3.8.26
Minnippi
A warm, bright, sunny morning and relatively birdy across the site. Nothing outstanding species wise, but in general the activity was improved.
Two, heard-only, Fan-tailed Cuckoos, at least 33 Wandering Whistle Ducks was a good number and 4 Swamp Wallabys Wallabia bicolorwere the biggest number I had ever recorded on one visit. I noticed a Royal Spoonbill at the far end of The Avenue and walked up to find a nice little swampy patch deep enough for the Spooner and with muddy, wet edges that could entice more exciting species down the track, if it lasts. This was also where I had most of the Wallabys.
Three butterflys – 2 Glasswings Acraea andromacha and one Black Jezebel Delias nigrina.
6.8.26
JC Trotter
On site at 7.30, a cloudy, but bright morning, starting quite cold, but warming up to a comfortable temp. Pretty quiet through the forest as last visit, very small numbers of regular birds, but no Spinebills recorded. A single Little Lorikeet perched up quietly I guessed might have been sitting guard on a nest hollow with its partner inside and later two birds flying overhead may have been the same pair.
The water level had dropped again a bit more allowing access all the way to the point. 18 Black-fronted Dotterels counted scanning the edges at the point, one Great Crested Grebe offshore, but no other Grebes, or Ducks, of quality – the usual few Pacific Black Ducks and one Hardhead at the first outlook point. An Australian Hobby perched up in a dead tree on the opposite side of the lake and 2 White-bellied Sea Eagles overhead were the only raptors.
All in all a quiet morning with a lot of walking between (44 species of) birds.
7.8.26
Oxley
On site at 7, a low mist hanging over parts of the fields soon burned off as the sun warmed up into a very pleasant winter’s morning.
Not particularly birdy – much the same as the previous week’s visit, nothing out of the ordinary along the main track and the ponds were almost completely deserted apart from the usual Purple Swamphens and Dusky Moorhens and one Australian Darter on Pelican Lagoon.
Over the gate and a good number of Grey Teal, Pied Stilts and 3 Black-fronted Dotterel on the flooded field. I did see the leucistic Silvereye again – looking like a very pale Canary - it’s pretty amazing that such an obvious bird has survived so long and not been Hobby-ised.
On the return walk it was even quieter, but I did find a flock of approx 40 Chestnut-breasted Mannikins (and 1 Red-browed Finch) feeding in the grass under the trees just over the fence.
Several Monarchs Danaus plexippus were the only butterfly species and I did find a single Eastern Bush Orbweaver Plebs eburnus – a very small, nicely marked spider.
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| Eastern Bush Orbweaver Plebs eburnus |
On site at 7.15, a cold sharp start, but, once again, warming quickly to a very pleasant morning.
The birds seemed to react to the warmth and the pending Spring – still 3 weeks away by the calendar, but there was more activity and an audible increase in calls and song.
I counted 6 calling Eastern Yellow Robins – the biggest number I had recorded in any one visit. I also saw 8 Australian Golden Whistlers, 6 of them female which suggested to me a movement of birds back towards their breeding grounds.
Nothing overly spectacular – 29 Wandering Whistle Ducks on the lake, all sitting in the open on the water which was a little unusual, they usually huddle along the banks; 2 only Magpie Geese, thankfully down from the recent huge numbers which had destroyed part of the lake habitat and fouled the area, as any large number of one single species will do; the Black Swan pair were defending 3 young cygnets on the bank so I gave them a wide berth; 2 Australian pipits on the Airfield were the first I had seen here for some time; a single Tawny Frogmouthwas huddled back in the tree near the Pylon Outlook and the White-bellied Sea Eagle was perched up again in the Cormorant Tree on the opposite side of the lake.
It appeared there had been a hatch of Lydia Lichen Moths Asura Lydia as there were several fluttering around on both tracks; only 1 butterfly species – 3 x Black Jezebels Delias nigrina and a single Swamp Wallaby Wallabia bicolor, in The Alley, completed the ‘other species’ list for the 50 bird species morning.
11.8.26 (Same day)
Spotlighting Hemmant Rec Res W
On site at 19.15, a calm, clear, cool night following a windy day.
Walked the main track as far as the turn off to the scrapes, tried for Eastern Grass and Eastern Barn Owl. On return walk did attract one of the latter that flew in and perched up in a tree approx 50 meters away. Not the best of views, but being in the open, clearly identifiable as a Barn. It wasn’t the biggest surprise as Mr P and Mr D had had one during daylight 10 days previously, but nice to find a probable resident Barn Owl within easy range.
The only other ‘thing’ of interest was a single Grey-headed Flying Fox Pteropus poliocephalus that passed by at one point.
