Baby butcher bird appears

In the past I've kind of dreaded late September, into October as the butcher birds who've nested in the big tree at the front of our place have 'terrorised' me by swooping very close to my head whenever I've taken a wander outside the door.  Being away out from home for the last 6 weeks has meant I've missed that dreaded swooping business that seems to last for ages - at least until the babies 'fly the coop'!

Yesterday I was repotting some hanging baskets just outside the front door of our house and heard a twittering, tweeting commotion quite close.  Our neighbour's garage backs on to our boundary line and has a flat roof - Mama (or Papa) butcher bird had brought baby on to the flat surface and they were perched right on the edge, baby getting his fill of tidbit.  Parent flew off again for a refill and baby remained sitting very close to the edge.   I popped indoors to get my camera and shot one of it but there was a twig in the way.  I continued with my repotting expecting parent to be back soon but when I looked up again, baby had flown - right on to a branch of a gum tree which grows quite close.  I think it might be time for baby to be out of the nest and on it's own as it flew off quite soon after that. I was surprised to see it flying very proficiently. 

I love this time of the year - so many lovely birds in our back yard including the family of Noisy Miners who come daily now for their feed of bread.  Since I've been away though, my two favourite little green parrots have disappeared so I'll be keeping watch for them in case they arrive back. They could be nesting and staying close to 'home'.  A couple of rainbow lorikeets must have stuck around as they appear each morning quite early waiting for their handout.

No doubt the amount of rain that Sydney has had over these past few months has meant that lots of flowering natives have an abundance of blooms at present and the local birds just love it.  In that respect, I'm pleased they are not needing to call in to my back door for a top up.  It is much nicer that they are feeding as nature intended.

Blessings!

THE WEEK THAT WAS

A busy week - daughter's birthday, chimney swept, naval oranges ready to pick, rainbow on the road to Canberra, ducks visited on a rainy day, August 1 - Wattle Day, camellia's blooming, first Daphne flower burst open, beautiful sunrise this morning  ... God's blessings!

BLESSINGS IN DISGUISE?

As I stepped on to the wooden floorboards in the kitchen I was immediately conscious of grains of rice which had fallen on the floor. As I went to get the dustpan and broom to sweep them up I realised with a shock that we hadn't eaten rice in our house for a good 4 months (diet blamed here!). A closer look at the floor revealed - MAGGOTS! I nearly heaved - then quickly went for the can of insect spray. Spraying them like crazy didn't really help. There must have been a couple of dozen of the critters and each second they were creating a wider circle in all directions - mostly towards my feet - and all the spray was doing was creating a slick on the floor which wasn't stopping them.

In panic mode now I dove into the laundry to grab the dustpan and broom and started furiously sweeping them up, racking my brain the whole time wondering where they had come from and was there any more lurking where I couldn't see!

They just kept wriggling along and as I inspected the rest of the kitchen floor found a few where they had managed to crawl/wriggle along the edge of the wall. Even now a couple of hours later I am absolutely puzzled to know where they came from.

After the cleanup I inspected all cupboards and drawers within the vicinity and could find nothing resembling the afore-mentioned critters. Can 'things' like this hatch in such a short time? My husband had been pottering in the kitchen only minutes before this as he made preparations for breakfast then left for work.

On checking the internet it seems they can hatch almost within minutes of the eggs being laid. Had the grandsons here yesterday afternoon and they have a habit of leaving the scrren door open. Last night I had spotted a fly in the kitchen area which must have sneaked in and had sprayed it with insecticide but didn't find the 'evidence' of its death. This morning it was on the benchtop - dead. I'm now wondering whether in it's last moments it had laid eggs on the floor and this morning's little 'troop' was the result - eek - it still sends shivers up my spine even thinking about it!

As I sit here typing close to the back door there is a dreadful racket going on outside - from birds! I've mentioned before that we have a large number of native bird who come regularly to the yard here to get fed with bread. In the past months we have also had some 'imports' of the brown Indian Mynah birds who have taken up resident in our neighbours garage roof and bred now two lots of babies. They are extremely territorial and quite vicious in attacking the natives in what they have seemed to claim as 'their' backyard. A couple of them had come down looking for bits left by the natives and had been immediately 'shoo-ed' off by both them and a couple of magpies who got in on the act for good measure. Now that they've been banished back to the neighbours yard, it is quietly peaceful except for the occasional bird calls of the maggies or beautiful butcher bird.

A good start to the day? Perhaps blessings in disguise - depends on which way you look at it I guess!

Blessings to you dear friends!

THE BIRD IN THE TREE

Spring is the time of year that all the birds seem to come out of the trees and show themselves after the long cold winter. Oh some do continue to come to our backdoor throughout the cool months but others begin to show their lovely colours as they flit about looking for tidbits to feed their young.

Each year we have a family of cheeky butcher birds nesting in the tall eucalyptus tree in our front yard. Shy, with a diet mainly of insects they are always looking for a handout of bread which I feed to the Rainbow Lorikeets. Last Friday after the big truck had collected rubbish from our bins I went down to collect them and bring them around to the back of the house. I felt, rather than saw, something fly past my shoulder. Looking up to where the bird had settled, it was one of our friendly butcher birds - telling me in no uncertain way that bread was what he wanted. With beady little eyes on the bread I threw into the air, he swooped down to pick it up and proceeded to 'soften' it against the tree branch before he took it off to his family.

As I was watching his antics my eyes caught on a large brownish 'lump' further up the tree sitting on a branch. My heart did a flip - not knowing what it was. My neighbour saw me from over the fence and came and looked too. "Oh" he said. "I think it might be an owl".

