Sunday Selections, brought to us by Kim, of Frogpondsrock, is an ongoing theme where participants post previously unused photos languishing in their files.
Anyone can join in, just post your photos under the Sunday Selections title, link back to Kim, then add your name to her Linky list at Frogpondsrock.
For the next few weeks I will post photos of a bird species a week in Sunday Selections. This week, for dinahmow, I am putting up some photos of wattle birds - which I finally managed to capture while they were not moving. Wattle birds are another bird with attitude. They are the first to wake in the morning - considerably before sparrow fart. They swoop Jazz, more rarely Jewel and occasionally me if they think I am encroaching on their territory (which covers the entire yard, front and back). They are also not averse to challenging the cockatoos, who are much, much bigger than they are. When I finally managed to capture them not moving they were investigating the raspberry canes and scoffing unripe mulberries. Grr.
If you can think of another bird you would like to see featured and I have the birds in one of my folders I would be very open to requests.
As usual, clicking on any of the photos will enlarge them.
These are beautiful birds! They have the same breast feather colors as our Cooper's Hawk. But they are much more benign, I suspect. :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the sweet comment you just left on my blog. I thought of you this morning as I swam, while remembering to kick while I breathe.
DJan: Thank you. They are not dramatic birds in the same way that some of our others are, but I love them. And yes, they are much more benign that a hawk. Though it would be hard to convince Jazz of that.
ReplyDeleteI am relieved to hear that you are still having to think in order to kick and breathe simultaneously.
Thankyou! But you'll have to help me out with ID. It doesn't seem big enough to be
ReplyDeleteA yellow so I'm guessing a Red or Little. Since it doesn't seem to have wattles, I'm guessing a Little Wattlebird
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Wattlebird
Up here, we have quite a few Blue-faced honey eaters and Friar birds and then the "little brown jobs" (LBJs)the medium and small brown honey eaters. All too darn' fast to ID accurately so called, universally,LBJ
Sorry about the mulberries!
dinahmow: Our best guess is a juvenile red wattlebird. There was one with wattles with it, but it flew off as soon as the camera appeared. The Little Wattlebird is pretty much limited to Western Australia, so would be way out of place here. Our Simpson and Day bird book sums up their cry as raucous. Not wrong. And penetrating at half past too early. I am a bit sad about the mulberries, but I love raspberries and I hope the birds don't. Almost certainly in vain.
ReplyDeleteWe have some LBJs here too. I have just officially stolen the term.
Their general shape, combined with the long tail, remind me of our Black-billed Magpie - being raucous and having an attitude also matches up but the color is much different of course. I'd love to have these in my yard. Might upset the magpies though...
ReplyDeleteRon Dudley: Thank you. We have magpies too, but our magpies are quite different to yours - which I only realised when I saw your post on magpies. There is a wet magpie facing off an aggressive wet corella on my header. Our magpies have an aggressive streak, but I have only seen them attack crested wood doves.
ReplyDeleteI'm hanging out at a friends house using her wifi and her cat is *very* interested in your bird photos :D
ReplyDeleteMind you he is an indoor cat, so not sure he'd know what to do with a real bird :D
Marita: I suspect he would. He may not have the ability, but the yearning and the instincts seem to be very strong.
ReplyDeleteyou show me the most amazing birds! like a dinosaur!
ReplyDeleteAloha from Honolulu
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Bonza photos you've captured the wattle birds brilliantly i especially like the 1st photo :-).
ReplyDeleteCloudia: Thank you - you have me looking at them from a whole new perspective.
ReplyDeleteWindsmoke: Thanks, and at least in that one it doesn't have purloined fruit in its mouth.
Oh...wattle birds!!! I used to watch them outside my window in Victor, and if I remember correctly, these birds have a very strange voice...sort of like a sneeze. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteKaren: Not melodious that is for sure. One of the bird books descibes it as sounding like 'chock, chock, chock' but doesn't add that there is a rusty gate quality as well. I love them just the same - even before 4 am.
ReplyDeleteLovely birds! I wonder if we have them in SA? I've seen birds with similar markings but no yellow underbelly feathers and generally a bit browner. and impossible to photograph! They're faster than an eyeblink!
ReplyDeleteRiver: They are lovely and they also move really fast. This one only stayed still for long enough to have its photo taken because it was busy pillaging my mulberries. I think there a wattle birds of one sort or another across much of Oz.
ReplyDeleteWhat gorgeous plumage these birds have!