13.8.26
JC Trotter
I didn’t hurry out, figuring that a warmer time of the morning should encourage more activity. It didn’t appear to work out like that – the woodland was deader than a dead dog. I, basically, saw f-all – heard 1 Yellow-faced and 2 Brown Honeyeaters, saw 3 (all female) Australian Golden Whistlers and 2 Rufous Whistlers.
The reservoir itself wasn’t a lot better with a number of Little Black and Great Cormorants, a 15-strong flock of Hardhead at great distance and singles of Plumed, Great and Little Egrets. At The Point there were 7 Pied Stilts and, coincidentally, 7 Black-fronted Dotterels and a single White-bellied Sea Eagle overhead and that was it – 33 species.
One butterfly – a Glasswing Acraea andromacha and 2 Red-necked Wallabys Macropus rufogriseus completed the morning’s observations.
18.8.26
Minnippi
Another dull, overcast, dank (love that word – ‘dank’) morning with occasional sunny spells. At 8 it started to rain, but I had gone prepared bringing my poncho along. The rain wasn’t heavy, just a thin drizzle that lasted 30 minutes and, later, another 10.
Quite birdy, not a bad morning with a total of 56 species – both Wandering (12) and Plumed Whistle Ducks (6 on the (closed) boardwalk platform) a Spectacled Monarch and a Varied Triller on the M1 track and a brief Brown Goshawk near the Airfield. No Magpie Geese at all and strangely enough no sign of the Black Swans and cygnets.
No butterflys and just one Lydia Lichen Moth Asura Lydia – but the conditions weren’t butterfly-friendly.
On the home walk along the cement path a pair of Striated Pardalotes landed low close by, both carrying food-for-young, but there were no evident nesting holes anywhere nearby.
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| Striated Pardalote |
I also identified a few new plants, one of which seemed to be the only example on this site of Banks’ (or Scarlet) Grevillea Grevillea banksii.
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| Banks’ (or Scarlet) Grevillea Grevillea banksii. |
On site at 7.30, a warm, bright morning, scattered clouds suggested rain but nothing eventuated.
Quite birdy and more activity than on my last visit, it was a 4-raptor morning with two Whistling Kites, a White-bellied Sea Eagle sitting quietly on a isolated wooden pole minding its own business, which was unaccountably dive-bombed by a Black-shouldered Kite until it, the Sea Eagle, finally took flight, and the (probably resident) Grey Goshawk again.
The most notable change was a drying out almost completely of the main scrape and the, probably expected, almost complete absence of Black-fronted Dotterels there, although I did see about 8 on some other nearby scrapes, down from the regular 30 birds or so in recent times.
Other than that it was much as always although I did add Olive-backed Oriole to my site list.
Plenty of Monarchs Danaus plexippus and a single Black Jezebel Delias nigrina were the only butterflys in evidence, including a single Monarch caterpillar on a Balloonplant Gomphocarpus physocarpus; a single Honeybrown Beetle Ecnolagria grandis and a Bean Leafroller (Moth) Omiodes diemenalis were noted.
I also found what we used to call ‘cuckoo-spit’ on a small tree and I identified it as Common Spittle Bug Philagra parva although no insect was visible.
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| Common Spittle Bug Philagra parva |
I picked up Mr P at 18.45, on site at 19.00. The walk in was pretty quiet – just a single Tawny Frogmouth sitting above the path.
On the Airfield Track we tried for all relevant species, but got no response to anything. Mr P picked up a Koala Phascolarctos cinereus high in a gum tree – the first I had ever seen while spotlighting. We didn’t see ANY Possums of any sort.
Out on the Airfield itself a single Bush Stone Curlew ran across the open grass – and we heard another 1 or 2 calling from across the creek.
On the M1 track we finally cracked it!
Two Australian Owlet Nightjars responded to our encouragement. This was a new species for the site, i.e. no one else has ever recorded this bird at Minnippi – to the best of our knowledge anyway. It was, therefore obviously, a new bird for both our site lists. We didn’t see them – they are notoriously difficult to see, being very small and having no eye shine - but hearing them was adequate reward. Been a long time a-comin’.
We did see approx 15 Grey-headed Flying Foxes Pteropus poliocephalus – a common fruit bat species in the area - and I managed to get a photo of one low hanger.
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| Grey-headed Flying Fox Pteropus poliocephalus |
21.8.26
On site at 6.45 to a truly beautiful morning – for a change, bright, sunny, almost completely clear blue sky, totally calm.
The track was birdy but the only bird of note was a White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike showing well just before the first field gate. Other than that it was pretty much same, same. In the flooded field a good number of Grey Teal (45) compared to a paltry 3 Pacific Black Ducks was notable. The main ponds on the track were almost completely deserted.
The only butterfly noted – the ubiquitous and always reliable Monarch Danaus plexippus in decent numbers.
I noticed something in a Termite tree nest along the track. I felt sure it was a Common Brush-tailed Possum Trichosurus vulpecula curled up inside!
