Weekends That Were - June 2026

1.6.26

Minnippi

Not a bad morning’s birding but nothing on the scale of the previous day – unfortunately. Bright, sunny, calm – a bit nipply in the early part, but warmed up well.

Mostly usual stuff with some increase in numbers from recently: Noisy Friarbirds in noisy number on both tracks – probably about 40 birds in total – Little Friarbirds (~15) along tree line at the top of the hill included a single Striped Honeyeater, approx 30 Scarlet Honeyeaters along with 40+ Silvereyes in a couple of moving flocks, but I was unable to convert anything to the hoped for species reflecting Oxley’s status. Bird of the morning was a pair of Spotted Pardalotes at head height on the M1 track, not, for me, a common bird at Minnippi. (52 species)

Only butterfly seen was a Black Jezebel, but that was probably due to the general weather conditions – i.e. not warmed up enough before I quit. 

2.6.26

Anstead & Moggill Pocket Swamp

On site at 7, another bright, sunny, chilly start, coldest morning of the year to date apparently - 7C felt like 6C - but once again warming up to a very pleasant day. I took a very slow approach to walking the tracks checking everything, but was a little disappointed in the end.

Dominant bird – Noisy Friarbirds, probably around 70, maybe more, calling and chasing through the canopy. Encountered several flocks of Scarlet Honeyeaters (~100), Yellow-faced Honeyeaters (~75) and Silvereyes (~50) with smaller numbers of Australian Golden Whistlers, Striated and Spotted Pardalotes and Grey Fantails mixed in, but was unable to extricate anything unusual.

Had 4 Red-necked Wallabys Macropus rufogriseus during the walk and a Frasers Banded Snail Sphaerospira fraseri under the usual log, along with 2 Cane Toads Bufo marinus which I despatched.

One fungus – Rhubarb Bolete Boletellus obscurecoccineus and a tree I wanted to ID – Northern Grey Ironbark Eucalyptus siderophloia.

Frasers Banded Snail Sphaerospira fraseri 

Rhubarb Bolete Boletellus obscurecoccineus

Northern Grey Ironbark Eucalyptus siderophloia

I finished at 10, my hopes of a ‘Vagrant from the West’ unfulfilled, but a nice morning none the less.

I picked up a coffee from The Reserve at West Vets and headed out to Moggill Pocket Swamp. The water level was pretty low, considering all the rain we have had lately, but 30+ Grey Teal and smaller numbers of Pacific Black Duck and Australian Wood Duck, Eastern Cattle Egrets, Intermediate Egret, White and Straw-necked Ibis, Masked Lapwings, Purple Swamphens and Dusky Moorhens still infused the location with activity to keep the two resident Water Buffalos amused.

The only butterfly of the day was a single Monarch Danaus plexippus at the Swamp.

3.6.26

Palm Lakes Wetland, Eagleby

Another visit, thanks to more grandfather duties, this time midday – the worst time for birding really AND it was hot (for winter) AND it was windy, shitty conditions for birding at any time.

However, I walked the road down and back over an hour and accumulated a small list, nothing outstanding.

I did have a few butterflys – a heap of Monarchs Danaus plexippus, 2 Scarlet Jezebels Delias argenthona, a single Small Grass-yellow Eurema smilax and, a bit surprising maybe (?) a Wide-brand Grass-dart Suniana sunias.

4.6.26

JC Trotter

On site at 7 to a cool, bright, sunny absolutely calm morning. The wind did start to pick up late in the piece but otherwise it was a perfect birding start.

Pretty quiet overall although I did end up with 44 species which was, according to my records, a pretty good winter list for this site. I only really had one bird-wave with mainly Yellow-faced Honeyeaters but also a few Eastern Spinebills and Silvereyes and a little later, Scarletand Brown Honeyeaters and a Rufous Whistler. Most species were in small numbers – for ex, heard only 1 Bar-shouldered Dove and 1 Peaceful Dove and heard and saw only 2 Little Lorikeets.

