Hi Peoples,
I'm new and don't know much about birds. I have a book which I look up and thats about it.
On saturday I was up high on a slope in heavy rainforest. I was in thick undergrowth and sitting there for about an hour. I noticed a bird/s flashing thru the understory. It was easy to follow as it kept spreading its tail and underneath were bright orange/brown tailfeathers.
After a while it headed towards the little clear patch I was sitting in. I was still. It carefully approached. There was a small patch of sunlight filtering down thru the canopy on the groud beside me. The little bird, jump by jump and hop by hop was circling down towards this patch. It landed on the ground, and then settled and spread itself out flat. It stayed there for about 2 minutes, not moving, fully exposed.
It seemed to suddenly wake up, regather itself as if to say, 'What am I doing here ?' ... and flew off. it repeated this process about every 15 minutes. While it was in the forest itself, in the dark and the gloom, it was never still .... but once in the sunlight patch it never moved. It settled into the patch, lowering its chest and gently spreading its wings, but not displaying the 'fantail. Its camoflauge was so effective that if you looked away and then looked back it would take a moment to find. No predator would see it.
It appeared to not so much be 'sunning' as taking in heat from the ground ? it settled itself well down into the leaf litter and soil and then froze. A couple of times it appeared to be heaving huge sighs ... or to lift itself and then thump down again. I do not know what this behaviour meant.
Have I observed some never before seen behaviour or is this something quite well know and is there an explanation for it ? In the three times it returned to the patch I was never more than 2 metres from it.
I did not know the name of the bird until I looked it up later in my book. I then verified it on the bird finder program on this site.
On a further note, during the time I was sitting in the forest, 'yellow breated robins' or 'white-breasted gerygone' (I'm not sure which one) were tree climbing and hopping all around me. Then, further down (30m away and 20m down) I noticed an Emerald Dove and then a noisy group of Eastern Whipbirds passed thru on foot about 5 m in front of me, squabbling and clucking at each other, and no doubt, discussing my unwonted presence there. Haa. Also there were many 'scrapes'. At first I took these to be footprints of some huge beast, but later realised (reading my bird book) that they were quail roosting scrapes used at night ?
I did not have my camera with me, these are fotos taken at an earlier date. I am not sure if the lettle bird is a gerygone or a robin. The other, I think, is some sort of honey eater.
In the dappled sunlight that filters thru to the understory, even minature forests grow. (last pic)
cool bananas ... Greg
Interesting story!
The little bird in the first photo is an Eastern Yellow Robin and the honeyeater is a Lewin's Honeyeater
.
Curtis
Thank you for that Curtishka.
greg
oppps ... double post
What experiences we have when we sit quietly & observe.
I suspect the rufous fantail was enjoying the warmth of the open spot. I assume it wasn't feeding at all otherwise I would suspect it of encouraging insects to come out of the leaf litter or something of that nature. Fantails are quite bold. Two days ago I had a grey fantail at my feet enjoying water splashing from a can I was filling from a hose. And a grey fantail is often the first bird in as I'm filling the bird bath.
Sounds like a magical experience thanks for sharing that with us.
Alison
~~~~~~
"the earth is not only for humans, but for all animals and living things."
O, don't I wish I would ever see a group of Eastern Whipbirds walk past? I have tried to take some photos for a very long time. Only got my very first photos of this elusive bird today. Did they look like this juvenile?
M-L
and a Rufous Fantail for you.
M-L
Hi Peoples ... Thank you for the nice replies. Woko and Gyn55.
Araminta. Yes .. the Eastern Whipbirds looked exactly like that. But they were black with some white around their faces. They were noisy and in a little troupe .... I had pushed a little track up the slope of the mountain and I was sitting at the top of the track in my little 'Bush Pig'. As the troupe crossed the small track about 5 metres in front and below me, each one paused and glanced at me before racing across the track. They were almost comically human in their behaviour. At that time, tho I can hear whipbirds incessantly, I did not know that these little fellows were the origin of the whip crack. I had to look them up. I can also hear Green Catbirds,( very scary when you are alone and far from anywhere and you have never heard this sound before) but have yet to see one. As well, Regents Bowerbirds, the most beautiful bird i have ever seen. No photo does this bird justice, it has to be seen to appreciate just how stunning it is. I have set myself a very difficult goal .. to film a regent's bower bird displaying .. haahaaa ... don't know if that will ever happen..
I always promise myself to throw my camera into the bush pig, but what with making the thermos of coffee, throwing the axe and the ropes in, my reading glasses and my phone ... the camera always seems to be forgotten.
I went back to that location two days following but never saw the Fantail repeat the behaviour. But both those days were overcast and the sunlight patch was not there. The fantails were there tho. And one came, paused, and looked at me exactly as you have captured in your foto. beautiful fotos. Thank you.
The Bush Pig is the one on the left.
I do not know where you live but I live in the Bunya Mountains about 250klm east of Brisbane. I have my own mountain and it is inside the National Park as well .... so the park is my neighbour. Nearly all the places I go to are inaccessible to the public, even inaccessible to the rangers ... it is very very rugged country. Birdwatching is something brand new to me. Usually the little bush pig will push up, around and thru until I find a nice little spot to sit. After sitting still for about 30mins all the birds get over their fright and start to come out and perform, just as tho myself and the little bush pig were not present.
