The birds and the bees

obviously, you dont own a cat

you need to buy the bird ID book from EO to be able to identify your birds..

.....beware its contagious....dont forget that the bird watchers group or whatever it is..name escapes me for now..had an ale or two...ok five or six.....has taken over Glue Pot Station??? i think thats the one? in SA north east...just out side Burra

Strange, Strange, Strange as it may seem, you and I have much in common....LOL

We live on a half acre town block in country SA. A pretty dry place surrounded by open wheatfields, grazing lands and few trees.

Over the past six years(since arriving here) we have created a Mediterranean style garden with 3 fishponds, 4 fountains, a bird bath, and a hothouse, amongst other things. We have also established 4 sitting areas such as vineyard alcove, secret garden, late afternoon hideaway and general patio area covered by a large shade cover. We virtually live outside. Our neighbour on the north side has also large garden with trees and neighbour on south side has rubbish, car wrecks, 3 dogs and 5 cats(there were 6). Neighbour behind us on other side of laneway has 22 dead Holdens in his yard, 2 dogs and 2 cats and 1 tree(come to think of it the tree is actually in the street)

Still, in this environment we have been able to build a garden from scratch and attract a family of wattlebirds, white-naped honeyeaters, a family of blackbirds, crested pigeons, migrating starlings and the ever present European sparrows who raise their families under the eaves of our house. Flocks of galahs settle on our hard shell Almond trees every morning and in late winter the Port Lincoln parrots come by for a feed. We have a variety of herbs growing in the garden and including lots of lavender and rosemary bushes. These are very popular with the bees which annoy the dog intensely. The bees don't sting us but the dog gets the occasional tinge when confronting the bees.

During summer the garden and vegie patch has to be watered but in winter it is pretty much self maintained.

A little paradise in this arid region.

Cheers

goodday mike
it is great to be able to do these small things i have 2 books in the van for our trips and if nothing else i photo the bird and try to identify later
i hope its not a dse controlled reserve
i live at lynbrook we have a small lake with quite a variety of birds 2 years ago i was keeping an eye on apair of nesting parrots and on there xmas carol night they also had a fireworks display next day the pair were gone??????peed me right off

steve

While stuck in the rain on the GJR, one of my few visitors was a crow who hopped onto my bonnet. Man, that beak looks kinda naastee ! I proved that I was still alive by blowing the horn and that discouraged him.
I live in the Currumbin Valley in Qld. The birds that visit the tourists , visit me first. We are surrounded by birds of one kind or another. That's fine unless trying to sleep in past picinniny daylight. Visitors rekkon its noisier here than in the city :)) Bush turkys abound. We get wallabies, koalas, snakes , bluddy spiders , big lizards, and a few peacocks. Oh yes, lots of ants :(
A recent addition to the area is the nobrainus tyresmokinupus duckhead. One put the hammer down the other day going up my hill after rain, up onto my driveway, sideways across my front narrowly missing a tree and straightened up. I live in dread of the sound of the bang followed by smashing glass from the right angled 60k corner nearby. I've already pulled 3 live ones from that area.
Of all the creatures that visit, this species is the only one that I am fearful of and for.

I have to agree ...

I live on the NSW Central Coast, and have daily visits from lorikeets, rosellas, eastern rosellas, sulphur crested cockatoos, wattle birds, and I am currently hand feeding a pair of king parrots (because all the others chase them away from the small seed bin I have there).

Their collective antics are better than television.

Kookaburras wake me up around 5.30 am every day, which is much better than an alarm clock. Even had a black snake soaking up the sun just near my pool last week.

Last year a very large python took up residence in the tree about 5' away from my deck and was very happy there for a while. No idea where he is now. Christened him "Jack the Snake".

No need for a bird bath though .. I have a large swimming pool and they seem to all like that for a drink and a cleanup and preen.

Fascinating stuff this Mother nature caper.

Jack

Evening all,

Well done Mike and others.

What a refreshing post.

Bit like Willem we live in a similar area and in our own way do what we can to encourage local wildlife.

Shame there are not more likeminded people. Don't have to be extreme to enjoy the good things in life.

Nothing else to add.....

Michael B (SA)

We have a bird bath just like yours. The birds sometimes visit..... but just above on the carport is a gutter that is sagging.... I must fix it sometime.

