Swifts and Penguins (What???)

The Swifts (White-throated Needletails) visited Robertson late in the afternoon, today. They were here a week ago too.
The Penguin did not visit Robertson. 


My brother Brendan caught it accidentally while fishing at Green Cape. Can one get two birds more different?
Yes, but I don't have any current Emu photos.

How often can I publish a fit and healthy Little Penguin? Surely I can be excused for posting a Penguin image?

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But firstly here is my best Swift image from today; and several of the weather conditions and why the Swifts were circling my house. 

They circled around, as they drifted slowly northwards, between 6:30 and 6:45 pm, in the late afternoon light. I estimate that I saw 100 birds in those 15 minutes.

White-throated Needletail circling quite low (Click to enlarge)

The balmy afternoon light was quite a shock (after ten days of drizzle, including the last three days of heavy rain). This image shows the weather (and the bright light) in which the Swifts were flying around.

And this image shows why they were here.

A huge swarm of flying insects is clearly visible.

Click to enlarge to see them, (look in the yellow ring).

Flying insects visible in this image (click to enlarge).

And now for the Little Penguin.
My brother Brendan went fishing at Green Cape last week. He sent me this image today.

Little Penguin - and a healthy looking one at that.

They were fishing from the rocks into deep water. Green Cape is the boundary of Bass Strait, so there is serious water out there. But he was not expecting to land a Penguin on a line.


The bird got tangled around the legs on the nylon trace line they were using. It was not "hooked" at any stage. He quickly untangled the bird and released it again ASAP. No damage done to either party, and a real surprise (to all).


Contrast the magnificently streamlined wings of the Needletail, and the wing size compared to the body, with the chunky body of the Penguin and its short but powerful flippers. Penguins use their flippers to "fly though the water".

Some Show photos, plus bird updates

How inconvenient of the Robbo Show to compete with my need to record some interesting bird observations. The two things do not mix, but if I don't report it now, the reports lose their relevance.


So, straight to it with the birds. 

Needletails (Swifts) On Wednesday 9 March I saw approximately 50 White-throated Needletails - formerly known as Spine-tailed Swifts (Hirundapus caudacutus) from my back deck, between 5:15 pm and 5:30 pm. I watched a steady procession of WT Needletails hawking, (feeding actively) at low altitude. 

Much feeding occurred at approx twice treetop height (estimated feeding height approx 80 to 100 metres).
There were lots of "Flying Ants" around (larger and heavier in flight than Termites).

You can actually see them 

if you click to enlarge image.

Flying ants (composite image)

Click to enlarge composite image

White-throated Needletails.

They are not good images, but serve purpose of showing relatively low flying birds, and different positions and coming from different directions (while feeding and circling). If you wish to see these birds in better images, please visit the COG Bird image gallery. There is a freak occurrence recorded there, of a bird photographed in the hand, when found freshly killed, after a storm. When else would you see a Swift in the hand? They are surprisingly large birds - larger than they seem when seen silhouetted against a grey sky, zooming overhead at 100 KPH.

Weather conditions: Moderately warm late afternoon. Mid-level cloud, not threatening. Light rain fell several hours later.

It was impossible to determine accurately numbers of birds in the flock, as they were passing by in a steady trickle, not in a single large group, as sometimes happens. They were generally travelling north, but some limited "circling" makes it impossible to be sure there was not some double counting. I watched them for 15 minutes, Average 5 birds visible at any time. But in general they were passing by at roughly 90 second periods. Numbers estimated as follows: 15 minutes duration of total sighting / 1.5 minute average period of passage (allowing for a few circles by each group) X 5 birds visible at any one time = 50 birds.

The birds were coming from Shoalhaven Valley, over Belmore Falls, passing over Robertson and disappearing northwards, along Illawarra Escarpment.

Other Migratory birds still present in Robertson.
Several Rufous Fantails (Rhipidura rufifrons) were seen late this afternoon, flitting around in the Blackwood Wattles across the road from my house. I had not heard them in about a week, and thought they might have departed for Queensland or New Guinea. But htere they were still.


