park, so we set off and commenced walking on our usual track to the ponds. As we approached our track, there was an eerie silence, which remained as we walked. The usual noisy and rowdy birds were not calling.It was […]
Another glorious Autumn day and an opportunity to seize the day and get in another birding date and a long healthy walk among tall trees. We packed our turkey and cranny rolls, filled our Thermoses and set out to our local Royal National Park. This is Australia’s first national park, and the world’s second, originally known as The National Park […]
On a beautiful warm Autumn day my wife and I drove to a birding spot in western Sydney called Wianamatta Nature Reserve, which is managed by NSW National Parks. This was originally part of the Australian Defense Force communications station, but after its abandonment was allowed to restore to its original habitat and given back to the people and flora […]
Anzac Day is a sacred day to Aussies and Kiwis, as we commemorate those who gave their lives for our freedom during the many wars over the last hundred and more years. My dad was one of them, though he did return home alive, his PTSD destroyed the quality of his life as a husband and father. We are all […]
This week we will take an aside from my normal posts to highlight the beautiful and varied plumage of a class of bird in our Parrot family genus: Platycercus, meaning ‘broad or flat tailed’ parrot. These birds are greatly loved for their colour, especially by international visitors. Rosella have a varied diet mainly of seeds (grass), fruit, flowers, berries, buds, […]
Yesterday my wife and I took a walk in our local Royal NP (the Nasho) after several weeks. It was a perfect Autumn day for a walk and thankfully our track, while many boggy water filled patches remained from previous rains, these areas were easily negotiable. Many of the birds we usually see and hear were not seen or heard, […]
Last Tuesday after the Easter weekend, on a most splendid Autumn day, feeling much better, I took my wife on a Birding Date, and much needed walk along the waterfront of Botany Bay, Sydney. We stopped at ‘Kiss the Barrister’ beach-side Cafe for a coffeencake where we viewed the vista of the bay. After which we proceeded along the walkway. […]
Some of my followers may have wondered why my posts have been a bit scant of new material of late. Sadly, this has been to my poor health and current pneumonia infection which is taking longer than expected to leave, with other heart complications. However, I am ever thankful to God and for my beautiful faithful loving caring wife and […]
Australia has three out of the six species of Corella found in the world. The Little, the Long-billed and the Western Corella are endemic to Australia and are subspecies of the White Cockatoo (genus Cacactua). These birds are one of the most playful of birds, particularly the Little Corella, which are also found in some of the largest flocks of […]
My wife and I recently spent some time exploring the coastal areas of the south coast of our state which were gravely affected by the devastating bushfires of the recent years. The resilient bush is bursting forth out of the blackened forest, and some of the millions of birds, those not incinerated, the survive rs, were present to greet us. […]
The recent torrential rain event devastated the tracks and river banks of our local National Park, as it did other parks and reserves in the area. Deep gouging, flooding and depositing of river sand and forest debris resulted in expensive ruination of these public facilities. The National Parks Visitor Centre where my books are sold was flooded and closed when […]
Good Birding requires both sound hearing and sharp eyesight, as explained on my 5 Steps to Better Birding page. Sadly for myself over the last few months the visual aspect has become extremely challenging for me. It was such a blessing having the young astute eyes of my grandchildren to assist during their recent stays. However, increasing visual impairment due […]
This week I want to share some great reads highlighting recent research and interesting studies on our Aussie birds. As some of you know I have a Books on Birds page on this website with some of the books I have found helpful. I am currently reading another most interesting book by groundbreaking author Gisela Kaplan, who is Professor at […]
My wife and I enjoyed another walk through our local reserve yesterday, and again it was quiet and the absence or reduction in numbers of small birds, other than Miners noted. We immediately made our way to the Collared Sparrowhawk nest, where we heard the cries of the young Sparrowhawks, now flying and attempting to hunt around the nest area, […]
This week my granddaughter from the country, spent time with us here in the city during her school holiday break. Last month two of my grandsons did likewise. This was an excellent opportunity to introduce her to birding. Thankfully she was already excited about doing one of our birding adventures, as she had heard from her brother how much he […]
Continuing from my last post, and a week of unseasonably cold, wild, wet windy weather like we have not seen this side of Summer, we decided when the sun finally reemerged, to revisit the Collared Sparrowhawk fledglings and see how much they had grown. We managed to sight them feeding high above the track in a eucalypt. It was easy […]
