Doing bird counts as part of citizen science has been a feature of the Werribee Wagtails group for many years. No longer formally affiliated the members still, however, get together for a monthly outing and also for bird counts every quarter at two locations.
Pinkerton and Mulla Mulla Grasslands (aka Bush’s Paddock) and Eynesbury Grey Box forest were the sites for our recent count.
It is interesting to go back over an area over the seasons and see the changes in habitat as well as the variety of bird life. The early winter walk is always interesting at Mulla Mulla Grasslands as the Flame Robins return there each year. Sometimes the numbers are quite small, this season they are certainly looking very healthy and in good numbers. They feed in the open paddocks of the farmland adjacent to the forest area and use the forest fenceline as a secure base to rest.
In the afternoon, we also count at Eynesbury Grey Box. This trip we found 2 pairs of Jacky Winter. Jacky is quite the citizen of Grey Box, both male and female are midtone greys and subtle brown variations. They can also be quite accomodating, and while everyone else moved along the track I sat for a few minutes with one that was feeding and in the end it came in quite close. I might have stayed all afternoon, but duty pressed us on.
And just as well as we also spotted the jewel in the crown of Eynesbury Grey Box. The Diamond Firetail. The Diamond Firetail is also the signature bird for the area, so always good to locate them.
Time for some shots from the day. The gallery is best viewed by double clicking on an image to go to the larger size.
Enjoy
Golden Orb Spider (f) The tiny spider above her is the very hesitant male. Fan-tailed CuckooBrown Treecreeper. Once the Grey Box used to ring with the cry of these birds, but the numbers seem to be falling.Brown Falcon on a turnA Superb Fairywren was not impressed with the arrival of its new neigboursI’m sure, as he hunted on the far side of the rocks he knew I was there. And I guessed that he would eventually have a glance over the rocks in my direction. So I simply waited.
Satisfied I wasn’t a threat he came up for a better look.
Jacky WinterDiamond Firetail
Medical Update: #2
#kneetoo is home from hospital and beginning to move about on crutches. No big walks yet, but is keeping balance and doing the physio exercises. Still a fair bit of pain as the body is not yet quite ready to accept that it has an invader, and the immune system is punching out plenty of antibodies, so the area is still very swelled. Hopefully all being well, things will improve.
Thanks to all who have passed on their best wishes and kind thoughts.
One of the last walks we did on the old knee was in the Eynesbury Grey Box forest. Every time we do a trip out there, we spend a bit of time on a forest edge track as it can be a likely spot of Jacky Winter. I wrote about the last trip in a bit more details here. # 131 Laughter
There is something special about Jacky. It is certainly not the most colourfully marked bird in the forest, but its colour scheme harmonises with the grey box surround and makes it hard for predators to spot.
When they are hunting, they have a habit of tail spreading to reveal the white edges of the tail feathers and then landing on a branch and ‘tail wagging’ much like a Willie Wagtail.
Often out of breeding season they hunt together and having found one, a second one will be close by.
We eventually found a pair hunting along a sunlit track. Getting ahead of them, and sitting or standing still, allows them to come into the area at their own pace and relaxed and usually they are quite fearless in their approaches.
This pair seemed happy hunt from one branch to a small shrub across the road and quickly got into a stride of landing and flying between the two spots. As they were quite close it wasn’t too long before they were brave enough to land within arms reach. The sunlight through the trees gave plenty of opportunities to choose great backgrounds.
After about a week of really sunny pleasant weather to celebrate our release from restrictions, we were planning a Little Visit to Eynesbury Grey Box Forest.
And
As it turned out, so the weather turned. So I pulled on my best grey jacket, and we set out under a grey, ashen, sky hoping that the sun might break through a little.
But
When we arrived at the forest, the weather had ‘lowered’ even further, and any chance of well lit photos had disappeared. However we wanted to look to see if the Flame Robins were in good numbers and set off like adventurers along one of the maintained tracks.
