Tag Archives: You Yangs

Boobook of the You Yangs

Posted on June 28, 2016 | 2 comments

I am very happy when I get a lifer (a bird species that I have never seen before) – I am even happier when I get to photograph one like the beautiful Owlet-nightjar. That day became even better when I found another unexpected bird and also managed to photograph it. The Boobook Owl is more often seen at dusk and during the night when the light can be very tricky. The one below was found within a clump of smaller gum trees. I think it was trying to roost for the day but was being harassed by groups of White-plumed and New Holland Honeyeaters. Heard from a distance, the ruckus was enough for me to move around the trees looking to see whether there was a raptor causing trouble – I was surprised to find this quite alert Southern Boobook.

Boobook Owl, You Yangs Regional Park, Victoria

Southern Boobook Owl, You Yangs Regional Park, Victoria

Boobook Owl, You Yangs Regional Park, Victoria

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Boobook Owl, You Yangs Regional Park, Victoria

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Boobook Owl, You Yangs Regional Park, Victoria

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Boobook Owl, You Yangs Regional Park, Victoria

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Posted in Bird Behaviour, Birds, Victoria

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Lifer 332 – Australian Owlet-nightjar

Posted on June 27, 2016 | 5 comments

I have been looking for this bird species since I started birding a few years back. It can be found in most old growth and mature new growth forests with lots of tree hollows. It is often reported first thing in the morning sun-baking on the edge of its hollow. Over the last several years I have looked into every hollow in just about every tree I have walked past…while I have found many possums and one Boobook owl I have never found an Owlet-nightjar. On a recent trip to the You Yangs (about 45 mins west of Melbourne), I was exploring  the woodlands section below the ranger station with a friend when a nightjar burst out of an old dead tree stump and flew to a nearby branch.  It allowed us to get close and photograph it…it was much tinier than I expected  – probably a third the size of the other Nightjar species that I photograph quite frequently – the Tawny Frogmouth. The Owlet Nightjar has superb camouflage and huge black eyes for great night vision.

Australian Owlet-nightjar, You Yangs Regional Park, Victoria

Australian Owlet-nightjar, You Yangs Regional Park, Victoria

Australian Owlet-nightjar, You Yangs Regional Park, Victoria

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Australian Owlet-nightjar, You Yangs Regional Park, Victoria

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Australian Owlet-nightjar, You Yangs Regional Park, Victoria

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Australian Owlet-nightjar, You Yangs Regional Park, Victoria

Australian Owlet-nightjar, You Yangs Regional Park, Victoria

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Posted in Birds, Victoria

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A winter’s feast at the You Yangs

Posted on August 6, 2015 | 2 comments

Following on from yesterday’s You Yangs post – The parasitic Mistletoe is also fruiting and the tiny Mistletoebirds are having a feast on the new fruit. One of the highlights of our photography expedition was watching the behaviour and skills of a few Mistletoebirds as they worked the Mistletoe bushes on the various gum trees. They would select an attached fruit bud and carefully remove its cap and pull out the fruit. It would not just eat the bullet shaped fruit, it would squeeze and twist several times and then when the fruit had released its sticky white secretion, the birds would then swallow it. The Mistletobird has a fast digestion and processes the fruit in an amazing time (4min to 25min). We watched as one did excrete a seed and did so slowly and seemingly with purpose. In doing a bit of research on mistletoe I found a picture where a Painted Honeyeater actually has to pull out the fruit seed from its vent as the white liquid is very sticky. This made sense as our Mistletoebird spent a bit of time on the branch wiggling about and when it moved away there was a little mound of white secretion and the seed pods stuck to the branch. This is how the mistletoe attaches to the host branch. In this case the seed wont germinate successfully as it was still located on the Mistletoe bush. The birds we photographed were very focussed and did not seem to mind 4 blokes only a few metres away clicking away with cameras. They kept an eye on us but were not at all nervous and one spent a few minutes sunning itself. We took hundreds of shots of the little birds.

At one point a New Holland Honeyeater flew into the mistletoe bush and started to chase off the female Mistletoebird. After a flurry of wings and loud calls, each bird flew off in different directions but our little friend came back for an encore and after a few more pics we left her in peace.

