Waders

The following is a video taken of some of the waders to be found at one of the sites we count for the Qld. Wader Study Group. As the numbers appeared to be on the decline of late, we decided to conduct a count by kayak instead of our usual approach to this site overland.

Our fears of a decline were alleviated, as the numbers on this day as on an earlier occasion using this approach corresponded well with past figures for this site on our data base.
In particular, small wader species were much more obvious. As you can see in the video there is a lot of water and land to cover and plenty of hiding places with in addition some very fast flying to contend with!

Outing to Tin Can & Rainbow

Last Tuesday we were up a 4am for a half hour drive to Tin Can Bay to count waders. After meeting up with a friend we launched our kayaks and set out for a relaxing paddle through the mangroves to their roosting sites.

Tin Can Bay

It was that early even this Seagull could not help yawning

Fish were easy to see in the crystal clear water of Tin Can Bay

After the count, we drove on to Rainbow Beach, so named because of the Rainbow Coloured Sand Cliffs, then up the beach to Double Island.

Coloured Sands of Rainbow Beach

Gentle waves on Rainbow Beach

We crossed the peninsula then travelled back along the Freshwater Track which is about 13km long.It normally takes about 1hr to travel this rough 4wd track, but it took us a lot longer as our son had to remove the scrape plate off his 4wd as it had been damaged and come loose part way through the track.

We stopped off to take a short walk to Freshwater Lake, indicated as "currently dry"

Along the way we came across some Scribbly Gums.

If we only knew we could have taken a shorter walk instead of the 1.3km.

Some people if they saw a sign saying lake "currently dry" would not walk in to see it.

Freshwater Lake has been dry for many years, and though not full, it was good to see some water in it.

Lunch was at Bymien Picnic Area where the Christmas Orchids were in full flower, then on to the Great Sandy National Park to look for Ground Parrots and wait until dusk for them to call. As we were driving down one of the tracks a Ground Parrot flew up, and later as we were walking another flew across. Their calls were not as numerous as we remembered in years past, with an estimate of only six calling on this occasion. It was nice to know they are still there after all this time.

The sand is always white at Teewah Creek, contrasting with the tanin coloured water. A nice spot to end a long day out. Thanks to family and friends for sharing the day with us.

Merry Christmas

I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Christmas Orchid Seed Pod. November 2008

Christmas Orchid. November 2008

Christmas Orchid. December 2008

Red Christmas Bell. 2007

Yellow Christmas Bell. 2007
Not many Christmas Bells out this year, Last year there were lots of them out everywhere.

Bird Count

Here is our bird list for the Solstice Bird Count.

Australian White Ibis, Spotted Turtle-Dove, Crested Pigeon, Little Corella, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Rainbow Lorikeet, White-throated Needletail, Laughing Kookaburra, Noisy Friarbird, Little Friarbird, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Noisy Miner, Magpie-lark, Pied Butcherbird, Australian Magpie, Pied Currawong,Torresian Crow, House Sparrow and Double-barred Finch.
Not a lot of birds due to the heavy overcast, cool and sometimes raining conditions.

Australian White Ibis

Torresian Crow

Unexpected Visitor

This turtle was found in our next door neighbours' yard and is very lucky to be alive, as he had been driving in and out a couple of times, and then mowing his lawn. He nearly hit it with the mower, and asked if we had lost a pet! We said no so we wet it as it was very dry.

Spiders

These Trapdoor tunnels were found in a Rainforest around about 1999 we do not know what type of spider uses them as none were found in the tunnels at the time.

The lid is very unusual

This Jumping Spider was hard to take a photo of because it kept jumping on the camera

This Huntsman likes my washing basket.

The Saint Andrew's Cross Spider has taken up residence on the roof of the veranda.

This Red-backed Spider was near my curtain when I went to open it the other day.

Sounds of the Bush

I would like to share with you some of the sounds of our bushland that we have been lucky enough to visit. Bell Miners may be heard throughout the background of these clips, with the following birds featuring in order- White-winged Triller, Pied Currawong, Eastern Spinebill, White-throated Treecreeper and Rufous Whistler.

Rainforest Walk

The Rainforest at Bymien had a good number of Kauri Pine growing in it as was evident by the number of fallen seed pods. It's not a good idea to sit or park a car under one as the pods were falling the whole time we were having lunch.

Kauri Pine

Kauri Pine Seed Pods

Some interesting fungi on a fallen tree trunk

Some birds are very clever at nest building

This little skink kept an eye on us as we went past his hiding place.

Not sure if anyone was home and did not hang around long enough to find out.

Nice Day At The Beach

How one day can be so different to the next!
Clear sky and a sea breeze Saturday, Sunday heavy overcast though no rain with a strong wind.

Great out on the water.

Saturday we went down to the coast for the day and with time to spare took a walk along the beach to a nearby spit.
I said "there is nothing out here to look at", but not so.

Pincushion Island

As we were going to turn around we saw a small flock of little birds on the sand in front of us and on closer inspection identified some Red-capped Plovers.

Some other birds we saw during our walk were Pelican

Blue-faced Honeyeater

Australian White Ibis

Sunday we carried out our monthly Wader Count.
Thanks to the heavy overcast, conditions on the tidal flats were not too bad really.
It could have been worse, (hot, humid and raining).
Not a bad count, 23 species with a total of 824 birds over 4 sites.
On our way home we saw a Koala beside the road, very unusual at 3 o'clock in the afternoon.

Camping Part 2

This time I would like to share with you some more from our camping weekend. We were lucky enough to see and hear a Noisy Pitta behind our tent, plus Crested Shrike-Tits, a pair of Paradise Riflebirds, and a Wompoo Fruit-Dove. Scarlet Honeyeaters were everywhere. A Wonga Pigeon and Satin Bowerbird were also calling in the area, just to name a few of the 60 plus species seen or heard over the weekend.

The walk along the creek was very interesting with many crossings and places to sit and watch the birds coming to drink. At one of these spots we saw a snake in the creek, though it was too far away to id. We counted five Eastern Yellow Robins at this spot as well. Dewfish ( Tandanus tandanus) (Eel-tailed Catfish) could be seen tending their nest as we walked along the creek.

Five King Parrots came into feed in the late afternoon not too far from where we were camped.
The hardest part of the camp was packing up and leaving this place, as it was so peaceful with lots of wildlife, some just dropping in as was the case of the Spangled Drongos. They were so intent on fighting each other that they landed at my feet before realising someone was there, before flying up into the trees to continue their squabble.

Some of the creek banks looked like prime Platypus Habitat, we did not see any while we were there.

King Parrot (Male)







Clear Running Water













Wompoo Fruit-Dove












New Life











Natural Colours

Camping Part 1

Was lucky enough last weekend to go camping at Kenilworth. We were planning to camp at Booloumba Creek but were unable to because the creek was up and we were only in a two wheel drive. So we changed our plans and went to Charlie Moreland camping area instead, which was close by.

Charlie Moreland Camping Area

Australian Brush-Turkey
Camping Area local.

Little Yabba Creek
Only a short walk from camp site.

Lace monitor
Another visitor to our camp site.

Little Yabba Creek

Spangled Drongo
This pair decided to drop in while we were packing up camp.

Little Yabba Creek

Little Yabba Creek