The bird of the morning was an Azure Kingfisher – a site first for me – seen well in the trees along the only accessible part of the reservoir. The water level was at least as high, maybe even a little higher than last reported, preventing access to most of the bank. I contemplated pushing through the bush from the powerlines track but figured I wouldn’t see much anyway as the water level was well up into the trees. This, of course, limited my chances of seeing anything on the water on the main body of the reservoir. One raptor  - a Whistling Kite soaring over the powerlines.

No butterflys despite the warm, still conditions – maybe too early in the morning.

A few Red-necked Wallabys Notamacropus rufogriseus as usual – one of whom took a dare and ran in front of my car as I drove in the access road, but he chickened out and ran back, no doubt to the derision of his mates.

5.6.26

Oxley

On site at 7 – another bright, sunny, clear morning, but with a strong SW wind tossing the treetops. Very annoying and a little disappointing as my target for the morning was to get better photos of Yellow Thornbill.

The first 200 meters of the track were really birdy but with Silvereyes being blown from the trees like leaves, identification was difficult. There were Brown and Lewin’s Honeyeaters, the aforementioned Silvereyes, Scarlet Honeyeaters and the odd Australian Golden Whistler and Striated Pardalote, but it was difficult to isolate individual birds in the tossing branches and whirling leaves. I did manage to find a single Yellow-faced Honeyeater and, later, a second – this has not been a common bird here for me.

The rest of the track was incredibly quiet – all the activity was concentrated at the start – until I reached the junction to the ponds then the Brazilian Peppertree bush on the right of the track was sheltered and full of Silvereyes, Red-backed and Superb Fairy wrens, at least 2 Red-browed Finches and 1 Double-barred Finch.

I decided, given the lousy conditions, I’d use some encouragement and so placed my speaker on a fence pole in front of the bush we had seen the Yellow Thornbill in the previous weekend, stood back and waited…… An instant reaction and at least one YT flew in and around the bushes – it also attracted several Silvereyes, Fairy Wrens, a female Australian Golden Whistler and a Willy Wagtail that almost attacked the speaker. As is my style, I didn’t prolong the playback, allowing the session to stop once my phone shut down – about 30 seconds. But I did manage to get some better (in my opinion) photos of the subject than last week.

 

Yellow Thornbill

Moving on as I walked past the ponds, a White-necked Heron appeared from nowhere, it seemed, flying low overhead and disappearing in the direction of the flooded field – it wasn’t there later when I climbed the gate and checked.

On the walk back an Australian Hobby flew at canopy-height, probably hunting, but that was the only raptor of the day.

No butterflys or anything of interest apart from the morning list of 45 bird species.

8.6.26

Hemmant Rec Res West

A damp, bright, sunny morning following small overnight rain. Birds much as the same as previous visits, although not the same finch numbers. A 4-raptor day with 2 Whistling Kites, a White-bellied Sea Eagle, a Brown Goshawk and an Australian Hobby – only my second record for this species at this site. Large numbers of Chestnut (~50) and Grey (~30) Teal and Brown Honeyeaters and Silvereyes. 42 species in total.

Two butterflys – several of the ubiquitous Monarch Danaus plexippus and 1 Black Jezebel Delias nigrina– and my first site record of an Eastern Water Dragon Intellagama lesueurii lesueurii.

9.6.26

Minnippi

Rain in the early hours delayed my start so it was 8.30 before I left the car. It remained overcast with sunny spells and a bit of spitting rain on a couple of occasions, but nothing dramatic.

Not a bad morning, although my hoped for targets remained elusive, I did have a Rose Robin on the M1 track, a White-necked Heron (my 17^th site record) on the lake and a White-headed Pigeon (4^th) on the Airfield Track. 

 

White-necked Heron

All up 56 species made up a good morning. 

One butterfly – an Evening Brown Melanitis leda and a Soldier Beetle sp. Chauliognathus inconstans flew past me near the bridge - about the only other insect I saw.

Chauliognathus inconstans

11.6.26

JC Trotter

I was in two minds – stay in bed or venture out into a dull, very overcast is-it-going-to-rain morning following the previous very wet 24 hrs. 

