Weekends That Were - September 2026

1.9.26

Minnippi

Another overcast, kinda grey morning, but, nevertheless, quite pleasant. I spent 4 hours on site – probably my longest expedition to Minnippi ever. 

Mainly I went a bit wild with a new app Mr D had showed me on the weekend – SEEK by iNaturalist. It uses the phone camera to identify stuff while on location and so I let it loose on trees, shrubs, flowers and even grasses. Each species I identified I took photos – and spent another 4 hours at home later confirming ID and updating the photos and my databases – its all so anal, but I love it. 

I ended up with 25 new plants for the site and 22 of them were new for my database – and I know I was only scratching the surface.

The app worked quite well apart from when it identified a Koala up a tree when there was obviously no Koala up the tree. It also, interestingly, came up, out of the blue, with Painted Buttonquail, White-throated Treecreeper and Yellow-footed Antechinus. I have no idea how or why it came up with any of those as I never heard the Buttonquail or Treecreeper – both extremely rare at Minnippi – and I really struggle to think an Antechinus would be there either. So, some salt needs to be taken with some of its suggestions, although, in all fairness, it did identify the plants etc correctly, the Katydid, a Moth caterpillar and the Fly – well they all corresponded in iNaturalist at home. I feel I’m walking round in circles here……...

(Mind you it might explain some of the crazy IDs offered in Ebird and similar databases....)

It was a new Katydid – the highlight of my morning actually. I have a soft spot for Katydids – the kind of ugly, beautiful cousin to Grasshoppers. This one was the Gumleaf Katydid Torbia viridissima and posed well for the camera. 

 

Gumleaf Katydid Torbia viridissima

I had a new Fly sp for my site list and a Mantid Lacewing Theristria discolor, a different species but similar to ones I had found while Blacklighting.

 

Theristria discolor

 Bird-wise it was much as usual with nothing really noteworthy – 51 species. I had 4 butterfly species – Black Jezebel Delias nigrina, Brown Ringlet Hypocysta metirius (3), Glasswing Acraea andromacha (2) and a Speckled Line-blue Catopyrops florinda – whether this increase in numbers was because I was on site later then usual or a sign of Spring had Sprung I couldn’t say. 

                                                                       

                                                                               3.9.26

                                                                Hemmant Rec Res W

On site at 6.30, a bright, warm Spring morning with a thin, smoky mist hanging over the ponds which quickly cleared in the rising sun.

Bird-wise a bit on the quiet side, highlights included a Whistling Kite (the only raptor seen) on a nest above the third, largest pond and a male Mistletoebird that perched up very obligingly.

 

Mistletoebird (male)

I found a Brown Honeyeater’s nest very low down in a Brazilian Peppertree beside the track with 2 eggs. 

 

Brown Honeyeater nest

 

Brown Honeyeater 

I used the SEEK app again identifying more plants and recording them for my databases. The main scrapes were pretty dry with a few of the expected wader types (Pied Stilts, Black-fronted Dotterels and White-faced Herons) restricted to a couple of claypans still holding a little water. One can only hope for a little rain to offer a better habitat to arriving waders in the coming months.

Butterflys were restricted to the ever-present Monarch Danaus plexippus and I saw a few caterpillars hanging off the Balloonplants in the area.

4.9.26

Blacklighting Minnippi

With the temperature predicted to be 21-20 between 19.00 and 22.00 I thought it might be worth trying for some moths etc.

On site on the M1 track at 19.00 and ready to go a few minutes later I sat it out till 21.45. I had a commitment the next morning so couldn’t really stay any later, however, the activity diminished somewhat after 21.00 anyway.

A reasonable amount of small stuff built up over the two hours with a small number of ‘decent’ sized moths – decent enough to be photographed, I don’t usually bother with micro moths – its all too difficult really, but I do like small well marked specimens so size is not always a defining factor. 

Apart from the moths I only had 1 Beetle – Heteronyx proxima – that I had had both at Minnippi and other locations previously - and 1 small Cricket that I believe was a Slender Leaf-runner Trigonidium vittaticolle. I also had two fly species – a little unusual in my Blacklighting experience – Garden Soldier Fly Exaireta spinigera and a species I identified through iNaturalist but which doesn’t seem to exist in the ‘outside’ world - Ectinorhynchus brunneus possibly in the family Therevidae.