Mistletoebird, You Yangs

Mistletoebird, You Yangs

Mistletoebird, You Yangs

Squeezing the seed pod/fruit

Mistletoebird, You Yangs

Spending a few moments and using the branch to remove the stick seed pod excretion.

Mistletoebird, You Yangs

Mistletoe bird excretion with a few visible seeds stuck to the branch.

Mistletoebird, You Yangs

Mistletoebird

Mistletoebird, You Yangs

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New Holland Honeyeater

New Holland Honeyeater

New Holland Honeyeater

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Mistletoebird, You Yangs

Mistletoe bird back again

Mistletoebird, You Yangs

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Posted in Bird Behaviour, Birds, Victoria

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The You Yangs in Winter

Posted on August 5, 2015 | 1 comment

The You Yangs Regional Park (about 45 min SW of Melbourne) is a great place to visit and to photograph birds and wildlife in general. There is a variety of vegetation and terrain that brings in a good selection of birds at various times of the year. At the moment several of the gum tree species are flowering and many Parrots, Lorikeets and Honeyeaters are visiting.  Recently I drove with a few local birder friends and we explored the usual spots and then onto a few new ones that I had not been to before. For the middle of winter there were quite a few birds and animals around.  The Koala of course was safe up his tree and just ignored us. The Grey Kangaroos we came across along one of the walking tracks were wary but generally unconcerned – the larger ones took off first into deeper less exposed scrub followed by the younger ones and a few remaining females with Joeys in the pouch just stood up and watched us walk by. Enjoying the early morning sun on a cold winter’s morning was more important than panicking about a few walkers passing.   We even had enough time to take a nice series of images. The local sounds were made up of Wattlebirds, Magpies, Kookaburras and several large family tribes of White Winged Choughs. In amongst these usual sounds we kept our ears open for the various Thornbills, Robins and Weebills. At one section that I have not explored that much we found a small group of White Throated Treecreepers. They move around a tree very quickly and are often defy gravity working their way along the bark upside down looking for hidden insects.

Scarlet Robin, You Yangs Regional Park

Scarlet Robin, You Yangs Regional Park

Musk Lorikeet, You Yangs Regional Park

Musk Lorikeet

Large Gum Tree, You Yangs Regional Park, Victoria

Large Gum Tree

Koala, You Yangs Regional Park

A napping Koala, You Yangs Regional Park

Young Grey Roo, You Yangs Regional Park

Young Grey Roo

Mum Grey Roo and Joey, You Yangs Regional Park

Mum Grey Roo and Joey

White Throated Treecreeper, You Yangs Regional Park

White Throated Treecreeper

White Throated Treecreeper, You Yangs Regional Park

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Posted in Animal, Birds, Victoria

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Up the You Yang(s)

Posted on February 28, 2015 | 6 comments

Halfway between Melbourne and Geelong is a Regional Park with high granite peaks and over 50km of Mountain Bike riding trails. It is also a good spot to bush walk and find a reasonable selection of uncommon woodlands birds. It can be dry and hot at times and there are a few dams in the park near the entrance that usually have water and so are good spots to explore for birds. There is a 12 km dirt road (the Great Circle Drive) that winds around the park taking in most of the main habitats.

Injured Cockatiel

Injured Cockatiel on the side of the road leading to the You Yangs, not known in this area so I assume an aviary escapee.

Scarlet Robin

Scarlet Robin – teased me into thick scrub to try and take a photo. A curious bird and one that stands out quite well against the grey/brown background of the surrounding bush.

There are several large groups of White Winged Choughs (chuffs) in the You Yangs. They are a social species living in extended family groups. They are generally hard to sneak up on as they post guards in the surrounding trees as the main group feeds on the ground. I took some time and watched this family and slowly moved closer. They have very distinctive calls and different alarms for a variety of threats.

White Winged Chough

White Winged Chough

White Winged Chough

White Winged Chough  – one of the guards keeping an eye on me as the main group looked for food on the ground.

White Winged Chough

White Winged Chough III

White Winged Chough

White Winged Chough – a glimpse of the White Wings – very clear in flight and when grooming

White Winged Chough

The two above were grooming each other and cleaning their own feathers. 

Common Bronzewing

Common Bronzewing

Common Bronzewing

Common Bronzewing II

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Posted in Bird Behaviour, Birds, Victoria

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