I borrowed my Dad's Bigma and went out the back and too some pictures of our local squad of Little Wattlebirds. They're funny critters, bouncing all over the place and squabbling with the lorikeets over the flowers one of our gums and banksia. Hard to catch too!
Beautiful! I have never seen one of these
And you caught them well
Shorty......Canon gear
Canberra
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rawshorty/
Noisy little beasties aren't they? I'm not sure where the ones that were in my housing estate's swamp/grevillea patch, but I haven't seen them in a while. They're quite combative birds, but - like you say - they're a bit on the must-keep-moving side.
They're lovely things, but, you're right- they are very aggressive. Apparently they are one of the major reasons that there thens to be a lack of small birds in towns and cities- they love the really sugary grevilleas that everyone plants and are extremely territorial. Bell Birds, Rainbow Lorikeets, Mickeys and Indian Mynahs are all pretty aggressive too.
I suppose so. A few weeks ago we had 4 Little Wattlebirds hanging about, but then a horde of Brown Honeyeaters, Little and Noisy Friarbirds, and assorted other honeyeaters have kind of moved in, and now I don't see (or more to the point, hear) the Wattlebirds. They were the first honeyeaters to arrive on the scene this year, but they seem to have been evicted.
Its funny that they are nomadic for you. There are a bunch of them that stay in my area all year round- but I dunno if they are the same birds every time. But I guess in a suburban area there is plenty to eat!
Those large, colourful hybrid Grevilleas that many folk like to plant to attract birds are attractors of dominant birds like wattlebirds. Hence the smaller birds suffer.
But they're colourful!
So where does a Silky Oak fit in the spectrum of large, colourful Grevilleas?
They are colourful indeed, Lachlan. Hence the number of gardeners seduced by them.
The Silky Oak Grevillea robusta would be right at the top of the food chain, I think. It's extensively grown because it survives a variety of conditions including semi arid country even tho' it's a sub tropical species. Fortunately, in drier areas at least, their regenerating seedlings don't survive long.
They're great value to watch & I for one quite like their noise too
They never seem to sit still too long for me - great set of shots!
West Coast Tasmania
Thanks Ruby, the only reason I managed to get any photos is because I borrowed my Dad's lens.
I usually can't get anywhere them. And, the Lemon Scented Gum is flowering, and there are heaps of lorikeets visiting it every day. So, the wattlebirds are in panic mode trying to chase the lorikeets off their turf, and are more willing to sit in spots where I can get near them to recouperate.
Woko, Silky Oaks are lovely trees, and before the one in my backyard died a few years ago, it was extensively visited by a large range of birds. We had 3 large, native trees in the 800m2 yard then, and it became an oasis for the birdlife. Now we get less, but still a respectable range of birds.