Birds and wildlife where you live

Post by Whoseyourwolfie

BIRDS !!!

AROUND HERE, there would be more than two dozen varieties that are permanent residents, another couple of dozen that visit locally from the bush, wetlands and come down from the hills when there's food around, and maybe another couple of dozen that seasonally migrate through and by..
Some examples include -

LOCALS
Indigenous:     Black-backed magpies, White-backed magpies, Pee wees, Willy wagtail, Eastern Raven, Noisy miners, Crested pigeon, Black ducks, Teal ducks, Mallards, Moor hens
Introduced:  Mourning dove, Indian mynah, Sparrows, domestic ducks and geese released onto local creeks

LOCAL VISITORS
Indigenous:     Kookaburras, Azure kingfisher, Red Heron, Blue heron, Sulphur-crested cockatoo, Black cockatoo, Galahs, Wedge-tailed eagle, "Chicken hawk" (a type of Peregrine falcon), Black swan, Pelican, Silver gull, Kestrel, finches, warblers, Bell miner, Eastern rosella, Crimson rosella, Rainbow lorikeet, Grass parrots, Swamp hens, Cormorants, Egrets, Sacred ibis
Introduced:     Diamond back starling, racing pigeons (ferals)

MIGRATORY SPECIES
Indigenous:     White cockatoo, Honeyeaters, Bee eaters, pardalotes, Koel, Channel billed cuckoo, Black-faced cuckoo shrike, Magpie geese, a couple of honeyeaters..

THESE  are the ones that come to mind. If I checked those that have been seen &over the years, my list easily tops 70. Add in those that others claim to have seen, it will top 100..
(Still well behind Queensland and parts of Brazil..).

Caught this 'FUNKY' looking Oriole drinking from a feeder I'd just
set up for my neighbor lady --- right outside her window at eye level
when I was coming in to see if she had a clear visual of it --- SURPRISE!!!
This red-bellied woodpecker was taste testing the beverage! 
We both got quite a LOL out of this shot...wasn't to bad considering it
was taken through her window screen.

One just never know what surprises 'Mother Nature' is going to throw
at you...if you're just paying attention!

TY, Eddie for setting this specific topic up --- nice to have a thread that
won't be spammed by all of Didgy-Doo's non-stop flooding the forum of
perverted topics that are all the same genre! 

We have many resident bluetitz around our garden which cost me a fortune to feed, greedy littul bleeduz.
We have othuz but not that many.Our spinner is less than 100 yardz from our house and there are pigeonz, doves, magpies, rooks, crowz, blackbirdz and run of the l]mill stuff.

I wish I could post photo's, I just watched a Robin defending his seed box against a bloody great Woody.

Robins can be quite vicious at times.

nicko wrote:I wish I could post photo's, I just watched a Robin defending his seed box against a bloody great Woody.

Robins can be quite vicious at times.

True...I've watched those adorable little hummers defend/control one feeder like it was his ONLY JOB.  And then the flip side of watching the hatchlings flutter into my pan feeders...standing right there in the middle of all that seed and fluttering their wings-with their beaks open begging to be fed...and sure enough some sparrow will start feeding the little beggar like it was their job.    I sat there and watched one sparrow feeding several begging hatchlings; wore me out just watching her dutiful work...and those lazy young'ns were surrounded in food! 

Did you know those lousy starling/cow birds will lay an egg in any freebie nest they find; like robins or cardinal nest and then just leave that egg for the other species to raise...and when that egg hatches that larger hatchling will shove the other eggs out or shove that smaller baby bird out so the starling/or cow bird hatchling is the only survivor!

Ben_Reilly wrote:

I don't see a harness on that lizard/horned toad...to you have it trained to come when called?  What's it's NAME?

nicko wrote:I wish I could post photo's, I just watched a Robin defending his seed box against a bloody great Woody.

Robins can be quite vicious at times.

Do you have a photo file set up on your computer system; you're able to up load photo's from your camera directly to that file '???'---if so I can walk you through relocating them onto NeswFix to share.

4EVER2 wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:

I don't see a harness on that lizard/horned toad...to you have it trained to come when called?  What's it's NAME?

His name is Big Tex and as his name implies, he does whatever the hell he wants

That is one seriously cool toad thing.

Other wildlife around here includes the notorious Panhandle Pig:



Houston Hedgehog:



Corpus Christi Cowcat:



Beaumont Buckaroo Budgie:



And of course, from the other side of the Rio Grande ... um ... Chihuahuas:



Then there's the plant life -- Cowpoke Cactus:



And the Hop-along Jalapeno:



(The word "jalapeno" starts with a "HA" sound. I don't want to know how British people say the word -- seriously.)

me??..I pronouce it S-H-I-T

Erm I pronounce in with a "HA" sound?
Mainly because im not stupid.