As it turned out it was a miserable, pretty shitty morning to be birding but I ploughed on hoping it wouldn’t rain – it did – and would brighten up – it didn’t…. Although the rain, mind you, was more of a wet mist – the type of ‘rain’ where one wonders is it worth putting on wet gear or just suffer being a bit damp? It never got heavy enough to wet anything, but did keep the bird life to a minimum for most of the morning’s expedition.

Just after I turned off the Main Track onto the House Track, I taped a group of calling frogs in the wet, slightly flooded, grass along the side of the track. I later identified what I was confident was Clicking Froglet Crinia signifera – a new amphibian for me, although I may well have heard it before. I didn’t actually see any, they are another tiny Froglet, but according to the information May and June is their peak calling period.

I walked the usual track and it was so ‘dead’ I didn’t see even a Grey Fantail or Yellow-faced Honeyeater until I reached the edge of the water – an edge that was noticeably higher than the previous week and was almost cutting off access to the only access point to view the lake.

I carried on, to sit in the small shelter at the end of the Pylon Track and have a smoke out of the drizzle. At that stage I had only seen about 20 birds total, I had seen a good number of Red-necked Wallabys Macropus rufogriseus, one of them, in fact, eating a mushroom of some species, which I thought interesting.

The 'rain' eased and I carried on, hearing a couple, literally, of Noisy Friarbirds - but it was very slow. A Fan-tailed Cuckoo did fly across the track, but little else until I finally ran into a loose bird-wave back at the four way junction. It started with a Grey Fantail and a male Australian Golden Whistler and was followed, over the next 10 minutes, by several Striated Pardalotes, three White-throated Honeyeaters, a very friendly White-throated Treecreeper, a male Rufous Whistler, a couple of Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, a Lewin’s Honeyeater, a Grey Shrike Thrush and, best of all, a White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike – the only cuckoo-shrike of the morning and, to my surprise, my first for this site.

All in all I ended up with 35 species, which I thought was quite good, considering the lousy conditions.

12.6.26

Oxley

A foggy start to the morning, a common condition at Oxley under certain conditions. The misty fog cleared quite quickly and a bright, cloudless sunny morning developed with tree trunks steaming in the warm sun.

The track was fairly birdy, but much as expected, nothing unusual or startling. A Striated, aka Little, Heron perched up on Pelican Island and a White-necked Heron hunting in the grass were best birds. The flooded field had an increased number of Pied Stilts – 18 - with a few Grey Teal also present, while a Black-shouldered Kite sat on the wires above the track.

Only butterfly was a single Monarch Danaus plexippus and halfway along the track I found approx 30 Green Jewel Bugs Lampromicra senator on a couple of trees, which surprised me given the season.

Green Jewel Bug Lampromicra senator

14.6.26

Hemmant Rec Res West

Mr D picked me up, then we picked up Mr P, on site at 7. A bright, sunny, warmish morning – very wet underfoot thanks to recent rain. The mud ‘scrapes’ were even more flooded than on my previous visit – virtually no exposed muddy margins at all.

Good morning without anything spectacular – highlights were 2 Australian Shoveler, only my second record for the site, and a brief Australian Hobby fly-by. A perched up juvenile Whistling Kite looked great in Mr P’s scope, but other than that the only notable numbers were the almost complete absence of Black-fronted Dotterels, only 2 on the mud bank in the third pond, the other scrapes were too flooded to provide suitable habitat. 49 species total.

Butterflys – a handful of Monarchs Danaus plexippus and a couple of Common Grass-blues Zizina labradus. I also photographed my first fly for the site – Black Stilt-legged Fly Mimegralla australica.

Breakfast afterwards at Mackers in Cannon Hill.

Weekends That Were - May 2026

 1.5.26

Oxley

After yet more rain it was a soggy morning, but bright, with warm sun and a light breeze. I stopped to buy fuel on Sherwood Rd at $2.39.5c/l which seemed to be the cheapest available within reasonable driving range from home, so was on site at 6.45.

There weren’t many non-combatants on the track, in fact I had it almost to myself, which was nice for a change. 

Mind you the track was also very quiet bird-wise, I did end up with 47 species but the numbers were low. Nothing to write home about, no raptors at all, but I did find a Tawny Frogmouth drying out in the sun. The flooded field, although water still present, only had 3 Pied Stilts and 4 Black-fronted Dotterels and the total duck numbers came to 4 Pacific Black Ducks – as I said, numbers were low.

