The dawn chorus was surprisingly loud —
loud enough to wake me from a deep sleep.
The chirps, whistles and hoots of dozens of
unseen Budgies, Cockatiels and Zebra Finches
combined to make me wonder whether I had
woken up inside a pet shop rather than beside
an outback waterhole.
Before long, a hundred other birds had
joined in. From the warmth of my sleeping
bag I recognised the sweet melodies of a
Brown Honeyeater, a piping duet by some
Pied Butcherbirds and some chirruping
woodswallows, but much of the rich birdsong
outside my tent was unfamiliar to me. And
I knew that plenty of other birds would be
gathering silently at the waterhole in the pre-
dawn blush for an early-morning drink to get
their day under way. Punctuating the birds’
symphony was the harsh screech of a Barn
Owl, probably just going to bed, to signify that
the night shift was officially over.
Fast forward a couple of months. I was walking
to work — a daily trudge along Elizabeth
Street, amid the clatter of trams and the
rumble of traffic in the early morning rush hour
— when above the din I heard the calls of an
angry Little Raven. When I looked up, I saw a
raven flying past, hot on the tail of a Barn Owl
— in broad daylight! Flying down the middle
of the street, just above the trams’ powerlines,
the raven flapped frantically, contrasting with
the buoyant flight of the crisp, white owl as it
floated by. All this virtually in my ‘back yard’!
AUSTRALIAText by John Peter
Images by Andrew SilcocksFor more info head to aussiebirdcount.org.au or download the Bird Count app.
Perhaps the owl had been slumbering among
the rafters of the nearby Queen Victoria
Market when it was discovered by the raven,
scavenging for some early-morning scraps. It
was a wonderful sighting but no one else in
the busy street even noticed the owl fly past.This chance sighting made me realise that it
doesn’t matter where your ‘back yard’ is —
whether it’s a waterhole in the Red Centre or
a bustling city street — if you’re somewhere in
Australia, you can be sure that you’ll see birds
wherever you look.
However, Barn Owls aren’t your typical
backyard bird — you’re far more likely to
see a Rainbow Lorikeet, Noisy Miner or
Australian Magpie. I know this because last
year I took part in BirdLife Australia’s Aussie
Backyard Bird Count. All I had to do was
spend 20 minutes counting the birds I saw
in and around my back yard. I didn’t see any
more Barn Owls, but there were plenty of
other interesting native species added to my
backyard bird list.The good news is that the Aussie Backyard
Bird Count is on again in 2015, between
19–25 October, and BirdLife Australia is keen
to hear from anyone who is interested in the
birds that venture into their back yards. It’s
easy and it’s fun, but there’s a more serious
side too — the results will help BirdLife
Australia understand the everyday birds which
live in proximity to people.AUSTRALIAADVERTISING PROMOTION