- Oct 17, 2018
Warm, sultry overcast weather with storms.
The farmers hate this weather- too late for rain to do any good and it spoils the hay!
However, strange things blow in with a north-east weather system. Large flocks of White-browed Woodswallows hunting for insects over the treetops. Pair of White-browed Woodswallows
Photo G. Cheers
Then a weird metallic trumpeting, muttering and cackling call and 2 Dollarbirds appear on the scene.
Magpies, Striated Pardalotes and Red Wattlebirds get a run as do the Woodswallows.
Dollarbird at Carapooee West
Photo A Hughes
A quite large and chunky bird with a most distinctive flight pattern and a white circular patch on each wing- the eponymous dollar. Checking on the distribution in the Birdlife Atlas, these are rare visitors to our region.
This is the first sighting I have had of this species in our region in 37 years- so a new species for our BIrd List.
- Oct 17, 2018
Birds are nesting everywhere at present.
While doing my Birds on farms Surveys last week, I came across this one, unexpectedly, as this species usually nests high in the trees in Yellow Gum Woodlands.
This Grey Butcherbird has built her nest in a River Redgum right in the creek- not that there is any water to be had but at least the food supply is probably better here than out in the very parched woodlands. Many other birds are nesting in the same area- Weebills, a pair of Spotted Pardalotes, White-browed Babblers and Restless Flycatchers and none seem concerned by this ferocious predator in their midst.
- Sep 14, 2018
Shake off your winter miseries and take a walk up to Bell Rock, just on the outskirts of town (take Wycheproof Rd/Hopetoun St then L into Butcher St and head north!)
Wear solid walking shoes as the ground is really rough.
Flowering now, although reduced because of the dry conditions our endemic Goldfield Boronia(Boronia anemonifolia ssp. aurifodina)
and some beautiful examples of Bendigo Waxflower (Philotheca verrucosa) on the north west slope below the Rock.
See the verrucosities(warts!) along the leaves and sprawling stems.