I did see a lone female deer of indeterminate species standing in the open grass on the opposite side of Sherwood Rd as I negotiated the turn off on arrival. I have the deer species on this site list as ‘Red’ Deer but am not convinced that is exactly what they are.

Butterflys – half a dozen fresh, chipper Monarchs Danaus plexippus and 1 Lesser Wanderer Danaus chrysippus. On the ‘other insect’ front just two spiders – a single Pacific Golden Weaver Nephila plumipes and, what I believe was, a Small Round Orb Weaver Araneus rotundulus. 

4.5.26

Minnippi

I picked Mr P up at 6.30, on site 10 minutes later. Another damp morning to start with, but it quickly brightened up and was quite warm by the time we gave it away at 9.15.

Not too bad – 52 species all up – and the M1 track was quite busy for a change, with the highlight of the morning being a female Rose Robin - only my 5^th sighting at this site.  The other note of some interest was a single Little Shrike Thrush on the M1 track and a pair on the Airfield Track., but strangely enough we neither heard nor saw any Grey Shrike Thrushes - usually a staple species. 

Butterflys were few with just a single representative of each of three species – Evening Brown Melanitis leda, Brown Ringlet Hypocysta metirius and Glasswing Acraea andromacha.

We headed home immediately afterwards – I had a plasma donation appointment and Mr P had stuff to do family-wise.

6.5.26

Hemmant Recreation Reserve - West

A new location? Yes – and no. I first visited this area in 1981 but I entered it from the far side then and crossed the railway track. Later, earlier this century, I had accessed it via the railway bridge – at risk of life and limb because the almost silent electric trains were erratic and unpredictable.

Mr P had recently ‘discovered’ lists for the location on eBird and, with his agreement, I had decided to re-visit. The access now, however, was from the Ingham factory end, the area now designated a Recreation Reserve by the BCC and open to the public. It is possible that back in the day it had been the same – but I had been unaware of its status and assumed, at that time, it was the property of Ingham’s and been wary of trespassing – not that that ever stopped me in those days. I had had some excellent birds back then and was keen to see if the possibilities for some more similar experiences still existed.

I parked up in an apparently open, public car park and started in along the wide cut tracks through the heavily grassed and semi-wild habitat finding a number of ponds and muddy ‘scrapes’ that offered potential for some good birds. I wandered the area ending up in a loop of Bulimba Creek that barred further progress and, in fact, completely missing the pond I had visited many years ago. It will require another visit to see if that pond still exists.

It was very birdy and I ended up with a 40 species list, admittedly with nothing spectacular, but, being an exploratory visit, I wasn’t disappointed with the results. 

I had started a bit later than normal and it developed into a warm, sticky morning and, possibly as a result, had several butterflys including a lifer – Pale Pea Blue Catochrysops panomus. 

 

Pale Pea Blue Catochrysops panormus 

There were heaps of Monarchs Danaus plexippus and I found a couple of caterpillars on a Ballonplant Gomphocarpus physocarpus– a member of the Milkweed family - that Monarchs feed on in Australia. 

 

Monarch Danaus plexippus on Balloonplant Gomphocarpus physocarpus

I also had several Small Grass-yellows Eurema smilax, Common Crows Euploea core, Common Grass-blues Zizina labradus and Lesser Wanderers Danaus chrysippus.

I found only one obvious spider - which I didn't immediately recognise. iNaturalist identified it as an Australian Garden Orb Weaver Hortophora transmarina. I accept the identification, but thought it was a bit different from others of the same species I have seen.

Australian Garden Orb Weaver Hortophora transmarina 

I photographed some plants and added a few more to my lifer list – not that surprising seeing as how my plant knowledge and identification skills are minimal.

Creeping Indigo Indigofera spicata

Prickly Hibiscus Hibiscus diversifolius

Silverleaf Desmodium Desmodium uncinatum

All in all it was an interesting morning and the area does bode well for future visits with real potential for good birds – especially in the Spring and Summer.

