Birds after the Rain

Rufus Whistler female

After days of heavy rain birds of all kinds were rejoicing yesterday! There was almost a cacophony of bird song, rising melodiously against the equally enthusiastic frog calls from the recharged swamp. I was trying to concentrate on sewing, a foolish occupation in the circumstances. Finally, after rushing back and forth to the windows to take photographs of birds in the shrubs around the house, I gave up and took the camera walking in the grounds.

Buff Thornbill

First to attract my attention was a noisy flock of little birds, rushing together in swooping or darting flight from one tree or bush to another. Calling to each other to announce fresh insects on the undersides of leaves, they drew me too, first in one direction, then in another. This tiny thornbill above was one of many who danced around me from time to time, but always avoided the camera lens! They are very swift, the way they avoid being caught by bigger birds is to never stay still more than a millisecond. With the thornbills were wrens, Superb Blue Wrens, but none in breeding plumage.

Superb Blue Wren female or non-breeding male

I saw more little birds in the swooping flock, such as Scrub Wren, Grey Flycatcher, and always nearby were about a dozen Red-browed finches, scouring the grass for insects, blowing like autumn leaves across the lawn in their hunt.

Red-browed Finches

Red-browed Finch

All the time honeyeaters were gliding about, visiting their nectar-laden plants, warning each other to keep away! Here is a big one, a Lewin Honeyeater, resting for a moment in a grevillea by the dam.

Lewin Honeyeater

Her competition is the Yellow-faced Honeyeater who was always nearby, looking for an advantage.

Yellow-faced Honeyeater on casuarina

Many birds came and went so quickly I had to just relax and watch, leaving the camera by my side. The glorious Golden Whistler dashed in and out, magpies and ravens watched from their trees or other vantage points. A small raptor attracted by the fuss actually hit our glass doors, without harm fortunately.

New Holland Honeyeater

The New Holland Honeyeater lives in the thick bush at the edge of the dam, and is a familiar visitor to the house garden, here cleaning insects from the lime tree. We also saw Eastern Spinebills, feeding in the correas by the house. Adding to the celebration were our friendly Grey Shrike Thrushes, carolling and calling as they staked out their territory in the orchard and around the garden.

Grey Shrike Thrush

This one seemed to follow the red-browed finches, scattering them now and then, perhaps eating insects they had disturbed. I will go out again today, but now the sun is really shining it won’t be as easy to capture the birds, and we are preparing for dinner guests tonight. Perhaps I will capture more birds from the house windows.

To find more of my blogs about any of these birds just type the name into the search panel above, and hey presto!