I ended up with 15 new (lifers) Moth species out of a total of 18, which I was happy with. The nicest looking one was Northern Emerald Prasinocyma rhodocosma.

Northern Emerald Prasinocyma rhodocosma

I neither heard nor saw any bird species, apart from a Tawny Frogmouth on the walk in. The only mammal was a Common Brush-tailed Possum Trichosurus vulpecula perched up above the track itself.

                                                                                6.9.26

                                                                            JC Trotter

Mr P picked me up at 6.10, on site 20 minutes later. A warm-increasing-to-hot morning. 

Not super-birdy in either the woodlands or on the water – best highlight were 7 Little Lorikeets in a single tree all examining and talking about the nesting holes they were checking out. They are pretty cute.

 

Little Lorikeet

Several butterflys  - Common Grass-blue Zizina labradus (1), Lesser Wanderer Danaus chrysippus (1) and Orange Ringlets Hypocysta adiante (3) and an apparent recent emergence had produced approx 30 Meadow Argus Junionia villida. One new sp for the site for me was Chequered Swallowtail Papilio demoleus (1)

A few Dragonflys only 3 of which I identified – Blue Skimmer Orthetrum caledonicum and Wandering Percher Diplacodes bipunctata (2).

Several new plants both ‘lifers’ and for my site list – once again using Seek.

                                                                                    8.9.26

                                                                         Minnippi

I had planned to leave home at 6, but it was dull and grey when I started to leave, so I went back to bed and left at 7 once it had brightened up.

Not a bad morning overall, nothing super-exciting bird-wise – two Sacred Kingfishers in The Avenue were the first Spring returns on site, both Whistling Ducks still hanging around, the Black Swans (God help me) still had one cygnet in tow and the chicks had hatched in the Noisy Miner’s nest but I couldn’t actually check how many had survived as the adult birds were determined to peck the ears off my head – so I left them to it - with kind words.

The Airfield Track was very quiet and I ended up with 30 bird species for the morning.

I had one Swamp Wallaby Wallabia bicolor in The Avenue and an Eastern Water Dragon Intellagama lesueurii lesueurii and Macquarie/Eastern Short-necked Turtle Emydura macquarii on the lake. 

A total of 10 butterfly species indicated the arrival of Spring – nothing new, but nice to see numbers around again. 

I found two new Bug sp, 2 Beetles – 1 new, 1 new for the site – and added 13 new Plants to my site list, ~10 of them new to me, giving the Seek app another workout........

                                                                         10.9.26

                                                       North Stradbroke Island

I had been monitoring the wind over the past few weeks and had decided that the predicted 20-25knots ESE was worth a look.

Willy Weather prediction

BOM wind warning

BOM Rain Map

Car/ferry/bus rides later and I was at Pt Lookout at 8.00. I disembarked from the bus and stopped in the bus shelter to prepare myself. 

The wind was howling across the headland and it was hurling the spitting rain like hail. 

I may have mentioned the poncho before? A very useful tool, but not very wind-friendly, however, I had one with me so I pulled it on, picked up my gear and started walking. As I headed out I noticed 8 Eastern Grey Kangaroos Macropus giganteus huddled together in the shelter of the trees beside the car park - they are usually scattered across the grass beside the road. They knew what was good for them.

It was horrendous walking out – the wind, already described, just got worse/better -depending on your view - and the rain stung my face. It was, really, the kind of weather (again) that old seawatchers dream about, but it’s always a challenge just getting there.

At the headland I began to set up, at which point, with my back to the ocean, the wind immediately blew the poncho over my head and I found myself enveloped in swathes of uncontrollable nylon. I struggled with it for a few minutes, trying to find the armholes and hood, then thought it might be better to sit down - I straightened the chair and sat down and the chair immediately fell sideways and deposited me on the ground on my hands and knees still tangled up with that bloody poncho!

I don’t know if anyone was watching but I reckon it would have been pretty freaking hilarious. 

I gave up on the poncho and settled in to watch the sea.

It was pretty difficult to keep the scope steady with some gusts making it tremble and shake, despite the super-steady Manfrotto tripod. The seas were rugged with 2-3 meter swells at times, white-capped and thrashed by the wind. 

