While out walking this afternoon I saw amongst many other birds a topknot pigeon.  I know they are not rare but this was a first for me so quite excited.

The pic below is not mine but will give you an idea of what they look like

Cheers


Derek  [smiley=chef.gif]

http://www.lamingtonnationalpark.net.au/images/bird/topknotlarge.JPG

A "twitcher" in the making maybe!  ;D

The Silvereyes are coming at you......
http://i84.photobucket.com/albums/k8/OzJeeper/silvereye2.jpg

Been a twitcher since I was 8 or 9 years old. (Most likely before the word was invented) Rarely go anywhere without a pair of bins and my copy of Simpson & Day. :)

Another reason why I like the Australian bush.

Have you read Sean Dooley's The Big Twitch

That would have been interesting to see. I haven't even seen one.

Jeff

Derek wrote on Aug 1^st, 2012 at 8:44pm:

While out walking this afternoon I saw amongst many other birds a topknot pigeon.  I know they are not rare but this was a first for me so quite excited. The pic below is not mine but will give you an idea of what they look like Cheers Derek  [smiley=chef.gif] http://www.lamingtonnationalpark.net.au/images/bird/topknotlarge.JPG

Not what I would call a topknot pigeon from southern NSW. Maybe I should look up a bird book and find the correct name.

Now I'm confused too (not hard to do), I live near Wollongong and what we call Topknot Pigeons are very different again.

pd

As a kid growing up this is what we knew as a topknot pigeon. It was only when in my teens that I found out.

http://www.fauna.com.au/web_pages/animals/birds/crested_pigeon.html

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d9/Pigeon-Crested.jpg/250px-Pigeon-Crested.jpg

However, this is the real topknot

http://www.lamingtonnationalpark.net.au/Documents/Birds/topknotpigeon.htm

http://www.lamingtonnationalpark.net.au/images/bird/topknotlarge.JPG

we have always known the grey one as a crested dove

Most of my twitching is done in bed at night [trying to get a dodgy achilles tendon comfortable]  :D

I accidentally did some during daylight hours last spring.    I have a large block opposite my house which is a favourite with many birds I don't know the names of.

I got a bit excited last year when I spotted a Forest Red-tail Black Cockatoo and watched him for a number of hours before the crows drove him away.   Very similar to this young man...
[http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Redtailed.black.03.jpg]

Contos campground is a great place to see the brightest blue Slendid Fairywrens.  They wouldn't stop moving (chasing breakfast at 6am) so all my photos were blurry beyond recognition.  This gives a good idea of the colours...   [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Splendid_Fairy-wren_male.jpg] 

We should start seeing quite a lot of birdlife in about 5 weeks or so once wildflower season kicks off down this end of the state.  I'll keep you in mind (and camera handy) in case I spot anything out of the ordinary  :)