The other migrant still here (as of two days ago) is the Black-faced Monarch. (Monarcha melanopsis) It is a migratory rainforest Flycatcher, which is seldom seen, but which has a clear and distinctive call. There was one in the Acacia trees below my house, and it then flew back into the dense Sassafras trees. Once again, one needs to note the occurrences to know when they have been recorded last. Silence, or the absence of a record, tells one nothing, until the pattern of absence is well established. It is best to report it now, as "still here in Robbo".


And now quickly, to the Robbo Show. Just a few images.

Phillip Owen scooped the pool with his beautifully presented Spuds.

And another from the Show Bench.

Anna Williams did not know that she had won 

the Champion Vegetable Exhibit with her Onions.

Anna Williams' Onions won the Champion Vegie award.

Out in the ring, there were various Sack races, and the "Spud Olympics"

for the kids from the various local primary schools.

But this is my favourite image from those activities.

A genuine action shot!

Lena was loving the attention she got from these little tots.

(Permission was granted for me to take their photos).

Their two Mums were happy for Lena to entertain the littlies

for a considerable amount of time.

And she was delighted with the attention, needless to say.

Momentary consternation when Lena barked when she saw me coming back to her.

Lena is very good with kids. 

Ah, such days of innocence are to be treasured.

No wonder we love the Robbo Show!

Swifts zoom past Robertson

I know, I know, I know - Spine-tailed Swifts (as I grew up calling them) are now officially called "White-throated Needletails" (Hirundapus caudacutus). But that is a terribly clunky name, for which we owe a debt of gratitude to the "taxonomists" who set the international rules of nomenclature for all living creatures - birds, animals, plants, fungi and all the other creatures which swarm on the face of the earth, and especially within its bowels.

In this case, the rules are simple, we fit in with the names used in other countries where our birds are also found. If they had a name for a bird we subsequently found and named here, then that first name rules. That's roughly how it works, anyway.

Our explorers were a slack lot, and didn't "find" Australia until 1770 (well, officially, any way), and by then Asia was well and truly on the way to being exploited by Europeans. So in the world of taxonomy, their (European) names win out. Not the names the Japanese or the Indonesians use (of course) that would be too simple by half. No, I mean the names which the German, Dutch, French and English scientists gave to these Asian birds, back home in their dusty museums.

Hence "White-throated Needletail". You can see this particular feature of this bird, in a rare image of a dead specimen of this species, which happened to be found dead in Canberra. But, looking at that photo, you have to ask - who else but a Museum worker would suggest this obscure and nearly invisible feature of a bird be used to signify the generic name of this remarkable, fast-flying bird?

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Why am I writing about Needletails? Well today I managed to take a few snaps of several birds as they flew fast and low past my place, this afternoon. This is the first occasion I have managed any sort of photograph of White-throated Needletails.

Only once before have I ever photographed Swifts, and those were the even rarer Forked-tailed Swifts. But they were very co-operative, and a large flock circled around my house for about 15 minutes, and then disappeared. A first and only visit.

I had seen several Needletails two weeks previously, but I did not manage a photo on that occasion. This is only the second sighting of this species for me, this summer.

"Swift" sightings are always exhilarating, as the birds fly so fast, and zoom past you in such haste that you have to swerve your head to follow their movements.
And it is all the more remarkable when you realise that they are not just flying, they are feeding on the wing - catching insects as they go.
How remarkable must their eyesight be - to see an insect, when travelling in excess of 100 Km/hr., and then steer towards that insect, open one's beak and catch that flying insect?Every now and then one gets lucky enough to say - that shot is as good as I can hope to get tonight - with this light, and this lens. Thank you and good night!
And as my Brother Brendan has just pointed out to me, this photo is worth showing - if only for contrast in wing shape and performance. As we were sitting on the back deck, watching the Needletails zip past, a small flock of Black Cockatoos flew past. Here they are.