The first thing I did see was a young Hump-back Whale Megaptera novaeangliae breaching about 100 meters off the rocks. It seemed to be alone, but 30 minutes or so later I saw another one a little further out doing the same thing, this one accompanied by an adult, presumably female. The calves just kept breaching over and over – it appeared the youngsters were enjoying the feeling and maybe the wind on their exposed bodies.

I sat it out for 4 hours managing to count 87 Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, 56 Short-tailed Shearwaters, approx 50 Common Terns(probably a lot more), 3 Australian Gannets, 1 Common Noddy and 1 Hutton’s Shearwater.  It took a while to get my ‘eye back in’ on the more distant Shearwaters and with the wind severely affecting their flight, initially it was a challenge. The Wedgies tended to be a bit closer and virtually none were visible with the naked eye – it was all scope work, so it was quite possible I missed a percentage of passing birds although it wasn’t a heavy passage averaging around 30-40 birds an hour – apart that is, of course, from the Great Crested Terns which passed continuously and in number (I didn’t actually count them).

Hump-backs were not that many – possibly around 20 in total – but again with the wind whipping across the surface it was difficult to tell the difference between a breaching Whale and a blown away white cap. A school of approx 15 Indo-Pacific Bottle-nosed Dolphins Tursiops aduncus appeared off the headland on a couple of occasions.

I headed home at midday and counted 5 Stoners from the bus (including one at the Pt Lookout bus terminus that as usual approached to close range). I noticed a small group of people looking and pointing arms and phones at a tree close to the Dunwich terminal and when I wandered over to check found a Koala Phascolarctos cinereus asleep in the tree – my third record for the Island.

Weekends That Were - August 2026

                                                                      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.

Eastern Bush Orbweaver Plebs eburnus

11.8.26

Minnippi

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.

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.

Banks’ (or Scarlet) Grevillea Grevillea banksii.

20.8.26

Hemmant Rec Res West

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.

Common Spittle Bug Philagra parva 

20.8.26 (Later same day)

Spotlighting Minnippi

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.

Grey-headed Flying Fox Pteropus poliocephalus

21.8.26

Oxley

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!

22.8.26

JC Trotter

Mr P picked me up at 6.30, on site 15 minutes later. Another dull, overcast, cloudy morning but not bad bird-wise, all things considered.

As we walked in the initial track a pair of Australian King Parrots were a new site species for both of us. A couple of decent bird waves turned up both Whistler species, White-throated Treecreepers, Striated Pardalotes, Grey Fantails and White-throated Honeyeaters. A few other woodland species were heard but not seen. 

On the lake it was pretty quiet, but we did have a single Caspian Tern, 8 Black-fronted Dotterels and 5 Pied Stilts at the Point; all in all a total of 46 bird species.

The only other ‘things’ we saw were 3 Red-necked Wallabys Macropus rufogriseus. 

Breakfast followed at the ex-Rare Pear and very slow service in Holland Park.

25.8.26

Minnippi

Another bright, warm morning, although it was spitting rain as I arrived at 6.45, this quickly cleared.

Quite birdy – without anything super-exciting or unexpected. A total of 57 (bird) species was a good outcome with a couple of relatively minor notes.

The pair of Black Swans appeared to have mislaid 2 cygnets in the past week or so with only 1 left to defend.

I found a Noisy Miner’s nest low down as I walked up the hill to the Outlook – the bird was sitting on 3 eggs.

 

Noisy Miner

The 6 Plumed Whistling Ducks seen previously were so friendly they picked the grass seeds off my boots and sock protectors….

 

https://youtu.be/TRc8uIGOq7U

 

Three butterfly species – an Evening Brown Melanitis leda, a Monarch Danaus plexippus and a Glasswing Acraea andromacha. Several Lydia Lichen Moths Asura lydia fluttered around, a single Swamp Wallaby Wallabia bicolor in The Avenue, a couple of Eastern water DragonsIntellagama lesueurii lesueurii and a Macquarie Turtle Emydura macquarii in the lake rounded out the Other Species list.

25.8.26 (Later same day)

Blacklighting JC Trotter

The temperature was predicted to be 20-21C at 19.00 so I had hopes that insect activity had finally (after the winter) started, however, it was pretty slow even with the warmth of the evening.