ReplyDeleteMore great bird pics! I love these! They sound delightfully ornery--you can even see it in their faces.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure Geiger and Sporran are going to be thrilled you posted these for Dinah.
My folks have these are regular visitors to their garden in Victor Harbor but I don't think I've ever seen one with a fruit in its mouth. He looks so proud of himself!
ReplyDeleteThese birds have a strange and serious expression on their faces... or rather beaks ;)))They look as if they were a little angry, I think, but I know that is just my feeling.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your birds and am always delighted to learn of one I have never seen before. Your photos are always enjoyable.
ReplyDeleteThis is a new one for me. At first I thought it must be a brown thrasher but then I took a second look and realized it isn't. Nice photos of the bird.
ReplyDeleteThese are all fantastic! I'm so glad you have chosen to go with bird pics for awhile, because I do love seeing them. Though I grew up in a lace named after John James Audubon, and my mother raised and sold parakeets as a side business, even through her pregnancy with me, and my hometown was and is loaded with tons of birds, well, they just don't compare to the colorful beauties in your yard. So this blog is always a treat for me.
ReplyDeleteMan, does this bird show an additude!
ladyfi: More subtle than many of our birds - but beautiful just the same.
ReplyDeletePaper Chipmunk: Oh yes, birds with attitude. And I am now wondering whether they are the ones who have been crapping purple (ripe mulberries?) on our veranda.
Kath: It was a first for us too - and yes he did think he was clever.
Ken.G: There were two of them when we first saw them. I don't think this one liked having his photo taken - but he wasn't about to give up on the fruit.
Denise: Thank you.
Abe Lincoln: Welcome. I will go and visit you shortly.
Spectra: Glad you liked them. I knew I did, but hadn't realised until I started posting bird pictures how many other people in the blogosphere share this obsession of mine.
They are a rather grumpy looking bird, aren't they? I think I have seen them in our yard ever now and then, do they tend to be solitary? I am sure i only ever see one at a time.
ReplyDeleteFantastic photos. Nature's alarm clock sounds a bit pushy!
ReplyDeleteThey LOOK like they have attitude - just look at those defiant expressions!
ReplyDeletepermanently amanda: We get them in at least pairs, but they don't seem to 'flock' as so many birds do.
ReplyDeleteMitzi: Thanks. And yes 4.30 is a tad early (though sometimes the cats beat them to the alarm duties).
Laloofah: Wouldn't you look defiant if you were caught in the act of stealing someone's fruit?
As Ken G. and Laloofah said, these birds look like they are brimming with attitude. Very sharp eyes and determined faces.
ReplyDeleteSusan Kane: I am looking at them in a whole new light after reading these comments. They are among our least agressive visitors (excepting swooping the cats and me), although determined about getting what they want.
ReplyDeleteI do so love birds! I have a cousin who travels the world on bird-watching trips and I envy him! How do you get your brilliant pictures? They are really quite stunning! Thank you so much for sharing your unique bird species with me! It's better than simply opening a book, because you have such a personal perspective. Thank you again!
ReplyDeleteDiane: Thank you so much for your lovely, lovely comment. Despite the presence of cats our home is bird friendly. Very bird friendly. Trees, and bushes and a feeder which is stocked up daily for the seed eaters, and an apple a day hung in a tree .... And a good point and shoot camera.
ReplyDeletea handsome bird, one of the many that flit around blogland which is totally unknown to me.
ReplyDeleteFriko: One of the wonders of the blogosphere, that we get to share things with each other. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThey do look very determined and sharp eyed. Beautiful too. Wouldn't like to be swooped by them ;-)
ReplyDeleteCarolina: Wattlebird swooping is much less intimidating than being swooped by magpies. The wattlebirds dive bomb, but it isn't accompanied by the beak clashing that the magpies go in for.
ReplyDeleteFascinating. They actually look a bit sneaky to me, but perhaps I'm prejudiced by their thieving of the berries...even before they're ripe. Very fascinating, and great shots.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fair prejudice to me. I am really, really hoping that they leave me my raspberries.
ReplyDeleteThe wonderful wattle birds. They visit our gardens too. And what about featuring a kookaburra for those who don't know Australia? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteElisabeth: Welcome. I would love to feature a kookaburra, but we haven't had one visit in years. I am thinking that next Sunday Selections the crimson rosellas will be featured.
ReplyDeleteThis bird is beautiful...and you captured a pic in nature. I request any bird since you seem to have a beautiful variety
ReplyDeleteKim @ Stuff: Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI do love the birdies. :-)
ReplyDeletePearl
Thanks Pearl. More to come.
ReplyDelete