Tag: Rainbow Bee Eater

Little Journeys: Passing Visitors

Posted in Point Cook, Rainbow Bee EaterTagged , 6 Comments

I had, finally, thanks to lockdown restrictions easing, journeyed over to Camera Exchange. My trip was to complete a deal we’d commenced back in July, and had been forced by luck of lockdown to put on hold as I couldn’t get over with my gear to exchange nor pickup any goods that were part of the exchange.  I mean, that is how exchange works. (isn’t it)
So after exchanging some of the Queen’s Legal Tender, (is it the Queen’s? or the Australian Government?) either way, Ryan was happy to relieve the bulge in my wallet and gave me a shiny new carry case to put in iAmGrey to transport home again.

Thinking it would be nice to see in the shiny case, and to give its contents a bit of a test run, I had to pass by Point Cook Coastal Park, and decided that a quick trip to the beach should be enough to see put the contents of the shiny case to good use.

However when I arrived at the beach area, the birds had different ideas and only a few gulls and a lone White-faced Heron were in residence.   But I got to play with the kit, and as time was of the essence, I moved on.

Partway back to iAmGrey, I heard a familiar call, but not one I’d ever  heard at Point Cook before.  So it was time to investigate.
The noises increased and I suddenly could count, not two, nor five, but 14 Rainbow Bee-eaters. Not a bird we’ve seen at Point Cook before.

No doubt they were not moving in, but were simply topping up with fuel on their annual trip down the coast to a suitable nesting location.  Just behind the You Yangs is one of the closest I know of.

Rainbow Bee-eaters in our area generally nest in dry creek-beds burrowing into the sandy banks to form their nesting chambers.  Most of the sites I know of are either on restricted access parks, or on private property farms. So it’s not unusual to go the whole season and not see or photograph them.

No doubt they were not going to move into the park here, but would be on their way over the next couple of days.  So I had to make the most of what I has available.

A few days later,  Mr. An Onymous, and Ms. In Cognito, EE and I stopped by for another look, and of course not a bee-eater to be found.
Such is the Karma of birding.  I’m thinking of a note to Ross to tell him the shiny case is a good piece of kit, and more importantly it attracts birds 🙂

At least the bee-keeper who has some hives in the area would be happy that they had travelled on.

Enjoy.


Little Journeys : A Rainbow on a Gloomy Day

Posted in Rainbow Bee EaterTagged 15 Comments

The season for the Rainbow Bee-eaters visit to the southern end of the country is drawing to a close.  Time for them to journey back to more tropical locations.
Each year we have been fortunate enough to enjoy their company, and cheery calls, in a number of locations.
They come to breed, and steepish creeklines are among their favourite spots.  This season however, partly because of the dry winter, and partly because of unyielding high temperatures, which no doubt affected their food supply, we did not see the same numbers in the normal places.

One area in particular out near Bacchus Marsh, normally would support perhaps 15-20 pairs, this year it was a much lower number.

Surprisingly at first they arrived in quite good numbers, and we saw at least 50 or more birds in one day at Mt Rothwell, but they soon dispersed further afield. Also the River Red Gums cooperated and for the first time in awhile had excellent blossom cover, and attracted not only bees, but a wide variety of nectar seeking insects.  So it looked like the season could be good.

However we soon noted that the birds were having a very hard time finding a suitably soft  riverbank clay to open up their nests.  The ground was bleached bone dry, and little beaks and tiny feet can only do so much.  As the hole has to be around a metre or more inside the bank, it appears the work was just too hard and many pairs abandoned the site.

We did find an enterprising pair, that had persevered and in the end they got down to the business at hand.  Later on in late January we walked several kilometres along the creek and did locate several more pairs that had been able to establish in a more favourable location.

And given that at the same time we were working with the Brown Falcon,  Cassia-of Cinnamon, and her young on the other side of town, we didn’t spend much of the season with the Rainbows.  However in the end, they seemed to have gotten on quite well without our overseeing. 🙂

Mating is quite a sustained event. And begins when he comes in with a food offering.
The question is what to do with tails.
Success!
With a large butterfly or moth.
I’ve always been fascinated by the way they are able to flip the bee and catch it the right way round to go down easily

 

Inside the World of Bee-eaters

Posted in Rainbow Bee EaterTagged 7 Comments 
	“The wise man knows that it is better 
	to sit on the banks of a remote mountain stream 
	than to be emperor of the whole world.” 
	― Zhuangzi

One bird that is somewhat elusive and challenges us to keep going out to find new areas is the Rainbow Bee-eater.

