White-plumed Honeyeater – Birds as Poetry —— Just because I WANDER doesn't mean I'm LOST

Bird Count

March 1, 2026Posted in Australasian Grebe, Black-shouldered Kite, Great Crested Grebe, Little Pied Cormorant, Red Wattlebird, White-plumed HoneyeaterTagged Australasian Grebe, Black-shouldered Kite, Great Crested Grebe, Red Wattlebird, Superb Fairy-wren, Yellow-plumed Honeyeater5 Comments

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. 🙂

Juvenile Australasian Grebe putting in some wing practice.

One of a pair of Black-shouldered Kites that have moved into the area.
I’m hoping they might stay

This is the other of the pair. Think from the activity this might be the female.

Little Pied Cormorant.
This one has been fishing in the local boat harbour

Great Crested Grebe.
About 16 of them have moved into the same boat harbour.
They do fly up and down the area, so its highly unlikely they’ll be resident.
And there is little shelter if they were to try to nest.

White-plumed Honeyeater.
Hunting for insects of the pine

Red Wattlebird
So many insects all they had to do was fly about with an open beak

Superb Fairywren
This fellow is beginning to go into ‘eclipse’ as he loses his bold summer dress.

Enjoy

Studio Werkz: The White-plumed Honeyeater Appointment

August 27, 2017August 27, 2017Posted in Studio Werkz, Werribee Mansion, Werribee River Park, Werribee Wagtails, White-plumed HoneyeaterTagged Studio Werkz, Werribee Mansion, Werribee River Park, White-plumed Honeyeater6 Comments

I know all the birds of the hills

Psalm 50

To say we’ve had a run of weather of late would be to guild the lily somewhat. Lack of sunshine, and howling southerly winds have been much more the norm. Add to that the best of fast moving squalls with intense rain, and well, its enough to make you roll over and pull the donnah up even closer.

So with a touch of sunshine peeking through the breakfast room window, EE and I decided on a quick trip to The Office. Image our surprise when we found Mr An Onymous out there as well. Put it down to the call of the Osprey. However she wasn’t in residence so we had to content ourselves with lesser subjects.

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You, Leave my Babies ALONE!

January 10, 2017January 11, 2017Posted in Jacky Winter, White-plumed Honeyeater, You YangsTagged Jacky Winter, White-plumed Honeyeater, You Yangs6 Comments

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”.

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Off to a Flying Start

January 4, 2017January 4, 2017Posted in Birdsaspoetry, Black-shouldered Kite, Jacky Winter, Photographic Seeing, Red-capped Robin, Sacred Kingfisher, Straited Pardalote, Tree Martin, White-plumed HoneyeaterTagged Red-capped Robin, White-plumed Honeyeater4 Comments

Haven’t been in the doldrums. It’s just that there is so many things happening.
Been enjoying Mike over at The Online Photographer See here for “When things Go Wrong”. http://theonlinephotographer.typepad.com/the_online_photographer/2016/12/things-go-wrong.html
Go on, have a look, you deserve a smile. Especially the comment on alarm clocks that don’t turn off!

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.

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Blogging 101 Week 3 Day 1 Now you see me now you don’t

January 19, 2016January 19, 2016Posted in Blogging 101, Werribee, White-plumed HoneyeaterTagged Blogg, Blogging 101, Werribee River Park, White-plumed Honeyeater6 Comments

Now You See Me

New week, and I’m away from home for the week. Travelled up to the family acres. This is an exercise of sitting in a fast moving car and waiting while the miles, (kilometres) roll by. Long straight roads with not much else to see but the road, and the horizon, and the blue sky. Didn’t we already pass that 105 km post?

And today’s Blogging exercise is to find a prompt (Bloggsville provides them), and so we come to Now you see me, now you Don’t. Thought it was appropriate for being on the road again.

Stopped as is our want at The Eaglehawk Bakery to enjoy a “Mulga Bill’s” Pie for lunch. One thing I guess that has changed a bit over .the past twelve months or so it that I’ve had to reduce my diet from pies, and all those lovely carbs, and concentrate on ‘healthy’ food. But, hey its a long road to the family acres and a pie is just the right thing. Also picked up a Banana milkshake. This is starting to sound like a Facebook foodaholic journal.

The days before we left, we were watching a pair of White-plumed Honeyeaters. This clever pair had built a nest among the leaves over the river.

It’s funny as I’ve written to this before, just recently, about now you see me now you don’t. While EE was busy working with a Wagtail pair, (and I stay away as it doesn’t need two humans in their space), I was watching a White-plumed Honeyeaters. Something about the extra intensity of their actions said, “They have a nest somewhere.” And while I looked here, and there and over there too, no sign did I see of their location. The following day had us at the same spot, and this time I moved about 50m down the river. Again time passed. The Honeyeaters passed and the mystery deepened, Finally I got a glimpse of them moving back and forth from a branch stretching over the river and it was even more obvious that is where they were working. And down at the end of some leaves over the water, tightly fitted in among the reeds was their deliciously wound, spider web and grass globe. But so far out over the water as to be very safe from most prying eyes. And being in the leaves, it was really impossible to get a good view.

So, I waited. And as the pair moved back and forth with food, I was able to get at least a look at the opening and occasionally as it all swung back and forth in the breeze a glimpse of little heads inside.

Then the mystery deepened, or more accurately my observations became more detailed. She had sited the nest opening in such a way that a leaf was being used as a ‘trapdoor’ to conceal the opening.

Here was a bird with a super sense of security. The older leaf lay perfectly over the nest opening and made it almost impossible to see that there was a nest down there.

Then she would fly in, push the leaf to one side, feed the young, and then on leaving she would pick the leaf up and place it back over the hole! If both birds arrived at about the same time, the last one leaving would cover over the nest.

Now you see me. Now you don’t. How appropriate.

Several days later the first of the brood had clambered out of the nest and was clinging tightly to the top of the nest. And while we were watching a second one also made its first tentative ventures out of the nest.

By the time we get back, they will be well on the wing.