On the walk in, walking without light as I knew the track, I sensed rather than saw a shape drift across in front of me in the moonlight. Instinctively raising and pointing the spotlight I was carrying, I saw a shape on a tree trunk set back from the track about 10 meters away. Thinking initially it had been a small bat I was puzzled at the shape on the tree trunk, then the ‘shape’ moved around the trunk and I played hide and seek with a charming Sugar Glider Petaurus breviceps for a few minutes as it repeatedly peered cautiously around the tree trunk before scurrying back out of sight while I moved around trying to get a full view of the animal. It finally climbed up the back of the trunk and I left it in peace.

On site at 19.00, I continued to walk in to the usual location and set up.

I had been prepared to sit it out for as long as necessary, but quit at 21.00 as the activity was pretty minimal and didn’t improve much with time. 

Not long after I sat down I heard a White-throated Nightjar call distantly – maybe 200 meters away? I played for it and it, or possibly a different bird, responded and over the next hour or so called from different locations as if it was working around my location in a circle. Later it called again distantly and without any encouragement.

I also heard a distant Australian Boobook and did play for it, but it stopped calling and I didn’t repeat the effort, however, not long before I packed up an individual started calling quite close and I managed to find it high in a nearby tree where it continued to call in the spotlight. I tried for photos but ran into the usual difficulty of being alone and trying to angle the torch and focus the camera - with non-keepable results, but I did tape it.... (link to Xeno-canto)

XC1173887.

I tried for Australian Owlet-nightjar, Powerful Owl, Eastern Barn Owl and even Large-tailed Nightjar with no results.

So far as the Blacklighting went – 5 Moth species, 3 new, one new for Trotter; 1 repeat Beetle and 1 Long-horned Caddisfly sp, genus Triplectides which was also new for me. All in all a somewhat disappointing outcome, but not a complete waste - a worthwhile learning exercise.

Euchaetis rhizobola One of the 'new' Moths

Long-horned Caddisfly genus Triplectides

27.8.26

Spotlighting Hemmant Rec Res W

I picked up Mr P at 18.45, on site 15 minutes later. A bright, moonlit, calm, warm evening, very pleasant, but disappointing with nothing to record, apart from a couple of Grey-headed Flying Foxes Pteropus poliocephalus, but as I said to Mr P – you have to try.

28.8.26

Oxley

Started out at 6.45, a sunny, bright, warm, calm morning – perfect for birding. The track was relatively birdy without anything super exciting, despite the rather ambitious record claimed the previous day of Asian Brown Flycatcher…….

At one stage 2 SMBs  (Social Media Birders) strode past, phones in one hand, cameras in the other (literally), looking like they were on a mission, not stopping for anything but some destination only they understood. I caught up with them later, hanging around the ponds taking photos of a rather bored looking Laughing Kookaburra before they marched off back to wherever they had come from. I thought they might have hoped to twitch a total rarity before school/college/work, but I felt very confident they left still Asian-Brown-Flycatcher-in-Australia- challenged.

I did see a couple of female Australian Golden Whistlers which it is possible led someone to think they had a vagrant, although anyone with half a brain….

I did also have a pair of Australian King Parrots (my 7^th record for this site) and a Buff-banded Rail on the main track, which was nice. 

Buff-banded Rail

No raptors at all, but the flooded field was quite busy with ~40 Grey and 2 Chestnut Teal, 13 Pied Stilts and 4 Black-fronted Dotterels.

Two butterfly species – the usual Monarchs Danaus plexippus  (~10) and a Meadow Argus Junonia villida and one spider – Small round Orbweaver Araneus rotundulus. With Spring just around the seasonal corner I would expect to see an increase in butterflys and insects in general in the near future.

29.8.26

Oxley (again)

So, Oxley again 2 days after my last visit. Mr D had suggested it and he picked me up at 6, on site 15 minutes later. Another lovely Winter/Spring morning, but, being the weekend, the track was humanoid-busy; one gets so used to the lack of non-combatants during the week that it is even more noticeable on weekends – and such a pain.

However, bird-wise pretty average and similar to the previous visit with the King Parrots and Buff-banded Rail seen briefly in roughly the same places and adding a pair of Leaden Flycatchers in the first 100 meters.

We didn’t ‘climb the gate’, but checked the (limited view) of the flooded field from the car park with just a few Pied Stilts and Grey Teal noted.

One Monarch Danaus plexippus  was the only butterfly I saw and the Brush-tailed Possum Trichosurus vulpecula was in residence in the termite nest again - nothing else of note.

Breakfast at Arte & Gusto in Graceville afterwards as usual.