What a better start to our New Year than a New Years Day birding walk in our local Oatley Park Reserve. As we walked along the track we were both aware of an eerie silence – there were no birds calling, no not one. The only sound of the occasional Sulphur-crested Cockatoo screeching, which was normal for them. We noticed […]
As another Christmas comes around in what has been another challenging year for us all, and continues to be for many, it is an opportunity to refresh ourselves as to its true meaning and implication. I had my grandsons come and stay and go out birding with my wife and I this week which was a wonderful experience for both […]
As most of you know my wife and I take a 5 hour journey to the inland country city of Wagga Wagga several times a year to visit her family. While there we always do an early bird walk around the lake, which many locals either run, walk or ride around for exercise. It is a lovely walk which is […]
The decline in migratory shorebird numbers is becoming alarming. The Eastern Curlew is but one of many shorebirds that has a conservation status of: Threatened. Fewer numbers are returning each Spring. In fact some have decided to actually stay over and spend the whole year on our beaches and river tidal flats for they know the journey north has become […]
Being the first days of Summer, we thought it right that we should have a birding date walk and coffee, along the Georges River waterfront to check out the return of our migratory waders, the Bar-tailed Godwit, which appear on our river flats at low tide and should have returned several weeks ago. To our disappointment and concern we saw […]
The weather has not been all that kind for birds here this Spring and many species we have previously seen in Spring have not returned, as I shared last week. So as I took a mindful walk through my local Oatley Park last week, I focused in on some the beautiful common sights and simply appreciated them. As I commenced […]
It was a lovely sunny day for a change after weeks of rain and wild weather so my wife and I took a birding date to Olympic Park Reserve, Sydney. This park was constructed to host, recreate and house the 2000 Olympic Games. It is extensive, having many walking and riding trails through parks, mangroves and around lakes, and is […]
Some of my blog readers will recall in my last post how I mentioned our state government had back-flipped on a Conservation bill to protect Koalas. There is good news ! Three days after my post they flipped back again due to both public petitions and outcries from their own party, where significant numbers of their party threatend to cross […]
During our time away house sitting in Port Macquarie on the Mid-North Coast of NSW we had the privilege of seeing family and friends. We also saw many Koalas, one of Australia’s unique creatures known as marsupial mammals, though this is not altogether correct as they are uniquely Koala, having their own family : Phascolarctidae. While we were there we […]
This week my blog is an educational movie from my YouTube Channel, as I am not blogging for the next month. I hope you enjoy it, and it gives some insight into our bird behaviours. Several of my friends have shared how they have been recently attacked by birds. This is common here in Spring and early Summer as nesting […]
The Sulphur-crested Cockatoo is one noisy, raucous, at times crazy and destructive larrikin of a bird, which can be heard and seen performing its unwelcome, though sometimes humorous antics in most parts of eastern and far northern Australia. In Sydney this bird is found in large flocks which breed and roost not far from us, as the forests provide the […]
On the public holiday in memory of Queen Elizabeth II my wife and I took a walk in Bottle Forest in our local Royal National Park at Heathcote. My wife had been tipped off about an amazing array of Waratah flowers there, one of the legacies of our recent abundant rainfall. The Waratah shrub (which is from the aboriginal word […]
Last weekend we visited my daughter, her family and brother and his wife in the popular seaside tourist town of Forster, situated on the Mid-north Coast NSW for a catch up after years of Covid restrictions. My brother graciously took us on several beautiful walks along the coastline of Forster, which included the Littoral Rainforest Boardwalk along the coast of […]
Having returned home from our Kimberley adventure we thought it time to check out our local park Oatley Park Reserve and see how it is doing after the rains. Thankfully the flooded and boggy tracks were now passable. Our first encounter was a small flock of Royal Spoonbill (also known as Black-billed Spoonbill) foraging at low tide in Lime Kiln […]
If you should ever bird The Kimberley region of Far North West Australia, one place you do not want to miss visiting while in Broome, is the Broome Bird Observatory (BBO). Broome is known as the Shorebird Capital of Australia since the extensive tidal flats of Roebuck Bay host and feed flocks of thousands of shorebirds and migratory waders each […]
We continue to share more of the amazing birds of the Kimberley region of far north Western Australia, including passerines not previously mentioned. Our first is the Great Bowerbird, a resident of Far Northern Australia, from both the west (race nuchalis) coast of WA to the east (race orientalis) coasts of Far North Queensland. Now we have seen both races […]