Daily and continuously birds are sitting up above the bird bath in their preferred bath splashing and entertaining.

I also recommend a hammock. On some of these hot days I've been lying back reading [or not] and at any time a wren or spinebill or silvereye will appear and sit on the cord near my foot.. meanwhile they fly through just above me. Great!

As well and almost as nice are the range of little skinks... three types that run and hunt over the decking.

Mike we also live on the edge of the bush, which we normally love, but with the fires now so close ..................

Anyway, we also have bird feeders & bird baths, we get dozens of King Parrots, Crimson Rosellas, Cockies, Galahs, Gang Gang Cockatoos, Satin Bower Birds & heaps of finches etc.
As you say it does give heaps of pleasure, particularly when a wild bird jumps on to your hand to feed. If we walk past the feeder which is beside the path to our front door, the birds don't even flinch. Who needs an aviary??
You mention that the bees leave you alone, you will find that bees & wasps react to your adrenaline, if you panic & swat at them, look out.
Sometimes in the high country there are 100's of European Wasps & we have never been stung yet. Correction, Sherman the Golden Retriever got stung on the nose, he now knows to live & let live!

Mike we used to have an accommodation sideline to our farm and one government employee came several time was accumulating a list of the birds round the farm. He had, and we added to a list of more than 50 different ones. That excluded the vermin types - sparrows, starlings and blackbirds too in the count.

Unfortunately the sparrows try to nest round the veranda, leaving deposits on the floor, the starlings and blackbirds try their luck in the garage. When my late father was in good form he used to load his own 12 gauge cartridges especially for the blackbirds, for the dispatch like your neighbours cat Willie.

Remember hearing one day when dad was dispatching a blackbird when the roar of the 12 bore also got the neighbours cows retreating from his cow yard just before the gate was closed. Dad was a popular guy that day.

This has been one of the most refreshing posts that I have read for a while. Love Willies comment re the neighbours have 5 cats used to have 6. We also have a birdbath that attracts many birds to drink which is surprising that ony 75metres away is an extremely large bird bath. Yesterday as I walked past, a male superb wren took flight. I hadn't seen them at the birdbath before but they are regular visitors to the backyard. Was a great sight to see. We have a family of Willie Wagtails that nest nearby and so far they have raise 5 chicks this season in 3 different clutches. They crap everywhere but it washes off.

Just when you think its nice to have feral bees around someone comes and lets you know these intoduced little horrors are an envoronmental nightmare.
They take over and aggresively defend hollows in trees that would otherwise be used for nesting sites for parrots etc. They do not pollinate all natives correctly and their ability to forage in lower temperatures mean they not only start earlier and finish later in the day but also earlier and later in the seasons. This along with their prolific numbers means native Bees with their superior polinating habits get far less of a look in

I read the posts on this forum about 3 times a day and it is a wealth of knowledge. Have even met some forumites when in Victoria recently.
This post just makes one feel proud to be an Aussie. With all the "discussion" that goes on this forum it is great to read about the "Birds and the Bees!!!!!!".

I live in Bathurst and every time I mow the lawn there are 2 Pee Wees who follow me along eating insects, etc. I have nearly walked on them at times mowing the lawn. We also get Magpies, Galahs, Currawongs, Pidgeons to name a few. I back on to a reserve and every afternoon there would be hundreds of Galahs feeding on the ground.

Maybe I should put in a birdbath as I have a large block (quarter acre).

Cheers

The Bigfella

On a similar note I was gold prospecting in a remote gully in Gippsland about 6 months ago when I noticed a movement in the bush 20m or so away, I kept still and pretty soon a Superb Lyrebird emerged. It showed no fear of me and ambled in my direction until it was about 2m away and for the next 30 minutes proceeded to follow me at a distance of anything from 2m to 10m. This was _very_ remote and rough country only accessible on foot and I doubt anyone has been in there for 80 years or more. My bird book tells me this is very unusual behaviour for Lyrebirds who, it says, are normally quite shy and steer well clear of humans. I guess this one didn't know I was a human and thought it would hang around in case "this really big, but rather odd shaped bird with a vacuum cleaner" kicked up a few grubs from the forest floor :)

Mike Harding