Monday, September 14, 2009

Sunshine Beach Birds

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Sunshine Beach Birds...







Monday afternnoons
at 3.30pm
has become a Sunshine Beach
and Wallum walk ritual
for my Wallum walking friend
and I











Our walk begins
along the beach front
through a little shaded glade
of Banksias
and Pandanus trees
where we have noticed
the birds love to congregate...


This little wren
does not appear
in my bird identification book











But the Black Faced Cuckoo Shrike does...
Commonly known as a Blue Jay,
he has a black face and throat


He likes to eat berries and fruits
and can glide like a hawk
searching for insects


His call is a long rolling "cheeeer"
often uttered
whilst in undulating flight












The mighty Yellow Tailed Black Cockatoo,
the biggest of the cockatoos,
is the harbinger of rains...












He loves to tear apart
the banksia nuts
which is what he is doing here
Click the first image
to see his big tongue
and strong beak


While I stood under the tree
I was pelted with chewed chunks
of banksia nuts...


He also rips open gums,
wattles, casaurinas and grass trees
with his powerful beak
to find grubs












A more delicate and refined creature
is the Bar Shouldered Dove
Notice the beautiful coppery
feathers on his nape

The commonest native dove here
he has a rollicking "cook-a-wook" call
and feeds on ground seeds












I can't resist tossing in
another of these grevilleas
one of the more unusual varieties
The Coastal Gem













My son sent me these pictures
taken on his iphone
whilst he was on the building site

The friendly young kookaburra
alighted beside him,
pecked him playfully on the arm











and allowed himself to be patted
He has been accustomed
to hand feeding
I imagine
and therefore
quite tame...





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40 comments:

  1. I loved the cockatoo. They are so rare, to me at least. I love that strong and curved beak they have. Marvellous photos.

    Greetings from London.

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  2. Hi Mr C

    The black cockatoo is rare for me also, so I was delighted to see this fellow up close, within chucking distance of his refuse...
    He is such a big bird...55-65cm in length...
    thanks for visiting today...

    Happy days

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  3. Delwyn,

    Lovely photographs as usual. We have the sunshine here today but somehow the warmth is in your quarter.

    All the best

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  4. Hello Martin

    how are you today...

    Yes we are warming up now- 25 * today - just perfect for walking on Sunshine Beach....AND I saw another two new birds...A tiny vivid red backed wren in the long grass of the sand dunes and a Coucal Pheasant in the wallum...Oh Happy days...

    Happy days

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  5. The kookaburra has a beautiful name to match his appearance...and I would like to hear the dove's
    "cook-a-wook" call...our mourning dove has a very low pitched mournful coooo sound.

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  6. Good evening Wanda...

    The kookaburra is a charmer and his irresistible laughter always stops me in my tracks...

    We have those regular coo-ooo doves, ours are called spotted turtle doves, I think I posted one recently...

    Have a wonderful Monday Wanda...

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  7. hi delwyn, the kookaburra is so cool and his eyes - well they look like they're thinking something don't they!! i wonder if that blue jay is related to the blue jays that fly through my own backyard? have a lovely day by the river. steven

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  8. Hi Delwyn:

    What great shots of birds with that new camera! The images and your descriptions all so interesting. Loved the pics of the kookaburra. What a thick, big beak. His feathers looked very downy and thick. Imagine being able to pet him - what joy!

    Your son is a beautiful looking man and has clearly inherited your appreciation for wildlife.

    As always your day is winding down as mine is about to begin. Have a good rest.

    P.S. read your comment somewhere that one of your daughters was a gymnast and now has back problems. One of my daughters was one too - and now has nagging hip problems as a result. We'll have to make up a list of these parallels one day!

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  9. How clever you are to have the birds sit still long enough for you to 'shoot' them. My parents have beautiful galahs and rainbow cockatoos visit their garden in the early mornings too.
    thanx for the Grevillea - I love them!

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  10. All of the birds (and trees) are exotic, from a Canadian perspective, and just a delight to see!

    Obviously your new camera is functioning well. Very, very well!

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  11. I'm going to have the kookaburra song in my head all day! My second grade teacher loved that song. Wonderful pics, Delwyn.

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  12. Me too... Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree, merry merry king of the bush is he... laugh Kookaburra, laugh Kookaburra, gay your life must be.

    That takes me back to second or third grade easily. Thank your son for me... now you make me want audio to hear the birds along your walk!!

    All of this was enchanting!

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  13. I've never seen any of the birds in your photos. I guess that shows how far apart we live. They're beautiful. I love the cockatoo, with his specialized beak. The kookaburra also is amazing looking.

    Thanks for sharing your world!

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  14. I've enjoyed singing about the Kookaburra every year for the last 30 years with the 5 year olds in my class. It's a great song to sing as a round. So cool to see one up close; I didn't know they're tamable. You've got some wonderful birds in Noosa.

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  15. Great bird pics. You tugged a memory out of me with the kookaburra. In elementary school, we took music and there was a song we sand about a kookaburra and I still remember (most) the words to this day. Haven't thought of that in ages.

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  16. Good morning Steven

    I wondered that about the blue jays too. I'll google him.
    The kookaburra does look clever and is very sociable...

    Happy days

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  17. Hello Bonnie

    doesn't the kookaburra look healthy with those glossy feathers...lots of lizards and critters to eat in the rainforest no doubt...He uses his beak as a tool to hold food and whip the it around on a log to break it up into smaller pieces...

    thanks for the nice comments Bonnie, what... another common element!!!how amazing...