8.5.26

Oxley

On site on a 'cold' morning at 10C. It remained cool, getting to 14C as I finished at 9.00, but bright and sunny.

The track was relatively quiet, bird-wise and humanoid-wise, but numbers increased as the time progressed. One ‘new birder/photographer’ I encountered seemed to be looking for the ‘Mallard’ – in fact, he asked me if a nearby Pacific Black Duck was a Mallard, so possibly some goombah had updated their eBird list with a mistaken identity and so had a number of amateurs out looking for their lifer.

A fairly average morning numbers wise, but a couple of minor highlights – the Australian Hobby put in a brief appearance on its favourite pylon, a Striated – aka Little – Heron on the main pond and I found the/a Tawny Frogmouth near the second culvert.

The main highlight of my morning came after I climbed the gate and whist walking in along the track towards the flooded field, an adult Red Fox Vulpes vulpes ran across the track about 30 meters in front of me and disappeared into the grass. I wasn’t particularly surprised but it was the first Red Fox I had recorded at Oxley in 20+ years and over 280 visits.

The only butterfly I saw was a single Black Jezebel Delias nigrina but the lack, generally, may have been the cooler weather – it was quite ‘chilly’.

And, a HAPPY 100th BIRTHDAY to Sir David Attenborough today! One of my life-long heroes.

11.5.26

Minnippi

A nice cool morning, bright and sunny, @ 17C warming to about 24C by the time I left at 10.00. On site at 6.30 and it turned into quite a good morning’s birding.

From the base of the tower lookout, I counted at least 120 Magpie Geese with more over the back of the island bank. I estimated at least 130, probably more, the biggest number I have recorded so far. A Pied Stilt flew low across the pond, but I never saw it perched up anywhere. The M1 track was quiet with just a couple of female Scarlet Honeyeaters, the usual invisible Eastern Yellow Robin banging away and an Olive-backed Oriole ‘singing its merry song’.

Along The Avenue, a small bird-wave of Silvereyes, Grey Fantails, a full plumaged male Scarlet Honeyeater and a male Rufous Whistlergave a wintery feel to the day, but the highlight of the morning started at the top of the Airfield Track.

In the Brazilian Peppertree Schinus terebinthifolia bushes, while checking for any autumnal migrants, a Striped Honeyeater put on a very close exhibition of itself. I have taken many photos of this bird but when one exposes themselves this close, who can resist?

 

Striped Honeyeater

50 meters further at the top of the Airfield Track a bird wave started with a single Rufous Fantail and included 4 Variegated Fairy Wrens (2 males), a Shining Bronze Cuckoo who showed very well (ditto to striped Honeyeater note above), two Varied Trillers, a couple of Silvereyes, a couple of female Scarlet Honeyeaters, a Fan-tailed Cuckoo and a male Australian Golden Whistler! It was an exceptional 10 minutes as they just kept coming.

 

Shining Bronze Cuckoo

I continued along the track but stopped for a moth caterpillar suspended by a single thread slowly lowering itself to the ground – a Lewin’s Bag Shelter Moth Panacela lewinae.

 

Lewin's Bag Shelter Moth Panacela lewinae

And a small eruption of Common Brown Crane Flys Leptotarsus costalis hung around in one location.

 

Common Brown Crane Fly Leptotarsus costalis

The rest of the track was quiet, but near the end - just after a couple of Red-browed Finches flew up - when I stopped to look at an Australian Garden Orb Weaver Eriophora biapicata hanging in its web, a flick in the background turned into a White-throated Honeyeaterfollowed by a fly-in White-throated Gerygone.

Back at the lake all was calm and an Eastern short-necked or Macquarie Turtle Emydura macquarii sunned his head on a log – again couldn’t really resist the photo opportunity.

 

Eastern Short-necked or Macquarie Turtle Emydura macquarii 

Butterflys – a single Glasswing Acraea andromacha and a handful of Dainty Grass-blues Zizula hylax were seen, but it was still relatively early in the warmth of the day.

All in it was a 56 bird species morning - and that was minus Australian Brush Turkey, Grey Shrikethrush and any Cockatoo species - all usual staples at Minnippi.

