March 2026 – Birds as Poetry —— Just because I WANDER doesn't mean I'm LOST

At the risk of starting a social-media-stampede, the past couple of weeks we’ve been waiting and watching to see if some Blue-winged Parrots would make the trek across from Tasmania to winter over among the saltbush marshes along Port Phillip Bay.

Nothing is prefect in the prediction of their arrival, or indeed where they might show up. But we do have a secret weapon: the dogged determination and persistence of EE when it comes to scanning through miles of seemingly endless grasslands.

Now the Blue-winged might not have quite the mystic of their Orange-bellied relatives, but given there are a few more of them in play the odds do increase a little.

However.
Our old nemesis the weather has contributed more than its fair share of cold, blowy, overcast days, and even finding them, the photo opportunities are slim. The little parrots are also quite ready to fly at an instant, so close approaches are hardly the order of the day.

We picked up a small flock, about 6-7 recently on the outskirts of a salty lake with some reasonable stands of gums among the saltbush flats.
Several days of very ordinary weather added to the difficulty, but at least they seemed more than just passing migrants and we located them a few times from recent trips.

The precious little birds gave us some good views and the opportunity to enjoy their company. As an aside, I once used “precious” in an article and was berated by the editor as I was putting value on some inanimate object. 😦

These days it seems copywriters have scraped the bottom of the adjective barrel as everything from icecream to sporting events or foodaramas are described as —blockbuster, awesome, mega**, sensational, crazy, off-the-chart, sustained performance— blah, blah, blah.

Here then is a handful to introduce the birds

Enjoy

A friend of mine sent me a link to a research project that among other things suggested that Birdwatching might improve your cognitive skills and reserve.

You can follow the article here.

Putting aside the thought that the research person quoted was named, “Wing”, there are some intriguing numbers that can be pulled from the data.

F’instance: “bird experts were better at identifying birds than novices”
Must admit that one was hardly a surprise.

Without going into the details here, they showed people photos of single birds and then in groups of four.
The expert birders managed a hit rate of 83%
AND as expected the non-birders managed a hit rate of 44%.

But. What I took away from those numbers is a slightly different conclusion.

On your average outing, Experienced birders might get 4 out of 5 (80%) right.
So next time you are on a trip and someone calls, “Yellow-tufted Honeyeater”, and you’ve never seen one before, it’s worth recalling that it might be, or…. might not be so.
Over the years I’ve seen some pretty outrageous id calls made, and because no one either saw, or could recognise it, the beginners all stood in awe of the great skill.

I know I’ve told the story of EE on a birding day, when a very experienced birder was instructing novices, when a white shape flew by. He casually called, “Silver Gull” and went back to pontificating about the bird he’d seen 10 years ago on a trip to the Simpson Desert.
EE called clearly, “Black-shouldered Kite”, – and as you’d guess. It was.
He refused to speak to her for the rest of the day.

Also for the beginner it stands better I think, at 1 out of 2 they will get right. (44-50%).
So don’t feel bad if you’re unsure of what a species might be.

And in the meantime, we are improving our brain health.

Bonus.

Here’s a few to practice on. 🙂