Up to the
end of November 2017 the year has been very dry with well below average rains.
Once again the creeks at Fairy Dell (see note 1 below) are nearly dry with just a few small rock holes holding water. So, on a recent hot afternoon I set my
camera and chair up in the dry creek bed just above the footbridge where one
small rock hole containing no more than 10 litres of water remained and waited
to see what birds would come in for a drink – the temperature was 34oC.
Please click on photos to enlarge.
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| Footbridge over dry creek at Fairy Dell. |
The following
photos were captured between 4.00 and 5.30pm. In addition to the species in the
photos the following birds also came in for a drink: Yellow-faced Honeyeater,
Eastern Spinebill, Brown Thornbill, Brown Gerygone and Eastern Whipbird.
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| Male Rose Robin photographed against strong back light in a tree above me as it came in for a drink. |
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| The male Rose Robin on a rock in the creek bed near the small pool of water. |
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| This is a Golden Whistler - I suspect it is a juvenile male starting to moult into adult plumage. |
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| The ever-photogenic Eastern Yellow Robin. |
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| Silvereye Zostterops lateralis sub-species westernensis which is a summer migrant from the north – note the off-white flank compared with the rich brown flanks of lateralis lateralis the Tasmanian sub-species we tend to see more often over winter. |
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| The beautiful Rufous Fantail – elusive and skittish as usual – they are nesting at Fairy Dell. |
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| We are at risk of under appreciating the incredible colourful beauty of the Crimson Rosella as it is so common in our East Gippsland forests. |
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| One of the Rosellas drinking at the pool kept looking up from behind the rock which obscured my view of the water, to make sure I was not a threat. |
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| The Grey Shrike-thrush, plain and sombre in comparison with the Crimson Rosella but it has a quiet and trusting beauty none the less. |
A pair of
Australian King Parrots were wary and perched on the footbridge handrail above
the water for several minutes before they finally came down to drink.
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| The male Australian King Parrot. |
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| Female Australian King Parrot. |
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| The ubiquitous Grey Fantail. |
As I write
this post on Saturday morning (2/12/17) it is raining - at 9am I tipped 40mm of
rain out of the gauge. It is still raining steadily and with more rain forecast
Deep Creek at Fairy Dell will be flowing again and there will be no
water-magnet there to bring the birds in close to my set up camera for some
time to come I suspect. After a long dry spell, I am sure the birds appreciate
this rain as much, no more, than I do.
Note (1)
For more information on the Fairy Dell Scenic Reserve see earlier post here:
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