Wedge-tailed eagles

Yesterday while I out in the local woods, I heard grunting, muffled, barking calls. So I crept on quietly, expecting to find some mammal lurking in the shrubbery, but no. There were a pair a wedge-tailed eagles sitting in adjacent trees, calling to one another.

Eagles are normally quiet birds, or thought  to be, but I have been close to quite a few and have heard such muffled barking calls before; by golden and wedge-tailed eagles. They are probably thought to be quiet birds because people are seldom close enough to hear them.

These birds had obviously not long finished eating something as both their bills were red with blood. But it must have been a small prey item as their crops were not full. Adult Wedge-tailed eagles have a fine golden nape similar to the golden eagle, of Europe, Asia and North America. Their wedged tail forms a distinctive long pointed shape when the birds are perched.

This bird was probably the male as it was the smaller one, and its feet can be seen to be quite small in this photograph - females are larger and usually have large thick talons. The long central tail feathers droop down when in level flight. I often wonder on their purpose, do they help the birds steer through the canopy? For these are birds of open woodland and landscape with scattered trees.

There was no point in me hiding as both birds had obviously seen me. So I grabbed a few quick images as the male flew off through the trees - the nictitating membrane closing over his eyes as he squeezed through the branches.

Big rain

It has been raining here for a few days now, with more than 100mm down in March so far. It's raining again now and more to come. That should see us with 200mm for the month, by the 4th.

 Scrivener Dam, like all the dams around here is overflowing.

 Better to keep clear

 Well clear

 Power

 Picturesque power

 Lots of flooding

The darters still have big chicks in their nests, not many fish being brought in though...

New website

I have opened a new website at http://sites.stuartrae.com/  or just click on the website link on the right.

I would be grateful for any comments on layout, content, usefulness, favourite image, etc.. I would especially like to know how it appears on various devices, as I know iOS corrupts the layout no matter what I do to set the gadgets, text or inserts.

Please send any comments to the associated email address which is stuart@stuartrae.com .

Thanks for your interest and help.

Stuart

Banding birds

I was helping John Rawsthorne catch and band birds last weekend at the Weddin Mountains. It was the end of the breeding season and many of the birds we caught were young of the year. Or like the rainbow bee-eater above were adults worn out after their efforts - literally as this bird shows with its tatty plumage and broken tail-streamers.

This red-browed firetail was identifiable as a bird of the year because the red in its brow was incomplete

- the adult birds have a thick brush stroke across their brow.

There was a family party of grey butcherbirds in the area, this is one of the adults.

They have a particularly sharp hook on the tip of their bill for picking up prey, mostly invertebrates, but also small skinks and young birds if they can catch them. That is my skin on the tip.

                               Another predator made an appearance - a goanna ( lace monitor lizard). 

 

It was nice and quiet as it walked through the camp, still a youngster itself.

Bird banding

    Last weekend I was at helping to catch and band birds at a study site in the forest near Moruya in south- 
    east New South Wales. The project is run by Micheal and Sarah Guppie, and Anthony Overs. Above is
    one of the main study species, a Variegated Fairy-Wren (adult male).
 

    The breeding season is almost over so there were many young birds such as the juvenile White-naped

     Honeyeater on the right above, whose plumage is much duller than that of the adult on the left. 

     Another of the honeyeater species was the New Holland Honeyeater, a bird which favours to feed on

     the nectar of banksias. These birds have splendid detail in their facial plumage.

      Below is an adult male Mistletoebird, which has a wonderful red breast and the sheen on its back is a
      rich deep metalic blue, appat from on the primaries and central tail feathers which are dull grey-brown.

       Another shining bird was the Shining Bronze-Cuckoo. Even the bars on its breast have a greenish
       lustre.

    And one of the last birds we caught was a Black-faced Monarch Flycatcher, an adult as identified by

    its fully black face markings.