• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

JadeCraven.Org

My Nature Blog

  • About
  • Trip Reports
  • Life List

The Baby Mudlarks Have Left The Nest!

November 19, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

On Monday, I was at Balyang. I sat down at the mating tree and looked over at the nest where the mudlarks liked to hang out.

They were gone.

It was a bit of a surprise. They were there the day before, but I decided not to photograph them and look for bugs with Sethy instead.

I felt a bit sad. I’d been watching them for weeks. I know it’s silly to bond with chicks, especially considering not all of them will survive. But I’d watched those parents working their butt off for weeks. I wanted a happy ending.

I heard the chicks calling. I looked a bit higher. It turns out the babies had left the nest and were sitting one branch up!

IMG_1193

IMG_1192

IMG_1180

IMG_0387

On Tuesday, I went down with the goal of getting more photos. I only had a one hour trip the day before, as I’d spent the bulk of the day at Buckley Falls with Sethy. I looked at the branch above the nest.

They weren’t there!

Again, I heard the chicks squawking. I looked up. They had made their first flight across the water and were high up in a tree near one of the seats. 🙂 It was pretty awesome to see. The parents are still feeding them and they are very much hanging out in a group. You can also clearly see the chest markings. I’ll be looking into them later to see if they are indicative of anything.

IMG_1409

IMG_1777

IMG_1400

IMG_1397

IMG_1395

IMG_1775

I was walking home when I saw a mudlark flying into a tree. Normally, I wouldn’t care. But this tree is very well defending but a protective willy wagtail.

It turns out another mudlark couple are at the start of their family journey. And the cycle continues 🙂

IMG_2037

Filed Under: Barwon River, Geelong Tagged With: balyang, mudlark

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • Marengo Beach at Night
  • Purple-crowned Lorikeets At Apollo Bay
  • Musk Lorikeets in Apollo Bay
  • Two Varients of Botryllus Schlosseri in Apollo Bay Harbour
  • Mounts Bay: January 2023

Categories

  • Apollo Bay
  • Barwon River, Geelong
  • Bellarine Peninsula
  • Big Things
  • Brisbane Ranges
  • Chiltern
  • Eastern Beach
  • Geelong And Surrounds
  • Gold Coast
  • Goldfields
  • Great Ocean Road
  • Melbourne
  • My Backyard
  • Other
  • Otways
  • Port Phillip Bay
  • Shipwreck Coast
  • Surf Coast
  • Tasmania
  • The Property
  • Toolangi
  • Uncategorized
  • West Melbourne

Copyright © 2023 · Parallax Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in