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| A Red Wattlebird sits on the edge of the pond |
The video opens with a group of Red Wattlebirds and Eastern Rosellas splashing in the water. Then it shows two Eastern Rosellas with three young Crimson Rosellas. A single adult Crimson Rosella has a good splash in the middle of the pond and an Australian Magpie calls while coming in for a drink, followed by a young male Satin Bowerbird. He lives in the area and occasionally brings in pieces of blue plastic, in early-learning attempts at building a bower in the garden.
The large birds seemed to come for a drink in the afternoons. A Sulphur-crested Cockatoo takes a drink followed by an Australian Raven. Then as the light began to fade the smallest birds came in. A grey Fantail flitted about nervously, and a White-browed Scrubwren took a few dips under the cover of the falling light while a flock of cockatoos call in the background as they settle to roost. It was almost dark by then.
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| A Sulphur-crested Cockatoo comes in for a drink |
During the night, only the local Brush-tailed Possums came down, but I'll keep setting the camera up as one night something unusual might come in for a drink. Food scraps are easy for animals to find in suburbia, but clean water is not so easy to find.
The highlight of the session? That easily goes to the Giant Water Spider Megadolomedes australianus, although I never managed to catch a picture of her. She was magnificent - they grow to up to 18 cm leg span, and they can eat fish. What a spider.
The full bird list for the garden pond:
Native species:
Crested Pigeon
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Australian King Parrot
Eastern Rosella
Crimson Rosella
Grey Fantail
Superb Fairy-wren
White-browed Scrubwren
Brown Thornbill
Red Wattlebird
Noisy Friarbird
Yellow-faced Honeyeater
Eastern Spinebill
Silvereye
Magpie lark
Australian Magpie
Pied Currawong
Australian Raven
Satin Bowerbird
Introduced species:
House Sparrow
Common Myna
Common Starling
