What invaders visit your garden?

I learnt my lesson when I posted about a wombat Ozzie. Never again. :)
Dave.

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Not sure if you received my reply,

I has been removed by the mod team

You need to be smarter than that :-)

We have got Tojo parrots, Nissan Frogs, and mitsubishi, pigeons in our garden !, all doing well.




Cheers Axle

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Wow, that’s fantastic and it would be so special to see that.

Did you make your own nesting box?

Mum and Dad having breakfast

That’s so beautiful

also just thought of invaders in your garden, have a look at Minton Farm's Facebook page. Wiil admit to being involved as a volunteer. Simply heartbreaking.
that's two moderations, no 4W driving, camping, etc mentions. I'm probably going to be exorcised forever. oh bugger, that religion i've just mentioned, Three moderations
b1b1

Thanks for the support b1b, but unfortunately I don’t think I am going to post anymore, it’s getting beyond a joke.

Exploring Australia is about experiencing all aspects of Australia, and I thought Australian possums, native birds are all part of our great nation and part of our freedom to get out and about and post our personal experiences.

From what it now looks like, the site is being controlled by China and you can not speak freely.

All the best

Stephen

Dear Mod Squad - you have received a suggestion that discussion of native flora and fauna be included as "on-topic". Well good on you, this used to be an informative chat room of just about anything involving the great Australian Outback and not so remote areas. And also the great Australian dream of investigating and sharing the posters adventures,
Let's see what develops, eh ?
b1b

What a special relationship you must have with them George, that is so special.

I'd swear that was Ricky Ponting enjoying the company of some jackasses George.

We have 2 possums that visit our place and I have been able to hand feed it a couple of times

Girl or boy Ozzie? Looks like the former. Certainly well-fed. Have had ongoing "relationships" (friendly) with a few generations of these critters. They're quite friendly when you get to know them.

A while back one got evicted from the box I made her by a swarm of bees - which proceeded to then fill the box with honeycomb over the next few days. Amazingly quick home builders "our" honey bees. Eventually an apiarist (#2) arrived to take the whole lot away. About 2 years earlier we had a swarm hanging off a large bush in the backyard and had another bee bloke box them up for one of his hives. After I told apiarist (#2) that story he said they'd probably be back next year and sure enough some scouts (maybe 40 or 50 ) turned up and tried to occupy the new possum box. I just happened to hear a lot of bashing about in the box and saw what was happening so put a misty spray on them. Took a while but they eventually gave up and we haven't seen any since. Possum wasn't pleased and abandoned the box for a few days.

Here's one for Stephen. Last night I heard a noise like a possum feeding in the bottle brush tree at front so went to investigate. Something had been chopping off the flowers - including, sadly for the wattle birds, semi-opened ones - and leaving a mess on the driveway. I'd blamed mischievous parrots as possums tend to lick the flowers not chew them off (as much). Anyway, found nothing so wandered around the back where we have two more thick bottlebrush trees and as I waved the torch about I heard this whoomp whoomp whoomp and saw a large bat wing disappearing into the night. Seems we're a feed station for a lone (thank heavens) flying fox. He/she was back tonight - as were 3 possums chasing each other along the back fence. It's all go in the burbs.

We have mum and baby brush tail possum that live in the garage. At night, the pair come inside through the cat flap, go up stairs to the kitchen and take an apple out of the basket on the floor to eat. When they are full they then return through the cat flap and do their own thing. This is almost a nightly activity, and the dog and cat do not worry about them, and treat them as part of the family. We also have a ring tailed possum that lives just outside the bedroom window, and it comes down and eats the cat biscuits on the bedroom verandah.

Bazooka

That sounds great great and to have your new Flying Fox visitor is very special indeed.

Garry

Having your extra mini family sounds very special and good to hear they enjoy their safe home.

Keep safe

Seems I owe the flying fox(es) mentioned in my post above an apology. Two nights in a row one visited the front yard bottlebrush, last night three of its mates joined the party, and yet there was very little damage the next morning. This afternoon I came home and found two sulphur-crested white cockies in the tree and a whole mess of newly-clipped flowers on the drive. Prima facie I found them guilty of wanton damage and their sentence was immediate, if temporary, banishment. One of them showed his scorn by alighting on a neighbour's bb bush over the road!

