Bird Diary entry
Sunday 13th Dec 6.50am Coburg nr the Merri Creek
Doves – constant regular surprisingly penetrating call; fairly close though not in this garden; no other birds close. Blackbird trill in distance. A crow calls 1,2,3,4,5. (Crows vocal at Annalea’s yesterday). Pretty quiet; mild, low cloud cover. One myna calls 1,2,3. Couple of lorikeets fly over. Doves continuous. Then one wattlebird in distance.
Car passes.
Clock ticks.
Wattlebird, myna – small chucks and squeaks. Doves – ‘uh-orrr-or uh-orrr-or uh-orrr-or’ a rougher sound than pigeons.
Then
An upset smaller bird, later realised it was a honeyeater; repeated agitated ‘cheep’ing, nesting?
Then the larger whistlers sing – pied butcherbird and magpies carol further in distance. An echoey spatial quality to their songs – lovely tone, choral.
All the songs start then stop. There is no general build up or chorus amongst the birds, unlike early Spring. Dispersed, individual phases of song. Small individualised, incidental it seems, no crescendo. All except doves which remain a constant, although even they pause after about half an hour.
Singers:
Spotted Turtle-Dove (Streptopelia chinensis)
Common Blackbird (Turdus merula)
Little Raven (Corvus mellori)
Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis)
Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus)
Red Wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata)
White-plumed Honeyeater (Lichenostomus pencilatus)
Pied Butcherbird (Cracticus nigrogularis)
Australian Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen)