Check out the remarkably different wing shapes and wing flap styles and of course, the very long tails on the Cockies.
Those wing shapes and the tails, contrast against those of the Needletails whose tails have been reduced to mere stumps with fine needles in them (which they apparently use for perching on rocky cliff faces) - when nesting in Korea and Mongolia.

In aeroplane parlance, the Needletails are obviously the F-111 (with adjustable wing angles) and the Cockies are World War 2 Lancaster Bombers. Both can fly - but they do so in a very different manner.

Small Birds in a "mixed feeding flock"

The phenomenon of a "mixed feeding flock" is interesting. Many species of bids - usually small birds, gathering together, in harmony, while all feeding. Its great when you find yourself amongst such a group of birds, for often they are happy to allow you to stand there, while they ignore you, whilst getting on with their tasks in hand.

Male Superb Fairy Wren (Blue Wren) preening,

while a Silvereye sits peacefully, just a few inches away., That amounts to perfect photographic conditions (hopefully the weather is OK). Today there was a bit of mist around, and so grey skies meant a washed out background, and low light conditions. But the birds were cooperative enough.

Silvereye ( Zosterops lateralis )
The reason for the name is obvious.
These birds are not related to Honeyeaters, but they often go to flowers, but more to find insects than nectar. They absolutely love berries, especially small ones, like Privets, and also are partial to ripe blackberries. They swarm in great numbers especially in autumn, when they migrate.
This guy was in for a bit of acrobatic work, while looking for aphids and other tiny insects.

Then it fluffed out its feathers, after a scratch and a shake. Finally, back to work, hunting for insects, at ground level, amongst some dandelions.
Meanwhile, a Grey Fantail was flitting from branch to branch.
These birds catch their insects on the wing, just as the Swifts do.
But their manner of doing it is entirely different.
To continue the aeronautical theme from the last few posts about the Swifts,
these birds are like Tiger Moth (aeroplanes), contrasted with the Swifts being like F 1-11s.
Their wings are rounded, their tail huge - all for gaining aerobatic control.
Its all about precision, low-speed flying, for these guys.

Incidentally, they have large eyes, and a broad beak, to increase their chances of catching tiny insects on the wing. They seldom fly straight. Usually they do loops in the air, grab an insect, and fly back to the perch. When they land they then jump left, right, around, always on the look out for the next insect meal. Although not shy, they do not wait around for the photographer to frame the shot, or anything like that. Shoot it, and hope is the rule for these fellows.A baby Eastern Spinebill turned up, checking out the backs of leaves, looking for tiny insects or spiders. These birds are primarily nectar feeders, but like most Honeyeaters, they are opportunists. This bird has a very pale base of the beak, and no "V-shaped football jumper" markings on its front. Follow the link under the name above, for COG Bird Photo Gallery shots of adults, to see what I mean about Football Jumper markings.

This bird rejoices in the scientific name: Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris. Those names mean, literally - thorn (or spine) nose, thin beak. Not a bad name for a "Spinebill".

Here are 3 members of a Wren family group. The other youngster would not get into the frame, for me.
Here the male and female Super Fairy Wren are sitting together - cropped image from above.Finally, a Lewin's Honeyeater (Meliphaga lewinii ) (fairly well camouflaged), which was also hunting insects. This is one Honeyeater which also likes to eat berries - as it is relatively large, and we have many native and weedy berries in Robertson. All these images were taken within a few minutes of eachother, in my front yard. Most were taken from one standing position -just looking to the left, then the right.

I did not get a shot of the Brown Thornbills or the Golden Whistler, which were also present, but which did not show themselves, unfortunately.

Fork-tailed Swifts have "landed"

The images of the Fork-tailed Swifts which I published here last week have been accepted for permanent publication by the Canberra Ornithologists Group in their excellent bird Photo Gallery.
http://photogallery.canberrabirds.org.au/Species%20HTML/fork-tailed_swift.html

Hence my facetious comment on these Swifts having "landed" - as they are said to seldom land in Australia. Even though it seems improbably that they can fly for months on end, without landing, sightings of Swifts landing in trees or on rock ledges in Australia are extremely rare. They do breed on cliffs, in Asia.