    Happy days

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  18. Hi Scintilla

    I have my new Canon to thank for that...and I am getting pretty quick at whipping it into position...
    Where is your family?

    My friend that I walk the wallum with took me to find pink gallahs yesterday but they had gone. I have seen them a few times lately eating seed on the sides of the road...My friend also saw whales yesterday, but alas not me. I have missed them all on their way up to Hervey Bay so am hoping I'll catch them on their return with their calves...in October...

    I used to think grevillea were woody, dry and ragged looking but now have changed my mind. They are almost finished flowering now...
    Lovely to see you again...

    Happy days

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  19. Good morning Barry

    I hope that it is a good one for you...

    I am so happy to be able to bring you glimpses of another world...
    Yes Canon is being very co-operative so far and I haven't even started on his manual functions...
    Lovely to hear from you Barry

    Happy days

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  20. Hi Willow

    I think I have stirred up early grade school memories for a few of my readers who will have the kookaburra round doing what it does best...going round and round and round in their heads today...
    Laugh kookaburra laugh...

    the last laugh is on the kookaburra...

    Happy days

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  21. Thanks Vicky for being such an enthusiastic little walker with me today. There are many kookaburra laughs on utube if you need a kookaburra fix...


    Happy days

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  22. Hi KB

    well that makes me feel very useful and reinforces my desire to keep snapping at the fauna and flora here - and you can benefit from it...

    These two birds are larger than life aren't they...almost caricatures of themselves.....

    Happy days

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  23. Dan
    as I read your comment I could picture you with your guitar in front of your class leading them in that round...

    yes kookaburras are meat eaters so if you hand it to them- on a long stick to start with - they will keep coming back...good old Pavlovian conditioning at work...

    Happy days

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  24. Hi Ellen

    Vicky wrote the words out in her comment above..

    Is it going round in your head today too...

    Happy days

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  25. Hi Delwyn, Of course now I will sing the Kookaburro song all day in my mind from my childhood camping days, which believe me were a long time ago. The Coastal Gem looks like a pink spider. I enjoyed your Monday Wallum walk. The bird photos are fabulous.

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  26. Oh, lucky your to see these beautiful birds up close and personal! They are so different from the ones in the states bearing similar names. So much more exotic looking!

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  27. I love all of your exotic birds and flowers, so different from what we see here. It's fun to go on a walk in your world.

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  28. Every time I see a kookaburra I just start singing .... Kookaburra sits in the old gum tree. you know I'll be signing it all day now.

    The black cockatoo photo is excellent!

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  29. Hello Barb

    I'm glad you liked the bird walk and now have a song to finish the day with...

    Happy days

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  30. Hello Alicia

    My camera does a good job of getting up close and personal...it is a great addition to my arsenal...

    I think both plants,flowers and birds in the subtropics and tropics become more outlandish...well some of them...we do still have the humble sparrow and let's not forget the warbling magpie...and the little swallow...

    Happy days

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  31. Hi Janie

    oh I'm glad you had time to get down off your horse and walk with me..

    Do you put sunscreen on the horses' noses...ours, (the horses and the people's) can get skin cancer...

    Happy days

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  32. Delwyn, I should add that four years ago I almost stopped singing this song after a kindergartner, mind you, told me,

    "I know what gay means."

    "Yes, it means happy," I replied.

    "No it doesn't. It means men humping men."

    I decided from that point (thinking Kookaburras to be berry eaters) to substitute a new word for that line:

    "Laugh, Kookaburra, laugh, Kookaburra, sweet your life must be."

    Now that I know Kookaburras eat lizards, I'm open to a word to replace sweet. Any suggestions?

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  33. Hi there Liss

    Do you see the Black Cockatoo often.

    I have never seen one close and rarely seen one at all...before this Monday...oh happy days...

    Happy days

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  34. Hi Dan

    I am smiling...

    I have my thinking cap on...so far

    you could substitute with "a joy"

    I'll keep thinking..

    Happy days

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  35. I did see the whales at Hervey bay but from Fraser Island a few years ago.
    My family is from Melbourne but live in a green belt in Donvale. Hence the birds.

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  36. No, don't see them at all here. I see Heaps of Sulfur-crested cockatoo, Galahs and we have a flock of Corella's that often fly around in mass in the mornings and evening through spring and summer.

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  37. Morning Delwyn,
    looking at your photos always makes me yearn for warmer wether, even though i do love living here in tasmania. There is something so alluring about a winter that breaks so early. Hmmmm... I might just have a look at jobs in Qld!

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  38. Birds are as varied there as the flowers! First were the birds hidden in the trees (loved the macros with the new zoom!), then the blue jay way on top (another great photo!), the gorilla cockatoo (yes, I saw that beak!), the most gorgeous dove--iridescent & pearlized, and your son in the role of falconer! One Christmas decoration for decor: the pink grevillea. These wonders totally change the day. Thanks, Delwyn.

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  39. Hello Jen

    nice to see you again...

    Tasmania must have a climate a bit like CHCH I think...'brisk'...

    As you know Qld is paradise...

    Happy days

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  40. Good morning Margaret

    My camera has been a boon...I am loving it...and I still don't know 80% of its capabilities...

    Now that would be lovely...someone should make grevillea decorations for the Au Christmas tree...

    Thanks for coming - you are one of my most appreciative friends...

    Happy days

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