I was able to get back out for a walk around Red Hill Nature Reserve, equipped with the knowledge JackyF had passed on about bird nesting sites. It was a lovely day for a walk on Red Hill with the birds being very cooperative, especially the wonderful Leaden Flycatchers. I also had a repeat sighting of Gang-gangs at a possible nesting hollow. I hope you enjoy the photographs.
There were two Galahs (Eolophus roseicapillus) sitting in a tree. I just liked the way the sun was striking them.
A Galah
There was a male and female Gang-gang Cockatoo (Callocephalon fimbriatum) sitting quietly in a gum tree to the west of their usual tree. While I was photographing them, and standing to the north of their usual tree, they flew, while calling, to the dead tree in the field behind the old Telstra building. Once I started into the field they returned immediately to their usual tree but stayed on the branches. I took a few photographs but kept walking away from where they were.
The female Gang-gang Cockatoo
The male Gang-gang Cockatoo
The Leaden Flycatchers (Myiagra rubecula) were very active feeding their three young. There was a second male around as well, although he could have been chased off. One male also buzzed the Noisy Friarbird that was feeding its young in the same tree. Both parents were feeding the young, although I only observed the female clearing away what I am assuming were the fecal sacs excreted by the young, she took two away while I was watching. Both times she fed the young she would take a fecal sac. The male, who fed once during the intervening time did not take away a fecal sac.
The male Leaden Flycatcher feeding one of the chicks
The female Leaden Flycatcher removing what is most likely a chick’s fecal sac
The Noisy Friarbird (Philemon corniculatus) is still in the same tree as the flycatchers. The friarbird’s young cannot be far off fledging as they are almost as big as an adult. The sun was in the wrong position to get the friarbird nest where the tree has slightly less foliage.
An adult Noisy Friarbird feeds a chick barely visible behind the foliage
Further up on Red Hill proper I initially saw a male Gang-gang Cockatoo perched on the main trunk of a tree where there is a hollow, it was the male with the black tuft in his crown. I had seen him previously at another tree nearby, so I thought he had occupied this tree instead. I also noticed the female in the tree. As I was photographing them another male emerged from a hollow in the tree and a few calls sent the pair I had been photographing flying straight to the tree I had previously seen them in. I believe the male in the tree returned inside the hollow. I later identified a female in the tree, sitting quietly, facing to the northwest.
The black tufted male in the first tree mentioned in this post
A second male emerging from a hollow in the first tree mentioned in the post
The possible female partner of the second male sitting quietly in the first tree
The pair who left that first tree were the same birds I saw the previous week. The male has a black tuft in his crown while the female has a damaged left eye. The male inspected a long broken hollow on the tree while the female went to the horizontal-facing hollow. She eventually went inside, turned around to return to the entrance again. I am unsure if they are nesting but they seem to be returning regularly to this tree.
The black-tufted male inspecting a long, broken hollow in the second tree mentioned in the post
The female, with a damaged left eye, at the horizontal hollow in the second tree
Further up the hill there was both a male and female Gang-gang sitting quietly high in a tree that also has a hollow.
A third pair of Gang-gangs sitting in a tree where there is also a hollow
While walking on path back towards home I saw a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita) at a tree hollow where I spotted in early December 2018 the one which looked like it was asleep. I cannot tell if it was the same bird.
A Sulphur-crested Cockatoo in a possible nesting hollow
I walked past the trees where the Dollarbirds (Eurystomus orientalis) normally are at this time of year. There was a lot of calling and I visually counted three birds, with a possible fourth calling but not readily visible. I am guessing it was possibly two pairs. There seemed to be times of louder, accelerated calling, which I took as an effort to establish ownership of a nesting hollow. I had a good scan of two trees with binoculars, looking from the east, but I could not see any hollow.
One of the three Dollarbirds I saw on the day
This hive of European Honey Bees (Apis mellifera) was in the base of the roots of a tree that had fallen on its side.
This male Common Brown Butterfly (Heteronympha merope) was flying in the grass beside the footpath in Hughes.
This male Chequered Copper Butterfly (Lucia limbaria) was in the same area as the Common Brown and occasionally they would fly around each other.
I am a happy to photograph any form of wildlife, even this Villa Bee Fly. It was flying around near a footpath in Hughes. The bee like strips on the abdomen drew my attention to it.
An Australian Villa Bee Fly