Posts – Page 17 – A Bellingen Diary

Lazy birdwatching …

Published on October 13, 2014November 9, 2014 by FJB4 Comments

I’ve been on a couple of bird-watching expeditions and had a great time. I remember being particularly impressed with a National Parks & Wildlife ranger who produced a freshly baked cake and a coffee plunger from the back of his car! But I hate ticks and leeches, and my distance eye-sight is not the best, so I’ve decided that traipsing through the bush hoping for a momentary glimpse of a disappearing drongo is not for me.

Much better that I set up my garden as an oasis for birds, with plenty of water, native flowering plants and small snacks. That way I can sit on the veranda with a coffee (or a glass of wine), a camera and my bird book and wait for the birds to come to me.

Yes it’s lazy, and so far it’s working quite well. On a hot day, there’s a queue of birds waiting for their turn in the bird bath. You’ll have to take my word for it that this is a Satin Bowerbird …

DSC_0130 (1280x855) — Satin Bowerbird taking a bath

And there’s a constant procession of birds dropping in at the feeder to check if there is anything there that they fancy. Sometimes it’s a bit of paw-paw, a piece of bread (wholegrain of course!), a sprinkling of seeds, a dead bug or a piece of sweet corn – not enough to make them dependent though.

As of today the count is at 34 confirmed species, and a few manic birds who won’t stay still long enough for me to identify them let alone take a photo. Visit my Bird Gallery which I update as I identify new bird species.

Bee-witched by native bees …

Published on October 8, 2014 by FJBLeave a comment

Last summer I spent quite a bit of time following bees around the garden with my camera, (Yes, I know, get a life!) and I became a little obsessed with them.

So I was quite excited when I heard that there was to be a one-day native bee workshop in Bellingen. It’s hard to imagine that such a small town could draw a crowd of thirty enthusiastic people, each prepared to pay $50, bring their own group lunch and to sit and listen to hours of bee facts, but that’s exactly what happened yesterday.

I won’t bore you with too many facts but, these tiny creatures, less than 5mm long, don’t sting, they pollinate our plants, they don’t abscond in a swarm, and their honey has strong antibacterial properties. There are only two problems … they don’t make much honey, so if you are a big honey eater you’ll need a few hives, and they only survive in pan-tropical climates.

DSCN7914 (1280x960) — Honey dripping from the hive

Our enthusiasm grew as the day progressed and we watched as hives were split and honey drained. The workshop finished with a taste of native bee honey drizzled over vanilla ice-cream. The light citrus flavour of the honey was a delicious contrast to the richness of the ice-cream. That was when I decided that I just HAD to have a hive. A Christmas present from me to my garden.

And … interestingly, I now realise that when I was in Sri Lanka I photographed a native bee hive near the beach at Mirissa.

DSCN4694 (1280x960) — Sri Lankan native bees?

Virgin Queen larvae

Splitting a hive

Honey glinting in the sun

Pollen stores and larvae capsules

Native bee entrance in a log

Proper Rain at last …

Published on August 27, 2014September 7, 2014 by FJB2 Comments

It has been been raining steadily for over twelve hours, the frog pond is overflowing, the ground is sodden, there’s a flood watch out for the Bellinger River, it’s a dark and dreary day … and everything is right with the world!

I’m going to take at least partial credit for this rain, as I’ve almost finished rolling out over 200 metres of hose and 100 drippers in preparation for a second un-seasonably dry Spring. Of course, I should have done this a few years ago when first planting, but I was lulled into complacency by regular and bountiful rain.

The birds aren’t too impressed with the rain, especially the Tawny Frogmouths who are still roosting under the leaves of a dying banana sucker. They look even more grumpy than usual if that’s possible?

World’s biggest bower bird …

Published on August 23, 2014September 2, 2014 by FJB3 Comments

The local rubbish tip is not the place you would normally expect to go bird spotting. And of course, we don’t call them rubbish tips any more, they are “Waste Management Centres”. Many have re-cycle or re-use shops attached. Ours used to be called The Eco House but it has been re-named in honour of the fabulous sculpture now standing at the entrance.

The sculpture which stands several metres high was created by local “found” artist Nick Warfield over three months, and is surrounded by blue objects, like a giant bower bird “nest”. Nest being the wrong word, because it’s really just a place for the male Satin Bower Bird to show off and to hopefully impress a female. These are the same birds that featured in my Mango War posting.

The bower bird was commissioned by the local council to celebrate the re-opening of the shop after some months of mysterious closure. (There are rumours of rubbish corruption!) So our re-use shop is now called The Bower House.

Unfortunately, it still contains mostly junk, but if you scrounge around the occasional treasure can sometimes be found.