Weekends That Were - July 2026

 2.7.26

Eagleby Wetlands

On site at 7.30, a low hanging misty fog reduced visibility to 50 meters or less. It cleared over the next 30-40 minutes to a clear, bright, sunny morning.

Much the same as last week with a few additional birds for my site list – but nothing spectacular or exciting. The Brahminy Kite was over the river and the site dominated by Noisy Friarbirds, Brown Honeyeaters and Striated Pardalotes. The Wandering Whistle Duck numbers had increased to approx 25, from what I could see through the mist, and they were the dominant duck by far.

Two Evening Browns Melanitis leda were the only butterfly/insect recorded with a total of 42 bird species for the morning.

3.7.26

Palm Lake Wetlands, Eagleby

My last day looking after Ms S – and I let her have a sleep in while I went to the wetlands.

A good morning’s birding with an astonishing 51 species in the 90 minutes I walked up and down the road. There wasn’t anything super exciting, just a lot of birds. 

The wetlands on the north side of the road were very busy again with the White-necked Heron showing well. I had a few Red-browed Finches and a couple of Chestnut-breasted Mannikins on the Finch-front and a pair of Black-shouldered Kites were the only raptor. The possible ‘surprise’ of the morning was a Pheasant Coucal that flew up into a tree and climbed high into the branches – not easily seen in winter.

The only butterfly was Monarch Danaus plexippus – 3 fluttering along in the winter sun.

5.7.26

North Stradbroke Island

There had been remarkable reports of seabirds all along the east coast in the previous week – Albatrosses and Petrels off every pelagic and headland as far north as Northern NSW. A couple of seawatches had been done from Pt Lookout but only a single Blue Petrel (very rare for Qld) had been of any identifiable worthwhile record. However, the wind had remained SSE and it seemed like a viable opportunity.

I picked up Mr P at 6 and we took the 6.45 ferry to Dunwich, the bus to Pt Lookout and settled in at 8. The wind was very strong from the SSE and it all seemed very favourable.

Unfortunately, for whatever reason, it was remarkably quiet.

During the morning we were joined by approx 8 other birders most of whom we didn’t know. One of these was a loud, obnoxious individual who talked throughout the time he was present about his opinions, experiences and rubbish who became so annoying we decided to give it away at 12.45.

During the morning we had approx 40 Australian Gannets, ~100 Greater Crested Terns and 1 Northern Giant Petrel. I also picked up a Lesser Crested Tern but other than that it was a bit of a waste of time. 

I left Mr P at Pt Lookout with his family who had travelled over separately for the day and pushed my way onto the bus for the return to Dunwich. The ferry was also crowded – it was school holidays and there were a huge number of day trippers, although the number of visitors staying on the island seemed smaller than I had expected.

At the ferry terminal an Australian Pied Cormorant surfaced. I had realised recently that I didn't have any pictures of this bird. It is common and basically overlooked, I guess. It's not so often they are seen close to, usually flying low over the ocean somewhere or perched up on a distant bouy, rock or boat. Anyway here it is....

Australian Pied Cormorant

On the headland we also had the expected numbers (~40-50) of Hump-backed Whales Megoptera novaeangliae passing north pleasing all the punters and a large (~30) pod of Indo Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin Tursiops truncatus hanging around the Point trilling the little kids.

I also had a single Cabbage White Pieris rapae that was a new butterfly for my site list.

It was a disappointing outing, but nice to be back on the Point again, but…… remind me not to go to Straddie again during school holiday or if that dickhead is anywhere within hearing.....

9.7.26

Minnippi

On site at 7.15, a calm, pleasant winter’s morning.

Fairly birdy with a substantial number of Little Friarbirds backed up with a smaller number of Noisy Friarbirds calling around both tracks. Nothing spectacular seen – 1 White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike and again a pair of Spotted Pardalotes very low down, both on the M1 Track were the highlights. 75-80 Magpie Geese had returned to the lake, having been almost completely absent for my last couple of visits. 13 Wandering Whistle-Ducks were a good number, doing what Whistle-Ducks seem to do best during the day – sleep. The Airfield Track was very quiet with almost no activity along its length, but a Pheasant Coucal silently sneaking off into the grass along the edge of the Airfield was interesting - the second one I have seen active in the last week. No butterflys or any other animal life of interest, but 52 species was a decent morning’s birding.

9.7.26 (Later same day)

Spotlighting Minnippi

I picked Mr P up at 18.45 and we walked in from the road at 19.00. We had decided to spotlight the tracks as a long overdue exercise.

