I know this photo isn't a great photo but I was just so excited I had to post it. We put a native garden in just before Christmas last year and now we are seeing it come to fruition. First time I have ever seen an Eastern Spinebill and in my backyard, Just outside Campbelltown NSW. I took this photo through my study window just after 5pm this afternoon.
Brilliant Donna, looks like a pretty healthy plant already. The spinebill looks like a female to me. Any boys around? Have a look where they are going after they collected the pollen? You might discover the nest if they are breeding. I know where mine are going, but I never disturb them, I'm happy to know they are there.
I understand you excitement, I only have one pair for now. What else id happening outside your window? I want to know.
M-L
A photo is a photo... (by which I mean, hey! It's a photo! That's awesome!)
The few times I've seen Spinebills.. they're flying... hovering... pretending to sit still for a moment before flying again... Busy little birdies.
Nice one, Donna. They just won't sit still will they.
Shorty......Canon gear
Canberra
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rawshorty/
Thank you all for your kind comments. You are right Rawshorty & Windshear they don't sit still for long. ML I havent seen any other Spinebills around. I am not to keen to look for a nest in cause I disturb them. I'm just happy to see them when they come out. We also seem to have a Little Wattlebird that has been tiunring up for the last week. It also likes that grevillea. I'm very happy the birds are coming into our backyard as I am having ankle surgery in a couple of weeks and I will be out of action for a couple months so no bird exploring for awhile so hopefully the birds will continueto appear in my backyard while I'm recovering so I still get my birdie fix.
Donna
I hope your surgery will go well. That will be a very good oportunity for you to just sit quietly with your leg up and your camera in your hand, just waiting for the birds to come close to you. All you might need is someone to bring you a drink and a nice blanket to keep you warm.
M-L
As I've posted previously, I often wonder what therepeutic benefit patients in nursing homes etc might derive from watching native birds go about their business in native gardens. Too bad most nursing homes I know of insist on spending heaps on almost sterile exotic gardens.
I agree Woko I know after a hard work week there is nothing I find more peaceful than to go out and watch the birds.
I agree with you to an extent Woko, but for many nursing home patients the exotic gardens are comforting- they are what they grew up with and are comforted by. For many of them it doesn't matter about the diversity of the birdlife in the gardens, and an array of Mickeys, Galahs, Blackbirds and the odd Cockatoo are enough to make them happy. The whole theory behind nursing homes is to comfort the patients, and hence the English Gardens. Besides, the flowers do look pretty, and any green open spaces for the patients to enjoy are surely a benefit.
Point taken, Lachlan. Nevertheless, I've observed in the case of several nursing home residents whom I've visited that, although exotic gardens were their thing in their own homes, on exposure to a native garden they become entranced by the behaviour & colours of native birds.
Ah, ok. Most of the nursing homes I've ever visited had exotic gardens, so I guess I don't really know the effects of one with a native garden. The home my grandmother was in had a sort of hybrid garden- bits of it were native, and other bits were exotic. I guess it was probably a good compromise! I do agree though that it would be nice if they were native; sometimes maintained habitat can be extremely valuable to native species (golf course in a drought?). All I was saying is that I can understand the reasons that there are primarily exotic gardens in Nursing Homes. And I guess all the lurid colours of an English cottage garden can be easily equalled and surpassed by a well-designed bed full of natives!