It has been said, either kindly or unkindly, that I have Grey Box sap flowing in my veins. There is something very soothing to me about stepping off the track and merging into the forest. The grey might seem bland to some, but there are so many tones, so many rich shapes and such beautiful trees and that I find it a visually exciting environment.
One of the masters of the forest area at Eynesbury is Jacky Winter.
I find myself enamoured with these delightful little birds that seem both so well adapted and so well suited to the Grey Box area. They don’t come in a wide range of flashy colours, they are somewhat small and inconspicuous, but they always to make the forest dance and sing when we come across them. Perhaps its their ‘tail wag’ with the leadining white edges of the tail flashing their presence.
We were fortunate enough to locate five pairs during the morning.
Perhaps the most interesting were a pair that had located quite a large grub and it took both of them to subdue it. Once they had eaten it they were off to a tree for a rest for the awhile.
Enjoy
Brown Treecreeper
Not a resident of Eynesbury but a regular visitor. Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
Long time readers will no doubt recall that I often claim to have Grey Box sap running in my veins.
These amazing old trees are the superstructure for the type of forest and forest birds that I really enjoy working with. And as Woodlands Historic Park has such an untouched stand of Grey Box, its not hard to see why I love it as I practically learned my forest birds craft out there.
Another find stand of Grey Box is at Eynesbury near Melton.
Every second month the local Eynesbury Environmental Group, here’s their facebook page, conducts a morning walk in the forest for interested locals and visitors.
Chris Lunardi does a super job of getting us out in to the forest to look at some of the lesser visited areas and to find interesting birds.
Chris also seems to have an amazing ability to chose days where the weather is kind. And this past Sunday was no exception.
Probably the highlights of the day were a pair of very vocal Peregrine Falcon, and several sightings of Diamond Firetails.
Diamond Firetails often are found around the lawns and golf greens in good numbers, and occasionally a few birds through the bush. We managed to find them in 4 locations throughout the day.
Here’s a visual summary.
Brown Treecreeper
Tree Martin hard at work collecting mud
Superb Fairywren defending his terrritory
Peregrine Falcon
A Good News story. Maned Duck family out for a stroll.
Sulpher-crested Cockatoo.
Always a favourite at Eynesbury. Jacky WInter.
Summer visitors are strarting to arrive. Dusky Woodswallow
Been pondering anew, my approach to Bird Photography, again. Yes dear reader, tis that time of year again for tinsel, things red and white, muzak that dumbs the mind at the shopping centre and of course my annual “where is my photography going to bend in 2019”. But
Fear not, this is not that blog.
Great gasps of relaxation and sighs of relief heard across the ‘blogosphere’.
I really wanted to get the remainder of the shots from our Eynesbury excursions, (incursions?) out.
So rather than belabour, here is the best of the rest sort of feature.
There is still one more chapter to put up, but I’m going to do that as a Snapshots type blog as it concerns our favourite Jackys and their now well fledged young. Might even get that done the next few days.
Here tis.
After about 20 attempts this is as good as it got. A Tree Martin flying in with food for the young. I think that Tree Martins have multiple families at nest inside the hollows.
A very young Black Kite. We sat with the young bird for several hours over three days, but didnot see the adults come to the nest. However there was a constant overflying as they kept check on the young one for above.
Another from the Black Kite at Play series
Another from the Black Kite at Play series. It is coming out of a turn and heading into the wind using all the speed it gained on the run with the wind
Black-faced Cuckooshrike
Overenthusiastic young one just about unperches the adult. I love the look on the adutls face.
This looks like family fun, however food is involved and when the adult arrived to feed the lower bird, the upper one flew in. Then to get in a better position to be fed, it ‘stepped’ over its rival. The adult sovled the problem by flying off the end of the branch, circling and landing nearer the lower bird. It’s not always the loudest and largest beak that gets filled.
Little Eagle. Eynesbury has a resident pair of Little Eagle. I suspect, from the calls, that there is a nest located on the western side of the forest, but have to say I’ve been out of luck locating it.
