More birds at Lake Gwelup

Today I spotted a few more birds to add to Tuesday's list at Lake Gwelup:

a pair of black fronted plovers
welcome swallows
pink eared ducks
Australian shelduck
Swamp harrier

The pink eared ducks are quite rare on this lake and they were mightily disturbed by the harrier passing overhead.

Lake Gwelup drying out...birds gathering

Lake Gwelup never used to dry out in the summer, but has done now for the last few years. This means that before the dry, birds gather there and the number of species seen is impressive. Over December 28-9 2010 I have spotted 34 species:

Pacific black duck
Grey teal
Wood duck
Australasian shoveler
Eurasian coot
Black swan
Purple swamp hen
Australasian grebe
Yellow spoonbill
Black winged stilt
White ibis
Straw necked ibis
Great egret
White faced heron
Reed warbler
Laughing turtledove
Spotted turtledove
Western gerygone
Twenty eight
Rainbow lorikeet
Galah
Short billed Corella
Rainbow bee-eater
Sacred kingfisher
Red wattlebird
Singing honeyeater
Brown honeyeater
Yellow rumped thornbill
Magpie lark
Grey butcherbird
Willie wagtail
Rufous whistler
Striated pardalote
Silver eye

Video of On a Wing and a Prayer: black cockatoo project

On a wing and a prayer a project to document the life of the Carnaby's black cockatoo.

The chick is getting close to leaving the nest. Check out the rest of the videos on YouTube

"On a Wing and a Prayer’ follows the incredible life cycle of this family of striking birds as they migrate to breeding grounds in the south-west of Western Australia. Every milestone in their struggle to survive is documented through the engaging story of The Stump family. This is a story of love, loss and sheer endurance."

Frog in the hand and more frogs

Motorbike frog gate crashes wedding

At the family wedding last week this little frog was found trying to check out the wedding preparations.

Maybe he's one of the bride's disgruntled former suitors!!

It is a "motorbike" frog and I discovered that information from the really helpful Climatewatch website. They have some great audio of the frog call. Have a listen and you'll see where the name "motorbike" frog comes from.

Not too hot for this white cheeked honeyeater

Tis over 30 degrees today, but not too hot for the white cheeked honeyeater to be out and about... cooling off in the bird bath!

Fig loving lorrikeet

sallysetsforth sent me this wonderful photo of a Scaly breasted lorrikeet feeding on figs in her Melbourne garden.

Normally scaly breasted lorrikeets are found further north than Melbourne, in coastal areas of NSW and Queensland, Australia. But according to Pizzey and Knight Field Guide to the Birds of Australia the Melbourne colony was established from some aviary escapees.

Here in Perth we see the Rainbow Lorikeet which was somehow introduced and is fast expanding its range. But that's another story.