A week or so ago, he had come home very late at night after playing squash and noticed an 'owl-like' shape sitting on his boat as he drove into his garage. We wondered if it was the same bird. I took a photo of it thinking that would be the last we saw it. These kinds of birds are certainly around the area but rarely seen in daylight hours.

Yesterday I was watering in the front garden and was surprised again to see the bird up in the tree again. This time it was sitting facing me so I got another photo of it. After checking it, I realised that it's not an owl at all - but a tawny frogmouth. Not the most attractive bird I have to say but I don't mind if he decides to hang around for a while. I'll be out there again this afternoon to see if it's come back again. Aren't God's little creatures wonderful?

Have a good week my friend.

Blessings!

THE ADVENTURES OF A STICK INSECT

After 3 days of temperatures of 38C and 40C (100F and 104F), mid afternoon a storm broke – a fairly typical summer Sydney storm – high wind, heavy rain, thunder and lightning. As I looked out the window my eye caught a movement on the sun umbrella which I’d taken down to avoid it being knocked over. Somehow, Mr (or Ms) Stick Insect had been blown against it and it was clinging for its life to the fabric of the umbrella. I was fascinated by the way it was battling against the elements and seemed determined to hang on to it’s anchor.

It seemed to be trying to move but neither up nor down had much effect as it was battered by the wind. Eventually it managed to turn itself upside down and with a few tentative steps made its way across the umbrella – which is when I decided to be a rescuer. It was well outside it’s usual environment and although not totally familiar with it’s way of life, I didn’t want to see it land in the pool and be drowned if it was flicked off by a heavy gust.

The rain still pouring down, I donned my gardening glove (I was fully clothed!) and went outside. Grabbing it gently I placed it in a little ficus shrub growing in a pot at the back door. It quickly sought the shelter of the inside twigs – where it was at least safe from the belting wind and rain. I made a quick trip inside for my camera and took a shot – can you find it amongst the leaves? (due to some technical difficulties the pics were not able to be uploaded)

Half an hour later, the storm was gone and so was the Stick Insect. They are quite friendly creatures and I believe some of the species can be kept as pets. They eat tiny insects such as aphids and are considered desirable in the garden. I hope it has found a good place to hide amongst the many trees we have around our yard – and continues to devour the pesky aphids from my roses!

OUCH!!

Have you ever been bitten by a Rainbow Lorikeet? No? Until a couple of days ago neither had I, but I know now how it feels - OUCH!! It happened like this:

If you've read any of my earlier posts you will remember that I feed little lorikeets fairly regularly in my back yard. A couple of months ago a flock of the hated brown Indian Myna birds turned up with a couple of them eventually trying to nest in the next door neighbour's pergola. These two have stayed in the area and have continued to terrorise the native birds which roost in the nearby large gum trees.

A few days ago I noticed one myna bird 'dive-bombing' one of the lorikeets - actually making a run at it and pecking it's little green head. I made an attempt to shoo it away but it kept coming back however, wisely, the lorikeet took off and didn't come back. Two days ago the myna bird was 'at it' again. This time injuring the lorikeet it was attacking to the extent that it couldn't fly. I saw it in the yard again an hour or so later, looking sick and again being 'dive-bombed' by the myna. It began vomiting and just seemed to be rolling on its side, not being able to get up. I managed to get a box and thought I'd cover it over until it recovered a little. I threw an old tea towel over it (or at least I tried to get it over) but the breeze caught it and it only covered half of the bird. I made a dive for it myself hoping to pick it up and get it in the box but in the process it grabbed my finger and wouldn't let go. Perhaps it thought it would have a go at me instead of the myna! After physically having to prise it's beak off, I managed to get the box over it and I retreated to the house to clean up a bleeding finger. Oh did it sting. The bird had taken quite a chunk out of me!

Inside I washed it off and smothered it with an iodine-based antiseptic cream and wrapped it up. I can tell you though my heart was thumping after the experience. While the bird seemed to recover enough to get itself out of the box about 3 hours later, I'm left with a very sore finger - but I think I'll live to tell the tale. However my resolve is to try to hire an Indian Myna bird trap and get rid of these backyard pests once and for all!

FOUR WEEKS SINCE I POSTED - WOW!

I really am so amazed at how time can just fly by without me actually realising it. Who could have thought that it's almost 4 weeks since I posted in this journal. Not much of a journal at that rate I'd guess - but hey, I haven't been just loafing around here.

The pansies did come on and produce some pretty perfumed blooms after the shadecloth at night persuaded our possom friend that eating them wasn't a good idea! They've all gone now though - to make way for my first tomato plant of the season. Now I've discovered that 'something' (maybe I shouldn't blame possum just yet) is nipping off my tiny beetroot leaves right at the soil level, and leaving them lying limp and sad. I've never grown beetroot before so I'm leaving that opinion reserved until I investigate further - however for safety sake I've covered the tub with wire netting. Let's see the culprit get through that lot now! At least the tiny carrot seeds I planted recently have started to sprout and so far, and seem to be safe. I hope it stays that way.

I'd been thinking about learning a bit more about my camera and how to drive it efficiently and effectively so I booked myself in to a photography course and over two weekends in the past month, I actually did learn a bit more - now I need to practice! I'm hoping that with the coming of our Spring weather I can find some great subject matter and produce some good pics. I actually thought Spring had come two days ago - but it was only a rehearsal. Today we're back to dull grey sky, wind and a temperature of only 16 - brrr... I think I'll need to put the fire on again shortly - just when I thought it would be safe to pack the wood away in the shed until next winter.