12.5.26

Hemmant Rec Res - West

I was keen to re-visit the site and explore further so started out at 6.30 to walk the tracks and check the ponds. 

I did eventually get to the pond I had used to visit near the railway tracks. It did involve walking around in circles initially trying to find a track that took me there – but there wasn’t one, so I ended up making my own through the bush and arrived on the track running along beside the railway. I reckoned the bush had been left untouched and untracked to discourage activity on or near the railway. I was quite safe, walking along a wide vehicle sized track but my effort was, in fact, somewhat wasted as the pond had become very overgrown and appeared impossible to access in any way reasonable. However, it had satisfied my curiosity and there was plenty going on in the Reserve without access to this particular pond.

Overall it was quite birdy – the highlights being a Whistling Kite and a Brown Goshawk neither being seen on the last visit, but both having been seen here in the past, and added Rufous Fantail to my site list.

A few butterflys around in the weak sunlight before it clouded over and drizzle started – Monarchs Danaus plexippus, Small Grass-yellows Eurema smilax, Common Crows Euploea core, Dainty Grass-blues Zizula hylax and Pale Pea Blues Catochrysops panomus again.

I added a few new plants to my site list and my lifer list and I checked the mud scrapes again – the only wader being Black-fronted Dotterel (9), before heading back, gaining the car at 10.00.

14.5.26

JC Trotter

Despite the looming rain and gloom I parked up at 7.00 then sat for a few minutes as a passing shower rained down before heading in the track. It was very quiet and I walked as far as the ‘crossroads’ before recording anything at all.

The morning continued along those lines with very few minutes between almost continual drizzly rain, occasionally heavier showers. I took shelter beside the Rural Fire Service water tank and, later, in the small cover of the signboard under the power lines, but I was generally pretty damp and soaked through by the time I got back to the car at 10.00.

Regardless, I did register 40 species, which was above my monthly average, although passerines were few and far between and noticeably missing from my morning’s list. 

I did find a rather soggy looking Koala (my 9^th record for the site) and a single Eastern Spinebill. I stood in the rain with water running down my face waiting in vain for it to show well for my camera, but it flew off, presumably to get under cover itself – showing more intelligence than its observer.

I didn’t see any raptors at all – but then again any smart raptor would have put its head back under its wing and gone back to dreaming of past kills or future hunts – or whatever raptors dream about.

Birds on and about the water were much as usual, continuing about their business despite the wet conditions. Butterflys and other insects were a non-starter, but the usual Red-necked and Swamp Wallabys bounced around.

I did have one strange occurrence. Halfway up the track under the powerlines, trudging along the track, I heard what could only have been a White-throated Nightjar call. It only called once and although I stood for several minutes and even tried some encouragement, it didn’t happen again. I have never heard a Nightjar call during the day or, in fact, heard OF a Nightjar day-calling but the call is so distinctive it could not have been anything else. It was just the part of the call that is a rising inflection, without the churring. Bizarre!

17.5.26

Hemmant Rec Res - West

Picked Mr P up at 6.15, dawn just breaking. It looked like being a damp morning, but, although wet underfoot, remained rain-free and quite warm and sunny eventually.

A good morning’s birding with big flocks of Red-browed and Double-barred Finches and Chestnut-breasted Mannikins, heaps of Brown Honeyeaters, good numbers of Grey Fantails and Silvereyes and Chestnut and Grey Teal, Black Ducks and Australian Grebes on the ponds.

Mr P heard a Spotless Crake and there were 22 Black-fronted Dotterels on the scrapes.

Bird of the morning was a contest between a briefly seen Grey Goshawk and a flying-away-calling Restless Flycatcher – both new birds for the site for me. We also had 2 Whistling Kites and 2 Black-shouldered Kites in the raptor stakes and a fly over flock of ~20 Topknot Pigeons - 48 species all up.

Butterflys were slow to start – and probably would be more plentiful later in the day, but added Black Jezebel Delias nigrina and Purple Cerulean Jamides phaseli to the site list.

The site’s potential was fully discussed over breakfast at Mackers.

20.5.26

Minnippi

A couple of days of more rain – in fact a months-worth dumped in 24 hours – so the underfoot was very wet and flooded in places.

