Ringtails

On Monday in amongst torrential rain there was an enormous ruckus in the trees in our backyard. Much screeching, peeping and carry on from the local Noisy Miners.

At first I thought it must have been the local cat they hate but then spotted this Ringtail Possum – Pseudocheirus peregrinis. It is unusual to see one out during the day and the Noisy Miners were not impressed that this creature was in their territory! They really are extremely aggressive.

So this poor harangued creature watched and cowered and slowly made it’s way across the trees and then out of sight.

The photos aren’t as clear I as would like but it was pouring rain and the shots were taken in dashes from under the eaves.

Blue Faced Honeyeaters and marauding Noisy Miners!!

These two Blue Faced Honeyeaters – Entomyzon cyanotis – came to our garden yesterday in a great flurry and amongst raucous screeching and calling. They look like young birds who were being chased by the local vigilante native noisy miners – Manorina melanocephala. They decided to take refuge in amongst our poinciana tree. This is my only non-native tree species – just because they have a wide spreading nature and provide a lovely canopy for a cool backyard with a very small area of luscious green grass you can just lie on and think about life!.

Yesterday was not a quiet day!

Unfortunately they continued to call out and squawk and attract a great deal of attention and so the marauding mynas sent out the call across the area. When this happens you hear numerous miners calling from all around he local area.

These birds can be very aggressive and have been know to attack as a group and kill any bird – even large birds – that enter their wide reaching territory. You can see in the above photo the flurry of activity with the native miners flying around and swooping the honeyeaters.

The result – well instead of the 3-4 who had originally been chasing these poor unfortunates there came at least 12 (there are 9 in this photo!).

Fortunately for the young honeyeaters my presence taking photos was enough for the miner birds to decide to back off. I have i the past shooed then off when they have been quite a nuisance.

On the linocut front – I have become a little more ‘unstuck’ – I have a cupboard full of prints which are now dry. I have some orders to paint and send off first and then  I will get some new designs painted which is exciting!!

Noisy Miners and the local cats…

My middle son wanted a cat – for a long time we resisted as I was concerned for the native birds/animals. But somehow we got talked around – as long as it was an indoor cat with a bell. She is quite a  little ‘miss’, likes things her own way and ‘tells’ you so with a rather loud persistent meow.

One of the things she enjoys is prowling from one window to the next right around the house. She watches all the ‘moving’ things outside – at the moment in particular the noisy miners keep her quite entertained.

Now I’m sure she would attempt to catch them if allowed out because ‘they move and jump and seem like such a good thing to chase’ -  but I am equally sure they’d give her a decent run for her money!! There is another local cat that seems to be a recent addition to the local area – a grey tabby. I know exactly where it is of a day – not because it wears a bell that I can hear but also because the noisy miners have taken a severe dislike to it and are acting as vigilante dive bombers wherever they can get a clear shot. Now these birds can be quite vicious and nasty and have been known to injure and kill other birds – they may be smaller but the noisy miners have quite the attitude and tend to ‘hunt’ in packs!! When they can’t get a clear shot of this cat they sit up above the area the cat is in and squawk incessantly giving it their collective ‘piece of mind’. Now our cat ‘Ren’ should actually be grateful for the defence of glass and screen! Today we found the grey tabby cowering under our front deck and had to forcibly evict it. I admit I do in this case tend to agree with the noisy mynas as I really prefer my native birds and wildlife be left in peace!

Pheasant Coucal – an interesting afternoon in the garden…

An interesting afternoon in my garden – we were visited by a couple of pheasant coucals.

The first indications they were there was a loud ‘whoop whoop whooping’ on the roof of my house. I thought my appearance with a camera resulted in what I think was a ‘younger’ bird taking off into a my neighbours palm tree and screeching and carrying on – but it appears the local noisy miners had got wind of these ‘intruders’ (basically any bird that isn’t a noisy miner) and were out in force divebombing this poor pheasant.
A pheasant(s) is often making a trek along our fenceline and to the reserve behind us – talk about setting up a tizz amongst some of the other resident reserve birdlife – kookburras ‘kooking’ in the middle of the day, noisy mynas bombing, currawongs calling – even the magpies can get agitated. Not sure why the pheasant draws such attention.
This ‘younger’ pheasant’ then fluffed and preened and screeched for a while high up in the palm tree. Ever so quietly another pheasant called as it crept along my tree-lined fenceline and across the road to a neighbours house – all I could see was the marking on its wings and the leaves rustling…

The noisy ‘younger’ pheasant then took off to the fig trees behind our house – they are not really graceful flyers and always seem to struggle – flying shorter distances.

It then flew to the ground – where these birds always seem more comfortable – and ran along and flew up into a camphor laurel. All the time screeching and drawing the ire of the local magpies. Eventually the ‘older’ pheasant returned to the reserve area to where the ‘younger’ one had waited. All is now quiet….