Widow Wonga is a bird very close to my heart….and is loved just as much by my husband Rob. She and her partner have been living and rearing chicks in our Blackheath garden over a very long period, sometimes producing several sets of twins a year. I
Read more →I have to confess that I am a bit obsessed with our native Wonga pigeons. They are so gentle and engaging. They wander around the garden paths in my Blue Mountains garden every day, just as I do myself. Our long term, resident pair nest high in
Read more →The resident Wonga pigeons in our Blackheath garden have just completed their fifth hatching in this extraordinary year of 2020. The couple have been with us for a number of years, but had only ever had a single, spring hatching ……until now. We wondered if they sensed
Read more →There was initially some reluctance on the part of our Wonga twins to attend nursery school in the garden. That nest high in the conifer was so snug and secure. The pair hatched in August and by mid September one parent was offering encouragement from an adjacent
Read more →It’s such a privilege to be involved in the life of baby birds. A pair of native Wonga pigeons have been providing my husband Rob and I with this delightful opportunity over a number of years. They live in our Blue Mountains garden, and are as much
Read more →Deciding to produce chicks in mid winter was never going to be a good idea. However, our resident Wonga pair would not be dissuaded. We invariably get snow here in the upper Blue Mountains and sure enough, down it came in mid August. The eggs had only
Read more →AUGUST 2020 AND THE WONGAS ARE STILL IN BREEDING OVERDRIVE. I BLAME COVID-19; THEY MUST FEEL THE NEED TO INCREASE THEIR NUMBERS IN CASE OF CROSS-SPECIES INFECTION. After producing two single chicks over a Blue Mountains winter (yes, I did tell them it wasn’t the right season)
Read more →The native Wonga pigeons here at The Gums in Blackheath have already produced two chicks over winter. The third nesting failed due to that three day rain event in July, but they are discussing whether to try again. Unbelievable! Amid all the Covid-19 angst we humans are
Read more →In this extraordinary year of 2020, our resident Wonga couple have been producing chicks throughout winter. Remember Peter Costello’s quote on offspring, ‘One for Mum, one for Dad and one for the country?‘ Well, they have truly taken this to heart. There have been two single ones,
Read more →June the Wonga chick was hatched completely out of season, here in Blackheath in the Blue Mountains. It hasn’t been easy for the dear little one, with rain, sleet and heavy frosts to contend with. I call June ‘her‘ even though I don’t really know if that’s
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