If cats were that cool, I'd gladly let them shit in my garden.

Lord Foul wrote:me??..I pronouce it S-H-I-T

Porque no eres más que una niña

No, porque soy alérgica , y eso es lo que hacen para mí ...

Ben_Reilly wrote:

Lord Foul wrote:me??..I pronouce it S-H-I-T

Porque no eres más que una niña

translated to >>>  "Because not you're more than a girl"    

Do you 'stock' all of those wee - little cowboy hats? Do you charge to take those 'PET PHOTOS' or are those all of your little beasties?

Y , lo sabe por qué usted tiene todo lo que la salsa caliente en toda su comida ? Debido a que todo lo que tienes es carne podrida y tienen que ocultar el sabor

4EVER2 wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:

Lord Foul wrote:me??..I pronouce it S-H-I-T

Porque no eres más que una niña

translated to >>>  "Because not you're more than a girl"    

Do you 'stock' all of those wee - little cowboy hats? Do you charge to take those 'PET PHOTOS' or are those all of your little beasties?

I know what he said 4ever

listen that guy was right...theres only two things come out of texas.....and I sure as hell dont see no horns... (sorry eil )

cucaracha...the "other" meaning

Hot Sauce & Rotten Meat...
  YUMMMY~~

4EVER2 wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:

Lord Foul wrote:me??..I pronouce it S-H-I-T

Porque no eres más que una niña

translated to >>>  "Because not you're more than a girl"    

Do you 'stock' all of those wee - little cowboy hats? Do you charge to take those 'PET PHOTOS' or are those all of your little beasties?

Hahaha ... my Spanish is correct, you must have used a translator that doesn't understand differing word order.

Lord Foul wrote:Y , lo sabe por qué usted tiene todo lo que la salsa caliente en toda su comida ? Debido a que todo lo que tienes es carne podrida y tienen que ocultar el sabor

No es podrida, y la mayoria de la carne no es especiado, pero aun tiene sabor delicioso. No la puedes tomar porque eres muy debil, como un bebe

Around my farm house
Tiger snakes

legless lizards

Blue tongues


Heaps of birds






Grey roos

red wallabies


Feral deer and foxes are very common

Forever2, thanks for the offer, but I don't have a camera and my computer is so old it works by steam power! However it suits me for what I use it for.

Birds and wildlife where I live. Well there are lots of birds, mainly collared doves. There are squirrels too - which I think are really sweet. There are lots of frogs, snails, moths, butterflies, and ladybirds. I saw a fox round here the other day too.

nicko wrote:Forever2,    thanks for the offer, but I don't have a camera   and my computer is so old it works by steam power!     However it suits me for what I use it for.

I fully understand; and as my cell phone is a cheap needed implement - it's not a camera phone type of thingy...$9.99 flip phone for my pocket.  I'm often amazed by the photo's that I've viewed on FB and my other communities that are posted via other peoples phones w/a camera included. Technology --- eons above my understanding.

Veya; you've posted quite the amazing array of wildlife...and the size of those birds and the numbers that you have --- UGH, I'd be having to find a part-time job just to afford the bird seed bill to keep feeding them    But TY for sharing all of your regions photos of the wildlife.  Pretty cool, what you get to see on a daily basis.

The actual commonly-seen critters around me are:

Armadillos (of course)



Here's a bobcat strolling through a Dallas suburb:



Nutria, an invasive 10-20 pound rodent, in the same suburb:



Slider turtle:



Spiny softshell turtle:



Texas Spiny lizard -- very common around here:



Coyotes occasionally come into towns and cities:



Pretty much year-round, the trees are teeming with fox squirrels:



Eastern cottontail rabbits are a bit less common:



Black vultures are a common sight:



Egrets all around the lakes and rivers:



Monk parakeets live in the wild:



An American Bald Eagle has been photographed at White Rock Lake near Dallas:



Largemouth bass:



Inexplicable chase -- a red-tailed hawk flies away from a much smaller mockingbird (Texas' state bird):



All these photos were taken within 50 miles of where I live (but I didn't take them).

Love turtles, and weirdly, for no apparent reason I can fathom, I really like armadillos

Has anyone seen an oozelem bird?

nicko wrote:Has anyone seen an  oozelem bird?

