Rainbow Lorikeet

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all.

Well Christmas has come and gone for another year hope everyone enjoyed themselves.

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Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus)

It would not be Christmas without the Rainbow Lorikeets gathering under the Mango Trees to feed on the fallen fruit dropped by the Flying Foxes. It is interesting to watch the antics of these birds as they stagger about, getting drunk on the fermenting fruit. Once we watched a Crow dragging a Rainbow by the tail so it could have a feed of a Mango too.

Have been trying to get photos of them at the Mango's but it is a bit wet at the moment. We are having very good rain and the place is green again. Have to dig out the mower after many months of not needing it.

Whistling Kite & Sharp-tailed Sandpiper.

Last Wader Count for the year. Just a few birds we saw at the local sewage ponds. Numbers here are still down owing to the continuing upgrade of the ponds.

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Whistling Kite (Haliastur sphenurus)

Saw a shadow, and looked up to find this Whistling Kite overhead.

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (Calidris acuminata)

Raptors such as the Whistling Kite sometime cause waders to fly off but not this time.

Count numbers for the sewage ponds
Whistling Kite 1, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper 36, White Ibis 49, Pacific Black Duck 4, Black-winged Stilt 17, Black-fronted Dotterel 3, Royal Spoonbill 31, Intermediate Egret 1, Purple Swamphen 2, Chestnut Teal 3, Latham's Snipe 2.

New Roost Site Carlo Island Complex

What a way to spend the morning, checking out a new roost site. As with any new area you don't know what to expect. Take these Black-winged Stilt for example, we have only ever found them before at the local sewage ponds.

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Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)

Thank you Mick for allowing me to use your photo of these Black-winged Stilt in flight, hope you enjoyed the morning as much as we did.

The smaller birds here allowed us to get very close to them, unlike the Eastern Curlew and Godwits.

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (Calidris acuminata)

Red-necked Stint (Calidris ruficollis)

Red-capped Plover (Charadrius ruficapillus)

Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)

Black-winged Stilt 7, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper 6, Red-necked Stint 300, Red-capped Plover 80, Bar-tailed Godwit 206, Eastern Curlew 350, Little Egret 1, Intermediate Egret 25, Whistling Kite 1, Brahminy Kite 2.

Crab & Whelk
Just to show it is not all about birds.
For views and story about our morning out at this roost site go to Mick's blog

White-throated Honeyeater

This White-throated Honeyeater was one of a flock of ten foraging for insects among low branches, on tree trunks and even on the ground nearly at our feet as we prepared for a recent wader count. They were either too close for photography or too shaded, but we managed this one decent shot. It was one of those "memorable moments" in bird-watching, as most often this species is found higher in the trees.

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White-throated Honeyeater (Melithreptus albogularis)

Kayak

Have been asked how do you keep camera and equipment dry and safe while out in the kayak.

This is how I do it.

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Take one Pelican Case with camera in it.
The Pelican Case warranty actually states "Not guaranteed against shark bite & children under five years", but it is waterproof!

Attach one homemade harness.

Attach to straps on hatch

Our kayak has two hatches front and back to hold Telescope tripod and what ever else you want to take with you (in waterproof bags as an added precaution).

Also has drain holes to let water out if it gets too rough as well as storage holes for keys etc. have taken lid off to show it better.

Thank you to Mick over at Sandy Straits and Beyond for taking this photo when were coming back from checking out the new wader site on Sunday. It shows the camera case attached behind me.

Our kayak is guaranteed unsinkable. This was tested out by five family members who boarded it soon after we purchased it. They didn't get anywhere, but at least it did not sink or capsise!

Mixed Shorebirds

It was a beautiful day on Friday for a wader count, calm water a higher tide and light winds made for a great day. With the higher tide most of the birds were roosting on the far side of the flats, though they were very flighty. Just as well we were in a kayak, not too much dry land today.

10 species were recorded with a total count of 2833 birds.

