Listening to the Voices in My Head

Wattlebirds, and New Holland, Singing, and Brown Honeyeaters all lurking and chirping because the feeders were empty!

Human heeded, took out bucket for warm soapy water, a pitcher of fresh 'nectar' and the garden hose. Scrubbed, rinsed then refilled the feeders. Put water in the ant moats.

I was watched by a Wattlebird




And a family of New Holland Honeyeaters wasted NO time to start feeding

And not have a hissy-fit, or resort to snide insults and insinuations.

It's not news that we had to cut back out bottlebrush trees because of having solar panels installed (even though they don't cast shade on the roof). Because of this, a major food source for the local nectavores was removed during flowering season. We also had birds nesting nearby, brooding young birds.

I contacted the Melville Council about it, and D gave me the number to the Rangers, who then gave me a phone number to an Veterinary Ornithologist. After telling her the above, I got suggestions and some good advise, which I followed. I got some hummingbird feeders, got a recipe to make 'nectar', and some liquid vitamins to add to it. Once the birds figured out what these strange stiff red flowers were for, the 'locals' visited the truncated bottlebrush trees during their daily rounds.

In a bird group on Facebook, someone had a conniption fit about feeding wild birds, accusing me (and others) of only setting up feeders to create photo ops. And when I related the above about the bottlebrush trees, one woman demanded to have 'a published peer reviewed paper from this anonymous scientist of yours'. Then she implied, without flat out saying the word, I was a liar, and demanded the names.

I told her No, she could call the Melville council, and get her own referral.


I am not taming these birds. I have checked the number of photos of birds on the feeders vs birds flying, in trees, on the ground, noshing on native flora. Do I have them on feeders too? Sure do, not denying it, but more to show they are using them, not for the photo op.

And it's a good thing I have the feeders up. An adult red wattlebird came out second best in a tussle with either a raven, or kookaburra. It was badly injured, and I wasn't even sure it would survive the night. I made sure there was a feeder near it, and fresh water. Not only did it survive, it had a safe place to recover. But I guess according to the woman above, I should have let it get weak, fall to the ground, and get savaged to death by a dog, cat or rat. Uhh, no.

The day it was injured:



2 Months later in the 'hospital tree' with feeder and water nearby.



I would deem this fully recovered.



And one more thing before I finish this up: I have some neighbors that cut down two perfectly healthy large nectar bearing trees. A bottlebrush tree, and a grevillea, again reducing the native flora/food supply. And this was AFTER a developer took down about a dozen tall pine trees just a few weeks prior. So, the feeders have had more visitors than usual.

So, when I see the remaining nectar bearing trees in flower, I will keep the humming bird feeders out there to make up for what I and the neighbors have removed.

And would do so again!

The "Animal and Wildlife Photography" workshop and practical application of it was great. I didn't take as many photos as usual, as I tended to get the shot I wanted with two or three attempts at most. Yes, a few photos took a few more tries, but some were just one takes.

Here are some of the 'winning shots' aka keepers

I kind of slipped into 'car coma' on the way home, then kicked off my shoes, crawled onto the bed and lost three hours of time. Surprisingly enough, I went to bed later and still slept through the night, and even now feel as if I could use a nap! Right side of abdomen is sore. So is bruised area around the navel.

Yeah, I over did it.. but I'll get over it!