It was pretty quiet overall, although I did end up with 50 species – nothing special, numbers low. The biggest surprise was the almost complete lack of Magpie Geese – only 6 around the main island, having dropped from a high of approx 150. 4 Grey Teal arrived between my initial survey and my return from the Airfield Track. The latter was very quiet for the most part until, again near the end, a small bird wave of a few Scarlet Honeyeaters, a few Silvereyes and a female Mistletoebird, followed by a trio of Red-browed Finches on the track.

Butterflys – a single Brown Ringlet Hypocysta metirius, a single Evening Brown Melanitis leda and a handful of Monarchs Danaus plexippus.

21.5.26

JC Trotter

On site at 7, a bright, initially calm, sunny morning. Walking in it was very quiet – in fact I didn’t see anything of any consequence until the track brought me behind the first house. There I had a small bird wave of expected stuff including a Striped Honeyeater.

Moving on and passing the second house a Pale-headed Rosella perched up quite nicely.

 

Pale-headed Rosella

Along the ‘return track’  - i.e. the section back to the main track – another bird wave started with 3 Eastern Spinebills, followed by a trio of juvenile male, or adult males in moult, Scarlet Honeyeaters, a couple of Brown and a couple of Yellow-faced Honeyeaters all feeding from the same Bottlebrush bush. I managed to get a couple of decent photos of the Spinebills that I had specifically hoped for (although the way these guys flit around it's a case of spray and pray). 

Curious that despite the amount of Bottlebrush blossom available all these species seemed to pick the same bush – I didn’t see any birds on any other blossom all morning.

 

Eastern Spinebill

Yellow-faced Honeyeater

The rest of the track down to the reservoir was quiet and when I reached the first access point, found the water level had risen quite dramatically thanks to the recent heavy rain. I managed to get out to the viewpoint at this spot, but it was the only access to the water that was possible. Further on, below the powerlines, the water level had risen to halfway through the trees preventing further views of the water and obviously flooding completely the open area we usually visited. 

The only birds of interest from the accessible viewpoint were 8 Comb-crested Jacanas, a couple of Hardhead and 2 perched up Australian Pelicans.

The walk back up under the powerlines was also very quiet – apart from the only Butterfly of the morning, (2) Common Crow Euploea corethe only Dragonfly – a Wandering Percher Diplacodes bipunctata - and a single moth, Neat Epidesmia Epidesmia tryxaria.

Along the ‘back track, however, I ran into another bird wave, starting with a Fan-tailed Cuckoo and progressing through Red-backed Fairy Wrens, Rufous Whistlers, Grey Fantails, 2 White-throated Treecreepers and, probably bird of the morning, 2 Little Lorikeets who appeared to be nest hole searching, although I would have thought it wasn’t really that time of year?

 

White-throated Treecreeper - another photo challenger

Little Lorikeet - then again, sometimes you just get lucky

 

All up only 39 species, but a bit of quality made up for the numbers and I did add one bird species to my site list – a flock of ~40 Topknot Pigeons winged their way high overhead. I did, too, have one raptor this morning – a Whistling Kite cruising above the canopy.

Mammal numbers were low – only 2 Red-necked Wallabys Macropus rufogriseus. Due to the lake level rise and lack of view I didn’t record any Swamp Wallabys – they usually hang out along the water’s edge and as there was no ‘edge’ visible – the water rising into the tree line – there were none seen.

25.5.26

Minnippi

Thanks to early morning rain arrived on site at 7.30. Continued to be a damp morning but bright and sunny with just a sprinkle of rain as I headed back towards the car but it didn’t come to anything.

Good morning’s birding with a total of 53 species – missing Laughing Kookaburra, any Cockatoos and Fairy wrens so not too bad considering. Highlight of the morning was a single White-bellied Cuckoo Shrike in The Avenue – my 6^th record for this site. The Magpie Goose numbers remained down at 5 only, but most other species were much as expected number-wise.

Only two butterflys – a single Brown Ringlet Hypocysta metirius and an Evening Brown Melanitis leda.