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Bar-tailed Godwit (Limosa lapponica)

Red-necked Stint (Calidris ruficollis) & Red-capped Plover (Charadrius ruficapillus)

I just like the way the Red-capped Plover is looking at me as much to say
"what do you think you are doing?"

All Red-capped to the right please.

Red-necked Stint, Red-capped Plover & Greater Sand Plover (Charadrius leschenaultii)

Just to show how high the water was, these Bar-tailed Godwit were trying to land.

Looking towards where we would normally walk in to the site.

The water was too nice to stay in the kayak all the time.

Kel counting the birds out there.

Little Corella

When the Little Corella comes to your area you soon realise just how much noise they make and how much they can eat. We have a wattle tree not far from us and within a week all the seed was gone from the tree and the mess left behind of all the leaves and empty seed pods on the ground. They found our bird feeder one day and lucky for us they have not come back to it. One flock numbered 30 birds.

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Little Corella (Cacatua gymnopis)

Bird on a wire (in this case 3)

Cockatiel

Although I am not a fan of birds in cages these belong to our son who when younger bred them.
This is not a naturally occurring colour as the body is normally grey.
As it has been too hot to go out of late and no sign of rain we will have to make do with what comes to our yard instead.
We are participating in a programme to monitor the Grey-crowned Babbler, lucky for us they are regular visitors to our garden. We have 8 here at present, because of the heat they enjoy our bird bath. Between the Rainbow Lorikeets, Grey-crowned Babbler, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Noisy Miner and Little Friarbird all taking turns no wonder we had to fill it 4 times today.

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Cockatiel (Nymphicus hollandicus)

Figbird

This pair of adult and immature male Figbirds were checking out the Silky Oak flowers. Female and immature Figbirds are sometimes mistaken for an Olive-backed Oriole as both have streaked underparts.

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Figbird (Sphecotheres viridis)

Olive-backed Oriole

Our Silky Oak has been a hive of activity this season with many birds coming to feed on its flowers. Among these were a pair of Olive-backed Orioles. I have also added a video of the call of the Oriole. It sounds just like its name, "oriole". Other birds you may hear are Magpie Lark, Torresian Crow, Rainbow Lorikeet, Common Koel and Figbird.

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Olive-backed Oriole (Oriolus sagittatus)

Down by the River.

Decided to do something different this time and go down to the Mary River which is only a stones throw away to see what species of fish we could find there. We have not done this for a long while, only someone forgot to take the bait for the traps with him, not me by the way. Just as well I took the camera for I was able to get photos of some of the wildlife that hangs out around the banks of the river.

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Blue Skimmer (Male) (Orthetrum caledonicum)

Blue Skimmer (Male) (Orthetrum caledonicum)

Black-headed Skimmer (Male) (Crocothemis nigrifrons)

Twinspot Hunter (Austroepigomphus melaleucae)

Scarlet Percher (Diplacodes haematodes)

Water Spider (Dolomedes sp)

Kreffts River Turtle (Emydura krefftii)

Black-fronted Dotterel (Charadrius melanops)

Black-fronted Dotterel (Charadrius melanops)

Birds in Black

Just a few of our "Black" Birds. Torresian Crow, Spangled Drongo and Common Koel. Have also added a short video of the Koel calling in our Silky Oak tree. I apologise for any car noise in the video as we are close to a road. Calls of the Rainbow Lorikeet, Magpie-lark and Spotted Turtle-dove may also be heard as well.

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Torresian Crow (Corvus orru)

Spangled Drongo (Dicrurus bracteatus)

Common Koel (Eudynamys scolopacea)

Yellow-striped Flutterer

On a recent trip to Hervey Bay Botanical Gardens we were lucky enough to have this beautiful dragonfly land close enough for me to take its photo. It is a Yellow-striped Flutterer. This particular group of dragonflies are not as fast flying as others, and this one stayed in the same spot for quite a while so I could get very close without disturbing it.

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Yellow-striped Flutterer (Rhyothemis phyllis chloe)