2016 Bird Count

[Catherine]

I think it is time to start again with a whole new year of bird watching.

1) House Sparrow
2) Starling

It is winter here and I all I have seen are those tough little birds that stay all year.  They are not fancy, but in the dead of winter we do appreciate their presence.

[Ruth]

I saw a Bluejay today. He was chirping really loud as they usually do. Our weather has not gotten really cold yet but it will next week.

[Catherine]

I saw some geese and ducks today.

3) Canada Goose
4) Mallard Duck

They can get food here so they no longer fly south for the winter.

[platy]

10/1/16

Thought I'd make a note of today since it was rather fruitful.

1 Helmeted honeyeater
2 Yellow faced honeyeater
3 White naped honeyeater
4 Silvereye
5 Kookaburra
6 White browed scrubwren
7 Golden whistler
8 Spotted pardalote
9 Striated pardalote
10 Mistletoebird - I'd been trying to see this bird for a couple of years, and today was just luck. I was looking at the pardalotes flying around my head and spotted a beautiful male up in the canopy. It was smaller than I had imagined, but super exciting!
11 Superb fairy wren
12 White eared honeyeater
13 Crimson rosella
14 Eastern rosella
15 White throated treecreeper
16 New holland honeyeater
17 White plumed honeyeater
18 Sacred kingfisher - another lucky find. Super small bird that flew in a for a second and flew off.
19 Brown thornbill
20 Satin flycatcher - I saw a female, first wild flycatcher I've ever seen! I've seen one male at Healesville Sanctuary last year.
21 Grey fantail
22 Red browed finch
23 Eastern yellow robin

[Catherine]

You have had a fabulous day. You do have some amazing birds.

I saw some Rock Doves, otherwise known as pigeons. I had lunch with one of them.

5) Rock Dove

Hopefully there will be more birds tomorrow.
I haven't seen a Blue jay yet.

[Catherine]

This was a great bird day.

6) Cardinal
7) Junco
8) House Finch

There were four male Cardinals at the bird feeder! I am not sure how many females. There were tons of sparrows and lots of little Juncos. I only saw one House Finch, but there must have been more.

[platy]

Saw 2 hooded plovers last night! Very endangered species that never leaves the beach.
Also hung around to watch the shearwaters come in from their day of fishing out in antarctic waters. Very cool birds

[Catherine]

What a wonderful day. You see some incredible birds. Of course Australia is a bird rich country.

I saw a Mourning Dove.  Just one. I don't know where the rest of the flock is.

9) Mourning Dove

[Catherine]

That is an interesting study. Now I am wondering how the birds know about the lake filling with water. 

How do our birds know when to fly north. They always arrive around the right time, but winter doesn't end at the same time every year.

Birds are remarkable. I would love to hear what they find out.

[Catherine]

I saw a Kestrel!!! A beautiful female Kestrel sitting on the railing of the neighbours deck!!!

I hear Kestrels sometimes, but this is the closest I have ever been to one of them. I have never seen a female before.
Last year I saw an injured Kestrel in a cage just before it was sent to Toronto Wildlife for rehabilitation. That was a male.

She was so beautiful.

10) American Kestrel.

I got to see her fly away.

You do realise that the presence of a female means the presence of babies later.