We regularly spot a variety of Australian native birds on our Royal National Park tours.

The Australian Raven and New Holland Honeyeater are often seen whilst walking on the coastal track in the Royal National Park.

Australian Raven

The glossy black Australian Raven is found in many parts of Australia and is common in southwest WA and the eastern parts of Australia. If you see a bird in Sydney that you think is a crow it is much more likely to be a raven. The two birds are very similar in appearance.

Some physical differences include ravens being slightly bigger than crows and ravens have longer feathers around their neck (known as throat hackles). They also make different calls and a special feature of the Australian Raven is its distinctive call.  Between each call there is a few seconds of silence which is then followed by another call. The last note can be either the same or a longer drawn out wail: ….ah….ah….aaah or ah…ah…ah…ah - they are unmistakable!

Australian ravens have a white iris and black pupil although younger birds may appear to have a light blue eye colouring due to an inner blue ring around the iris.

A pair of ravens have based themselves at Eagle Rock in the Royal National Park and are comfortable with visitors provided you don’t get too close (four or five metres).

New Holland Honeyeater

New Holland Honeyeaters are plentiful if you take the coastal walk to either Wedding Cake Rock or Eagle Rock in the Royal National Park.

The body of this small attractive bird is a mixture of black and white with a good dash of yellow on black feathers. They will often be seen flying in small flocks.

The New Holland Honeyeater is not an easy bird to photograph - if you get anywhere near them they quickly fly away. These birds dart in and out of bushes looking for nectar, fruit and insects and can scoop up nectar in less than a second using their brush tip tongue.

The time between getting your camera from your bag into hand seems forever and most often you will miss the shot - we’ve learnt that it’s best to have it ready, slung over the shoulder as you walk.

After many visits to Wedding Cake Rock it was exciting to get a few close up photos of these birds.

Two birds in the bush are worth more than a bird in the hand!

dead eye stare

glossy black feathers

perched and proud at Curracurrong Falls

inquisitive New Holland Honeyeater

and ever watchful

yellow tailed black cockatoo on the move

Sydney Nimble Tours visits Georges Heights on our Northern Beaches, Sydney Harbour, National Park tour.

This area has spectacular harbour vistas that include the entrance to Sydney Harbour, Watsons Bay, Rosebay and Shark Island. A good view of the city of Sydney is on offer if you look south west.

The harbour aspect also provided a solid location to install defensive artillery should Sydney Harbour come under attack.

Military memorabilia in the form of gun pits, fortifications, canons and anti-aircraft guns have been well maintained and are on display at Georges Heights.

A former military hospital which was built for patients from World War I houses the anti-aircraft gun.

Close to the gun pits is the Gunner’s Barracks, a fortified sandstone building built in the 1870s. This building was constructed to accommodate artillerymen whose job was to look after the artillery and if necessary fire it.

In the course of a recent visit to Georges Heights we came across a chilled kookaburra resting on a sign near the Barracks.

Our feathered friend was most accommodating and happily posed for photographs.

The kookaburra is a member of the Kingfisher family and has one of the most unusual bird calls.

The laughing Kookaburra is not laughing at another kookaburra’s jokes! The cackle of the Kookaburra is a territorial call aimed at warning other birds to stay away.

Be gone, the insects, lizards, rodents and small snakes in this patch are mine!

The word kookaburra is yet another example of an indigenous word enriching our language and originates from the Wiradjuri word “guuguuburra”.

a delightful Australian bird

boom

loud and proud

You know you are fortunate when you drive down the street and not only are the Eucalyptus trees blooming but you also have Rainbow Lorikeets gorging themselves on the nectar loaded flowers. Rainbow Lorikeets are equipped with a hairy tongue which enables the extraction of sweet sticky nectar and pollen from native flowers.

The Rainbow Lorikeet is a species of parrot found in northern and eastern Australia and more lately in Western Australia (from 1960s) and is one of the most beautiful birds found in Australia.

The explosion of colour provided by a combination of this bird’s plumage and the bright red flower of a gum tree is extraordinary.

The trick to taking a photo is to get reasonably close to the birds without panicking a flight to safety. If successful you will be well rewarded. Both of the bird species below were photographed on the route of Sydney Nimble Tours’ Harbour, Northern Beaches and National Park day out https://www.sydneynimbletours.com.au/sydney-harbour-and-northern-beaches-tour/.

Another iconic parrot flocking around Sydney lately is the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo. These guys make a raucous screech if they are in the mood.

In the second photo even the other Sulphur-crested Cockatoos are impressed by the precision of their friend’s landing. Three screeches for all!

explosion of colour

loud proud and great landing technique

a bird banquet of sweet sticky nectar

an item? - probably Rainbow Lorikeets commonly travel in pairs