We’ve been known to drive to Newstead, and sit quietly on the creek bank that runs through the cemetery as its usually a honey-pot area for them during nesting season.   Of course the opportunity for a pie at the Guildford General Store might have something to do with that journey as well.
The You Yangs Park is also a well known area for them, although the nesting there is generally on private property and access is a bit more difficult.  We also see them at Mt Rothwell Conservation Area, and no doubt they nest there, but it’s also not an easy access to organise.

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Wrestling with the enigma that is Goschen

Posted in UncategorizedTagged , , 9 Comments 
"The oftener one sees,

the better one knows;

the better one knows,

the more one loves."

Charles Kingsley

We’ve been up to the family acres for the annual family pilgrimage. Somehow or other the January time frame suits this sojourn and regardless of the weather we journey up.
Swan Hill is the destination and of late we’ve been staying across the river (That would be the Murray River for the geographically embarrassed), at the Murray Downs Golf Resort.

When I was but a mere broth of a lad, the area was mostly salt bush and mud flat, but good old ingenuity, and the application of many hundreds of thousands of dollars has transformed the area to a fine golfclub resort.  And the side benefit for the average birder is that the many water features and trees has provided a suitable haven for many of the birds of area. But, more of that on another blog methinks.

A few kilometres down the road from Swan Hill is a small isolated patch of scrub, that is now incorporated into the “Goschen Roadside Reserve”.

And is wont of those in the Parks department it is now suitably fenced off to keep undesirables on the outside and protect that which is on the inside. Not that there is much to protect anymore.

And so begins the enigma. Goschen was to be a little township that happened after the first world war. (Yes, it should be in caps, but really does it deserve such honour?) Many such small communities were established.  But, the one thing about Goschen is— Lack of Water (in caps because, well, it’s the singularly most important part of the enigma)

Drive just 5 more minutes down the road and you’ll come over a sandy rise and all is green before you.  The result of irrigation. Water. And the rich farming area of grapes, stone fruit and citrus.  Just 5 minutes.  Had the water extended out to Goschen, then all would have been different and hopes and dreams would have turned to riches, instead of just being blown away like the dust.

To their credit, the early settlers and the government officials of the time, did try.  A school, community hall, cricket field and tennis courts were all part of the scheme and were built.  Now all that remains is a plaque for the school—and some of the old concrete flooring in the toilets—the community hall rapidly deteriorating as the fencing off has protected it somewhat from vandalism, and also meant it is ignored by the fence erectors. A search among the long grass to the east will also find the remains of the concrete cricket pitch.

The years past and the area, as often happened began to revert to its ordinary existence. And the area became a little haven for birds both local and migrants.

And another challenge. An area that can be an honeypot on occasions and frustratingly quiet on others. It’s not just a seasonal thing, nor a food thing. It’s Goschen.

 

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In the Cool of the Morning

Posted in Blue-faced Honeyeater, Peaceful Dove, Swan HillTagged , , , 6 Comments

We’ve done our week up at the family acres, and enjoyed some great family time. Super fun to catch up with the relatives and share memories, food and great conversation.  But.  The heat was not enjoyable.  Funny, we all noted as little kids, we were much too busy running under the sprinkler on the lawn and enjoying cold drinks to really notice how hot it actually was.

Don’t start me on ‘global warming’.  It was always hot, with many days over 100 F, (38C) so not much has changed.

We had the opportunity to fit in a bit of bird photography, and choose the early morning cool as the best time.  Evenings are good too, but there is always a lot of dust in the air and the colour temperature brings white balance complications.

One spot at the Murray Downs Golf Resort is a haven for Rainbow Bee-eaters and White-breasted Woodswallows.  They congregate there in large numbers, so it was a good place to start.

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With Werribee Wagtails at Goschen

Posted in Goschen, Hooded Robin, Owlet Nightjar, Rainbow Bee Eater, Rufous SonglarkTagged , , , 4 Comments

The Goschen Bushland Reserve outside Lake Boga, is renowned among bird obsevers as one of the true ‘honeyspots’ in the Mallee.
Little did I know as a young kid, riding my bike around the area, that I’d be back so many years later to spend time photographing the birds of the area.

We had travelled up to enjoy the BirdLife Werribee—aka Werribee Wagtails— camp out in Swan Hill. Of course one of the spots to visit was Goschen.

On the way up, one of the relatives had informed us, “Goschen now has been fenced off.” or words to that effect, and it sounded as though access was restricted.   I had visions of a 3 metre chainwire fence all around the area. And huge gates with those big padlocks that Parks Vic. seems to be able to produce for such occasions.

dwj_0932

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