Red Wattlebirds are large, assertive honeyeaters that are pretty ubiquitous at my place during their breeding season. For some reason the wattlebirds in the Mallee seemed more exotic, maybe it’s the beautiful background colours…
Red Wattlebirds are the largest mainland Australian honeyeater, only the Yellow Wattlebird, from Tasmania, is larger. Both birds are named for the peculiar wattles that dangle from their faces. The texture of these wattles is quite fascinating, as are the species’ brush-tipped tongues and red eyes.
Being such a large honeyeater it’s often tricky to get a half decent photograph of the entire bird; at least this shot shows the bright yellow patch on its underparts.
It’s been a difficult week as my 15 and a half year old Golden Retriever is no longer by my side. I have been looking through photographs of her and thought I’d share a happy one with my lirralirra family.
2008-2023
It is gone midnight so please forgive the lack of photography settings and general information.
Happy birding and pet-patting, Kim
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Lovely photo of your old dog – and such a blissful smile on her face, running eagerly towards you. My darling Dalmatian died when she was 16, and when they are gone, you’ll find you keep remembering when they were young and sparky, and could run like the wind. The contrast of when they are older, and are stiff and sore, and can hardly keep up with you on a slow, gentle walk – that is hard to watch. I bet she had a wonderful life with you. I have a feeling, your local birds will miss her too. Why? you ask. Well, when I was a kid, our cousins used to have a golden retriever, and we used to laugh our heads off, watching the old dog snoozing on the lawn. As soon as they saw she was sound asleep, sparrows, magpies, blackbirds and honeyeaters used to sneak up behind her and quickly grab a beakful of her fluffy back fur, to line their nests! She’d wake up as they flew off, huffing grumpily,and nodding back to sleep again. Such a funny memory of a good old dog. I’ve heard that birds in the bush do this to snoozing koalas, too!
Hi Deirdre, what an amazingly long life your Dalmatian had… you are so right about those memories. That is a gorgeous story about the birds using the golden’s fur! There must be some very soft nest linings out there 🙂
Such a beautiful photo of Mai. Wonderful memories of your dear, sweet girl who made it to an amazing age.
I had got to the point where I felt that she’d be here forever, stupid I know…
My sympathies for the loss of your mate, Mai.
Thank you Jane, Kim
I am so sorry to read this. Our furry family wind their paws deep into our heart strings and take a piece of us with them when they leave.
Wattle birds are the first to rise here, and I frequently start my day hearing their asthmatic cough. Assertive? Aggressive. They often dive bomb us as we come out the door and have also been known to dive bomb the cats. Years back one of them crapped on the cat chittering up at it – and I don’t believe it was an accident.
Hugs.
Thanks EC. After 15 and a half years I’m still not used to being without Mai, her bowl and her bed are still in their places. Your wattlebirds sound more ‘assertive’ than mine! I’ve not seen them dive bombing anything.