And of course Jacky Winter
Watching Jacky feed is quite interesting. The young don’t cry out for food. Most times they don’t even respond to Mum or Dad arriving. Then there must be a quiet call, and they quickly pop up, the food is delivered and they both settle straight down. It’s also not unusual for the adult to spend a few minutes alongside the nest making sure all is well before flying off.
Went to visit the Jacky Nursery last evening.
Both parents are busy looking after the two fledglings, now ensconced in separate trees. One little dude had chosen to fly in and land in a tree that White-plumed Honeyeaters consider “their territory”.
I’ve made the statement before that Jacky Winter are birds that have stolen my heart.
They are not the most startling of colour, nor do they seem to have a particular outstanding feature that makes them a special bird. They used to carry the unfortunate name, “Lesser Fascinating Bird”, so that should be a hint as to how we’ve seen them in the past.
But
They have a pleasant nature, and don’ t seemed too fussed by us humans. And once they have id’d us, they seem to settle into tolerance bordering on disdain.
We were in the You Yangs some weeks back and it was casually mentioned, “Oh, I saw a Jacky Winter down near the old school building”, as in— well that ticked Lesser Fascinating Bird off my list, have you seen anything important? It was enough to make me stop on the way out and scout around.
Been meandering through Julieanne Kost’s “Passenger Seat” folio book. Julieanne is a product evangelist for Adobe Lightroom, (and having been one of them product evangellies in me time, I am a bit sympathetic to start with),
But Julieanne is quite a creative, and very visually expressive photographer. As she says in the introduction, “meeting with others continually opens my eyes to what’s possible.” and that is why we share stuff I guess.
I’ve said before that I enjoy the company of Jacky Winter.
We were at Eynesbury today on a bird count day. Found time to find several Jacky Winter. They were most co-operative, and I’ve put them here in a gallery as it gives a chance to view them in the carousel. Click on one image and you’ll be able to show through the set.
Enjoy. Jacky and I did.
My mate Chris L, he of Mt Rothwell, and formerly Western Treatment Plant, fame has established a monthly bird walk around the Eynesbury Grey Box Forest.
It is a pretty informal arrangement, no signing of paper and turning up is about the only requirement.
“Are you interested in coming on Sunday?”, he said. Hmm. Didn’t really have to consult the diary. “Be there at 10 of the clock,” says he.
And so EE and I hit the road to Eynesbury in some brilliant sunshine. When Chris organises a day, well, he organises the weather too.
By start time, about half a dozen locals, and Geraldine from Werribee Wagtails – Now BirdLife Werribee, turned up. Chris really wants to make it an opportunity for the local residents to enjoy the forest around their village.
Eynesbury is built around a golf course (well not really, but on the other hand, really). Another golfing friend, took a trip out there one day, saw the greens, and the area, and was back the following day to sign up for a villa. Nothing like a game of golf that starts from your front step.
Surrounding the man-made, is the indomitable Grey Box. This is one of the largest stand of Grey Box left in Victoria. Something the locals are particularly proud of, and with every right.
We set off along the track that leads around the ornamental lake. Lake being a somewhat strange term at the moment as the dry weather has reduced it to a series of water holes. And a home now for a number of Black-fronted Dotterels, among the usual ducks and other waders. The cormorant families have had to move on.
A trip around the lake led us off into the wilds of suburbia as we walked along a track between the forest and the residences. Many little bush birds, particularly Superb Fairy-wrens along here. It seemed that there was about one Fairy-wren clan to every front yard.
Across a dry creek and into the forest proper and the call of Brown Treecreepers announced our presence. Then a Jacky Winter couple, and the familiar call of Diamond Firetails, but search as we might we didn’t spot them today.
A bit of ramble through the thickets between the Grey Box and we were nearing the end of our morning. When a call of an Crested Shrike-tit echoed across the open area. After quite a bit of searching, I’d concluded we’d missed it, and a cuppa beckoned.