Nope...but there's lots of birds not common to my area; I'm clueless...so enlighten me please?

nicko wrote:Has anyone seen an  oozelem bird?

If you 'Carry on up the Jungle' you might see one!

nicko wrote:Has anyone seen an  oozelem bird?

apparantly these birds live in large flocks in areas of very tall elephant grass, tended by pygmys

since the grass is both tall and dense growing, and the pygmys very short...it is no surprise that the pygmys that tend them are known as the "wherethefuckarewe" tribe

4ever2, The oozelem bird is a bird that flies round and round in ever decreasing circles until it disappears up it's own arse! As you would know it's rarely if ever seen.

nicko wrote:4ever2,    The oozelem bird is a bird that flies round and round in ever decreasing circles until it disappears up it's own arse!   As you would know it's rarely if ever seen.

Ahhhh-Haaaa; rather like our rural tradition of sending a 'Newbie Hunter' out to find and shoot a 'SNIPE'...
Taking someone on a 'SNIPE' hunt is such an old-established thing to do to new hunters where they walk for miles & miles & miles only to discover - there are not 'SNIPE FOUL' in my state...but the poor unfortunate young hunter has now nearly walked a 5+ mile circle. 
Moral of this story: 'if you can't do the research and be able to identify what your hunting season is {female birds vs young male birds} then you've NO business with a hunting license &/or a hunting gun.

eddie wrote:Love turtles, and weirdly, for no apparent reason I can fathom, I really like armadillos

They're great - - a totally unique animal and very cute to boot

Ben_Reilly wrote:

eddie wrote:Love turtles, and weirdly, for no apparent reason I can fathom, I really like armadillos

They're great - - a totally unique animal and very cute to boot

They're very unique-looking....kind of like an old fashioned pet in armour!
Are they vicious? Shy?
Could you have one as a pet or would it eat Dobie the dog?

eddie wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:

They're great - - a totally unique animal and very cute to boot

They're very unique-looking....kind of like an old fashioned pet in armour!
Are they vicious? Shy?
Could you have one as a pet or would it eat Dobie the dog?

We're seeing quite an increase in DEAD {road kill} Armadillos around here...and 2 yrs back when I was doing more garden work...I heard a rustling in the leaves and found 3 young ones --- 3 bullets later ZERO young Armadillo's to worry about.
Nothing but a Rodent in a hard shell that carries serious diseases too> > >

Armadillos cause spike in leprosy cases in Florida - CNN.com

www.cnn.com/2015/07/21/health/florida-leprosy-cases-armadillos-irpt
Jul 23, 2015 · Video embedded · An unusually high number of leprosy cases are being detected in Florida, and experts believe it's because people are getting into contact with armadillos.

4EVER2 wrote:

eddie wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:

They're great - - a totally unique animal and very cute to boot

They're very unique-looking....kind of like an old fashioned pet in armour!
Are they vicious? Shy?
Could you have one as a pet or would it eat Dobie the dog?

We're seeing quite an increase in DEAD {road kill} Armadillos around here...and 2 yrs back when I was doing more garden work...I heard a rustling in the leaves and found 3 young ones --- 3 bullets later ZERO young Armadillo's to worry about.
Nothing but a Rodent in a hard shell that carries serious diseases too> > >

Armadillos cause spike in leprosy cases in Florida - CNN.com

www.cnn.com/2015/07/21/health/florida-leprosy-cases-armadillos-irpt
Jul 23, 2015 · Video embedded · An unusually high number of leprosy cases are being detected in Florida, and experts believe it's because people are getting into contact with armadillos.

one supposes therfore that they also carry TB as well

I snagged this image from Veya's post; questions about the cost of purchasing bird feed and what type of grains do you have available for your feeders?

A 50# bag of wild bird food here in middle America will avg. $15.00 a bag, grains: milo, millet, black oil sunflower, cracked corn.  80% more milo then anything else because the milo is a much cheaper grain - filler.  When I could afford it - I keep thistle seed in the hangers for all of the Finches and would purchase cracked sunflower chips for them as well; thistle became highly expensive and sunflower chips blew up to $45.00 for a 50# bag, so I dropped both of those grains. 
Black oiled sunflower seeds are smaller then those big stripy kind but the birds like the 'Wild Bird Seed Blend' that has them mixed in.

Suet Cakes - a huge hit for the nut hatch/red-bellied wood peckers and I've noticed some of the other little birds checking those suet cakes out --- taste testing them.   So what on the menu for your wildlife?

Lord Foul asked about TB > armadillo's; I couldn't find any reports or data that explained that disease specifically - they all were about them carrying Leprosy virus.

