Following the field trip to Mulligans Flat I described in the last post I decided to stop at Curtin to try to photograph a Noisy Friarbird nest I had noticed. I am glad I because I saw two species of nesting birds in that location, including a friarbird chick.
On the immediately preceding Friday I was riding my bike home through this area when I was swooped by a bird. I ride this area all the time in the morning but rarely in the afternoon. I had seen a nest there in the mornings but I did not know what bird had made it. That day I eventually saw it was a Noisy Friarbird (Philemon corniculatus). I really wanted to come back one day to get some decent photographs. Saturday gave me the chance. I approached the nest carefully so as not to disturb the mother, as it is normally the female who incubates the eggs. I had my telephoto lens so I could stay a distance from the nest, which meant I did not disturb the birds and I did not get swooped. I could see the bird. was higher in the nest than the nesting friarbird at Mulligans Flat I had already seen that morning but it was not until I looked at the photographs on my computer that I saw there was a chick already poking its head up. I only saw the single bird on the nest, no mate. I did note this nest seemed to have some blue string to help attach it to the tree, which I assume the friarbirds had found somewhere. The chick did not have its head up long, as it disappeared from view in my later photographs.
Another shot of the Noisy Friarbird and chick
Walking back to the car I noticed a mud nest high in a tree and having seen the size of a White-winged Chough nest, another mud nest builder, I guessed this had to be a Magpie-lark’s (Grallina cyanoleuca) nest. Even though I was on the ground and well away from the nest the mother still left the nest, creating a commotion on a nearby tree, probably to attract my attention. I walked further away so as not to disturb her, and it was only then that she quietly returned to the nest. I had time to swing slowly around, raise my camera to take a few shots before she left the nest again, even though I was now further away. I distanced myself from the nest as I did not want to disturb her anymore. I did not see or hear a male, although both parents are involved in incubation.
A female Magpie-lark, distinguished by her white face, sitting on the nest while keeping an eye on me
Across the other side of Yarralumla Creek were two Willie Wagtails (Rhipidura leucophrys) which I assumed were nesting, as they were always flying out from the clump of vegetation but rapidly returning there. I did not try to find their nest.
A Wille Wagtail, which possibly had a nest nearby