A few weeks ago I spent the weekend down the coast and visited old haunts and a few new ones. I stopped by Greens Bush with not too much hope as it was overcast and quite dark in the forest. I heard some unusual calls and soon found a family of Crested Shrike Tits moving through the canopy along the creek. It was the first time I had seen this species at Greens Bush. They were at a decent height and moving around quickly. I decided to cheat and used my Bird App to play their calls to see what they would do. They come straight down from the canopy to look for the stranger. I set up my iPhone on a branch around head height and moved back to try and entice the birds into the area for a few shots.
Crested Shrike Tit, Greens Bush, Victoria
Crested Shrike Tit looking for the strange bird
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I noticed a strange thing – one of the young birds, which was closest to the iPhone, started making the sign for “please feed me, I am hungry, please feed me” . It crouched down and shuddered its wings. After a few minutes it flew next to the iPhone and just sat there while its parents moved off back into the canopy and further along the creek. The juvenile was just happy to stick around and listen to the playback calls. I was playing the Crested Shrike Tit group feeding call so it was quite comforting and non-threatening. (After watching and taking photos for a few minutes I retrieved the phone and let the Shrike Tit rejoin its family).
Juvenile Crested Shrike Tit, Greens Bush, Victoria
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joining in the chorus of recorded Crested Shrike Tits feeding…
Grey Kangaroo, Greens Bush, Victoria – I always see a Grey Roo at Greens Bush
I was down at Green’s Bush on a bit of a long walk last weekend… 15km circuit all up… twice I thought I heard koalas grunting but again failed to see anything mammal-wise other than swamp wallabies and eastern grays… I did have a nice encounter with a flock of crimson rosellas… No foxes, or even scat or tracks of foxes, so perhaps the baiting is working. I suspect the echidnas aren’t as active in winter… less insects around, perhaps. There was an amazing array of fungi in all shapes and colours and sizes. Highlight of the walk was identifying a native carnivorous plant … a type of drosera.
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It is a great spot Andrew, I have yet to start on learning to ID the plant life there…I am still in the tree phase…that is a tree, that is a bush, that is grass etc…bit like my early bird days..
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My method is to take a photo of it and identify it when I get home so I’ll hopefully remember next time…
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