It’s a hot Wednesday afternoon in the village and my new employer’s car is headed for the garage. With the park just opposite I need no pursuading to tag along…our birdwatching clients of last Friday had picked up good views of Golden Oriole there and I was sure there was a slim chance of a photo or two.
With a nicely managed stream running through the park it provides an interesting little patch of habitat…within a few moments we had great views of Grey Wagtails, darting along the water and up into trees nearby. Not a particularly rare bird and certainly one I’ve seen many times back home but I never tire of seeing them. “Grey” really doesn’t do their yellow plumage justice, they’re a beautiful species and a life-long favourite of mine.
Inevitably the park has a noisy, healthy population of House Sparrows…Goldfinch added a splash of colour in the trees overhead and it was nice to see Spotted Flycatchers, watching their airspace for passing insects with animated, tail-twitching intent.
The stands of Eucalyptus trees and the deafening white noise of the cicadas gave the park an other-worldly feel…the Australian bush perhaps? Despite the formidable heat the tropical calls and screeches of Golden Orioles nearby needed further investigation, and we were soon rewarded with flashes of bright yellow and jet black as a male Golden Oriole sped past and disappeared completely into cover.
I could hear the “pruh…pruh” calls of Bee Eaters below us in the valley, a short walk downhill brought us no closer however and rather than head off in pursuit through the hottest part of the day we decided to concentrate on the Golden Orioles, now calling loudly behind us. Brief glimpses of a male were followed by the best view I’ve had to date of a female, much greener overall than the male, with a clearly streaked, off-white chest.
This particular pair were unusually noisy, agitated and highly visible…I started to wonder if they’d nested in the trees in front of us. Sure enough we quickly spotted first one and then another juvenile, obviously this year’s young and not long off the nest. Frustratingly out of range for my camera they sat perched in the sun, screeching for attention, clearly a little overwhelmed by the big wide world. The male pursuaded one to follow him on a foray into a neighbouring tree but it wasn’t long before it was all too much and it reappeared close to its sibling…not quite ready for the challenges of leaving familiar territory!
The calls of Bee Eaters somewhere behind us sounded much closer this time…suddenly a flock of maybe 20 birds swirled overhead, giving great views as they slowly drifted up the slope and out of sight. These glorious birds are back in increasing numbers around the village, returning I suspect after dispersing to nesting colonies elsewhere, a most welcome glamourous splash of colour for late summer.
Time as always rolled on and we needed to make a move…the Golden Oriole family continued to entertain until we left, giving the best views I’ve had to date of this wonderful summer visitor. Fantastic birdwatching, once again right on our doorstep…
