wildman101's Identifications

We added a small pond to the garden and the local birds love to use it as a bird bath. It is filled approximately a third of the way with rocks and has a few water plants.

The two miners took turns diving into the water, splashing water onto their back, then jumping back onto the edge where they quickly flap and wipe their wings along their body. They jumped in a few times each then flew up to the powerline above where they straightened out their feathers. Many of the times that they jumped they would twist in the air so that they were facing the place they came from when they landed in the water.

Parent birds had momentarily left the nest site (in a suburban car-park). The groundsman has surrounded the nest site with traffic cones and exclusion tape (final photo). I pass this spot regularly so will be keeping an eye on it; fingers crossed that the nervous mum will stay on the eggs long enough for successful incubation.