המועדפים של kitemongoose

Adult female and her two very young fledglings only a couple of days old. These chicks might be ready for fall migration. Those that aren't able to make the fall flight are often able to over winter here.

This was a fascinating observation. The Pied Starlings heard the European Starling babies begging in the nest. The social imperative in the Pieds is so strong, that they started bringing food for the Euros.

Pied Starlings have such incredibly close clan bonds, and it's so sweet to see how they look after each other and never fight about food. All members of the clan feed the children (parents can have up to 7 helpers), but I didn't realise that the begging calls of another species could set off their clan instincts like this!

I don't recall if I saw the Pieds actually feed the Euro babies, but they did keep bringing food and sitting next to the nest.

The scrubwren that lives at the caravan park in Port Campbell is the most confident and bold small bird I have ever seen. As soon as we pulled up and got our chairs out the scrubwren came bounding over to check out our camp.

It hung around our feet and under the table at first. After it returned a few more times it jumped straight up onto the table to come and taste the biscuits we had. It grabbed a few crumbs then flew off to a nearby shrub.

Another scrubwren sometimes joined it but it would only come as close as to sit under the camper or under our table. Superb fairywrens, house sparrows, and a European blackbird were also at the site fairly constantly.

When we went into the camper to make another coffee the scrubwren invited itself inside after only a few moments of the door being open. It hopped around on the floor for a few moments before it turned around and let itself back out.

A spectacularly chromatic pair was zipping in and out of its nest bringing food of various sizes for the chicks (about every 20 minutes) -from large ones (lizards and amphibians) to small ones (bugs and insects) indicating that the chicks were of different size. Very dedicated and hardworking parents. With Spider prey

The parent Peregrine that brought in what appeared to be a rodent for its first year juvenile (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/213496582 ). I took this photo after they made the food delivery. The parent dropped off the food, the juvenile left, and then the parent flew a circle around our boat, and then flew off to the south and out of sight.

📌 Okay, I'll agree to pose for a portrait
🗨️ In the summer, blue tits raise their chicks. The parents tirelessly bring them worms, spiders, and other delicacies. Therefore, they look bristly, lively, and tired all at once. Sometimes, they agree to sit on a branch near the nest for a few seconds, only to fly off again in search of prey for the chicks chirping 5 meters away from this branch.

Day 2 of the unveiling was devoted to trying to teach the fledglings to feed themselves. Mom would still feed them some, but would also withhold it for herself or take it to the other two fledglings that hadn't been coaxed to the dried mealworm tray yet. One of the two in this series did eventually pick up a few for itself. What I usually see happen is the parents start teaching them with the easily accessible food, such as dried mealworms and suet, and then move on to how to hunt for live food on the ground and in the trees.