Makes yer realise what's important

[Ian Smith]

Well, there I was sweating away getting rid of some branches and dead wood into a skip before they take it away tomorrow ,cursing the neighbour for being such a rude bastard and chucking stuff over the fence, (yeah, I know he's entitled if it's coming from my trees, but he could at least have the courtesy to say it's coming to give me a chance to get rid of it) and I became aware of a butcher bird closely following me - so close I could almost reach out and touch it.
It sat on a branch just above me head and started warbling away and I just had to stop my grumbling to listen.
Now these birds are known to be mimics but this one had a pretty extensive repertoire. As I listened I heard (not sure if I got all the spelling right for these but you know what I mean) magpies, peewits, lorikeets, galahs, rosellas, quarians, corellas, spangled drongoes, noisy mynahs, banana birds, wagtails, doorbells, small dogs barking, telephones ringing, and a whole lot of other stuff - just wonderful!!
Improved the day no end.:)

Now I don't have a super duper u-beat fire-ball XL special camera but I do have a trusty canon powershot so I fired off a couple of shots - here's the one I like best.

Like I said - It's what's important

Ian

[Des.K.]

Often the small things like that make the big things seem less big.

Top photo. :)

Des

[tea lady]

Isn't that great!:2tsup: I've seen all different birds round here of late. Must be cos of the rain we don't usually get. Not sure what they are called yet. Still gazing at the book. :hmm: We get butcher birds too, but ours is not so obliging with the concerts. :shrug: Or maybe I just don't recognize it. :doh: :rolleyes: Mum use to fed a Butcher bird ot her place in Blackburn. Kept coming back for years.:cool:

[Big Shed]

Nice photo Ian, and good observations on birds.

Must admit my first reaction was "that's not a Butcher Bird" looks different to the Butcher Birds we get down here. In fact we have 2 pairs nesting regularly on our property.

Luckily before I opened my big mouth I decided to do some googling. Turns out that yours is the Pied Butcher Bird and ours is the Grey Butcher Bird as far as I can tell.

We have lots of bird baths in our home garden (1 acre) and these Grey Butcher Birds put on the most spectacular display when they take their daily bath, water going everywhere!

Thanks for sharing:2tsup:

[MajorPanic]

Ian,

I've got a couple that follow me around when I'm on the ride-on mower, getting the grubs & things out of the freshly mowed lawn.

They are so used to me I have to stop on the return strip & wait for them to finish getting whatever they are after because they won't move.

If I force them to move they yell at me :C

Great pic! :2tsup:

[tea lady]

Ian,

I've got a couple that follow me around when I'm on the ride-on mower, getting the grubs & things out of the freshly mowed lawn.

They are so used to me I have to stop on the return strip & wait for them to finish getting whatever they are after because they won't move.

If I force them to move they yell at me :C

Great pic! :2tsup:

:rofl:

Bird baths are good. You get the birds that wouldn't come to a feeder cos they eat insects.:2tsup: We've got a little family of Blue Fairy wrens that come in all the time.:cool:

[artme]

Ah yes! I love the butcher birds and their singing so thanks for the story.:2tsup::2tsup::2tsup:

Some years ago I was an itinerant teacher of the Deaf in NSW. One young fellow had had problems for years with infected ears to the point where he had virtually no tympanic membrane left in either ear.He evenyualy had A membrane transplant for each ear but was having great difficulty distinguishing different sounds.

To help with his rehab. I would take him outside to listen to the birds and teach him which bird made which sound. He loved the Butcher bird and always cocked an ear and smiled when he heard it.

[Mollywood]

Hi Ian,
What a lovely story.
We have butcherbirds here and we've heard the telephone ring coming from the trees many times, but didn't know it was the butcherbird.
Thanks for sharing that.:)

[Big Shed]

:rofl:

Bird baths are good. You get the birds that wouldn't come to a feeder cos they eat insects.:2tsup: We've got a little family of Blue Fairy wrens that come in all the time.:cool:

TL, no bird feeders on our property, they have to fend for themselves. It is much too easy to get them dependent on feed, then you go away and they can't fend for themselves.

[tea lady]

TL, no bird feeders on our property, they have to fend for themselves. It is much too easy to get them dependent on feed, then you go away and they can't fend for themselves.

Yes! We don't do the bird feeder thing any more. Just sometimes if we have friends over from the big smoke.Then only the local birds come in and we get to show off ouur wildlife. The cockies got WAY too friendly. And the kookaburra came in the door and stole a piece of toast from my son's plate. Then tried to fly out the window.:doh: (Did you know a kookaburra feels like a bunch of sticks when you hold them?:rolleyes:)