26.5.26

Hemmant Rec Res and Minnippi

On site at 7 – another wet, grey, cloudy morning with a short spell of spitting rain. No bright spells – until I met Mr P at Minnippi later in the morning, but even then it was short-lived.

I was interested to see how the previous week’s rain had affected the claypans in Hemmant, but the continuing shitty weather reduced the number of active passerines so my morning’s list was pretty pathetic – 36 species. However, I did add a new bird to my site list – Scarlet Honeyeater, surprisingly, when I had 2 birds among the dozens of Brown Honeyeaters who all seemed to be finding their voice.

Apart from that it was much the same as the previous visits. The claypans, or scrapes, were more flooded than on the previous visits – and Chestnut Teal appeared to have taken advantage of the water level, there were probably around 30 birds on the shallow ponds – there were still 15+ Black-fronted Dotterels on the mud.

I had what appeared to be a family party of 4 Whistling Kites perched up above the main ponds – 2 adults and 2 juveniles and a White-breasted Sea Eagle perched up at the end of the track before I turned back. 

The only finch of the morning was a flock of approx 20 Chestnut-breasted Mannikins that perched up quite handily.

 

Chestnut-breasted Mannikin

Butterflys were, obviously, given the conditions, almost completely absent – a single Monarch being the only representative, but I did get my first Dragonfly – Wandering Percher Diplacodes bipunctata – for the site and first moth – Leaf Beanroller Omiodes diemenalis.

 

I finished up at about 9.15 and contacted Mr P as I knew he was planning on going to Minnippi to check for a couple of possible winter vagrants. We met under the powerlines and wandered the M1 track, the Avenue and around the lake looking for possible Regent Bowerbird and Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater without success. An adult White-breasted Sea Eagle putting in a brief flying-away-mobbed-by-a-crow view was the highlight. It had brightened up quite considerably, but began to cloud over and threaten rain again.

31.5.26

Oxley

The last day of Autumn and quite an extraordinary day it turned out to be. 

After several days of heavy rain, followed by 48 hours of winds, the morning was bright, sunny, calm and clear. Mr P picked up myself, Claire (from downstairs) and her friend Will and we were on site at 7.

As we walked towards the first gate we could see a crowd gathered inside across the track. It turned out to be the Prof (Hugh P) on a bird walk – and the biggest crowd I had ever seen of about 30 people.

We moved through and got ahead of them and worked the track, slowly. Much the usual stuff along the way, but we did find a Rose Robin at one point and a White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike put in a brief appearance.

At the turnoff to the ponds Mr P immediately heard our first target – Yellow Thornbill. It showed relatively well in the Brazilian Peppertree Schinus terebinthifolia for a brief period before disappearing  - just as we heard our second target - a calling Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater and spotted it in the trees by the creek. This was my first Yellow Thornbill at Oxley and I was desperately in need of photos as it was one of the birds I had seen but never successfully photographed. The results could have been better, but I’ll live with them for the moment. 

 

Yellow Thornbill

The Spiny-cheeked was, in fact, my third record at Oxley, the previous two being in 2005 and 2016 – interestingly all three records at this site were 10 years (or close to it) apart. It also appeared that our bird was a second bird of the morning as the Professor advised, when he caught up with us, that they had had one at the front gate earlier.

We moved on out to the ponds and found my second new bird of the day for the site – and a surprise – in the shape of an Azure Kingfisher. We had heard that someone had had one in the last few weeks, but I had had no expectations of seeing one. The sightings were a bit brief, as it remained hidden most of the time we were there, but most certainly a great bird to add to my site list.

We picked up a few more birds on the return walk, but overall the track was incredibly busy with numerous birder-types, photographers and normal non-combatants - families, dogs taking their owners for a walk and self-destructive joggers. I didn’t enjoy the numbers; much preferring a quiet track and less people, but being a weekend and the potential bird sightings everyone, it seemed, was out. We didn’t climb the gate due to the crowds, but could see the field was once again well and truly flooded so I hoped my next weekday visit would allow access at a quieter time. All up 52 species and the two newbies bringing my site list at Oxley to 174 bird species.

Only 1 single butterfly recorded - a Monarch Danaus plexippus. Maybe they don’t like crowds either…..