August 28 - September 3, 2016: Issue 278

Bird Songs For Spring 2016 For Children

The first day of Spring 2016 dawns on Thursday this week and as you can see birds are singing and bees are buzzing.
Soon the Koels and Cuckoos will call across the valleys and baby birds will be calling for 'more food!' from many nests.

A few poems, a few pictures and songs, and a sort film that will tell you all about birds - for our younger readers.
We're lucky to have birds that live in trees, birds that swim in seas or fish in creeks, and birds that nest in wetlands and sandy shores here.

Hope you see some of these this Spring!
KOOKABURRA

See the kookaburra, flying high,
Swooping and diving through the sty,
Now shooting down to catch a worm,
Now holding a snake in his beak so firm.

See, he flies to his nest in the trees,
To feed his young, of which there are three,
Now he flies high, then down in a dive,
The snakes and worms find it hard to thrive.

By Marion Crothall. 12, of Berner-street, Merewether. Ten points.
KOOKABURRA (1952, November 24). Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate (NSW : 1876 - 1954) , p. 5. Retrieved fromhttp://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article133560668

Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree Song (Lyrics) ORIGINAL
By Marion Sinclair 1932.

Bush Or Brush Turkey

Scratching his way through the bush!

Daybreak In The Queensland Bush
by Helen Goode
Was there ever such a noisy place as this?
For as soon as it starts to light
The cock begins his crowing,
And the turkeys have a fight.
The Jackasses start laughing,
The mappies all to sing,
Right over in the bushes
You hear the clear notes ring
The "happy families" then scream,
And the cockatoos they shriek
The frogs begin their croaking
And the mice they scratch and squeak
The tom cats have a concert, ;
The dog, he makes a row,
The ca|f, too, starts to bellow
Accompanied by the cow
There's lots of other noises too
For as soon as you're awake
You bear these and many sounds
That start just at daybreak.
DAYBREAK IN THE QUEENSLAND BUSH (1926, January 22). Murray Pioneer and Australian River Record (Renmark, SA : 1913 - 1942), p. 8. Retrieved from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article109346044


White-Cheeked Honeyeater Feeding On Banksia Nectar

by BIBY TV - Published on 23 Aug 2016
These photos and video were taken in late July 2016 on the Chiltern Track, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, NSW. The plant in the photos is Banksia spinulosa and the one in the video is Banksia ericifolia.

The Spectacular Scarlet Honeyeater And Darwinia - A Perfect Match.

BY BIBY TV Published on 14 Jul 2016
This footage was taken early July 2016 on the Chiltern Track, Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park, NSW.
Video by Darren & Thalia Broughton.

Other birds around at the time included Silvereyes (Tasmanian), Spotted Pardalotes, Little Wattlebirds, Red Wattlebirds, White-eared Honeyeaters, Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, New Holland Honeyeaters, White-cheeked Honeyeaters and Eastern Whipbirds. Several nectar-rich flowers were available in the area, including late blooms of Banksia ericifolia and eucalypt blossoms.

Other than Scarlet Honeyeaters, only Silvereyes consumed the nectar of this particular Darwinia fascicularis subsp. fascicularis in the filming period. In late May Eastern Spinebills were seen feeding on the flowers of another specimen. This shrub is common along the Chiltern Track.

Birds Educational Video For Children

by Happy Learning TV
Little pied cormorant at Mona Vale Beach
Pictures by Joanne Seve, Birds in Backyard TV and A J Guesdon, 2016