enjoying bird watching

jennyss
jennyss Member Posts: 2,083
 The town water tower is at the top of the hill near my house (Western NSW) . Really enjoyed my 15 minute walk to the top of the hill and back this morning as sun was rising. Saw Apostle Birds, Blue Wrens, Crested Pigeons, Ring Neck Parrots, Red Rumped Parrots and Noisy Miners. What sorts of birds do you see at your place?
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Comments

  • Sister
    Sister Member Posts: 4,961
    Lovely! We see,vamongst others, lorikeets, Adelaide rosellas, treecreepers, superb blue wrens, cockie's and galahs, magpies, kookaburras, red-tailed? Finches, golden whistler ( once in a while), yellow tailed cockie's(once a year), emus and more I can't think of. Excuse any naming problems - we tend to call them our own names and now my brain won't let me think of the right name.
  • jennyss
    jennyss Member Posts: 2,083
    Dear @Sister, Aren't birds beautiful and fascinating to watch. I think people everywhere have their own names for birds. Eg my husband calls Crimson Rosellas 'Mountain  Lorries'. And Apostle Birds get called 'CWA Birds' (because they band  together and chatter - how sexist is that!)
  • kmakm
    kmakm Member Posts: 7,974
    Outrageous!
  • Afraser
    Afraser Member Posts: 4,450
    We are inner city so apart from hordes of marauding mynah birds (look closely, you can see the raptor connection!!) and sparrows, not so many visitors but there are beautiful, squabbly rainbow lorikeets who strip my date palm and leave the pits everywhere and wattlebirds with scarlet wattles and hoarse cries. 
  • Michelle_R
    Michelle_R Member Posts: 901
    At present I have two rosellas right outside the window on the balustrade, chirping their heads off to get attention - and now wing flapping!  We also get cockatoos and kookaburras, and occasionally black & white magpie-type birds who sing one beautiful pure note - don't know what they are called - we love seeing them all.
  • jennyss
    jennyss Member Posts: 2,083
    @Michelle_R, How lovely to watch. Those black and white birds might be butcher birds. Are they a bit smaller than magpies and is their beak chunkier? Google 'butcher birds' and you'll soon know.
    @Fraser, Those Indian Mynahs have such mean cranky looking faces. I know that is putting human characteristics on birds,  but I often find myself doing it.
  • Hopes_and_Dreams
    Hopes_and_Dreams Member Posts: 760
    We have fruiting lillipillies in our garden which are bringing in the rainbow lorikeets. We also see galahs, cockatoos, maggies, seagulls and pelicans (flying over, not landing!).  I love waking up to bird call and we have had a few butcher birds serenading us lately.  Although we are in Qld my husband and I both work over the border and have sadly been up before the birds!  
  • poodlejules
    poodlejules Member Posts: 393
    Gorgeous! Cockatoos have also invaded our naturestrip lilipillies.Noisy things that they are I still love listening to them. Its also a good time to practise mindfulness when listening to birds, just close your eyes , zone in and listen .......even if you only last 5 mins, it's rewarding! ;)
  • kmakm
    kmakm Member Posts: 7,974
    @poodlejules I like to close my eyes and identify absolutely everything that I can hear when I'm outside. I used to do it with my children when they were little.

    Birdsong is the best sound you can hear of course. That's a lovely idea to use it as a mindfulness exercise. I'll try that tomorrow! K xox
  • poodlejules
    poodlejules Member Posts: 393
    @kmakm I think you're already doing it! I did a 6 week mindfulness course last year, thanks to the psychologists at Peter Mac and The Women's and really enjoyed it but got out of practise.Last week I went along to the Complementary Therapies day at Counterpart  where we did a mini mindfulness workshop so trying now to do just 5 minutes a day .....still hasn't improved my sleep though :(
  • June1952
    June1952 Member Posts: 1,935
    Having moved from a rural area where birds were aplenty we are in a regional city and had no birds at all.  We have just finished planting flowering natives and have installed a large bird bath - and we see a few birds are already checking it out.  Can't wait for them to grow and Spring to arrive.  Having said that we do wake to the magpies who are there each morning, checking for worms, I guess.
    Enjoy your local bird life, good for the soul.  :)
  • Mira
    Mira Member Posts: 678
    edited May 2018
    @Summerhill38 you sound like me!!  I was living on acreage and once gave myself a challenge to take a photo of a different species of bird every day for a month.  Then I moved into a little townhouse 2 hours ago and the first thing I did was put a bird bath in my front garden where I can see it.  I love hearing the sound of splashing water when they have a bath, its so nice!
  • kmakm
    kmakm Member Posts: 7,974
    @summerhill38 @poodlejules I have got out of the habit of meditation and am seeking to restablish it. I know I'm better when I'm doing it.

    I'm in an outer suburb of Melbourne on top of a hill and can see more trees than roofs. We have an abundance of bird life. Crimson rosellas are plentiful at the moment and I hear a kookaburra most days. My most favourite bird call is the magpie. I just adore their warble. A blackbird's evening song is hard to beat as well. Love the happy splish splash of a bird bath in action too. K xox
  • June1952
    June1952 Member Posts: 1,935
    Hi @kmakm
    We now have a little female black bird who potters in the back garden and bathes in the pond where I have a water feature.  So cute.  I, too, love the magpie and kookaburra sounds.
    Hi @Mira
    Do you yearn for the acreage but need to be nearer facilities ?  I hope you have space for a couple of grevilleas as that may attract a few little birds as well.