Should you ever visit this way and wish to see the whipbirds then you can let me know and I can take you to places where no one else has ever been. A month ago I watched an amazing sight. A small fairy wren was doing what it does on my side of a narrow leafed ironbark tree. 20metres away and in another tree, and on the other side of the fairy wren's tree a huge bird silently alighted. It paused and I was sitting there with my coffee trying to make it out. It dropped off its branch, so silent, increased its speed to a phenomenal rate, curved up and around and with wings outspread, slammed the tree at the exact spot where the fairy wren was. The outstretched wings slapped the outer leaves and branches, no doubt the noise stunned the wren, the head went in, and using its wings to 'lever' itself back out it withdrew its head with the dead fairy wren in its beak. it silently drifted down further into the ravine and alighted on a branch to eat its meal. This bird had seen the wren thru the tree and calculated exactly.
All this in a single fluid moment .. I was as stunned as no doubt the wren was. I looked it up, and I might be wrong, but it appeared to be a (don't have my book with me) ring necked goshawk or maybe a ring necked sparrowhawk ... but a ring necked something. Its speed was breathtaking.
cool bananas ... Greg
Thanks so much for your nice stories, keep them coming.
M-L
That story is cool bananas, sound like you have just see a kill. Well done . Could have been a brown or grey goshawk they to cover their prey with their wings on impact .
See it! Hear it!
Mid-North Coast NSW
I looked them up on google, brown and grey. (My birdie book is in the mountains and I am at work in Brisbane ..sigh) And from the pictures I have seen on google the bird was a 'Collared Sparrowhawk' which is listed along with the brown Goshawk..
Altho google tells me the Collared Sparrowhawk is the smaller of the two it has a definite blue tinge to it. The bird I saw was not small, at least in the range of 300-400m. I have since seen it, perhaps not the same bird, a number of times in the same ravine. Perhaps it is just an extra big bird for its species but , now that I have seen the pictures, it is definitely the Sparrowhawk.
There is another 'hawk' like bird that flies high and hovers. It is unusual in that it is pure white, (maybe a spot or two of black ?) and when between the sun and the ground it almost glows white and transparent a bit like out of the movie 'Jonathon Seagull'. Do you know what this bird could be. ?
Altho I don't know much about recognition, I am learning to look for distinctive marks or shapes.
I have a Tamron Telephoto 300mm lens and my camera has a 'search and focus' option .. I have never used this option, but I am going to give it a try and the lens as well is 'superfast-pinpoint' at focusing. Much faster than the Canon lenses which cost me 5 times the price.
Thank you for the identification.
cool bananas ... Greg
Great stories, so jealous. Your white bird could be a Grey Goshawk in the white morph, found from all of Tasmania, up the east coast and across the top end.
Thanks for sharing.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Thanks for that Dale.
I googled 'grey goshawk white morph', and I think your right. The Wiki had the following picture of the grey morph ..
If you look at the edges of its tail you can see the almost luminous feathers. This is definitely a feature of the Bird I have been watching.
kind regards ... greg
thanks for the great description as it reminded me of a recent experience
I was in a Nature reserve at Ourimbah, NSW standing stationary but just off the intersection of 2 paths. I was observing and trying to get pics of Female Regent Bowerbird (my 1st sighting) and Spectacled Monarch when I felt more than saw something go past along the narrower path, I was not sure about the height.
I kept stationery and looked around until I saw this Grey Goshawk through some trees.
I very quietly moved a bit to get a better pic.
Peter
Thats a great photo Peter ...
And I certainly know what you mean when you say you 'felt' more than 'saw' .... I've had that feeling myself .. Haa
I am going to try and video the goshawks and sparrowhawks in my area. The White Goshawk is a beautiful bird in flight and when it is hovering. The outer feathers glow almost luminous.
The Collared Sparrowhawk I saw make the kill .. (well .. my identification is not that good .. but a big blue-tinged feathered bird) ... had no problems with my presence .. It did not seem to be put out by me at all.
I have not seen a female Regent yet .. Or if I have I did not know it ..haa. But I was sitting on a ledge that fell away into a steep ravine and about 20metres out from the ledge was the top of a tall hoop pine, its base way down below. A male Regent landed in the top of the hoop. It stayed there, altering its position from time to time, for about 10 mins. I know the time cuz I poured a cup of coffee from the thermos and had drunk it and the bird was still there. This is an awesome bird to see in its own habitat.
I watched it leave the hoop eventually and it cruised down into the ravine a good 200metres away and below. I watched it till it disappeared into the scrub. It so happens that I know the part of the Saddle Tree Creek where it disappeared. I read up on it and evidently its 'display area' is always underneath dense thick scrub like lantana. I am guessing that this particular one's area is where he disappeared. I am going to see if I can find it and will try to set my video up to watch it display. An impossible task I know .. but I am bone idle lazy and so patience is no problem .. so funny.
There is a huge fig nearby and recently this tree was bursting, overloaded, bending down with juicy figs. I had also read that you can often see the Regent and the Green Catbirds eating these figs at the same time in the same tree. The following weekend I headed off with the camera ... and all the figs were gone !! bloody hell. I will get it right eventually.
cool bananas ... Greg
Keep on with these evocatively written experiences - I'm almost jealous of your location but this is kind of better as we get to read what you see.
Looking forward to some videos or photos too!
Alison
~~~~~~
"the earth is not only for humans, but for all animals and living things."
Thank you kindly for those remarks, especially on my writing. I am flattered and I love it .. Haahaa
cool bananas ... Greg