Wild Bird Wednesday 692 - Dunnock

The Dunnock (Prunella modularis) is a small passerine found throughout temperate Europe and into Asian Russia. The nearest Dunnocks to home for me are in New Zealand where they have been successfully introduced.

This bird was singing its heart out at the Cley Marshes reserve in Norfolk.

As a kid I would have called this species a Hedge Sparrow - and to show my age a well known online encyclopaedia calls this name 'largely archaic'. Oh well.

Dunnocks typically measure 13–14.5 cm (5.1–5.7 in) in length, with male and female birds being similar in appearance.

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Kangaroo Island

The Kangaroo Island Wilderness Walk takes in some pretty remarkable coastal scenery.  

Kangaroo Island is off the coast of South Australia and is Australia's third-largest Island. At 155 kilometres long and up to fifty-five km wide, and is separated from the mainland by a fifteen km stretch of ocean. 

The ferry to Kangaroo Islands is located at Cape Jarvis, which is under two hours from Adelaide.  The ferry trip provided stiff breezes, surprisingly good coffee and rather good views of dolphins.

As you can see from the photographs we had a range of weather on the walk - but variety is the spice of life.

It was a splendid walk.  SM

Wild Bird Wednesday 691 - Australian Magpie

The Australian Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen) is a very familiar black and white bird with an amazing singing ability: you can hear a compilation of their vocalisations here.

You will not be surprised to hear that it is not really a magpie in the more widely accepted meaning go the word.  Magpies are actually crows, but Australian Magpies are more closely related to butcherbirds than crows.

It was a common habit in the colonial period to call any Australian bird that was black and white a 'magpie' of some kind - and as a result we have Australian Magpies, Magpie Geese and Magpie Larks - and none of these are Magpies in the conventional sense.

Australian Magpie are also highly territorial, and will aggressively swoop and even peck people or other animals they perceive as a threat.  It also seems that Australian Magpies will single out individual people for aggressive behaviour - in other words they can remember who they 'hate' the most and seem to reserve much of their anger for that person.  (To be honest, it's a behaviour I can empathise with!)

Strangely, Australian Magpie can also become very tame, and will feed very close to people they trust.  A number of years ago we had a pair that nested in the trees behind our house.  In the mornings they would come and tap on our back door and window asking for some breakfast! I was more than pleased to oblige.

I found these two birds near my house, and they were feeding around the mossy base of a street tree.  They seemed to be finding a good number of small invertebrates to eat.

They are an utterly iconic Australian bird.

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Wild Bird Wednesday 690 - Hooded Plovers

Hooded Plovers (Thinornis cucullatus) are an endemic Australian wader. They are a non-migratory bird found in sandy coastal area of Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania. It is a medium sized  bird, with a prominent red beak and eye rings, and a dark black hood. The sexes are similar in size and plumage,

They are considered endangered largely due to the disturbance of their beach nest sites by the people, dogs and horses that also use these beaches.  The eggs and young birds are heavily predated by foxes, cats, silver gulls and ravens.  All in all, it's not easy being a Hooded Plovers.

Hoodies (as they are known) are emblematic of Australia's wilder souther beaches. There are probably no more than 3000 of these birds in existence.  

Thankfully, I was able to watch a number of pairs of this rather charming bird on the beaches of Kangaroo Island.  When I walk on a wild beach and see Hoodies I always think I have seen 'something'!

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Wild Bird Wednesday 689 - Glossy Black Cockatoo

Although the main purpose of my trip to Kangaroo Island last week was to walk much of the Kangaroo Island Wilderness Trail, I also hoped I would see Glossy Black Cockatoo on the walk.  

The population of Glossy Black Cockatoos on Kangaroo Island are classified as being one of the three recognised subspecies of this bird: Calyptorhynchus lathami halmaturinus.  However, recent studies have suggested there are actually no real differences between these 3 'types' of bird.

This may all seem very abstract, but it does have a significance as the population of birds on Kangaroo Island are isolated from the rest of the of the populations of GBCs - and this makes there protection important.  And it is generally easier (although far from easy!) to get protection for a species in an area if it is considered different from populations elsewhere.

The Glossy Black Cockatoos on Kangaroo Island face the familiar suite of threats: habitat loss, habitat fragmentation, predation by introduced predators and climate change.  The Glossy Black Cockatoos also has very specific dietary needs, feeding on Allocasuarina (she-oak) seeds, so any change to the extent or availability of these plants has a significant impact on the birds.   

On 20 December 2019 until 6 February 2020 fires burnt almost half of the total area of Kangaroo Island (remember we are in the southern hemisphere her, so that's high summer) .  Thankfully the population of Glossy Black Cockatoos seem to have survived this fire, and many areas of Kangaroo Island have recovered remarkably since the fires.

The Glossy Black Cockatoo is the smallest of the Black Cockatoos, reaching  about 50 cm (19.5 in) in length. Males are blackish brown, except for their prominent tail bands; the females are dark brownish with highly variable yellow marking around the neck and a prominent tail band of red with black bars. 

I take it that the bird in this picture is a male.

As my trip to Kangaroo was primarily a walking trip I did not have my full camera gear with me - I would have needed a pack mule to help move the amount of stuff I carry if I had brought my 'real' camera with me!  That being said, I am pretty pleased with these images, and I was able to tolerate the small increase in pack weight that the camera caused.  (It's a hard life!)

The light for photography was truly awful, but we got great views.  At first there were just two birds, but after a while they were joined by more, and all 6 birds seemed content just to sit in a dead tree for some time.  I have to say, it was a bit of a highlight really!

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Wild Bird Wednesday 688 - Shy Albatross.

Over the past few years I have been lucky enough to have had a few birding adventures. Most were memorable, many were remarkable: but my first pelagic trip really was a highlight.  It did not yield my first encounters with albatross - but it did cement them in my mind as possibly the most remarkable set of birds I have ever seen.  Hummingbirds run a pretty close second, and I never fail to enjoy parrots, but watching albatross on the open ocean really is something special.  If you ever get the chance to go it, take it.  

These pictures are of Shy Albatross (Thalassarche cauta) which is probably the most abundant albatross in my part of the world.   In this case, 'my part of the world' extends to the waters south of Tasmania where I have done about 90% of my oceanic, or pelagic, bird watching.  It seems that 2025 will pass without a pelagic trip for me - this will not happen in 2026!

I'll be on Kangaroo Island, South Australia, this week so my visits and comments will be even slower than normal.

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