Bush Stone Curlew in the Gardens
While wandering through the Botanic Gardens today I came across a pair of Bush Stone Curlews hiding in the strip of garden between a walkway and an open area of grass. They did their usual growling type noise as I got closer and grabbed this photo.
View all photos taken: Monday, 23rd April 2007, This photo: 1:42pm
beaut capture mate, nice and clear.
Awwwww he's so cute! He doesn't look all worried about you being there! Love the one legged stance lol...:-))
Thanks Jeffrey, I took several photos at different aperture and iso settings, and this one came out the sharpest.
They're quite an odd bird Tracey. Large eye, long legs, the hiss when you get too close and then go into a big spread-wing hissing dance thing if you get closer and they stand about 45 to 50 cms high.
I have a set containing pictures of a pair breeding at Ferny Grove train station (including chick).
Great capture. It looks so dainty and sweet - so they hiss and dance? Does that deter people or other critters?
I presume so Melissa. These birds nest on the ground, pretty much in the open. One bird sits on the egg, while the other stands guard (and presumably brings food back for the other). The hissing/growling begins at about 4 feet from the birds (roughly), and the big impressive display happens within 2 feet. They can look fairly intimidating, so I presume you'd want to be a fairly confident predator to ignore the warnings (although I have no idea what happens if you do ignore the warnings and press on).
Neat bird and a fine capture Dave.
Excellent shot, David, and awesome clarity! Looks so nice to its maximum size. :o)
Thanks Ian :)
Not bad eh ? Margot. :)
Fine capture of a beautiful bird. Very different to the Curlews in Europe - I love the sound they make.
We have that sort of Curlew too, but I don't get to the beach very often to see them. These however are a completely different family of bird. They're also known as Thick-knees (for obvious reasons).
we do get stone curlews here as rare visitors from Europe, if whilst on the site that Bluewave linked to, you have time, take a listen to the eider drakes, so funny, listened to those whilst at a wetlands trust place earlier in the year. Like a lot of great aunts when they have just heard some family gossip... !! sweet photo this, the dof plays interesting tricks !!
Oooh Aye, you're right, the Eider duck does sound like a bunch of Yorkie farm-wives at the local post office ;-)
Oh yeah, look at that, you guys get the Burhinus oedicnemus, whereas the bird above is the Burhinus grallarius. They look similar though.
ooh ah, fancy that, going all latin on us as well !!
Te audire no possum. Musa sapientum fixa est in aure.
hehehehe :)
Ignore the warnings! Press on! I want to see what happens! ;-)
hahaha I prefer not to stress the little guys out too much.
This thread is growing ornithilogically interesting! I cracked up at the Eider duck sounds. I've seen large groups of them on the sea here, but never heard them before.
Ok, how about the sound a Snipe makes? Every Spring/Summer night I can open my door and hear their distinctive courtship noise, which is made by two feathers on either side of the tail vibrating as the bird falls out of the sky.
ignores latin possum stuff....... I reckon the snipe noise is the UK version of a laughing Kookaburra !! a great noise Tim, thanks !
.... ps David, why have you got a banana in your ear..... ??
That snipe sounds was quite amusing - also made my dogs bark !
You might be right about the similarity of the snipe to kookaburra sounds Helen.
As for the latin, it's my favourite phrase - besides, who doesn't have a banana in their ear now and then ?
The sound of the Bush Stone Curlew's normal night call can be found on this page (under Curlew).
They're real screamers!
Kookaburras are far louder than Snipes, mainly because of the way the sound is made. The use of feathers invokes a softness when you hear them in the air above you.
I've just realised that there must be some Corncrakes near here. I kept hearing a rasping noise at night and couldn't work out if it was inside or outside the house! The call goes straight through walls, but they're elusive birds and rarely seen (unless you have a BBC film team).
corncrakes, now thats just showing off !!! swap you for a garden warbler, and a robin that peers in the patio doors asking for mealworms ?
True the local Kookaburras are indeed pretty loud if you're close to them, and their call carries a long way.
Those corncrakes look a lot like our Buff-Banded Rail:
Oh, and I have a fairly crap video of a Bush Stone Curlew doing it's threat display here.
very strange, that last comment has my buddy icon on it...... I was confused there for a minute !! your birds are all rather noisy David , though I would like a sulphur crested cockatoo !! i will keep my robin after all !! We were back at Marwell zoo again yesterday, but I doubt if I will post any photos- well not as many as last time !! They have an African section, an Australian area etc. They tend just to keep endangered species, breeding, conservation etc. I was reading how much Australian wildlife is under threat - just like most other places really. Only man it seems is doing too well.
Bats are the most endangered species in the UK.
I am glad that you have plenty of birds, so do we , but that is because we feed them !!
hehehe not all our birds are noisy, in fact there's a very large amount that aren't. :) Alas, yes, there are heaps of endangered animals here, birds, bats, various other types. Humans aren't very good at co-existing with other species...