Continuing our amazing exploration of The Kimberley region in North Western Australia, my wife and I marveled at how many waterbird species and numbers of birds could be found in this hot arid region. The rivers, lakes and swamps form vital gathering, resting, watering and feeding places for so many waterbirds including ducks and waders, guaranteeing their survival until the […]
We continue sharing the wonders of The Kimberley region of WA, focusing this week on the many species of Honeyeater found there. Over a third of Australia’s bird species are found in this arid region, and many are honeyeaters. The amazing or ironic fact is that the native shrubs and trees of this region grow in the hardest and poorest […]
This week I will showcase the many raptors that frequent the skies in the Kimberley. Being mostly flat arid, savanna and open woodland country, away from human habitation, it provides many opportunities for eagles, kites, harriers, kestrels and Buzzards to soar, often endlessly throughout the day. The variety and the frequency of seeing one or more is a feature up […]
Finally, through the difficulties of airlines in chaos and widespread Covid in its now various strains, my wife and I returned safely home after our epic 3 week adventure to the Kimberley region in far north west Western Australia, where days of around 32-35 °C most days, without a cloud in the sky, in the middle of Winter. While down […]
As I mentioned in my last post, my wife and I have been away on a long expedition into the Kimberley region of Western Australia, birding and enjoying the sights of this desert outback region, while it is the dry season. I will be posting again next week. We have been outside of signal range most of the time so […]
Before I take leave of posting for a month, when my wife and I go touring the arid Kimberley region in the Far North-west of Australia, I have one more species of Cockatoo to showcase, and this is our most common and most annoying species, the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo. These birds are our best indicator of a raptor flying over head […]
Taking advantage of the weeks of sunny winter weather, and the close to La Nina, my wife and I set out on yet another birding date, this time along the river walk on Botany Bay, not far from where we sighted the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo, showcased in a previous post. It was not long into our walk when we heard […]
As I shared in our last week’s birding date, a few days later I took my wife on another birding date, as I experienced a similar memory, recalling the Gang Gang Cockatoo flock being found in trees about 2 hours drive south of Sydney in the beautiful area of Palmdale. It was about 3 years ago I found them in […]
Well, we finally have had 4 consecutive clear sky days without rain, with the warm winter sunshine breaking through the cold crisp air, bringing record cold temperatures and now cool westerlies. A time when I remember that the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo make their winter visit to the coast to find the many trees laden in pine cones and seed pods […]
Continuing with some of the birds we saw in our recent visit to Taronga Park Zoo, Sydney, we saw a lifer – The Double-eyed Fig Parrot. This was a bird we pursued when we were last in Far North Queensland, but never laid eyes on. It is a resident of New Guinea, but is also found in the forests coastal […]
Since my wife and I are unable to walk the flooded tracks of our local national parks we decided to use our post Covid Entertainment Voucher (courtesy of our state government) to visit our local Taronga Park Zoo, Sydney’s oldest and largest zoo, situated right on Sydney Harbour with stunning views of the harbour and city. Our main reason for […]
Rain, rain and more rain has been the normal here this year, though we had a few perfect days. On one such day my wife and I decided early that morning to fill our Thermoses and gather our gear for a 2 hour drive, heading up to the Southern Highlands, situated on Great Dividing Range south west of Sydney. We […]
We are so thankful for sunny warm autumn days again with clear blue skies, at least for now. However, our birding expeditions have been almost fruitless due to washed out and flooded tracks and the absence of birds, due to the seasonal change and the effect of the rain on bird habitats. On my recent walk in my local nature […]
Last Sunday my wife and I had a birding date in the city of North Wollongong. After a lovely lunch at the popular Diggie’s beach-side cafe we did the Puckey’s Estate Nature Reserve walk past Puckey’s Lagoon. This is a very popular recreation area, well catered for by the local council. Many families were out enjoying the last day of […]
Last weekend my wife and I travelled to Canberra, our nation’s capital, to visit family. While there we took a walk through the National Botanic Gardens, which is another place where my books are sold, in their bookstore. As it was late in the afternoon,, we visited the recently included Banksia Garden area with its own dedicated study buildings. banksia […]
As I was experiencing delayed recovery from Covid, I was unable to go birding. As a result, this week’s post highlights my most recent page addition to my website, which some of you may not have yet explored, which is accessed via my Homepage and can be accessed by clicking the image below: Many are unaware of the importance of […]
Being currently in isolation with Covid-19. It has been a very challenging week both logistically and health-wise, for myself and my wife, who has also now is suffering with it. If you are using RAT tests use the Aussie made ones as particular Chinese brands are unreliable and causing many to detect it by other methods too late, having passed […]