Not so Christo. With stoic patience he continued, and a “Here it is!” was really a grand statement of his birding skills. The group hurried to see. And not only one, but two and working very close to the track and unperturbed by our presence.
The photographers were in for a treat and we were shown the skills needed to both track down and extract grubs from the most unlikely places among the bark.
And all too soon we were back in the carpark, and farewelling the lovely area.
Thanks Chris, we enjoyed the day.
Our first Jacky Winter for the day. It gave the photographers a chance for a close approach
Jacky Winter. Always a fine pose
Intent of extracting a meal
Crested Shrike-tit on a twisted piece of bark. A great find for our Guide.
Crested Shrike-tit
Jacky WInter on blue
When I was a little bloke, these were called “Grass Parrots”. Not so here.
I love Jacky Winter. There. I’ve said it. Now you know.
There is something about these little birds that just resonates with me. They are not the most brilliantly dressed, they don’t seem to perform mighty deeds, and they have a fairly limited song routine.
But.
They have a charming and endearing gentleness and unhurried approach, that just fascinates me.
Jacky hunts robin like by sitting quietly then pouncing on prey on the ground.
But
Jacky also hunts like a flycatcher, hovering over the ground while surveying for movement below (Boles). At one time in history, it used to be called the “Lesser Fascinating Bird”. (Boles again) ” As used here, ‘fascinate’ meant ‘transfix and hold spellbound’. from the belief that the hovering action mesmerised the prey…
I’ve talked this over with several pairs of Jacky Winter, as to why they should be called ‘lesser’, but on each occasion, the little bird’s reaction has been to glaze over its little eyes and settle in to the perch without further concern. So I figured they don’t care what they are called.
Buried in their scientific name is ‘fascinans’, – fascinating. Microeca translating as tiny house (Cayley)
Jacky also has a somewhat predictable habit of landing on a perch and then wagging its tail back and forth, (think Willie Wagtail, Grey Fantail). They also seem to perch down on the branch resting their tummy on the branch.
Jacky’s tail edge is white, and it makes quite a show as it lands and then flicks back and forth.
It’s most melodic tone is a somewhat plain “peter, peter, peter” And it has been reported to be among the very first to herald the dawn chorus. A second chitter is much more a scolding call, and Mr An Onymous loves to remind me of the day we were working with a pair and after 20 minutes or so, Jacky had reached its limit. And I got a really severe lecture, and no further pictures for the day.
Truth be told. EE and I were on a mission. We wanted to locate a pair of Scarlet Robins. They are locals to the area and he has featured in the blog before, long suffering reader that you are, you might just remember the shots of him attacking the ‘bird in the car’ reflection at the carpark!
We’d not seen much of them this season, and at least one nest had not been successful, nor had we seen any evidence of new birds in the area.
As we searched, we came to a opening in the forest near the track, and two Jacky Winter were hard at work. At first they were if nothing, disdainful, at having intruders. But it only took a minute of so to settle and A little bit of patient sitting and both birds were happy to provide various poses.
Then one of those great ‘rites of passage’ moments, and Jacky flew by me, circled about and landed about a metre away. The gracious little bird had accepted me. And then I was able to learn of the ways of the Lesser Fascinating Bird. It hunted on the roadway near my feet, looped up to catch insects and chatted away quietly to the second bird.
I know I talk a lot here about Jon Young’s approach, and sometimes it seems fanciful about the bird’s acceptance of my presence.
As we were working on a branch about 2m from the track, a dog was being walked down the track. Instant alert from Jacky 1 and response from Jacky 2. And remember this happened with the bird on a branch about 3 m from my position.
“Hey, did you see the dog?”
Yes, are you alright?
Yep, I’m up here in the branches.
Is it coming off the track?
No, don’t think so.
It’s passing by now, are you safe?
Yep, I’ve that silly human photographer in front of me., I’ll be alright.
Oh!
Dog’s going by.
That’s a relief.
Ok?
Yep, Ok.
Jacky watched the dog go up the track about 50m or so before it dropped its head and continued on with hunting.
