PHs

[Martin Butterfield <>]

Despite it looking to be a dampish day in the Realm of Katy I took myself off to Stoney Creek NR this morning but dipped on the PHs.  The polarised light through the overcast and quite strong wind coming down the Murrumbidgee corridor didn't help.  Drat.  

However any visit that includes 2 pairs of Mistletoebirds, 6 Rainbow Bee-eaters, 2 male White-winged Trillers, 7 White-browed Woodswallows and the sounds of Double-barred Finches cannot be all bad.  

If one wished to carp (didn't see any of them) one could remark about the weed growth around the area.  The hillsides opposite were covered with St Johns Wort and the Nature Reserve itself appeared to be a test site for the Museum of introduced weed species. I don't have any practical solutions but the problem is very clear!

Martin

On 10 November 2013 11:35, Geoffrey Dabb <> wrote:

Well it’s a wet day, so a look at the Stony Creek Painteds snapped yesterday in poor conditions.  There are possibly 3 pairs with the odd unmated supernumerary causing a bit of 3-some frolicking.  Some females can be blackish but are generally distinguished (2 and 5)  from male (1) by charcoal rather than jet backs. Dark flecks on flanks are not related to gender.  The pair at 3 was gathering wind-blown spider web from the topmost dead limbs.  (2) appears to be carrying nest material.  The birds develop a messy vent area(4)  from excreting sticky berries with adhesive threads and can sometimes be seen cleaning that area (5).

 

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Martin Butterfield

http://franmart.blogspot.com.au/