My father had been Superintendent in charge of Portishead Radio Station, which in its time was the biggest radio station in the world and in the days before mobile phones and satellite communications, if you wanted to call someone on a ship off the coast of Australia it would be routed through Portishead. It wasn't well known, except amongst the world's maritime community, but it was a vital part of the worlds communication systems for many years.
When he retired he followed the route of many retirees and set about doing all those jobs that he had planned for so many years, and as a skilled carpenter, he soon had their home 'shipshape and Bristol fashion', but then he became bored and so I suggested to him that he and mum might want to take up bird watching. They followed my suggestion and soon became enthusiastic birders. Some years later my mother fell victim to Parkinsons disease and so Dad had to give up birding for a time to care for her until sadly she passed a few years later, After mums death he got back into birding again alongside my sister Joy, who had become a rather skilled amateur wildlife photographer. I remember once getting a phone call from him asking for me to identify a bird, which from his description was a vulture. Surprised, I asked where he was only to be told that he was up a mountain in Majorca. I was even more surprised as Dad had been suffering from arthritis in his ankle and was no longer to cover long distances, but apparently he'd made his way up the mountain on an electric scooter!
In his later years his eyesight failed and he was unable to see his beloved birds, but enjoyed listening to Joy as she described the birds in the back garden. I will miss my Dad. He went from being a highly respected member of the community, leader in his profession, Assistant District Commissioner for the Boy Scouts, and Church Warden to an irascible retiree with a wicked sense of humour and a love of life that was impossible not to admire.
My personal challenges pale almost into insignificance compared to Dad's passing, but I had other problems that added to the missing post. My camera got knocked over onto hard concrete damaging both camera and lens and it took some time for the insurance company to replace them, and I lost my July notebook, so I can't even tell you the birds that I did see in July, so all-in-all July was a bit of a disaster.
August didn't improve much either. Whilst I was in Brisbane at a meeting a trio of Wedge-tailed Eagles attacked the house and killed two of my best layers. Mathilde, an elderly Salmon Faverolle and Mandy, one of my best Blue Faverolles. Mathilde's partner Francois the Salmon Faverolle rooster took the death of his partner badly and faded. He was an old cock anyway, but by mid-September he had just about given up and eventually lost a battle to a younger rooster and died a few days later. At the same time, my other Salmon Faverolle Rooster, 'Ercule, fell ill and although still alive today is struggling and I still haven't been able to work out what's wrong with him. He's been wormed, received broad spectrum antibiotics, treated for mites and fed extra meals, but still can't seem to put weight back on. A more sensible breeder would simply cull him from the flock and replace him with another bird, but that's not my way. When I took on the chooks I took on the responsibility for caring for them and if I can save him I will.
Well, that was a cheery start to my blog. I'm not sure whether anybody wants to read anymore, but there is some good stuff. The damage to my camera and the ensuing insurance money meant that I was able to upgrade to the Canon EOS70D and to the long desired Canon 100-400 mm lens. A lot heavier than my previous gear, but the results more than make up for the weary camera arm, as I hope you'll agree.
On the birding front August looked good. The Grevilleas and Banksias were in full bloom, which brought in Scarlet Honeyeaters and Silvereyes in abundance.
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| A male Scarlet Honeyeater in the Honey Gem Grevillea. |
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| A Silvereye in another Grevillea. |
And of course we have continued to be blessed by the flocks of Plumed Whistling Ducks, but this has proved to be a mixed blessing as a combination of the dry winter and the nitrates deposited into the dam by the ducks has brought about a serious green algae bloom.
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| Schnappy, the Brisbane Short-necked Turtle wading through the algae bloom. |
We're still working on the algae, but the usual treatment of dropping a couple of bales of barley straw into the dam failed to have any impact at all. On the other side of the plant world, on dry land, we were treated to some tiny forest gems peaking though the leaf litter.
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| The appropriately named Pink Finger Orchid |
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| Only 6" tall, but really pretty. |
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| and a touch of violet. |
Still, onto the birds...
Regulars (Seen at list x5 per week)
Bar-shouldered Dove
Common Bronzewing
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| A male Common Bronzewing at a feeder. |
Double-barred Finch
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| Double-barred Finches |
Galah
Little Corella
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| Litte Corellas enjoy a snack |
Noisy Friarbird
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| Noisy Friarbird takes charge in the Grevilleas. |
Pacific Black Duck
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| Pacific Black Duck with Plumed Whistling Ducks behind. |
Peaceful Dove
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| The shy Peaceful Dove |
Pied Butcherbird
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| 'Butch' the Pied Butcherbird on a cat food raid. |
Pied Currawong
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| A Pied Currwaong sings. |
Plumed Whistling Duck
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| Plumed Whistling Ducks looking alert |
Rainbow Lorikeet
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| Rainbow Lorikeet lurking on a Tree Fern. |
Scarlet Honeyeater
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| Need I say anything! |
Silvereye
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| A rather plump looking Silvereye. |
Striated Pardalote
Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo
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| Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo at the feeder |
Torresian Crow
Welcome Swallow
White-throated Gerygone
Yellow-faced Honeyeater
Common (Seen at least x2 per week)
Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike
Eastern Spinebill
Grey Fantail
Grey Shrike Thrush
Laughing Kookaburra
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| Laughing Kookaburra |
Lewins Honeyeater
Little Friarbird
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| Little Friarbird in the ever reliable Honey Gems. |
Noisy Miner
Olive-backed Oriole
White-faced Honeyeater
Willie Wagtail
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| Willie Wagtail |
Uncommon (Seen 2-5 times in the month)
Australian Magpie
Brown Goshawk
Eastern Yellow Robin
Fan-tailed Cuckoo
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| A Fan-tailed Cuckoo in the Brush Box. |
Figbird
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| Female Figbird in the old gums. |
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| and the male Figbird |
Golden Whistler
King Parrot
Pale-headed Rosella
Rainbow Bee Eater
Red-backed Fairy Wren
Rufous Whistler
Satin Flycatcher
Scaly-breasted Lorikeet
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| Scaly-breasted Lorikeet searching for seed. |
Wedge-tailed Eagle
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| Chicken munching Wedge-tailed Eagle |
White-faced Heron
White-throated Treecreeper
Wood Duck
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
Rare (Seen only once in the month)
Australian Hobby
Brown Cuckoo Dove
Collared Sparrowhawk
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| Collared Sparrowhawk worries the chooks. |
Crested Pigeon
Grey Butcherbird
Grey Goshawk
Little Bronze Cuckoo
Masked Plover
Pheasant Coucal
Rose Robin
Southern Boobook
Spotted Pardalote
White-bellied Cuckoo Shrike
White-necked Heron
Which is 63-species, but taking into account that I was away for at least one week and tied up on numerous days, it's a result I'm quite happy with.
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