One of my favourite birding memories resulted from a tragic plane crash. In 2007, we flew to São Paulo, intending to fly on to the Pantanal, return to São Paulo, then fly to Iguazu. The day before we arrived, however, there was a horrific plane crash at the domestic terminal and all domestic flights were grounded for the foreseeable future. While deciding what to do, our guide took us to the Hotel do Ype in Itatiaia National Park. We slept in comfortable cabins in the forest and woke to a dawn chorus of Chachalacas. Breakfast was served in the main building, on a balcony adorned with numerous bird feeders. It was almost impossible to eat, because every time you sat back down another wonderful bird, more brightly coloured than the last, would appear. There were tanagers and motmots, woodpeckers and toucans, euphonias and chlorophonias, and when at last we tore ourselves away to go out birding and visit the local hummingbird feeders, we saw a ferruginous pygmy-owl roosting right next to the dining room.
Row 1: Saffron Toucanet, Blue Dacnis, Green-headed Tanager, Row 2: Yellow-fronted Woodpecker, Black-goggled Tanager, Ferruginous Pygmy-owl.
1 Comment
SOMETHING DIFFERENT
Recently, when enjoying a cup of morning coffee, I browsed through my copy of Nature and Its Symbols. Here I learned that in days of old the call of the parrot was interpreted as Ave, believed to be the angel Gabriel’s greeting to Mary at the time of the Annunciation. Therefore since then, the parrot has been a symbol of the Virgin Mary, of innocence and of purity and often this led to portraits of brides in northern Europe also containing the parrot. The exotic nature of the parrot, a bird thought to have originated in dry eastern regions in order that rain not spoil its plumage, was also a symbol of rarity and wealth, and its inclusion in art was frequently a reference to the rich patron, the commissioner of the work. Having got this far, I then turned to my art books and sure enough I found Albrecht Durer’s Adam and Eve to be seen in The Met, contains a parrot as a symbol of the Virgin, the obscure rationale being that if a parrot can mimic human speech then the Virgin can be pregnant. Other examples are Martin Schongauer’s Madonna and Child with a Parrot, an engraving depicting the parrot on the hand of the Christ Child and Henri Gaudier Brzeska’s Bride with Two Women and a Parrot, a more modern work which harks back to the ancient connotation. Lastly, I turned to a recent acquisition, Australian Bird Names Origins and Meanings. The parrot that mostly frequents the trees surrounding my house is the Crimson Rosella Platycercus elegans Race Adelaide, Adelaide rosella and here I learned that the word PSITTACULIDAE denoting the family classification is taken from the Latin Psittacus and Greek Psitatakos; the Little Parrot Family, in use since the 5th century BC. The genera Platycercus means having a broad tail and the species name, elegans, indicates the elegance of the bird. The name Rosella apparently wasn’t formally recognised until the 20th century when the RAOU in 1926 listed the Crimson Parrot as the Crimson Rosella. it would seem that Eastern Rosellas, once common in the Rose Hill area, formerly Parramatta, were known as Rose Hill Parrots, then Rose Hillers and in 1843 by James Backhouse as Rosella, Rosehill or Nonpareil Parrot, nonpareil meaning having no match. “P.e.adelaide, from the Adelaide region – Gould published this as a species name; Adelaide Rosella or Parrakeet. Pheasant Parrot or Parrakeet, apparently for the perceived similarity of the reddish scalloped back to that of the European Common Pheasant Phasianus colchicus; this name goes back to the earliest years of settlement in Adelaide.” References: Lucia Impelluso, Nature and Its Symbols First published in USA 2004 Getty Publications pp302-303 Ian Fraser and Jeannie Gray Australian Bird Name Origins and Meanings, 2019 CSIRO Publishing pp152-159. Birds and Beasts
The two of us decided to go for some self-distancing exercise on Thursday 2nd April, by walking to the River Torrens from North Adelaide on a beautiful sunny calm day, hoping to see a few birds along the way. We walked across the University playing fields, where there was an assortment of birds including 2 Masked Lapwing, who didn’t seem to be disturbed by our presence, as well as a number of Magpies, Magpie Lark & Rock Dove. In the tall trees Rainbow Lorikeets & ‘Adelaide’ Rosellas were seen & heard. Crossing over War Memorial Drive we walked along the footpath overlooking the upstream reaches of the Torrens to the Albert Bridge, by the Adelaide Zoo. (Karrawirra Parri, meaning “river of the red gum forests” is the official Kuarna name for the Torrens, whose source is near Mt. Pleasant in the Adelaide Hills.) We walked towards the bridge, dodging the odd cyclist, & disturbing at least 30 Crested Pigeons, while admiring the beautiful reflections on the river. Swimming in the water were 6 Australian Wood Duck, both male & female, an Australasian Grebe in breeding plumage, while a colourful Dusky Moorhen emerged from the reeds lining the river bank. Nearing the ornate Albert Bridge, there is a beautiful view of the city, including the University of Adelaide. By now you might be wondering about the word Beasts in this title. Just as we were about to return home, a giraffe popped its head over the fence of its enclosure in the zoo to the accompaniment of the roar of a lion. Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo
