June and the dry weather begins

I've been a bit tardy of late and I'm afraid the Blog has suffered somewhat, so I hope to put things right by bringing things back up to date with a couple of posts in the next couple of days.  The Australian winter has been wetter than previous years and as if to underline this June started with a real downpour, but as the month progressed a proper Aussie winter began to kick in and there were only a couple more damp days in the month.  At the same time the temperature dropped and cool drying winds kicked in and plant growth quickly slowed.

The Fey Path

 I've stopped any attempt at planting with the dry season building and instead got back to pruning, clearing up and cutting back the peak bush growth.  The frogs in the dam have fallen silent and even the cicadas are muted at this time of year.

On the last day of the month we heard the first Striated Paradalote call of the year.  The 'chup-a-chup' call of the Pardalotes was one of the first things I recognised when we first found the land and before we built the house.  They nest each year in a mud wall behind the garage and so far seem undisturbed by our arrival, even after we built the garage in front of their nesting wall!

June Birds

Regulars (Seen at least x5 per week.)

Pacific Black Duck
Wood Duck
Mallard Duck
Bronzewing
Bar-shouldered Dove
Peaceful Dove
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
Galah

Galahs

Rainbow Lorikeet
Pale-headed Rosella
Australian Magpie
Torresian Crow
Pied Currawong
Eastern Spinebill

Eastern Spinebill

Eastern Whipbird
Double-barred Finch

Double-barred Finch

Brown Honeyeater
Yellow-faced Honeyeater
Lewins Honeyeater
Rainbow Bee-eater
Noisy Miner
Rufous Whistler

Rufous Whistler

Laughing Kookaburra
Grey Fantail

Grey Fantail

Bush Turkey

Common (Seen at least x2 per week.)

Willie Wagtail
Brown Cuckoo Dove
Pied Butcherbird

Golden Whistler

Golden Whistler

Black-faced Shrike Thrush
Noisy Friarbird
Scarlet-backed Fairy Wren
Wedge Tailed Eagle

Uncommon (Seen 2-3 times during the month)

Blue-faced Honeyeater
Collared Sparrowhawk
Grey Shrike Thrush
King Parrot
Magpie Lark
Scarlet Honeyeater
Spangled Drongo
Variegated Fairy Wren


Rare (Seen only once during the month)

Azure Kingfisher

Azure Kingfisher

Intermediate Egret
Little Pied Cormorant
Rose Robin
Striated Pardalote
Varied Sitella
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
White-bellied Sea Eagle

Which is 49 species for this month, happy birding!