Mid Summer Bird Report

1. The eastern whipbird family that chose our garden as their residence and nursery in the spring has moved on. I haven't seen the juveniles for weeks and the parents have regained their shyness. We still hear an occasional 'crack', but it's more often at some distance and I haven't glimpsed mum or dad for some time. We all enjoyed their sojourn and hope they come back next spring.
2. The bronzewings are no longer 'ooming'. It must be a nesting or breeding thing. Jod told me the male 'ooms' while roosting in a tree not far from the female sitting on the nest. Maybe he's right, and they finished breeding for the year. They are still around because I've seen them recently when I walk. The rich metallic green on the wing always delights me, and they have strong purposeful flight. I've seen the odd crested pidgeon about lately too.
3.The parrot family is strongly represented still. Juvenile crimson rosellas, more green than the crimson and blue of their parents, follow the adults. Baby king parrots squark and nag their parents incessantly, giving away the truth, the ravenous and destructive nature of this most striking bird. The hot weather seems to bring out the the screeching insanity of the sulphur crested cockatoos, which, on top of the demanding, nerve jangling squarking of the baby king parrots, threatens to send men and women 'troppo' in the heat and the dry of this smoke hazed January. Galahs were less numerous for a while but just when I thought they'd moved on I'd hear a big flock 'chi chiing' overhead. The gang gangs are still creaking around, gently moving from tree to tree harrassed by bellbirds. The yellow tailed black cockies are seen now and again feeding on pine cones and flapping big wings in flight like huge bats. I have not seen them for a week, which makes me less confidant that rain is near. My favourite of all the parrots, the eastern rosellas, have been present in good numbers every morning on my walk. I love the brilliant green and their quiet.
4. I saw a speckled song thrush sitting on the picket fence at 13 Inness Rd. the other morning. I've mentioned before that this georgeous bird, a species introduced from England, is now in danger of extinction in it's home country, and is in Australia in a few limited localities such as the Dandenongs and a pocket or two in the Warragul and Ballarat areas. A couple of months ago I picked up a bird's nest in some prunings on the nature strip of No. 11 and took it to the farm where Jod said it was a song thrush's nest, which he knew because it was mud lined. I've been watching for the thrush about here so it was good to see it. There are always cars parked out front of No.13 and as I walked closer to get a better look at the thrush a black kelpie dog shot out from under a car and went for 'Snowie'. Gave us a hell of a fright.
5. The dawn chorus is noticeably more subdued by comparison with a couple of months ago, with the exeption of the harsh, raucous, 'quokking' of the wattle birds, which gets on my wick like the the screeching white cockies and the juvenile kingies.
6. I fill the bird bath daily and am doing the same for my neighbours who have gone to N.Z. for a holiday. Jod keeps several baths filled at the farm and I watched a mudlark come down yesterday in the 40C heat and stand on the edge panting before taking a scoop of water in its beak, swallowing, then standing, mouth open, panting. Mudlarks are a favourite of mine too, I have a young one that comes down and takes dry dog minis that I put on the shed windowstill for the blackbirds. Bellbirds follow me around in the evenings, hoping I'll pick up a hose and water something so they can get under the spray for a cooling shower. There's not much of that, most of my watering is with a can, slowly, to conserve water.
7. I hear the grey thrush now and again, the ibis colony has gone, the ravens are back to normal numbers, there are swallows about, no currawongs at the moment, no honeyeaters lately, and this morning I saw a willy wag tail. If I could do magic I'd send the bellbirds, indian minas and sparrows away and have some blue wrens and silver eyes and the little scrubwrens that used to come through the garden feeding on insects. We seem to have lost the smaller birds to this area.