I was particularly pleased that the COG webmaster has chosen this particularly elegant looking image as the "front page" view for the species. Incidentally, the Fork-tailed Swift is noted as being a "rare summer migrant to the ACT". Pretty rare in Robertson too, from my records.
I did not publish this nice clear image (above) the other day, for when I took this image, there was a spot on the camera sensor, and it made it look like the bird had a bent beak. It took me a while to realise what was wrong, and I was able to clean up the image (without altering the image of the bird itself). It is a nice image, as it shows the bird rolling over, at about 60 degrees from the vertical, and the tail fork is just visible, but the white rump and the neatly curved wings are shown very nicely indeed.

The curved wings typify the bird's wing adjustment for full speed.

This last image, which have not published before, shows the Swift as the ultimate speed machine, with wings fully swept back.

Fork-tailed Swifts appear over Robertson

These birds suddenly appeared over my house, two mornings ago. I knew straight away that they were Swifts, but I was not quite sure which Swift? The bird formerly called the "Spine-tailed Swift" (now officially the "White-throated Needletail") is the more usual species, south from Sydney. I have not seen many Swifts here, since moving to Robertson. I often look out for them before a summer thunderstorm, but have only seen them on a few occasions, over 6 years.

I should mention that all these images were taken from my back deck (so they qualify as birds from my backyard).

Click to enlarge the image. There are four swifts in the frame.

But, as I said, which Swift was I looking at?

The thing about Swifts is they fly so very, very fast (they get their name for a good reason). These birds were hawking at about twice the height of the local trees, and then circling higher, and swooping back down to just above the tree tops. Their speed and their circling was a real challenge, to try and track them. No autofocus job, this. I tried to monitor a bird as it flew away from me, then watched it come back, adjusting the focus , in an attempt to get a shot, as the bird raced back towards me.

Swift, at about 300 metres range.
(Shoalhaven Valley in distance)
The photographer's challenge is to focus on the distant bird,
then adjust focus as the bird comes zooming back
(they were circling constantly, for about 20 minutes).
Adjusting focus on a high speed bird is a great hit or miss experience.

My best shot.

For photographers, the speed settings was 1/1000th of a second.
Aperture F/5.6, with maximum zoom (300mm focal length).

This shows the elegant flight pattern of this species. Beautiful wings. The design is, of course, the sort of design aeronautical engineers can only dream about. The white rump is diagnostic (to distinguish it from the White-throated Needletail, which has a white throat and white undertail coverts, but the rump is brown).
I wish to acknowledge the assistance of Geoffrey Dabb (of COG) in confirming my ID of these birds as the Fork-tailed Swift (Apus pacificus) (a species I had not seen before).
I like this image - it shows the colour of the upper parts of the bird, and wings, plus the white rump. The wing shape, as it curves around, while diving, is very elegant.
A blurry image, but it does show the long tail, clearly forked.

High speed shot of a passing, zooming Fork-tailed Swift.This one is gliding away from me, at high speed.
This blurred image shows the Fork-tailed Swift with tail in full spread (a deep "V").
Almost certainly this bird is using its wings and tail for full control as it strikes at an insect.

A composite image (5 frames) of Fork-tailed Swifts,
showing the changes in wing shape and profile, as the birds tumble, zoom and soar.
Click to enlarge

Fork-tailed Swift with another species of bird. But which other bird?

This next image had me thinking Tree Martin,*** but on reflection, the bird in the image (relative to the Swift) is larger than a Tree Martin would be, and, as there was a hot north-westerly blowing, on which all these birds had travelled in, it is entirely possible that it is a White-breasted Woodwallow. Woodswallows are known to move about on favourable winds, following swarms of insects. Even the shape of the wings is "right" for a Woodswallow, (and wrong for aTree Martin), now that I think more about it. *** I have since decided that this is sufficiently unlikely to be a White-breasted Woodswallow, that I cannot "claim" that species. It is more likely to be a Tree Martin. The photo is not good enough for a positive ID, one way or the other.