Mr MP with chicks: Hopefully the nest will hold this year.
Photo taken by Paul using our scope from the lounge room window.

Unfortunately our little chick was nowhere to be seen in the morning. I can only guess that it was taken by a cat, as it was perched in the neighbors courtyard which is fenced on all sides. I searched in the area around about and I could also see the parent Magpie-larks searching so it was pretty clear that it had become prey during the night.

First flight - second landing The little chick spent two nights in a box next to the water heater and was put out again to be fed each morning. Being a mild night last night I had decided to leave it out. At 6am the chick was looking pretty spritely with parents in attendance. At around 7am I could hear both the parents making alarm calls. I went out to check and the little Magpie-lark was no where to be seen on the balcony. After searching around a bit we found the chick perched on a fallen branch on the ground three floors below, it appears to have taken it's first flight as it looked quite steady and comfortable sitting on the branch. It's flight feathers look quite short so I doubt that it will be strong enough to fly back up for a while. It's sheltered where it has landed so I am hoping it will be safe for the day or two that it will take to fully fledge.

While I was watching the chick a galah came to the balcony

Our resident Magpie-larks built a new nest this year in late August in a tree about 30 metres away from the nest they built last year and successfully reared two chicks. The chicks barely had time to mature when they were ousted from the territory to fend for themselves and the Magpie-lark pair began building a new nest in exactly the same spot on the same branch as the nest disaster which occurred last summer. We watched as they built hoping for the best this year.

The nest building went very well as there was plenty of rain this year and they were able to complete a solid looking nest within three days. Within a week the eggs were laid and nesting began. The eggs hatched successfully and a couple of weeks later we could see three tiny heads reaching out of the nest to be fed by their parents. The chicks were growing well and it looked as if they would all successfully fledge this year.

It rained heavily on New Years Eve and again the following day. I kept an eye on the nest hoping it would hold up, unfortunately strong winds yesterday afternoon along with the previous days rain must have destabilised the base of the nest. In the afternoon we looked up in horror as the nest began slipping sideways on the branch it was attached to. I hastily cut open a small box and stuffed it with rags and some cotton wool preparing to rescue the little ones as they fell. The poor little chicks clung on but eventually the nest turned completely and one by one they fell. Two of the little things died almost instantly but the other looked intact and alive, I quickly popped him into the makeshift 'nest' in which he immediately snuggled down into. I placed the 'nest' on our balcony (not too far from the nest tree) hoping that the Magpie-larks would work out this was their chick and start feeding it.

Fallen Nest

At first the parents hovered around the real nest and continued to bring food to it, pecking around it trying to work out where the chicks were. The remaining chick lay silently in the balcony 'nest', I was afraid it was too weak to call to its parents. Within an hour the female, who often visits the balcony, had discovered the chick and was looking and calling at it from the railing, but too confused or too scared to tend to it. Meanwhile the male was still pecking around the nest trying to work it all out.

I thought perhaps the female Magpie-Lark did not recognise the box as a nest so I located a small asian style bowl in the kitchen, almost the same shape and size as the real nest, lined it with some old woolen socks and cotton wool and moved the chick into it. I waited with baited breath hoping the mother would begin feeding it. Finally the chick was heard calling and I could see the mother was was approaching the nest but not wanting to disturb them I kept away and could not see if the chick was being fed.

Chick safe in new nest

It was beginning to get dark but finally the male had worked out where its chick was and both Magpie-Larks were attending the balcony. Darkness fell and the little chick was left on its own in the cold. The forecast was for rain and as there was no parent to shelter the chick I decided it would be best to take it inside. On picking up the 'nest' the chick was very still and appeared cold, I was afraid it had already died from the cold but noticed that it's little head was firmly tucked under its wing. Thinking this was a sign of life I placed the 'nest' inside an open box and put it inside a pillow slip and put this in a dark place near to the hot water heater for the night. Afraid the Magpie-larks would abandon the chick if they did not find it first thing in the morning I set my alarm for 5.30am (dawn) to bring the little one outside again.

I awoke at 5.30, it was cold and dark and I could not hear any signs of Magpie-Larks outside. I lay in bed until at around 6am until I heard the Magpie-Larks first calling. Fearing the chick had died during the night I took the 'nest' from the box and noticed some eye movement, the chick had also managed to defecate over the edge of the 'nest' and there were some waxy sheaths broken of the feathers as the chick had been preening, all signs of healthy life. I put the nest back on the balcony and climbed back into bed. Within half an hour I heard the Magpie-larks calling from the balcony, then I could also hear the chick begging and the sounds of it being fed. Happy with this I went back to sleep. During the day the chick has been seen preening and the parents spend their time feeding or either standing guard or sitting in a tree nearby so all looks good that the chick will fledge and grow up. We are hoping this won't take too long as at the moment the balcony is out of bounds for us.

Wild Sea Little Penguins
We went to the Melbourne Zoo today to see the new 'Wild Sea' exhibit. The exhibit includes sand dunes, a variety of sea creatures, including seahorses, and a deep wave pool for the seals, but for me the most exciting exhibit was the Little Penguins. The new penguin exhibit includes a long and a deep pool with varying water currents which the penguins enjoyed as they flippered their way from one end of the pool to the other. It was fantastic to get face to face with the curious and friendly birds as they swam right up to us, they appeared to be having as much fun checking us out as we were watching them. The penguins were vocalizing excitedly with short yapping noises, a sound I hadn't heard them make before. I was amazed at the sea green colour of their feathers which lay flat and scale like, streamlining their bodies as they zipped through the water. The exhibit also has sand dunes with tunnels leading into 'burrows' in which the penguins will lay eggs during the breading season, it will be interesting to see what this brings.
Penguin faceFlipper
Full flipperSea green penguin