COLOURFULWORLD

Saturday 20 July 2019

Saturday Critters - Birds at Point Walter Reserve

These were taken in February this year at Point Walter Reserve, a park on the south bank of Perth's Swan River, where I took Iris, my blogger friend from Germany, when she visited Perth.

Quite a few Ravens (Corvus) (I used to call them crows, but apparently this is a difference in their tail feathers and their call too).
They are quite clever and have integrated far too well with humans, learning to pick food from rubbish bins, etc.  I've even seen them opening packages with food and trying to drink leftovers from tins.

You can listen to the Australian ravens via this link:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/63/Australianraven.ogg

When I arrived in Australia and would hear these noises, at first I thought it was children crying, then I realized it was the birds.




The Australian magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen), is also very common in Parks around Perth, as it too has adapted well to city life and is also a clever bird.
In Spring breeding magpies can become aggressive and swoop and attack anyone who approaches their nests. 


The very noisy and territorial Seagulls (Silver Gulls), have become a nuisance in parks and restaurants around the river, as they forage for our food leftovers. If you leave your table at a seaside restaurant they just swoop on it and steal whatever is left!

A seagull carries a piece of food she either found or stole from one of the picknickers at the park
 A
And lastly the Black Swans (Cygnus atratus), which are native to Australia and are the state bird of Western Australia.
These at the park are obviously also used to the people around them and one of them wandered from the river to a group of people sitting nearby. One of the guys crushed some chips and fed them to the swan. Obviously not a very good diet for the swan, but he ate from his hand.

They might get aggressive if you approach their nest, and I have had swans hiss at me, but this one was quite happy to be around people.




 

Linking to Saturday Critters, please check Eileen's blog for more birds and other critters.


32 comments:

  1. Great series with birds! You know I am going to love this one, Sami,

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello, wonderful variety of birds Sami! I think the Black Swan is one of my favorites. But I also love the Magpie. Beautiful photos. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your day and weekend. PS, thank you for the visit and comment on my blog.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Eileen, I love the black swans.

      Delete
  3. Australian birds are always fascinating to see, as they have clearly evolved to fill niches that exist there, but still resemble their relatives that live on the other continents.

    best... mae at maefood.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  4. Oh, Sami, I sure miss your Aussie ravens, ours are so boring!
    And, certainly, the magpies! Once something rolled under our car in 1999 and I was going around, looking for it - a magpie followed me all the way, looking for "it", too :-)
    That swan sure was tame! My cousin once was bitten by a (white) one here.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The magpies are quite clever. Oh you remember the swan, it was quite tame :)

      Delete
  5. Somehow those Black Swans are much more interesting than our Mute Swans. I guess you have some of those too?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes we have a very small population of mute swans that were introduced to Australia by the British in the 1800's. I don't think I've seen any in Perth though.

      Delete
  6. The Black swan sure is a beauty! We have those Ravens here in Florida too and I always call them crows even though they are BIG! Enjoy your weekend!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Lavender Dreamer, nice to know you also have the crows/ravens over there.

      Delete
  7. I think magpies are so pretty! And that beak on the swan -- wow. He looks VERY tame!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Jeanie. That specific one seemed very tame, I think they just know people will give them food, so they got used to them.

      Delete
  8. What a wonderful series of bird photos. The magpies are interesting birds, their cleverness amazes me.
    Enjoy your day!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Bill, both the magpies and crows are clever, I think that's why they've adapted so well to city life.

      Delete
  9. Wonderful Australian birds, Sami. Thank you

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Cloudia, glad you enjoyed them.

      Delete
  10. I've often found the Eurasian version of the magpie fascinating to watch.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I thought I left a comment many hours ago. Instead, I fell asleep in my computer chair, then left it later to sleep on the couch. My life is in some kind of time warp I can't exactly explain right now.

    I also thought it was a crow. I guess I never thought about the difference between crows and ravens before.

    You KNOW how much I love black swans. They always make me happy when I see one, since I've only seen one in my life and it was at my zoo. You got some incredible shots.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I often fall asleep on the couch :)
      I had no idea of the differences either until recently.
      I know how you love the black swans Elizabeth, quite a few photos for you to enjoy :)

      Delete
  12. Nice bird photos. Hope you are enjoying your weekend.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Linda. We're having a very wet weekend.

      Delete
  13. Gostei bastante de ver estas fotos destas belas aves e aproveito para desejar um bom Domingo.

    Andarilhar
    Dedais de Francisco e Idalisa
    Livros-Autografados

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Obrigada Francisco. Bom Domingo para si também.

      Delete

I would love to hear from you, please leave a comment.