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The complete CRN edition of RWG is available on http://www.cpod.org.au/ , just click on 2RRR to find this week’s edition. The new theme is sung by Harry Hughes from his album Songs of the Garden. You can hear samples of the album from the website www.songsofthegarden.com

Wildlife in Focus

with ecologist Sue Stevens

Last week, sue gave us some great tips for bird watching. Getting a bit more out of it than the occasional glimpse, then wondering what it was that you saw.
Did you ever see a bird when you were small that doesn't appear in your garden these days?
Perhaps it visited your Camellia Bushes, fuchsias and other exotic plants because it was mainly a nectar feeder. Today’s bird is found over much of mainland Australia, and was once known as a "Greenie."
Listen to this.

If you see an olive bird with yellow cheeks and a white neck plume and a curved black bill, then it’s probably the White Plumed Honeyeater.
If you’re able to take a photo you might see that it’s throat, breast and underparts are all grey.
The juvenile white plumed honeyeater has orange base of bill and is paler-looking with no plume. 
Not all of these honey-eaters are alike when it comes to their spread across Australia.
 The one found in Western Australia has a fawn back with bright yellow face and underparts,
another one in western Queensland, the Northern Territory and South Australia is paler overall

What all these slightly different birds like is an open forest or woodland, especially near the plants along a stream and along inland watercourses.
This probably explains why you don't see it so much in dense urban centres.
The white Plumed Honeyeater’s favourite tree is the River Red gum. Not just for the nectar but for the insects as well.
If you have any questions about a bird you want identified, why not drop us a line. Or send in a photo to realworldgardener@gmail.com or by post to 2RRR P.O. Box 644 Gladesville NSW 1675, and I’ll send you a copy of the Garden Guardians in return..