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)

Australian King Parrot

This male King Parrot decided to pay us a visit the other day and by the looks of it the Rainbow Lorikeets would have preferred he did not come at all.

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Australian King Parrot (Alisterus scapularis)
Rainbow Lorikeet ( Trichoglossus haematodus)

Australian King Parrot (Alisterus scapularis)

Flying Fox

The Flying Fox have returned to the local area after a short absence, time to start counting again.
We are monitoring the camp once a month. This is when the camera comes in very handy to show if there are any pregnant or young present. We try to get a percentage of the species while they are roosting, then count them as they fly-out, not easy when they fly in three different directions. At present we have only two species, Black and Grey-headed, and are waiting for the third species, Little Red Flying Fox (Pteropus scapulatus) to arrive.

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Grey-headed (Pteropus poliocephalus) and Black Flying Fox (Pteropus alecto)

Pregnant Black Flying Fox.

Grey-headed with young.

In Flight.

Size difference between adult and juvenile

Red-capped Plover & Pacific Golden Plover

Would like to share with you some of the waders we found during our count today. Altogether we counted 1342 birds from 14 species. Among these were Bar-tailed Godwit, Red-capped Plover, Pacific Golden Plover, Lesser Sand Plover, Red-necked Stint and Great Knot. Eastern Curlew numbers seem to be well down this time with only 17 compared to the 185 we counted on the 4/10/09.

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Red-capped Plover (Charadrius ruficapillus)

Pacific Golden Plover (Pluvialis dominica)

Birds at our local Ponds.

More birds from the local ponds.

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Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra)

Hardhead (Aythya australis)

Dusky Moorhen (Gallinula tenebrosa)

Australian White Ibis (Threskiornis molucca)

Little Corella (Cacatua sanguinea)

Spring is well and truly here with the Jacaranda and Silky Oak in full flower.

Jacaranda (Jacaranda mimosifolia)

It is said that if you are walking underneath the Jacaranda tree and one of the trumpet blossoms falls on your head you will be favored by fortune.

Looks like I better start walking have plenty of trees to check out.

Silky Oak (Grevillea robusta)

Black-winged Stilt and Royal Spoonbill

A visit to the local sewage ponds is one of the few places where Black-winged Stilt and Royal Spoonbill can be found on a regular basis. During our last bird count at this site we had 11 species of birds - Pacific Black Duck, Grey Teal, Chestnut Teal, Little Black Cormorant, Cattle Egret, Australian White Ibis, Royal Spoonbill, Purple Swamphen, Black-winged Stilt, Black-fronted Dotterel and Masked Lapwing.

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Black-winged Stilt (Himantopus himantopus)

Black-winged Stilt and Royal Spoonbill

Royal Spoonbill (Platalea regia)

Black-winged Stilt, Royal Spoonbill and Australian White Ibis (Threskiornis molucca)