We crossed the bridge and walked up the cement track to the left of the pond. At the corner we found the first of our victims – a Brush-tailed Possum Trichasurus vulpecula low down in a tree. Not long afterwards Mr P found the bird of the night - a beautiful Eastern Barn Owl perched up at perfect height and just begging to be photographed. 

 

Eastern Barn Owl

Barn Owls are not common or easy to see. In 25+ years of birding in Australia I have only seen 3 or 4 and have no definite location for the bird anywhere.

We tried for White-throated Nightjar, Australian Boobook, Powerful Owl and Australian Owlet Nightjar at several locations along the Airfield Track and, later, the M1 Track without success – but given the season there was minimal chance of response. We did find a single Tawny Frogmouth, also on the Airfield Track and noted the large number of Grey-headed Flying Foxes Pteropus poliocephalus in the trees and sky above. There were also a smaller number of Forest Bat sp flitting around our headlamps – presumably chasing the surprising number of insects showing.

Coming out of the Airfield Track we found a Bush Stone Curlew right where Mr P had speculated just seconds before, standing in the open on the Airfield itself, a bird we have long expected to see here, but has virtually no observations within the park.

The M1 track produced nothing further.

A good night’s spotlighting despite the lack of responses and with two new species for my site list I was very content.

10.7.26

Blacklighting Minnippi

Following the previous night’s expedition and having noticed the number of insects that appeared to be active, I thought it would be worthwhile Blacklighting the Airfield Track.

On site at 19.30, having carried in a heavy backpack with all the Blacklighting gear/coffee making stuff/camera and chair, I set up with hope.

Hope that was to be, in the main, dashed. Over the following two hours only 4 Moths turned up, all the same species, and another insect thing I could not identify. It was, basically, a waste of time and energy, however, as I repeatedly state – if you never ever try, you’ll never, ever know.

Chezala privatella  (a Concealer Moth type)

I did find a Cockroach type in the leaf litter and a couple of spiders, one of which turned out to be a new species for me – Eastern Banded Huntsman Holconia insignis.

Eastern Banded Huntsman Holconia insignis

On the Spotlighting front I got no response to anything, but on the way out had a Bush Stone Curlew near the Airfield again – quite possibly the same bird as the previous night.

I also had a smaller number (~20) of Grey-headed Flying Foxes and a trio of Forest Bat sp, two Common Brush-tailed Trichasurus vulpecula and one Common Ring-tailed Possums Pseudocheirus peregrinus and a Tawny Frogmouth.

13.7.26

JC Trotter

On site at 7.30, a cold (10C) bright, eventually warm morning.

Dead as the proverbial. 

I really struggled to find anything, with the only passerines seen before the reservoir were 3 Rufous Whistlers, half a dozen Yellow-faced Honeyeaters and a couple of Grey Fantails and that was, literally, that.

The water level appeared to have dropped slightly – maybe a few centimeters – but most of the lake remained invisible due to lack of access and there was little of interest in what I could see – 6 Hardhead being the most of interest.

Along the Pylon Track a raptor flew low across the path ahead of me appearing to be carrying prey. It was far too quick for an ID, but most likely a Collared Sparrowhawk.

The morning was saved to a small degree 100 meters from the car – a part of the track that is usually dead – with a very small bird wave, which started with a partially coloured up Rose Robin, included a Fan-tailed Cuckoo and ended with an Australian Golden Whistler and Grey Fantail. 

32 species in total for the morning and, unusually, no Wallabys of any sort at all. 

14.7.26

Hemmant Rec Res West

I left it a little later on the theory it would give the birds a chance to warm up so arrived on site at 8.00. Another bright, calm, sunny morning – quite warm in the sun as the morning progressed.

The site wasn’t as birdy as it had been in recent times. The hordes of Brown Honeyeaters were largely gone, reduced to approx 10 birds; the numbers of finches, too, had diminished with only 6 Chestnut-breasted Mannikins been recorded. Much the same numbers of Grey and Chestnut Teal, Pacific Black Duck and Australian Grebes on the ‘dams’ and 30 Black-fronted Dotterels were present on the clay scrapes now back to the original water levels. 

The highlights of the morning were the four raptor species – 2 Whistling Kites, a Brahminy Kite, a White-bellied Sea Eagle and a Grey Goshawk.

 

Grey Goshawk - not the most salubrious of locations but you take what you can get!

Only two species of Butterfly – roughly 10 Monarchs Danaus plexippus and a single Black Jezebel Delias nigrina were seen along with 41 bird species for the morning.

