Blackbutt Reserve

 

We came across a number of birds sunning themselves. A rail was standing with its back to the sun with its feathers rustled up to expose the skin below, noisy miners were in a full sunbathing posture with wings and tail feathers spread out to maximize the area open to the sun. The bronzewing pigeons were lying on one side with one wing raised to the sun. The reasons for sunning, and benefits to the bird are a matter of supposition. Obviously, in many cases the birds get warmth from the sun which reduces the amount of metabolic energy they have to expend in order to maintain a constant body temperature of around 40 degrees C.

However, some birds sunbathe in temperatures which are quite hot, in such circumstances sunbathing appears to leave them over-heated as they can be seen panting. Therefore, some scientists have theorised that the sun's warmth is important in helping dislodge feather parasites, or that the ultra-violet in sunlight helps turn some precursor molecule in the preening oil into vitamin D and that the bird's need this vitamin. It is known that these precursor molecules exist in preening oil and that ultra-violet light will stimulate the conversion into vitamin D. What is not known is how well this happens on the bird's body and how important the amount of vitamin D created would be to the bird.

Blackbutt Reserve

 

I’ve been aware of the Powerful Owls that roost in Blackbutt Reserve for some time, but knowing they are there and seeing them are two different things. Today the mosquitoes were horrendous, I had sprayed with insect repellent but they were biting all of the spots I’d missed and surrounding us in buzzing clouds. We decided to just walk the path through the rainforest and then go somewhere in bug-free sun. When we came across him he was hugging the tree trunk, with branches in front of him, but we edged past to where the light was better and he followed us out along the branch and turned around.

Powerful Owls are Australia’s largest owl, with the male standing around 67cm. It’s a generalist hunter, preying on a range of species depending on what is available. The main prey is Ringtail Possum, but this may be supplemented by other arboreal possums, gliders and bats and occasionally birds such as magpies and currawongs. Ground dwelling mammals are rarely taken.

They are forest dwellers which rely on areas of old growth forests that contain mature, live, hollow bearing eucalypt trees that can be hundreds of years old.

Blackbutt Reserve

I took my sandwich to Blackbutt Reserve and enjoyed some rare sunshine for an hour, before heading back to work. It was nice to have birds approaching me, rather than flying away too :-)

• Black Swan
• Australian Wood Duck or Maned Duck, pair
• Pacific Black Duck
• Swamp Hen
• Australian Wood Duck or Maned Duck, male

Stockton Sandspit

Godwit

Little Tern (Big Silver Gull)

Another three or four weeks and we will lose our summer visitors. The godwit are starting to colour up into their breeding plumage, and the little tern are dispersing from their breeding sites.

Nobby’s Breakwall

Sooty Tern – photo Allan Richardson

In what may be part two of the Parasitic Jaeger/Arctic Skua story, a sighting of a Sooty Tern was posted to the HBOC list at around midday on Feb 3rd. Later that day others saw this bird, injured, on the rocks on the breakwall. Next morning there were no sightings of a Sooty Tern well or ill. The Parasitic Jaeger, during its breeding season in the Arctic, feeds on small mammals and passerines, but during its winter off the coast of Australia it gets most of its food by attacking gulls and terns and forcing them to disgorge their stomach contents. This bird may have been the victim of such an attack.

The Sooty Tern is a threatened species. It is a pelagic species that forages offshore and birds are usually only observed onshore during breeding season or when they have been forced there by stormy weather. They are seen more often in the tropics, but follow warm currents southward. (The sea of Newcastle is a balmy 23c at the moment.) They follow migrating tuna, feeding off the fish that the tuna drive to the surface.

Walsh Point

Arctic Jaeger (immature)

I was walking along Nobby’s beach a couple of days ago, with the wide angle lens to capture the sunrise, when two birds came flying fast from out to sea. It was a crested tern, being chased by an arctic jaeger. Several people then reported seeing groups of two or three behind Ocean Baths and in the mouth of the harbour. I regretted missing the photo opportunity.

But yesterday I was at Walsh Point in a grey dawn when two immature birds flew across the basin and up river, calling loudly.

BTW Arctic Jaeger tshirts are available from Zazzle.

Owen Wilson, Dustin Hoffman, and Jack Black go birding

The Big Year: A Tale of Man, Nature, and a Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik is being made into a movie starring Owen Wilson, Dustin Hoffman, and Jack Black.

In 1998 three birders, Sandy Komito, Al Levantin and Greg Miller, chased Komito's record of 721 birds in North America. In the end Sandy Komito kept his record, listing an astonishing 745 birds. Many in the birding community believe this record may never be broken, as 1998 was one of the strongest El Niño years on record and many vagrant birds ended up in North America.

Whether Owen et al can match the on-screen presence of Hunter Valley birdos Mick, Steve, and others in Chasing Birds, is doubtful, but with that cast it should be funny. Hopefully it can maintain the humour/respect balance of the book.