By the Seaside

Living as we do in the Adelaide Hills, we don't get to the seaside very often - and rarely with a chance to go birding. So, it was with great delight that I was taken by my birding cousins to Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary on a recent trip to Melbourne.

John and Margaret are keen birders and were more than happy to drive me around Melbourne to visit some of the many suburban birdwatching areas - and Melbourne has a wealth of them. Ricketts Point was especially good because I got a chance to snap seabirds for a change. These are all pretty common sights for those of you who live near the coast, but a real treat for me.

Silver Gulls and a pair of Little Pied Cormorants

Crested Tern

I am familiar with Black Swan. We get them on the waterways in the hills, but I did not realise they were also found on the coast.

The White-faced Heron is one of our visitors and has actually nested on our property, but again I did not think of them as a coastal bird.

Australian Pelican

And finally, a bit of everything.

Liz Needle

linking with

Wild Bird Wednesday

Our World Tuesday

Nature Notes

Camera Critters

Saturday Critters

"Murray Magpies" in the Garden

A common bird in Australia is the Magpie-lark  -  or as it is commonly called in South Australia, the Murray Magpie. We don't see a lot of them around our garden, probably as the Australian Magpies and the Grey Currawongs are more aggressive. In fact so rarely do we see them that I do not have any images of them.

 So it was with great pleasure and some excitement  that I discovered a nest in our oak tree last Spring and was able to snap the parents feeding the nestlings. They were well hidden and very protective , so the photo was taken from my veranda, a safe distance for all concerned.

We  watched them daily for a couple of weeks until the little ones were able to fly and then they were gone!!

We haven't seen them since, but we are hoping that they may return in Spring again.

Liz Needle

linking with

Wild Bird Wednesday

Nature Notes

Our World Tuesday

Grey Fantails

For several years we had Grey Fantails nesting in the garden and at the time I posted photos. Quite a while back now, so I will put some up again.

Then they disappeared and we didn't see them around - perhaps my camera scared them off!  This year, much to our delight w have had severaL sightings and although they are rather elusive and never keep still, I have been lucky enough to get some reasonable shots.

And my favourite shots of these pretty little birds.  The fellow with the brown colouring is a juvenile. Doesn't stop him flirting though.

Liz Needle

linking with

Our World Tuesday

 Nature Notes

Wild Bird Wednesday

Camera Critters