Leprosy is curable with fast treatment
The disease is curable with prompt treatment of antibiotics before complications set in. The drugs typically kill the bacteria within days and make it non-contagious. It usually takes a year or two to fully clear the germ from the body.
If left untreated, leprosy can cause nerve damage so severe that people lose feeling in their fingers and toes, leading to deformity and disability.
While the germ attacks the skin, hands and feet of humans, it tends to infect the liver, spleen and lymph node of armadillos.
"Leave the animals alone," advised lead researcher Richard Truman of the National Hansen's Disease Programs.
"I would not cuddle armadillos," said Dr. Warwick Britton of the University of Sydney in Australia, who had no connection with the study.

4EVER2 wrote:

eddie wrote:

Ben_Reilly wrote:

They're great - - a totally unique animal and very cute to boot

They're very unique-looking....kind of like an old fashioned pet in armour!
Are they vicious? Shy?
Could you have one as a pet or would it eat Dobie the dog?

We're seeing quite an increase in DEAD {road kill} Armadillos around here...and 2 yrs back when I was doing more garden work...I heard a rustling in the leaves and found 3 young ones --- 3 bullets later ZERO young Armadillo's to worry about.
Nothing but a Rodent in a hard shell that carries serious diseases too> > >

Armadillos cause spike in leprosy cases in Florida - CNN.com

www.cnn.com/2015/07/21/health/florida-leprosy-cases-armadillos-irpt
Jul 23, 2015 · Video embedded · An unusually high number of leprosy cases are being detected in Florida, and experts believe it's because people are getting into contact with armadillos.

Well that's kinda made me wonder if and why I like vermin then.

do you like squirrels too (the grey variety)?

Lord Foul wrote:do you like squirrels too (the grey variety)?

Erm, not sure? Don't think I'm particularly bothered about them one way or another?
I like the look of an armadillo. They look kinda dozy but friendly, like they'd be named Hilbert or something.
Now I find out they're full of diseases.

4EVER2 wrote:

nicko wrote:Forever2,    thanks for the offer, but I don't have a camera   and my computer is so old it works by steam power!     However it suits me for what I use it for.

I fully understand; and as my cell phone is a cheap needed implement - it's not a camera phone type of thingy...$9.99 flip phone for my pocket.  I'm often amazed by the photo's that I've viewed on FB and my other communities that are posted via other peoples phones w/a camera included. Technology --- eons above my understanding.

Veya; you've posted quite the amazing array of wildlife...and the size of those birds and the numbers that you have --- UGH, I'd be having to find a part-time job just to afford the bird seed bill to keep feeding them    But TY for sharing all of your regions photos of the wildlife.  Pretty cool, what you get to see on a daily basis.

That's around my farmhouse (about 230kms south of Sydney on the edge of town of 300people, which is the biggest settlement for about 35km in any direction)
not so many in Sydney, but still most of the birds.

One i forgot but are both in Sydney and around my farmhouse
is the night sky life, It is something that i believe most place don't have
Flying foxes or fruit bats

4EVER2 wrote:I snagged this image from Veya's post; questions about the cost of purchasing bird feed and what type of grains do you have available for your feeders?

A 50# bag of wild bird food here in middle America will avg. $15.00 a bag, grains: milo, millet, black oil sunflower, cracked corn.  80% more milo then anything else because the milo is a much cheaper grain - filler.  When I could afford it - I keep thistle seed in the hangers for all of the Finches and would purchase cracked sunflower chips for them as well; thistle became highly expensive and sunflower chips blew up to $45.00 for a 50# bag, so I dropped both of those grains. 
Black oiled sunflower seeds are smaller then those big stripy kind but the birds like the 'Wild Bird Seed Blend' that has them mixed in.

Suet Cakes - a huge hit for the nut hatch/red-bellied wood peckers and I've noticed some of the other little birds checking those suet cakes out --- taste testing them.   So what on the menu for your wildlife?
.......

So I buy from wholesale place, I used to breed tropical fish and still keep a breeding stock of Yabbies, since i have breed them to crazy brightness Blues with purples lines and the males get a red spot claws, I am about 10 generations in...And I only ever sold them to him, so he gives me good prices still even though i don't buy as much as i used to.

1.4 kilo blocks (about 3 pound, and the greedy buggers TRY and fly off with them ) are about $10 but discounted if you buy multiple he'll do me 10 for $60 normally, I also buy broken ones

the loose seed i buy a 50kg bag, it's about $20.

type of seed: millet, corn, sunflower, sorghum and some others that i am not sure of.

