Off Topic. How Ospreys Build Their Nests and Other Strange Bird Tales

[Martin Butterfield <>]

re final paragraph: what height are the sand flies?

Martin

Martin Butterfield

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

On 1 September 2016 at 14:31, Con Boekel <> wrote:

Just back from a holiday on the Tweed Coast. Avian Oddities abounded.

One such was a flock of 9 Bush Stone-curlews being fed in a Caravan Park at Pottsville. The feeder had counted up to 17 birds at a time. Some chicks were raised in the Park itself. The Park is adjacent to the Pottsville Environment Park, bequeathed to the Shire by a Scotsman who had stipulated that the park remain available for those wishing a place to promenade following Sunday church services. (Good spot for birding, BTW).

Another oddity was a report of a local cyclist, who was in hospital with very bad injuries following a collision with a flying Brush Turkey. This dampened one of the standard local pub arguments about whether Brush Turkeys can fly... until someone opined that it was probably a Drop Turkey that had climbed up the tree and, being unable to fly, had dropped in front of the cyclist.

Another local tragedy involved very strong winds blowing away an Osprey's nest, along with three chicks, all of which died.

I observed these Ospreys after the event and they commenced building in a Norfolk Island Pine in the vicinity of where a pair of Torresian Crows had their nest. This caused much interspecific conflict of the entertaining aerobatical kind.

The attached image shows Tweed Shire contractors replacing the Osprey's nest, complete with a bag full of the original nest sticks. The worker on the hoist spent some time tastefully arranging said sticks.

At least one of the Ospreys spent some time in the adjacent marine rescue superstructure casting a critical supervisory eye over the proceedings.

Both Ospreys were back on the nest within 30 minutes of the works crews departing.

Later in the day one of them was collecting beach-washed sticks to add to the nest.

A final oddity was a Blue and Gold Macaw I photographed in mangroves along the Currumbin Creek mangrove boardwalk. Owner and bird were soon re-united. I would now have what I believe to be possibly the rarest of Australian aviary escapees to add to my twitcher's list, should I have such a list.  (I recommend this boardwalk as an excellent spot for Mangrove Gerygones and sandflies. It provides plenty of good photograph opportunities in part because many of the birds are at eye height.)

regards

Con

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