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.
I have been featuring the birds who visit us for a while now. I think this will probably be my last post exclusively devoted to birds for a while at least. The ones I am featuring today are, while perhaps not as brightly coloured as some of our other birds, still more than welcome. Clicking on any of the photos will make them larger.
We visit the first three birds pictured rather than them visiting us.
Magpies do swoop people in spring it is true. I think they more than make up for it with their enchanting gurgle all year round.
We have a large flock of sparrows who are usually to be seen and/or heard in the garden.
Blackbirds are fairly regular visitors too.
Crested wood doves or Crested wood pidgeons we see every day. They choose to walk across the road rather than fly and when we are putting seed out for the birds they are so reluctant to move it bounces off their backs.
Wow! You've mentioned in comments on my blog how much different your magpies are from ours. I surely do see what you mean! Your blackbirds too. Very interesting.
ReplyDeleteLovely... particularly the close-ups of the sparrow and magpie.One can see their delicate beauty.
ReplyDeleteYou can't be far away - they are all familiar. Except the sparrows which don't venture more than a block from the shops around here, for some reason.
ReplyDeleteOh, the sparrows. I could do without them, but then again, I don't have magpies or any of those really big birds on my porch. The Northern Flickers are the biggest. Nice pictures! :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat bird shots EC! I so enjoy seeing these familiar guys. We had a flock of Magpies that would sit on our porch railing waiting to be fed. They were quite voracious and often a tad nasty!
ReplyDeleteRon Dudley: Very different. A severe lack of imagination in the naming department. Your magpies are prettier, and I understand don't swoop people but ours have an absolutely beautiful caroll. It epitomises home for me. And our blackbirds are quite small.
ReplyDeleteChristine: Thank you. I also think they are beautiful. Just less showy than others of our birds.
J Cosmo Newberry: Quintessentially Australian. Love them.
DJan: Thanks. Our sparrows have an early morning chirp that I am fond of. I also like to see them swipe seed from under a bigger bird's beak.
Karen: Thank you. Magpies become domesticated quite easily (though never really tame). My father used to feed them bacon rinds. One morning having finished feeding them he went back inside. And realised when he got to the kitchen that one of them didn't think it had been fed enough. It had followed him in and was hard on his heels.
Bonza photos but what a coincidence because on my morning walk this morning all i seen was Crested Wood Pigeons feeding and flying everywhere and now i find them here as well :-).
ReplyDeleteWindsmoke: The whirr of their feathers as they take off is amazing. But yes, what a coincidence.
ReplyDeleteI really like your sparrow shots, very nice :)
ReplyDeleteI'd never seen crested pigeons until I visited Adelaide. It seemed that a year later they had started to migrate over to Melbourne, but I haven't seen them since moving south of the city. Not sure why this is.
permanently amanda: Thanks. I grew up here and cannot remember ever seeing a crested wood dove. When I returned after more than a decade away they were everywhere.
ReplyDeletephotos are wonderful! I love the crested wood doves!!
ReplyDeleteNicky: Thank you. We get them by the dozens. They make an amazing whirring sound when they take off.
ReplyDeleteI have the crested birds here too by the dozen, magpies and sparrows also, but not so many blackbirds. I've even seen sparrows inside shopping malls, especially in the food halls where they hop around getting crumbs that have dropped from people's tables.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely variety of bird visitors! That black swan is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteRiver: There are often sparrows inside the pool building I go to as well. I think they do quite nicely on dropped crumbs.
ReplyDeleteLadyfi: The black swans are a truly regal bird.
Lovely photos - I miss the sound of Magpies, but am enjoying trying to spot the tiny robins we have in our trees. Milly scares them away before I can take any photos though.
ReplyDelete...I'm doing Sunday Selections today too. :)
Well, at least the ducks, sparrows and the blackbirds look familiar. All the other ones do have family over here, but they look different. Black swans we seldom see. I don't think they exist in the wild in the Netherlands. Beautiful, impressive birds they are. In black and in white ;-)
ReplyDeleteKath: I love your Sunday Selections with all my heart. And tiny robins would be nice too.
ReplyDeleteCarolina: We don't see the white swans - they are the exotic ones for us. Either way, they are one of the most regal looking birds.
Hi EC,
ReplyDeleteI should try my hand at photographing a few birds.
We have plenty to choose from - even in winter.
:-)
Cheers
PM
Thanks for you kind comment on my blog, and I have been thinking of your blog title and thinking of your 'satiable curtiosity. I have been re-reading those stories.
ReplyDeleteAs to the kangaroos and the black swans, I too wondered whether it was Weston Park. I was there this year with family and loved seeing the swans. However the park has changed quite a lot - many play structures which were there when my children were little have been removed - such a shame - sometimes playground equipment becomes too tame. There used to be a Mouse House, I think.