This is the final part to our NSW Outback birds series where we will showcase some of the waterbirds and raptors that we saw on our roadtrip. The river systems are vital to the survival of these outback towns, and many birds inhabit the many freshwater lakes, swamps and river systems. One particular bird which we never see on the […]
Continuing our showcase of our NSW Outback Roadtrip birds, we focus this post on some of the passerines (perching birds) and our iconic Emu endemic to Australia’s desert plains, dry open forests and savanna regions of our vast hot dry land. As highlighted in the 2nd Edition of my first book What Birds Teach Us, the amazing survival ability of […]
It has been a few weeks since my last post, as my wife and I set out on a long awaited western road trip as a fitting end to my wife’s career as a GP, and to celebrate our wedding anniversary. It brought a shrill of delight to finally drive on the other side of the ranges to see a […]
Backyard birding daily brings us enjoyable encounters, be they from the birdbaths, the TV aerial next door or our Bottlebrush and Frangipani trees, all of which are viewed from our enclosed courtyard, where we often have birds come and visit, even while we entertain guests, which adds an even more enjoyable experience shared. Yesterday I watched as Butch our alpha […]
Last Monday, while staying in Wagga Wagga, my wife and I took a day-trip to the Fivebough International Ramsar listed Wetlands near the country town of Leeton, which is known for its delicious stone fruit and Leetona cannery, established by the early Italian immigrants in 1914. It was hot Summers day, and sadly not the best time to visit this […]
Last Monday I decided it was time to do my annual 2.5 hour drive to the Threatened Species Habitat of Lake Wollumboola, at Culburra Beach down the south coast from Sydney, to see what waders were present, before they prepare to return to the Alaska and Siberia next month. We missed out last year due to Covid restrictions. The recent […]
The hot humid days and nights have been unrelenting these week, and cooler temperatures and much more rain are rolling in as I write this post. Birders here are trying to work out if the smoke and devastating bushfires of the last two years of hot days and the very wet violent weather of this year have discouraged or destroyed […]
On our Australia Day holiday yesterday, my wife and I went for a pre-sunset date in our local reserve, catching the view across the river as we enjoy some dip and bickies and a pre-celebratory drink together to mark her last day of work the following day, which is today. Before we sat and shared this time together, as well […]
After 2 years of Covid restrictions we finally were able to have two of my grandsons stay over with us for 4 days, even amid the third more infectious and widespread wave of Covid as Omicron and Delta do their number on our country, and in particular our city. We were delighted when the boys shared how they were looking […]
Last Sunday my wife and had breakfast at our favorite National Park cafe with a friend my wife calls her laughing friend, which is how she first introduced us. As per usual while we were awaiting for our meals we received a visit from the resident Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, always on the scrounge, getting up close and friendly, though I had […]
My wife and I spent New Years Eve and the following days in the country city of Wagga Wagga, NSW (pronounced: Wogga Wogga) which means the place of many Crows (Ravens). When you repeat a word in our indigenous languages it means a great number of, or very large, or very deep. We visited my wife’s family there and stayed […]
My wife and I pray all my dear followers a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year for 2022. Thank you all for your encouragement and support over this very challenging year. I would finish the year sharing our latest arrival, for the first time in our backyard, as the local Kookaburra family have finally been granted permission by the Noisy Miners to co exist as part of the local bird community. They have recently brought forth a youngster, our first juvenile Kookaburra. It has been practicing his call, which is also a call for food, as the parents seek out small reptiles and worms to feed it. This what his call sounds like. This what it will eventually sound like […]
To finish off this unusual year of pandemic, now closing in its second, entering its third, I share a simple but timely post, asking as many are: Is God trying to get our attention, as he has done many times throughout history ? to turn people back to trusting in him rather than in themselves (science) to deliver, rescue and […]
This Spring, due to Covid restrictions and wet windy weather, I had not been checking our migratory waders as regular as usual. Some weeks ago I managed to check out our returning migrant birds, now here enjoying our unusually wet wintry summer weather. So I drove down to the river flats at low tide to our local shorebird reserve, and […]
Recently my wife and I visited our nation’s capital Canberra to visit family and places where my books are sold. One of the activities we did with my wife’s sister and brother-in-law was to visit Mulligan’s Flat Woodland Sanctuary. This wildlife reserve is the only one in Australia that is totally enclosed with very tall electrical fencing to prevent the […]