Fanciful. Of course. But, what ever happened, the Jacky was on high alert for the dog and completely comfortable with my presence.
Oh, and we eventually found the Scarlet pair. But. That’s another story.
Enjoy
Contemplative Jacky
How to make any ordinary post look extraordinary. Put a Lesser Fascinating Bird on it.
Jacky on a Wing-stretch. The sign of a very relaxed about my presence bird
A model with a thousand poses.
Jacky closeup. I’m sitting on the ground and it came up to my feet
What a about a nice chat?
Jacky in colour
On Dog Alert. It watched the dog come by, and kept it in sight until it was well up the track.
Astute reader that you are, you’ll have recalled that the last posting here was a trip to Eynesbury for a visit to some Woodswallows at Nursery.
Decided on a whim today, to take another trip to the same spot not that we expected to find the Woodswallows still on nest, but y’know, perhaps we might be lucky.
Well time, tide and Woodswallow fledglings wait for no photographer, and they had indeed taken to wing. Now of course it was a new challenge.
But there is something relaxing indeed about a pot of tea, (Earl Grey- see the connection?) in a Grey Box forest. So we sat. And slowly the forest began to reveal those hidden secrets.
Over there, Tree Martins, still feeding young. On the other side a pair of Rufous Whistlers who entertained with their calls. More Brown Treecreepers than you can count, and most of them either at nest, or ferrying food for demanding young.
And my favourite find. Jacky Winter. The pair near out sit spot had two young and were keeping them up in the tops of the trees, but we still had enjoyable encounters.
Off to look for Matilda the Pacific-black Duck who has taken over a hollow, and to my surprise, she was still domicile, but only her carefully crafted wing tip feathers were showing her presence. Must be close for her now. I’ve no idea where she is going to lead them to water, but the nearest must be about 2km away through the scrub.
In the same area, lo and behold a second pair of Jacky Winter, with two well advanced young. I’d be betting these were the same birds we photographed in the area last year. One of the adults adjusted to my presence in a few minutes and continued to feed and preen quite closely. Then it (she?) sat down on the ground a few metres away and “sun-hazed” and quite went into a trance. Satisfied I was no danger, it allowed some fine portraits to be made.
And the I heard the wheezy call of a Diamond Firetail watching the portrait session.
As we started for home we came across the White-browed Woodswallows feeding some young, and then a family of Brown Treecreepers looking after their growing juveniles.
Of course no trip to Eynesbury would be complete without a sighting of the elusive Speckled Warbler, and to both our delights one flew by as we walked back to the car, and then began to feed on the small slope nearby. No close approaches with this bird, so my score of great photos of this little dude is still intact. Zero.
We’ve been up around the Newstead area this past week. Went up for the annual Werribee Birdlife (Formerly Werribee Wagtails) camp out.
On one afternoon in the RIse and Shine Bushland area we were quietly travelling through the forest, when I was pretty sure I’d heard the familiar “Peter, Peter Peter” of Jacky.
So we stopped and eventually I reckoned it about 500mm further down so we went to look. No doubt about it, a Jacky Winter, and quite vocal, and very busy. The EE spotted a pattern of flying into one tree, and a few minutes later announced, like some magician about to pull a rabbit from a hat. “Look, she is building a nest!”.
Now of course you have got to have seen a Jacky Winter nest before to have any idea what you are looking for. Mr An Onymous who was with us peered into the trees, scratched his head, got out his ever dependable Nikon binos and looked again. “Where?” Which is a pretty good question as Jacky doesn’t exactly go in for high class up market building. If there was one of those ‘reality building’ shows for birds she’d be among the bottom of the backyards.
And there on a tiny Y in branch was an almost imperceptible bulge. And pretty soon Jacky confirmed that by adding some more spider web to hold it all together.
We’ve had a whole range of really average weather of late, and both EE and I were getting a bit tired of being unable to get out for a really good look about. Much changes in a fortnight.
