Wildlife – Page 6

Bin Chicken / Tip Turkey

Bin Chicken / Tip Turkey / Dump Duck. These are all local names for the ubiquitous Australian White Ibis (Threskiornis molucca)

Apparently the Bin Chicken is widespread across much of Australia. It has predominantly white plumage with a bare, black head, long down curved bill and black legs.

These birds are the subject of a “Planet Earth” documentary ….

And even their own animated series ….

Although they are seen in the wild, they have become a feature of the suburbs in WA.

The picture at the beginning of this post was taken behind the Divers Tavern, Broome.

One can only begin to imagine what kind of “bin juice” this Bin Chicken has been drinking

The month of June is quite often referred to as “Flaming June”. Depending on the weather this can be either a positive description or a negative one. This year I believe this description would be delivered as a positive.

The weather has been predominantly good, much to the benefit of the roses. Here are a few from my garden.

Yet Another Squirrel Picture

Over the last few weeks I have loaded up two of my bird feeders with around 2 kilos of sunflower hearts. One feeder has a stainless steel mesh and is mainly frequented by the various members of the tit family. Supplemented by the occasional visits of a pair of Nuthatches and Robins. And today we even had a Bullfinch, a first for us.

The other feeder is a little more open and needless to say is the preferred food source for, yep, you guessed it. The squirrels …..

I wouldn’t mind, but in stealing the birds food they spill more on the ground than they actually eat.

This ground based bounty then attracts the attention of those flying pigs, the Wood Pigeons. I call them pigs because of the volume of seed a single pigeon consumes. I also refer to them as vultures, as they sit high up in the trees waiting for us humans to leave the garden so they can come down and scavenge. They remind me of that old cartoon and tee shirt design …..

Patience

One day they will lose their patience, fly down and attack me instead of waiting for me to fill the feeders.

Anyway, I know, it’s my fault, I bought the wrong type of feeder. But I have yet to find a squirrel proof feeder. These little scallywags have such sharp teeth and are so persistent, that they have chewed their way into every feeder that doesn’t give them instant access to the food, like the one above.

Like us humans and our money, who want instant access to our cash. We have ATMs, the squirrel community want ASDs. Automated Seed Dispensers.

Woody

You can tell that the weather is warming up. The ants get busy and then along comes this great little guy….

This very smart bird is a European Green Woodpecker, Picus viridis.

He and his pals visit our front garden fairly frequently since we seem to have more than our fair share of ant nests. This member of the woodpecker family spends much of its time feeding on ants, on the ground. Unlike other species of woodpecker, he does not often ‘drum’ on trees.

They are supposed to be a shy bird but I have found them to be fairly tolerant so long as you don’t make any sudden moves. When they fly away they usually do so whilst emitting their very loud and distinctive call.

Nut Jobs

Given the current cold spell I don’t begrudge these little fellows a few peanuts. Midday and -1 outside even though the sun is shining. A few snow sprinkles falling too, although too few to bother anyone.

Although I put the peanuts out for the birds, the squirrels (and Wood Pigeons) eat the bulk of them. They are always cute and entertaining, so small price to pay for their company.

Since filling the feeders this weekend we are being visited by tits of the Blue, Great and Long-tailed varieties.

This morning, there was also a Nuthatch getting his fill of sunflower hearts.

As always, the Robins are policing the garden. In the summer they typically, aggressively, chase off any other visitors to the feeders. Perhaps, due to the cold, they are being a little more magnanimous and just observing from a distance.

The Wood Pigeons sit like vultures in the trees. Observing the comings and goings of all the other birds. Since they can no longer land on the feeders, they are relegated to hoovering up the scatterings of their smaller brethren.

The Three Stooges

Sleepy trio of Spectacled Owls at Birdworld, Farnham, Surrey

Ibis / Ibis’s / Several Ibis ???

Birdworld00_1

Mohican

Crossbills

Couple of Pelicans Birdworld, Farnham, Surrey, England

View From The Conservatory

I was both astounded and disappointed to discover that my last “View” was posted just over a year ago. I know that we have been busy and there have been other more recent posts.

Admittedly, the conservatory has been rebuilt and we did take off to Australia for three months followed by a month in France and a fortnight in Antigua. There have been several lesser UK based jaunts. However, we have also spent time at home and I have had my camera to hand. So, feeling suitably ashamed, here is a compilation of pictures taken over the last few weeks. We are now into the UK summer season and the garden plants are growing like crazy.

First up then is a regular subject, squirrels. Once again we are being visited by the albino variety.

As you can see they do have the requisite pink eyes.

Here in the UK squirrels are sometimes referred to as tree rats. The example above is the most rat-like squirrel I have ever seen.

Of course we do have an abundance of the grey variety. Just a few days ago there were four greys in the garden. Of course my camera was out of reach and since these guys were raiding the bird feeders, any movement on my part just scared them away.

Grey Squirrel – Softening a bread crust in the bird bath

Grey Squirrel – So hungry after eating the bird food, it’s eating a stick

Grey Squirrel

Grey Squirrel – Taking the rays

Grey Squirrel – So much ginger it’s almost red

I thought that the pure grey squirrels would have attacked the albino, but apparently not. Judging by the shenanigans going on, high up in the trees, I believe the albino may have found a partner. Maybe we’ll see some piebald babes around this year.

As I mentioned earlier, there are many flowers on show already. So, just a few snaps ….

This Iris was discovered in a shady overgrown area of the garden. It was not planted by us and, as we are the only owners of this property since it was built, we have no idea how the Iris arrived. Pretty though.

We have a few rose bushes, which we did plant….