I lived in Canberra for 36 years.
Your sparrows are familiar. We have Mourning Doves as opposed to your Wood Doves...no crest...and very very silly birds.
ReplyDeleteI don't think I have ever seen a magpie before - thank you for that.
ReplyDeleteI like sparrows and like picking out the different ones here in Ohio. Yours have such an array of shade in their feathers.
ReplyDeleteI love bird photography :) I love these pictures and post..
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing
Our morning doves which are everywhere look something like your crested wood pigeons. The goose in the first photos, if it's a goose, has the red beak like our turkey vultures, much maligned, but they do an excellent job of cleaning up the dead.
ReplyDeleteOh, it's a black swan and not a goose. My mistake. The title swan gives the bird a dignity that does not come with the name "goose". I wonder why.
ReplyDeleteI didn't get from from work and then a meeting yesterday until about 8.30 pm so I was too tired to come and look at everyone's photos.
ReplyDeleteWe have the third water bird here in Tassie as well YAY. There is a place called Goulds Lagoon which is a reserve and it is full of lovely waterbirds. I am not good with their names. they keep on falling out of my head.
Thank you for your lovely bird photos they always send me off into a daydream
PM: You take wonderful photos - I would be most interested in seeing any bird photos you put up.
ReplyDeletepersiflage: Commenting at your place was my pleasure. Oh yes, 'satiable curtiosity' is me. We grew up with those stories and I reread them most years.
You will be happy to hear (as I was) that serious consideration is being given to reinstalling the tree houses and the Mouse House.
Do you miss Canberra at all?
mybabyjohn/Delores: The Wood Doves are certainly bird brained, but the opalescence on their feathers is glorious.
Lynn: Magpies are not the most glamorous birds we have, but their song is magical.
Joanne: I wonder whether our sparrows and yours are related? Our magpies are completely different as are our blackbirds.
WlidBlack: Welcome. I often put up photos of birds - they are one of my obsessions.
Strayer: You are right about the status conveyed by a name. I think all vultures are maligned - they do an impressive clean up.
Kim: The third water bird is a Moorhen. We have some water reserves which I don't get to as often as I would like. And I am really pleased to send you into a daydream. Your daydreams are likely to be very creative.
I love seeing your birds!
ReplyDeleteWarm Aloha from Waikiki
Comfort Spiral
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Great photos!
ReplyDeleteMagpies are a real pest here. They are quite dangerous in parts of the countryside because of a habit of dive-bombing cyclists; a friend of mine ended up in the gravel when attacked by several one day, and had to change his training route. I am always wary when walking the dog in magpie territory.
I love those plump crested wood doves; the wing markings are beautiful.
Cloudia: Thank you - I am glad.
ReplyDeleteAlexis: Our local council put signs up in trees warning people during swooping season. Bicyclists have helmets festooned with things supposed to ward them off. I simply take another route.
The crested wood doves are plain at first glance but have a subtle beauty of their own. I am glad you noticed it.
Wonderful bird shots, and I just love the swan. I really enjoy the Crested Pigeons, they give our chooks a run for their money. Bold as brass when it comes to stealing food. Happy new year and keep taking those great photos.
ReplyDeleteCarol: Thank you.They are lower in the pecking order here that everything except the eastern rosellas and the sparrows, but still do quite well for themselves.
ReplyDeleteYou are so lucky to have these things come to you. I don't get to see much wildlife living in a town...unless it's been squashed by a vehicle.
ReplyDeleteI have always thoroughly enjoyed your bird photography. Loved them all but the dove peeked my interest today. Loved how it had a bit of a crest on its head. Thanks for stopping by. I think the old typewriters are really beautiful to look at.
ReplyDeleteMartin: We are lucky, and we know it.
ReplyDeleteDenise: The crested wood dove has a lot of subtle charm. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea magpies were a problem in other areas. I admire them here. I've never heard of them dive-bombing before. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteI love your photos. Beautiful.
Birds are my favorite people. Nice photos.
ReplyDeleteArlee Bird
Wrote By Rote
Have Myelin: Thank you. Our magpies are different to yours. They are bombers, but are also charmers.
ReplyDeleteArlee Bird: Welcome and thank you. We are very fond of birds ourselves.
I love birding in my back yard; your pics are really neat and suggest to me that I should get my camera out onto the deck with me!
ReplyDeleteSarcasticTestGuy: We never tire of watching the birds. Hours spent simply enjoying them.
ReplyDeleteI love the crested doves, of course, being a happy dove owner, myself. Well, loving partner is a more apt description. She keeps trying to build me a nest, which is adorable.
ReplyDeleteAS always, I love your photos. You have so much beauty around you!
Spectra: I did think of you as I put these photos up. The subtle beauty of their colouring never fails to amaze me.
ReplyDelete