Calyptorhynchus latirostris When on a trip to Western Australia in September 2019 Margie and I were keen to see Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo. They are endemic to the SW corner of WA, and have declined in recent years due to widespread clearing and decreasing food sources. Their numbers are now further threatened by recent bushfires in the region which have destroyed much of their habitat. While enjoying delicious scones, jam, cream and coffee in Ravensthorpe we asked some of the locals where we should go to find them. “To the Golf Course-near the pine trees” in Esperance they said. So off we went - but with no success. In fact a group of club members said they thought the Cockatoos were at the Racecourse! We persisted in other likely places but failed to find them and began to wonder whether there were any there at all. At the start of our return journey toward Perth from Esperance via Bremer Bay we had given up hope of seeing Carnabys. Then about coffee stop time we noticed a small flock of black birds some distance ahead of us. We pulled up and we had found them! After a good sighting and photographs we drove on to find black and yellow roadside signs indicating the presence of cockatoos. Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo is closely related to (previously a race of) the Yellow-tailed Cockatoo having similar flight and call. It was described in 1948 by naturalist Ivan Carnaby. It is a large, dull-black cockatoo with a short erectile crest, large bill, and prominent white cheek patches. The bird is mostly grey-black with narrow off-white fringes, measures around half a metre in length, and can weigh in excess of 600g. It has a life span ranging from 25 to 50 years. They are found mainly in Eucalyptus woodland but also pine plantations mostly within the wheatbelt region of WA. Malcolm Abbott
Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus latirostris When on a trip to Western Australia in September 2019 Margie and I were keen to see Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo. They are endemic to the SW corner of WA, and have declined in recent years due to widespread clearing and decreasing food sources. Their numbers are now further threatened by recent bushfires in the region which have destroyed much of their habitat. While enjoying delicious scones, jam, cream and coffee in Ravensthorpe we asked some of the locals where we should go to find them. “To the Golf Course-near the pine trees” in Esperance they said. So off we went - but with no success. In fact a group of club members said they thought the Cockatoos were at the Racecourse! We persisted in other likely places but failed to find them and began to wonder whether there were any there at all. At the start of our return journey toward Perth from Esperance via Bremer Bay we had given up hope of seeing Carnabys. Then about coffee stop time we noticed a small flock of black birds some distance ahead of us. We pulled up and we had found them! After a good sighting and photographs we drove on to find black and yellow roadside signs indicating the presence of cockatoos. Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo is closely related to (previously a race of) the Yellow-tailed Cockatoo having similar flight and call. It was described in 1948 by naturalist Ivan Carnaby. It is a large, dull-black cockatoo with a short erectile crest, large bill, and prominent white cheek patches. The bird is mostly grey-black with narrow off-white fringes, measures around half a metre in length, and can weigh in excess of 600g. It has a life span ranging from 25 to 50 years. They are found mainly in Eucalyptus woodland but also pine plantations mostly within the wheatbelt region of WA. 2/4/2020 Judy Moyes The Cheeky Youngster Since the fires in the Adelaide Hills I have had an influx of Kookaburras in our area. At first there seemed to be a great deal of territorial calling and I have counted up to 10 individual birds. One however seems to have been hand reared. He? Is not afraid of me at all. The minute I go out to our dustbin area he arrives, has fallen into the dustbin twice, has perched on my shoulder, my arm, and once on my head surprising me each time. He is quite relaxed being only centimetres away and listens intently when I chat to him. Although I do not want to make a pet of him I have given him the odd snack in the evening and I am hoping with all the other Kookaburras in the area he will find a mate and settle down. I have called him Swartkop. (Afrikaans for black head) as the colouring around his head seems darker than usual. A few days ago he was hopping around our courtyard when a young Magpie appeared, followed him and then tugged at his tail feathers and pulled one out. Swartkop didn’t seem too upset. Marianne Wakelin
Iceland Lake Myvatn (Midge Lake) in northern Iceland is a volcanic lake. A short distance away are hot water geothermal baths popular with swimmers, and bubbling mud pools and fumaroles smelling strongly of sulphur. Huge numbers of midges are found by the lake in summer – as a result, birding in the area is fantastic, with 13 species of Duck nesting in the area: Harlequin Ducks; Common Scoters; Tufted Ducks; Common Loons (Great Northern Divers); etc . Alas, I was on a general tour last June so there was no time for serious birding as we trudged up the nearby pseudo-craters. Bird life however was evident all around us. Never have I had such perfect and close views of Common Snipe, Red-necked Phalarope or Slavonian Grebe. Were they guarding precious eggs and chicks hidden in the grass and reeds? In a field near our hotel, pairs of Redshanks, calling loudly to each other vigorously defended their territories against Black-headed Gulls (and us). Arctic Terns, with their sharp beaks, were to be avoided at all costs. |
Archives
February 2021
Categories |