Wild Bird Wednesday 300 - Laughing Kookaburra

I'm not sure if there is a more iconically Australian bird than the Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae).  This bird is famous the world over, and even managed to sneak into the sound track of some early Tarzan films, which were set in Africa but not filmed there!

Apart from the fact that they are tremendous birds to watch and listen to, one of the things I like about this species is the number of names it has been given.  Here is a sample:

Alarmbird, Breakfastbird, Bushman's Clock, Settler's Clock, Shepherd's Clock, Giant Brown Kingfisher, Giant Kingfisher, Laughing Kingfisher, Jack, Jackass, Jacko, Jacky, John, Kooka, Laughing Jack and possibly most remarkably Woop Woop Pigeon.  

I have to say that the last one is a bit of a mystery to me, given I have never heard one go Woop and it does not look like a Pigeon.  But who am I to argue.

This bird (or these birds) came to visit us most morning when we were in the Grampians - although it was at a more civilised hour than their "clock" names would suggest!

At 450mm long they are one of the world's largest kingfishers, and no matter how many times I see them I always like them.  Their visits to the rails on the deck of our Grampians accommodation was a bit of a highlight.

300 weeks ago, on the 17th July 2012, I started hosting Wild Bird Wednesday (after 86 weeks of World Bird Wednesday, by Dave at Pine River Review) - and here I am, in 2018, still hosting!  I'm reasonably proud of the fact that I have not missed a single week of Wild Bird Wednesday in 300 weeks!

We dont get as many people linking up as we once had - so feel free to share, remind and generally suggest that people get involved.

All feedback welcome on this anniversary!

As ever, to link to WBW just click on the blue button below!  SM

An InLinkz Link-up

Wild Bird Wednesday 299 - Australian Wood Duck

Well, things are a bit hectic here - so today I am going to post some ducks and leave it at that!

These are Australian Wood Ducks (Chenonetta jubata) which are considered to be Goose-like Ducks!  I tend to think of them as duck like ducks!

Anyway, these ladies and gentlemen were about and about at Halls Gap last week, so I felt obliged to photograph them.

The males are the birds with the dark brown head, the female have the greater extent of speckles.

Sorry for the lack of visits - I'll be back up to speed for WBW 300!

As ever, to join in with WBW just click on the blue button below the thumbnails - feel free to share a link to this page on the many and varied forms of social media that we now use every day!  SM

An InLinkz Link-up

The Things They Left Behind 6: Heatherlie Quarry (again)

I've been away again - but this time, just to add to excitement, Sal was in New York with her choir - so I was in charge (well sort of!).  Hence I have not been doing much blogging - hope to catch up soon!

These are some images from Heatherlie Quarry, which is an abandoned quarry in the Grampians National Park about fours hours from Melbourne.  I had been wanted to try some black and white shots of the absconded machinery there, and these are the results.  The buildings have been renovated in recent years - but not much!

More pictures from around the world at Our World Tuesday.  SM

Wild Bird Wednesday 298 - Eurasian Coot

The Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra) is not the most colourful bird you will ever see, but I still rather like them.

I used to watch them as a kid while I was fishing - and they may have been in the first 10 birds I ever learnt how to identify.  They also occur naturally in Australia, which makes a change for birds from my childhood!

These pictures were taken when I was down at Point Lonsdale last weekend.

As ever, to join in with WBW just click on the blue button below the thumbnails - feel free to share a link to this page on the many and varied forms of social media that we now use every day!  SM

An InLinkz Link-up

Faces from the wood

When we were in our accommodation in Tasmania I found these faces in the wooden panels on the front of the bedroom cupboards.

What do you see?

More pictures from around the world at Our World Tuesday.  SM

Wild Bird Wednesday 297 - Noisy Miner

The Noisy Miner (Manorina melanocephala) is a well named bird.  It travels in family groups which are very noisy.  They are also somewhat aggressive, to people and (possibly more importantly) other birds.

There used to be a pair of these birds in the car park of the local pool, and they would swoop very closely past my head, with a percussive snap of the beak and an annoyed call.  Once I cam to expect this, it was not much of a problem.

However, for other birds its a bit more of a problem.  Noisy Miners are much better able to cope with fragmented and damaged habitats than many other Australian birds, and this is where their aggressive nature becomes a problem.  In some places they can form breeding colonies that basically drive out most of the other breeding birds.  High numbers of this species are really a mark of a damaged ecosystem.

The first set of pictures - with the bird on the ground - were taken at the car park, while the last two were taken at a local cafe, where the birds were cleaning up some spilt sugar.  They are nothing if not adaptable!

As ever, to join in with WBW just click on the blue button below the thumbnails - feel free to share a link to this page on the many and varied forms of social media that we now use every day!  SM

An InLinkz Link-up

Which Way?

Thanks for the Easter Long weekend I was able to take a day trip down to Point Lonsdale and Queenscliff this weekend.  A rather splendid lunch and a bit of bird watching resulted.

When we pulled into the car park at Queenscliff I saw these Silver Gulls standing on this sign near the beach.  I rather liked the scene.

 

More pictures from around the world at Our World Tuesday.  SM