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Some of my friends live in our yard, others visit it, still others live elsewhere and I visit them. Come and read about all my feathered friends...

Bird Story - July 2009

Pied Currawongs in July 1

July 31st 2009 17:16
I am usually able to distinguish which birds are in the yard by listening to their calls. This past month, I have heard numerous pied currawongs in the district so I have had another opportunity to grab a few photos. There are two members of the local currawongs that know me as a good source for scraps of food. There is often a few scraps of homemade wholemeal bread lying upon the lawn, and if not, I am likely to provide a small cube of cheese if sung to…
cw1


These pictures were taken very early in the morning, so have not turned out very sharp in focus, but may give some idea of the pied currawong's personality and stance, nevertheless.
cw2

The currawong pictured had found a tasty chunk of my homemade wholemeal bread on the lawn and flown up onto the carport roof rim to devour its find before any other birds discovered the treasure.
cw3

It became aware of me taking photos and stared at me - but once it realized that I was not going to try to steal its meal, it ignored me mostly - keeping one eye partially fixed upon me in case I moved suddenly to pinch its food…
cw4


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Pigeonalia 19

July 26th 2009 23:20
Starting back after my book-working break with an update on our pigeons…

I have not seen Baby, Bebe, Smokey, Spotty, or Dusty for WEEKS! I am hoping that they have found a new flock family and are doing well - but it would be nice to have them visit on occasion!
blckscrf

However, I have seen plenty of Brown-Eyed Scruff, Black-Scruff, Gray-Scruff, White-Spot, Sore-Eye, and Slush, as well as some of 09223 and Big-Eyed Black Scruff. We also have a pair of newcomers - another Black Scruff and another Scruff.
bescr

I find it quite amusing to watch the initial behavior of newcomers - sometimes they trust the flock feeling and fly right on down, staring curiously at the 'huge freak' (me) and other times they will fly away as soon as they see me, and watch from a distance for some time before coming down and finding only one or two seeds remaining.

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SUMMER/WINTER BREAK

July 13th 2009 16:35
Just a quick message to any regular readers - I have not vanished, died, stopped writing, or had all my fingers chopped off - I am just taking a 1-2 week break to focus on other matters and will be back shortly!

I am working on my 11th book and a website update- but will still take plenty of photos to share when I come back! I already have a sextet on the hills hoist to mention!
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Injuries

July 10th 2009 15:17
Over the years, I have encountered a few birds who have been injured. I am more of an observer that also comprehends the mind of a bird than its physical form, so not always in a position to assist. I recall discovering an injured bird on the way to school with my single-digit aged son, who is now an adult. I could not help it, so reported it to the school office and asked if they could call a wildlife number. When walking to the beach once, my son and I found an injured bird on the roadside. This one we took to the police station, asking them if they could phone for help.

Since moving to the Illawarra district almost a decade ago, we have also encountered a few injured birds. Once we found a dying seagull. I wrapped it in my jacket and carried it home to care for. We put it near the water tub, offered it food and shelter, but it crawled to the back of our yard to die naturally


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Pigeonalia 18

July 8th 2009 16:12
We have a new pigeon - I am uncertain, but thinking it may be Dusty's youngster. I think this because Dusty has, since its arrival, started being less stroppy with the other pigeons. Also, it has a large beak - and Dusty got a mild injury under his eye that looked like a baby with a bigger beak than his had been greedily gobbling pigeon milk. I don't know for sure, of course… but I have called it Slush, anyway.

Where did I get such a name from? It comes from the baby's coloring. Its winge area looks like the dirty slush left behind on English pavements after the snow is white no more. The same dirty brown tinted white that is evident in snow at Chicago airport…much trodden upon and muddied. Well, the pigeon has a sort of mottley splodgey browny coloring on top of white, so…. Slush it is


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Pigeon eyes

July 6th 2009 15:18
I am not sure if many readers will get up close to enough pigeons to relate to this - but have you noticed the different eye colors of pigeons? It quite possibly is something that the majority of bird lovers - that are not showers or breeders - do not really tend to think about…

I noticed that nearly all of the turtle doves have the same tiny black bead-like dot for an eye, with only one or two out of dozens having a small orange outer circle surrounding this, but that pigeons have a much wider ranger of options. Taking as examples some of the pigeons I have photos of, here are four of the different colored eye possibilities


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Red Wattlebirds 2

July 3rd 2009 16:52
I have a few more wattlebird pictures to share…
wattlebird

2 wattlebirds

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Red Wattlebirds 1

July 1st 2009 02:15
My wattlebird photos did come out reasonably well, if not perfectly. I took far too many, as usual - so stuck a few together in a 'postcard' format.
wattlebirds 4

Here is an excerpt from my 2007 release, "Our Australian Feathered Friends" available at www.lulu.com/winterbear


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