Ben Cruachan – natural history

Grey Shrike-thrushes are down from the bush in numbers and up to four have been foraging in the garden and adjacent paddock. Autumn is a quiet time for bird song so we’ve only heard the occasional piping note in lieu of the gorgeous full song. I took a number of shots of three individuals that show the difference in plumage between two immatures and an adult male.

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In the garden, in the shade of a big Correa glabra there is a shallow terracotta water dish that holds 20 mm of water when full, and it is extremely popular with the smaller birds for both drinking and bathing. Sometimes a number of birds are waiting for their turn, or muscling in to jump the queue. We wonder why it is so when the weather is so dull and cold! Brown Thornbills and Eastern Spinebills are the keenest bathers, but recently a lone Silvereye with the rich chestnut flanks of the Tasmanian variety came to the dish on several occasions.

This made us think that there must be more about and acting on a hunch after the last sighting I walked to the large berry-laden Cotoneaster and there they were, a small flock gorging on the ripe red fruit. With the ISO rating bumped up to cope with the dull light and bird movement I managed a few keepers, this was one.

Two large Burrendong Beauty hakeas in the garden are in spectacular full flower, and the next evening the flock descended on them to feed. Unfortunately the light was too poor to catch them but here’s the hakea anyway…..

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