We decided on an early trip to Eynesbury, mainly because of Speckled Warbler. These tiny little songsters are proving to be incredibly illusive for us. We’ve heard them in several places, but have little to show other than a glimpse of a bird flying off into the distance.
Weatherzone showed some pretty nice icons indicating its should be clear from sunup till at least midday, so setting the alarm clock, we were ready for an early start. As we drove up toward Eynesbury, it was obvious the weather was not going to match the icons and it was very overcast. And with no wind, it was pretty much going to stay that way. Still we crossed the road entered the forest and began our search. And within about 10mins had heard the cheery cry of the Warbler, but so far away and no pictures.
The other bird of interest is the Diamond Firetail, and while we got some good views no really great photos.
By late morning the sun had poked through, the Little Eagles were playing the strengthening breezes and a pair of Brown Falcons were playing chase across the treetops.
We took a walk up past the old shearing shed area and then down the track toward the golf course dam.
“There is always a pair of Jacky Winter on this corner, ” I assured EE, but she responded “I would have thought the name ‘Winter’ might have been a clue.”
And then to both our collective surprises a Jacky flew down grabbed a bug and sat in a tree with its usual tail wag.
The Jacky winter is a fine mixture of part Robin, part Flycatcher (they used to be called the Lesser Fascinating Flycatcher), part Fantail, and a touch of Woodswallow. Well it seems like that to me.
They are also among my favourite birds. Their simple colours make a great photo harmony, their clear sounding calls are a delight and they can be very easy to work with, almost completely ignoring the inquisitive human being. On average. I’ve also met a few that are extraordinarily skittish, and I’ve never had much success.
This corner pair fall somewhere in between. We’ve had some lovely interaction and complete disdain on other occasions.
I followed this one across the roadway, and propped against a tree, hoping, she/he? they are impossible to tell apart, would come on back and at least hunt in the area. It immediately headed back across the road, into a tree, and I caught a glimpse of it on a limb with a lot of wing fluttering. Perhaps its going to be fed, thought I, so I wandered slowly in that direction, but by then the bird had moved on. However there was a bump in the branch, and at first I thought it might have been the other of the pair.
Then it dawned on me. “It’s a young one that is waiting to be fed”. But…
When I put the glass on it, what I discovered was a Jacky Winter nest. Now, I’ve seen some pretty tiny Red-capped Robin nests and the nest of a Grey Fantail, but this was even tinier, and not at all well built. The two young were already overcrowding the nest. And the one thing they seemed to be able to do was to crouch down, and hang on. So at a quick glance it didn’t look like either a nest nor any young birds. Very clever.
But it is tiny.
After a few minutes the first of the adults and then the other came in and poked food into the open mouths, and there was no sound from the young and apart from putting their head up, no real movement either. Very clever.
I concluded from the size that they were about a week from fledging, so perhaps another trip will be needed to see the young birds in action.
Only spent enough time to get a few shots, like to leave them to themselves unless I’m invited to stay, and there wasn’t time for introductions.
On the way back to where we’d left our gear, I heard the Warbler and managed a few shots of it. One of them in the clear. What I didn’t expect was to be harassed by 3 or 4 very agitated Superb Fairy Wren males and several females. The males getting up very close indeed to try and attract my attention and then I noticed why. They had recently fledged 3 or 4 young birds and were trying to protect them. I managed a couple of quick shots of the young with their very short tails.
Enjoy
Jacky Winter on a hunting trip. My first sight of the bird.
What’s this. A nest? Two young nestlings snuggled down in the ‘nest’
Proud Mum(?) comes to check on her brood.
Lots of food needed for them to grow
She watched over them for quite awhile after each feed.
Open wide and I’ll pop it in.
Thanks Mum
Speckled Warbler.
Recently fledged Superb Fairy Wrens. Look at the tiny tails.
One of a number of “helper’ males, who where not at all pleased with my presence near the fledglings.
Birds as Poetry —— Just because I WANDER - --doesn't mean I'm LOST 