Wild Bird Wednesday 548 - Eastern Yellow Robin

Back to the robins for this week's WBW.

The Eastern Yellow Robin (Eopsaltria australis) is probably the most common robin in my part of the world.  Its range is from the extreme southeast corner of South Australia through most of Victoria and the western half of New South Wales and north as far as Cooktown.

It was also one of the robins that proved to be the most tricky to photograph during the 3 day tour!  Which is crazy really!

Anyway, as its name suggests this is not a red robin, but a yellow one.  The 'sticking out from a tree' position is a classic for this species.

This pictures look much better enlarged.  

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Wild Bird Wednesday 547 - Powerful Owl

I'm taking a short break from the robins this week to share some pictures of one of the more remarkable wildlife encounters I have ever had.

While doing some mammal watching north of Melbourne we came across a 'family' party of Powerful Owls (Ninox strenua). 

This species is native to south-eastern and eastern Australia, is Australia's largest owl.  This species measures 45 to 65 cm (18 to 26 in) in length and has a wing span of 112 to 135 cm (44 to 53 in). Unusually for owls, the male is slightly larger than the female on average.  Males have been reported at 0.99 to 2.22 kg (2.2 to 4.9 lb), while females can weigh from 1.04 to 1.6 kg (2.3 to 3.5 lb).  Its generally size and weight put it in the top ten largest owls in the world.

The adult male was feeding the two young owls (who were not the best flyers yet!) a brush tailed possum. (In terms of size, the possum is about the size of a house cat!)

We watched and photographed the owls for a while and then left then alone.  Surprisingly, one of the younger owls followed us along the path and very briefly landed on a low branch near us.  It that decided this was a bad plan and flew off.

All the pictures were taken during brief periods of illumination by torch light.

A really wonderful few minutes with a special animal. 

I would be honest to say, that I took a while to get to sleep after seeing these!

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546 Wild Bird Wednesday - Pink Robin

The Pink Robin (Petroica rodinogaster) is a small - and rather round - looking robin that breed in densely vegetated gullies in moist eucalypt forests or cool temperate rainforests.  This means that there breeding is limited to the South East of Australia, although they disperse out of these habitats after breeding.

Given the type of habitat they live in, they can be a bit hard to find - and having an ear for their call is a great help.  The heavy tree cover in such areas also makes photography a bit of a challenge.

I may have encountered the 'we wave one wing at a time population' of this bird - as that seems a popular stance!

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Wild Bird Wednesday 545 - Southern Scrub Robin

Post 4 in my Robins of Victoria Series. 

WBW for 2023 starts with the Southern Scrub Robin (Drymodes brunneopygia) which is a bird that lack the (often) characteristic red colouration of a bird called a robin.  In terms of 'redness', the best the Southern Scrub Robin can do is the red/brown colour of its tail.

This is a bird of low, dry woodland with a patchy distribution along the southern edge of Australia.  This is very much a ground dwelling species, often preferring to run the fly. As you can see from the pictures, this bird stays low to the ground and loves the cover of bushes.  In a few of these picture you can also see the sequence of the characteristic tail flicks that this species has.

We discovered that this bird was guarding a nest, and we left it alone to do its breeding thing.

According to the bird books, the line through the eye and the pale partial eye ring give the bird a sad look. I am not convinced by this!

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SM

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Wild Bird Wednesday 544 - Flame Robin

Post 3 in my Robins of Victoria Series. 

So, lets end WBW for 2022 with a rather splendid and colourful bird - the Flame Robin (Petroica phoenicea). The Flame Robin is a small passerine bird native to Australia. It is a moderately common resident of the coolest parts of south-eastern Australia, including Tasmania.  However, its population is declining so all is not completely well with this species.  I suspect that habitat lose and fragmentation are the usual suspects in this decline.

This species is similar to the Scarlet Robin, but the Flame Robin has a smaller white patch over its beak, and the red on the chest extends higher into the next.

This is a female.

Well, the next WBW will be in 2023.  To join in this one click on the button below.  I hope everyone is well, warm (or cool, depending on location) and that we can keep put little community ticking along for another year.  All the best.  SM

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Wild Bird Wednesday 543 - Red-Capped Robin

Post 2 in my Robins of Victoria Series. 

The Red-capped Robin (Petroica goodenovii) is found in the drier areas of Australia, mainly south of the Tropics. Like all Australian Robins it is not closely related to either European or American robins, but shares a common name with them because of its bright red colour.

The Red-capped Robin is smaller than many of the other robins in Australia, but make up for its small size with its wonderful colours.  It is common in some areas, but can be hard to find unless you are in the correct habitat.  These birds were all seen in the Terrick Terrick National Park, which is 225 km north west of Melbourne.  It is not an area I have visited very often - a situation that I hope to change in the coming year.

I think there is sort of 'Christmas Feel' to this bird - even if we are now getting our first week of worm weather here.

2022 has been a strange year for me - and at times I have found it very hard to visit other people's blog, and equally hard to know what do say when I do visit.  I think you may have noticed.  So, as I head to 550 consecutive weeks of WBW I hope I can 'get out more' and visit you all.  Please keep commenting, as I really appreciate the contact with the blogging / birding world.

Wishing you all a very happy Christmas, and I see you on the other side.

As ever, to join in with WBW click the link below.  SM

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