BIRD NEWS:2

You may be forgiven for wondering what the first photo is actually a picture of - but if you were a regular reader of my former blog, you may guess it is another shot of Ditty the dove and partner on the bird table - as is the next.

Doves are not the only subject matter for poor quality photographs I took in the first week of January - I have a pair of shots of Sing the starling. The way I know it is Sing, and not Song, Cough, Starlet, or an unnamed starling is the vocals. Its repertoire and tone distinguish this specific bird from the rest of its friends. The second of these shots is of Sing mid-warble, issuing the familiar throat-cackle of the breed, while the first of the pair is of Sing singing in his own personal way.

Regular readers will realize I can only last so many posts without producing at least one snap of a pigeon, and so here is Pidge. This one is taken of the wood pigeon sitting on the tree outside my window, from my bed, ignoring me. In the next one, Pidge is actually regarding either myself or the windowsill - probably the latter, estimating if it is worth clearing the remaining seed...

BIRD NEWS:1

...& now back to my regular bird blogging...

I have 2 miserable shots left to share from 2014, although the date as I pre-write this blog is January. My first photo was a blurry shot of our local pair of doves, Ditty and partner.

The final shot of 2014 is of the thrush standing on the bird bath staring at me. The thinner of the two thrushes was in the exact same spot earlier today, actually - before diving under the plastic bird bath and pinching a morsel of food left out for the hedgehog in case it wakes up hungry during its hibernation!

2015 weather does not seem to be much better than late 2014 - in that we still have no snow, but high winds, and overcast conditions with bouts of sun/showers... Well, we had a five minute drizzle shower, if that counts. Ditty and partner, Mr Bob, and Curio - along with all the regulars - have all been spotted at some point during the first day of the new year and I hope to have some photos to share with you shortly of better quality.

It is now - at the current time of writing - the end of the first week of January. The weather is very changeable - jumping from wet and windy one moment to still, sunny, and cold the next. My first shot for the new year is a wind-shot of Ditty and partner on the bird table.

Australian bird pictures

During my time living in Aussie, when I began my original blog and wrote a book, I took numerous photos of birdlife. As I am restarting my blog I thought I would share just a few of my favorite photos in a post before resuming my normal/regular postings dating back to December 2014.

 The first picture is of a young Australian black-backed magpie. We used to have a family visit our yard a few times a day for the first couple of years living in Wollongong. The youngsters soon learned my son and I were harmless and provided food.

Once the magpies had flown to other territory, a pair of released show pigeons moved in. They had four youngsters on a neighbor's roof, and mingled with a local flock. We ended up with quite a crowd at feeding times.

 This next shot shows the original male, Fluffy and one of the offspring on top our wheelie bins.

 Australia had a variety of crested birds - my next two photos demonstrate the variety. First, a pair of red-whiskered bulbuls resident in our back garden. Secondly, a pair of cockatoos, also in the back yard, who came to visit as soon as my sunflowers were ripe, ready to steal the seed.

 One of the better known Australian birds is the kookaburra, and yes, we had some visit our yard. The are well known for swooping down and pinching sausages from BBQs, but this fellow preferred my pastry!

One of my friends, Smokey, was one of the pigeons born on a neighbor's roof. He was the bravest and tamest of the flock and used to wait on my windowsill for me to bring out the seed tub. He would fly right down onto my wrist and try to beak out the best seeds before I got a chance to tip it up to scatter them for everyone. He also used to come into our house - along with some of the other show pigeons and a couple of the magpies.

INTRODUCTION TO MY NEW BIRD STORY BLOG

Welcome to my replacement blog.

To NEW readers -

Since 2008, I was writing a blog about the birdlife I personally encountered in and around my home. Originally, I lived in Wollongong City in the Illawarra district of NSW, Australia. We had a family of release show pigeons living in our yard and on the neighbor's rooves, along with multiple visitors - including the cockatoo, rainbow lorikeet, kookaburra, Australian black-backed magpie, and red-whiskered bulbuls. The birds made themselves at home

Around my home when walking I might encounter a pelican, lyre bird, galah or fairy wren...

I not only wrote about these birds in my blog, but wrote a book on them! You can view an extract from that book HERE.

In 2009, I returned to England, where I had been born, in order to take care of my ailing elderly father who passed away in late 2013. I found the birds hesitant, unfriendly, reluctant to trust me, and cautious in comparison. I have spent the past 5 years trying to be friends and have managed with limited success. A few of the birds in the back yard, which i inherited along with the house, trust me enough not to fly away when they see me at my windowsill or in the yard - but none of them come to me and sit on my wrist in anticipation of the seed I am about to donate. Many of my photos are taken through my bedroom window of the birds who occupy the tree stationed there.

To OLD regular readers -

I can only apologize on behalf of my former blogging host Orble for the sudden disappearance of my former blog. I have been writing www.birdstory.com posts for around 8 years and had gathered more than a dozen subscribers, was getting 250-300 daily readers on average, and had no idea they were going to suddenly axe my blog.

I went to post on Sunday, only to find the domain name was for sale! I emailed the blog hosts in vain - twice. Eight years of writing - GONE! (Luckily, I still have all my photos on file!!) I have 5 posts ready written without a home to go to...

Hopefully, some of you will find your way here to my new blog - 3-4 of you I know from other places and can inform, others may try searching for the former blog and entering keywords - hopefully they will bring you here, at some point.

I intend to continue to publish blog posts concerning the birds in the backyard - Mr Bob, Mr Black and Curio, Pidge, Beatie, Plate-face, Sing, Song, and Cough are still here! I shall also add visits to the regular and irregular places I spot birds - so there should be more tales of the Worthing beach gang, Naboo and Bluey, and the Priory Park budgies...

To ALL readers -

My intention with this blog is to post photographs - perfect pictures, mishaps, and blurred sightings amixed - along with the tales of the lives of the birds in my yard and environments I visit, with a few facts and multiple personality observances, along with the occasional link to other bird-related articles, blogs, and photos.