Isn't the Coel also what we call a Storm Bird ? Their arrival must coincide with the summer storm season.

We plant native shrubs and have enjoyed the visiting native birds for many years.

Cheers
Jim

Sounds very special Erad and enjoy your new friend, as you never know when it might go

Yes a Koel is also called a Storm Bird. A shy green bird like a baby crying could be a Catbird.
Graham.

No, this is nothing like a crying baby. it is a clear whistle, like a 10 year old kid. Right now, 8:15 pm and it is dark, it is just ramping up for its nightly crescendo, having been 'quietly' whistling away all day. Everyone around here complains about it. We have never seen it - WE ONLY HEAR IT! And then, during the day, the crows caw on and off thoughout the day. Their cawing really grates after a while. Gee - I am grumpy these days....

As I said earlier, We shouldn't complain because we have such a magnificent assortment of birds and other wildlife, and we really appreciate them. We live below a nature reserve and when there is bad weather, all the birds come down into our garden for shelter and some nectar from our native bushes. It is beautiful to share with them. JUST GET THAT DAMNED COEL OUT OF HERE......

The house next door used to have a tree which was twice as high as our roof, and over shadowing it as well. There was a family of possums which used to take great delight in playing in the tree a night, about once a week falling from the tree onto our roof. BANG at 2:30 am. Luckily, the tree was removed. I don't know where the possums went, but we still have the males fighting each other in our front yard at night. I love this country and our locality in particular. Not the coel though....

I've always liked the call of the storm birds it can go on well into the night but still enjoy it they only visit once a year

How very special Gazz.

It reminds my of a clip years ago when the late Malcolm Douglas when Blue Tongue lizards walked into his camp. He picked it up and it gladly ate some fruit salad that Malcolm was eating.

G'day Stephen

I've got a few acres outside of Murray Bridge and have about a dozen sleepy's that wander around the house. I have been leaving old fruit for them since I moved here and now the older ones know that I won't harm them and they can get a feed they often wait at the glass sliding door for food. There are about six of them that will eat from my hands but the younger ones are still very cautious and only eat what is on the ground.

Bring out the soft juicy strawberries on a very hot day and the older ones will walk up my hand to get to them. I even had a couple of them on their hind legs waving their front legs in the air for more. The cheeky buggers often get into my veggie garden and eat the cherry tomatoes that fall to the ground or grab the low lying ones.

Also have three sand goannas living along my drive - dad is about 1100mm long - mum is about 900mm and junior is now about 600mm. Have also seen a couple bearded dragons running around here.

The missus isn't overly keen on the goannas but they just run away when you get too close.


Cheers

Gazz

Wow, you are so lucky. What a joy to be able to live with these guys and get so close. Are they Shinglebacks? They are just beautiful...

Depending on what part of this big brown land you live - they can be called Shinglebacks, Stumpy-tailed or here in SA we call them sleepy lizards.

I'm not into lizards but just happy to have them on my property as they are harmless.

Cheers

Gazz

More great visitors, but you can keep the bees...thank you.....lol

Did you know that bees kill more Australians each year than any other animal attack, including, sharks, snakes, box jellyfish and other Australian wildlife.


Cheers and Stay Safe

The bees mug my house each October long weekend - they get into the wall cavity but after a day or so they move on. A bee guy said that at one stage they must have had a hive in the walls and when they become active after winter each year when a new queen is looking to set up house the drones can smell the old honey and come to check it out.

Any way this year after checking the house out they, they descended on that bottle brush in the backyard - spotted them while mowing the lawn and I can tell you bees do not like lawnmowers.

They stayed for two days and then literally in 10 secs the whole lot took to the air and took off - I think they went next door and set up a hive in a wine barrel that the neighbour uses as a table on his veranda for "vertical drinking" - that is SA police commissioner talk for standing up while having a beers. I spotted the neighbour last week getting all agitated with something in the hole in the side of the barrel so I assumed he was having a barney with the bees in his barrel.

