blue faced honeyeater – bushboys world

The colour is gone

Published on March 22, 2021 by bushboy33 Comments

The Bird Weekly Photo Challenge: Birds in Black and White

I thought I had already contributed to Lisa’s photo challenge and looking through my posts I can see that I have written quite a number of posts with a similar theme. I will have to dig into the archives for this one so sorry if you have seen some of these before

Here’s a short song that I discovered many many years ago. I hope you can enjoy it as much as I do.

The Pink Bloodwood Tree

Published on March 22, 2021 by bushboy27 Comments

I was intending to write about some of the trees on my place this year. Waiting for trees to flower, produce gum nuts and being there when they do, has been a failure on my part. I put some Pink Bloodwood nuts, which I photographed a while ago, in a post and a few people were interested about the nuts and the trees. Here is the gum nut photo I posted of the urn shaped nut which are10 – 20mm in length and 8 – 16mm wide.

Here is one of the many Pink Bloodwood trees, Corymbia intermedia, which grows on my property. This one is just down the hill from my house. Pink Bloodwood trees can reach 20–30 m (65–100 ft) in height with a 10–20 m (35–65 ft) spread. The scent from the blossoms is quite strong when the Bloodwood trees flower between December and March.

As you can see, Pink Bloodwood trees have a distinctive bark when compared to the other trees in the bush behind.

Why are the called Bloodwood trees did you say? When there is a change in weather or damage to the bark or growth of the tree, particularly when the tree is flowering, they exude sap which can look similar to blood.

This sap is a food source for Gliders, Squirrel Gliders, Yellow-bellied Gliders and the Gliders I know I have here, Sugar Gliders and Feather Tail Gliders. Gliders have been seen by researchers biting and chewing the bark to get the sap to run out and licking the sap. I am sure other possums, insects and animals would enjoy the sap as well.

The sap running down the tree can resemble globules of blood. The sap hardens in the sun and sticks to the bark. The First Nations people of Australia are said to have used the sap to treat wounds, burns and sores.

I have not seen the sap do this before. A series of strings clinging to the bark was a fascinating find.

The flowers have a distinct habit where the flowers are in bunches of seven on the end of the branchlet. The flowers are 20mm in diameter and mainly occur on the top and higher branches of the tree.

Often the bees can be heard buzzing away attracted by the flowers scent as are many of the Honeyeaters. The Blue-faced Honeyeaters came in numbers to feast on the flowers nectar.

Then, almost just like that, the flowers die leaving the fruits behind which have closed valves encasing the seeds which open after a short while to spread and drop to the forest floor.

This is not before seed eating birds come to eat the seeds from the nuts in the tree like this Silvereye.

Then the gum nuts fall to the forest floor and you can now go back to the start of the post where this story began.

A variety of birds

Published on February 26, 2021 by bushboy18 Comments

Mid-Week Monochrome # 52: Birds of a Feather

It can be scary up here

Published on January 19, 2021January 18, 2021 by bushboy22 Comments

Becky’s Square Photo Challenge #SquareUp

Hey you, up in the sky……

It can be scary on a skinny unfurled palm frond in the wind for a Blue-faced Honeyeater.

Drama

Published on June 15, 2020 by bushboy36 Comments

Debbie’s One Word Sunday: Drama

Where is the
drama?
is it
in the flowers?

Is it
in the air?
always a drama
somewhere

Perhaps a drama
on a post
drama
trivial to most

Not just
the birds
where a drama
resides

Oh the drama
where would we
be
without a drama

Olive

Published on August 5, 2019 by bushboy15 Comments

The word prompt from CitySonnet: Olive

There are a few birds that come around my place that have lovely olive coloured feathers. The featured bird is a Figbird.
This one is actually an Olive-backed Oriel

The little White-throated Honeyeaters
Blue-faced Honeyeater
A Silvereye

Blue #30 – Collecting material for building a nest

Published on July 30, 2019July 29, 2019 by bushboy32 Comments

This months square challenge from Becky: Blue

Well here is the second last day for Becky’s #Blue #JulySquares photo challenge. Why not get a favourite photo with a bit of blue crop it square and show us what you have and join the Square Gang.

This one is also for Debbies Six Word Saturday challenge

On Saturday while sitting on the verandah and having a cuppa, a Blue-faced Honeyeater just flew into the front garden and landed on the ground. Most unusual for them to be on the ground. I wondered why and then he looked up and flew off. This is one of the photos of a Blue-faced Honeyeater gathering nesting material.

190730_blog_challenge_blue_blue_faced_honeyeater_nest_material

Blue

Published on April 11, 2019 by bushboy9 Comments

The prompt for the Weekly Prompts Photo Challenge: Blue
Agapanthus flower
Blue-faced Honeyeater

The blues of an Australian landscape

Blue Triangle Butterfly
A Blue-banded Bee in a Blue Ginger flower

Superb Fairy Wren

Just a blue bottle and a splash of paint

Of course nothing is bluer than the sky

Birds Around My Neighbourhood

Published on March 10, 2019 by bushboy29 Comments

Two photo challenges caught my eye today.

Lens-artists: Around the Neighbourhood

Jenns: Feathered Friends

Come for a quick walk around my neighbourhood. There is my dead end gravel road which is about three kilometers long which has an intersection with another gravel road which is paved about sixteen kilometers from my place. It goes from the highway to a long way away, perhaps fifty kilometers.

Lets get going.

The Noisy Friarbird will often let others know we are about

Listen for a chip chip and look at the tree trunks to see a White-throated Treecreeper scouring the bark for an insect or two

The lovely face of a Blue-faced Honeyeater

You might hear the wings of the Eastern Spinebill before you see one zoom past

The Pied Butcherbirds song will fill the forest as we walk along

We may see a Jackie Winter sitting on a fence

Lovely little Eastern Yellow Robins will be chip chip chipping seemingly endlessly

Of course the familiar sounds of Kookaburras will resound around the bush

Small Brown Honeyeaters will be silently having a snack on a Bottlebrush

A flash of colour and a Spotted Pardelote will fly by

A Forest Kingfisher, a sudden flash like a blue jewel, as he flies through the bush

The unmistakable squawking of Rainbow Lorikeets as they argue about whose branch it is will get your attention

The beautiful song of a Rufous Whistler will kep you spell bound for ages

A whistle, a flash of red, the smallest honeyeater is unmistakable in the bush

High in the tree, the resident Square-tailed Kite will keep an eye on you

While overhead it’s mate will soar
Up the road a bit, some Crimson Rosellas have a snack on the horses feed

What’s that chatter chatter chatter? I hear you say. The Grey-crowned Babblers walk about the forest floor snacking on unsuspecting insects talking about their day

More jewels in the sky as the Rainbow Bee-eaters gather

Another remarkable song and bright yellow of the Golden Whistler will make you stop and listen

Musk Lorikeets can be seen as they feast on the nectar of Pink Euodias

The largest bird of prey, a Wedged-tailed Eagle on the lookout for an unsuspecting wallaby or animal, will sit silent until we get to close

A bit more whistling heralds that we are near some King Parrots

A strange metallic sound draws our attention to the iridescent and distinctive tail shape of the wonderfully named Spangled Drongo

A Satin Bowerbird who is similarly coloured to a Drongo will be in the bush sometimes finding food

or finding sticks or blue stuff to decorate and construct his Bower