And I'll see if i can get a photo of one of the larger flocks that come to my place, it is not uncommon for there to be 50 to 100 birds. I don't need to put out food to attract them down there.
my farmhouse hasn't been inhabited for about 10 years (i bought it in December)
it was once surrounded with an English style rose garden and a small stone fruit orchard.

all over grown and unkempt but i have made some inroads on restoring it... I need to get the old bore working (everything is on rain water tanks out there) and that is going to be more costly than first anticipated. Plus my normal car died (i also have old bush bashing ute too, so not transport-less) So everything is delayed while i save up some more money

there are several deer beds right up to the house every time i go down there, i have seen the deer several times (2 different types) but I back onto an old cemetery that backs onto old growth forest that is part of neighbors 412 acre block. (I'm only on 2) So they tend to go off, but i have noticed them checking me out, probably waiting for me to leave.

You don't see the Roos during the day and they are a bit of a danger at night as they have a tendency to jump onto the road and are big enough to right-off a normal sedan in a collision (100 km/h speed limits, no lights and many roads unsealed. the driveways on most of the properties out of town are over a kilometer, the house not in sight of the road.)

I have a few feeders hung on a fence where i can see them from my living room, also i put up a small shelf on the top of the fence on which i have a box to put seed in. There is a small wood opposite on the edge of a farm that holds a small variety of birds. The seed box attracts Wood Pigeon, Magpie, Jays, Blue tits, Robin's,an occasional Crow and Squirrel. Most unusual a pair of Woodpeckers, even more unusual some times my young cat Mitzie!!!

OH, TY, Veya...for those updates; gives quite a mental image of your area - those rose bushes and stone buildings as well. The structures might not be exactly built to what my 'minds eye' sees but it will be close enough.  All that wonderful wildlife...I'd be afraid that my attention span would suffer greatly --- I'd be seated on a rocking chair watching the flock! How AMAZING.
Bats: I've got 3 bat houses hung up in my tall trees around here - clearly I've forgotten about those and now I've got to obtain a 'yard helper' and have them climb my ladders to check on the condition of those bat boxes.  They are such great 'bug eaters'; mosquitos too.
But I do have to ask; aren't you bugged by the horrid little 'TICKS' that we suffer with up here in America?

nicko wrote:I have a few feeders hung on a fence where i can see them from my living room,   also i put up a small shelf on the top of the fence on which i have a box to put seed in. There is a small wood opposite on the edge of a farm that holds a small variety of birds. The seed box attracts Wood Pigeon, Magpie, Jays,  Blue tits, Robin's,an occasional Crow and Squirrel.   Most unusual a pair of Woodpeckers,   even more unusual some times my young cat Mitzie!!!

Curiosity & the cat; Mitzie just checking out what all the attraction is up there on that platform...how funny!

4EVER2 wrote:OH, TY, Veya...for those updates; gives quite a mental image of your area - those rose bushes and stone buildings as well. The structures might not be exactly built to what my 'minds eye' sees but it will be close enough.  All that wonderful wildlife...I'd be afraid that my attention span would suffer greatly --- I'd be seated on a rocking chair watching the flock! How AMAZING.
Bats: I've got 3 bat houses hung up in my tall trees around here - clearly I've forgotten about those and now I've got to obtain a 'yard helper' and have them climb my ladders to check on the condition of those bat boxes.  They are such great 'bug eaters'; mosquitos too.
But I do have to ask; aren't you bugged by the horrid little 'TICKS' that we suffer with up here in America?

it is quite a dry area so there is less mossies than i am used to

I was concerned about ticks and taking my dogs down there, So i got them anti tick treatment which the vet swore by. I haven't seen any on them or me so that is a good sign.

Some pic

from the front door


the view plus roses (about 12 foot tall)


back towards town (giant spider for eddie )


the well/bore about 2 meters across the water is about 4-6 meters down depending on how long since it rained (regularly goes a months with out significant rain) the water is not drinkable as there is heavy metals in the area there is old gold mines nearby


the house and 'English' garden (more flowers popped up after it rained but i only recently got a phone with decent camera so no pics)


honey, one of my dogs exploring

I moved your image over...hope you don't mind.
Amazing that the rolling hills is very similar to this region of the USA, except I'm sure that the plant life is different as well as some types of the trees...but that's close enough to be taken from any of my local hills around here.

Beautiful pics Veya. Really lovely open space - I'm quite jealous!
But....are you just going to leave that spider there??? Just hanging around????