Don't knock our bees - as they say no bees no food, as we rely on them to pollinate our fruit and veg. Judy and I are also hobby apiarist's with 13 hive's in our backyard. That's a lovely small swarm that Judy loves collecting. Yes we get stung a few times, but in the long run it's all worth it. Last year we only took half the honey, and left the other half for the bees. I didn't feel like hand feeding bees over winter, and we still managed to get 52kg. It enough to keep the family and friends supplied for a while

That is so cute and very special.

You are indeed very lucky to have them at your place

Great set of photos Genny

Hi Micheal, what do you mean by the difference between cocky's, ie types of cocky, or sex of such. We have many types of cocky's here at home eg, Sulphur Crested, Yellowtailed Black, Gang Gangs, Galah's and Corrella's that come and go pending the time of season. A good example is the Yellow tailed Black cocky that comes in early November for about 2 weeks, then again at the end of February for about the same time. The love stripping the Hakea's around the property.Could you please enlighten me about the difference. You can tell the difference between male and female mainly by the colour of their eyes. The males have a very dark to black eye compared to a brownish, reddish colour for the female

Most people I know assume a sulphur crested cockatoo if you just say cocky. It's too complex for most cockys to mimic if you say scratch sulphur crested cocky to most birds I've met.

G'day,
Rainbow Bee Eaters are very special birds.
We seek them out to photograph when they nest in the bushland near home.
We have many different birds that visit & live on our remote conservation property. We have many nest boxes & old hollow trees that are used by lots of different birds & mammals.
Dumped feral cats are a huge problem & we have purchased our own cat traps as part of our management plan.
Due to its remoteness the solution for the captured moggies is "Deep hydro therapy".

Cheers
Stu

I once watched enthralled as a family of ducklings came tumbling down from their nesting tree onto the golf course, and were then led straight to the nearby water by mum and dad. Not sure if he parents booted them or if they just jumped.
Little fluffy balls just landed with a light bounce and off they went.

Cheers
Jim

Further to the duck/duckling theme, Jim,

I used to work in the control tower at Bankstown, which overlooked not only the airfield, but the golf course behind which had a dam just inside the boundary fence, across the road from the tower.

One day during a lull in traffic I watched a family of ducks being harassed by a rather fat Labrador being exercised in the golf course.

One parent kept watch over the brood, the other pretended a broken wing and enticed the dog to chase it. Of course, it kept ahead and, maintaining its act, went into the dam where it continued to flap about in the water.

The dog went in, as I supppose a Labrador would, but could not keep up and started going under. Owner had to leap in to save it and when that was done, broken-wing went back to the brood and continued doing what duck do.

They're clever, those ducks - cleverer it seems than man's best friend, and perhaps it's owner. At least on this occasion.

Good looking king parrot there Kenell, the males have that dominating yellow on their wings.


How times change, years and years ago our family used to make a living out of vegetable growing and during the winter months when the peas where on the king parrots were our biggest enemy. , flocks of thirty or forty could destroy a crop within days, so managing the situation with a rifle was the most effective way
of control. Would be hard to bring myself to do it now!.

Cheers Axle.

On the ducks and dog theme;-
We had a dam on our property that ducks would breed on so one day l went up there to find mother duck with 4 chicks swimming about. I had our mini foxy dog with me and he spotted the ducks and jumped in and proceeded to swim about chasing them. The mother flew off, which l thought was odd, but it turned out she had confidence in her little ducklings. They where too young to fly but they paddled around furiously with dog dog paddling behind them. They then all split up and the dog picked one and paddled after that one. He was gaining on it and just when he was about to get it, and l was thinking the poor duck, it dived underwater! The dog was totally confused with head going every which way looking for it
It spotted another duckling and paddled for that only for the exact same thing to happen again! This went on for 15mins and l called my kids up to watch the show. We eventually had to call the dog out of the water, which it did, and proceded to pant and fall asleep in exortion. No duckling was hurt and the dog learnt a lesson. Its one of my and my kids favourite memories of our time at that place!

That looks so cute