15.7.26

Spotlighting JC Trotter

Mr P picked me up at 18.45, on site 15 minutes later. We had planned this expedition for a couple of weeks, but unfortunately the weather let us down. As we walked in it started to spit rain and gradually over the 40 minutes or so we were there increased, cutting short our planned walk.

During that time we saw and heard nothing at all – no mammals and certainly no birds.

 

16.7.26

Pt Lookout, North Stradbroke Island

 

I left home at 6 and arrived at the ferry terminal with 10 minutes to spare. The bay was fairly calm – just a slight chop in the middle – and we disembarked at 7.10. I was the only person from the boat to board the bus and, in fact, was the only passenger at all on the bus! So I was chauffeured to Pt Lookout by 7.45 and set off to walk to the Point. 

The Little Wattlebirds were going off big time in the trees over the walk and when I emerged into the open it was obvious why they had concentrated in the relative shelter – it was blowing a f…….g gale from the south. The wind was howling, one of the strongest winds I have experienced at this location.

I staggered on out, trying to maintain my balance, and set up at 8.00. 

The seas were huge and, it being low tide, were piling up and smashing onto Whale Rock. I was fairly well protected behind the Rock so plugged in my iPod, set up my camping stove and settled in for the morning and the Loneliness of the Solo Seawatcher.

In the end I sat for 4 hours, until midday, when the rain showers that had been passing offshore started to move towards the headland. I was just in time – more or less – as it bucketed rain and I got pretty damp walking back. The wind drove the rain so hard it felt like hail and I had to carry my beanie or would have lost it off my head. It was ferocious.

The birds were a little disappointing. All up I had 2 very distant Pterodroma-types, 1 a bit closer was probably a Great-winged Petrel and one about half way out was definitely a Great-winged. Two Hutton’s/Fluttering types going north and 1 left were, basically, black and white Shearwaters and the ID was somewhat assumed. Not long before I left a dark phase Arctic Skua chased a Tern, landed on the water, to consume whatever the Tern had dropped, and I lost it in the seas. Australasian Gannets went back and forth – mostly adults – but numbers a bit hard to compute, probably around 20 birds, and 30 or so Common Terns made up the most interesting species.

There were the usual (~40) Humpback Whales Megoptera novaeangliae – some breaching seen, but mainly just plowing their way north -and a handful of Indo-Pacific Bottle-nosed Dolphins Tursiops truncatus showed briefly off the point.

At the bus stop one of the locals came to visit and stood blinking in the rain wondering, maybe, how to get into the bus shelter when all these people were standing around.

 

Bush Stone Curlew

Back at the ferry terminal a second White-bellied Sea Eagle and a Brahminy Kite flew past while I waited. 

All in all it could be construed as a waste of time, but Pt Lookout always refreshes me, even if I am knackered after a lengthy seawatch, there’s just something about the ocean that is very rewarding.

17.7.26

Oxley

It was a dull, cloudy, grey, wet morning and the bird activity reflected the atmosphere. The sun did break through as I approached the ponds, but it was recaptured by the looming clouds after a short period. It looked and felt like it was going to rain at any minute, but I was spared during my walk.

The birds were quiet, as was the track humanoid-wise, obviously the weather kept the jogging crowd at bay. Lots of Brown Honeyeaters, a few Lewin’s Honeyeaters, a couple of flocks of Silvereyes and a small number of Little Friarbirds and that was about it. The ponds were almost deserted and I didn’t see any Egrets, Cattle or otherwise, despite there being a good herd of cows in the fields.

On the positive side there was a flock of 40+ Chestnut-breasted Mannikins and, separately, ~8 Double-barred Finches along the pond track. ‘The’ Black-shouldered Kite was in attendance and as I approached the carpark I noticed a bird perched up on a tree in the field that turned out to be an Nankeen Kestrel, my first record at this site since April 2017, although I have heard of more recent records.

A total of 45 bird species and only 2 Monarchs Danaus plexippus see on the butterfly front.

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, Scarlet and 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.

15.6.26

Minnippi

I had planned to go to Anstead until I realised I wouldn’t have much time to spare with an appointment to donate plasma late in the morning so… I went to Minnippi instead.

Nice weather, but pretty average birding. My contact lens was playing up and my sight was somewhat compromised, but I did total 48 species for the morning anyway. Numbers a bit lower than on recent visits, best bird was a male Leaden Flycatcher on the M1 track, but little else of note.

16.6.26

Anstead & Moggill Pocket Swamp

On site at 7.15 after the usual traffic-heavy drive; lovely winter morning weather, the track with the usual local dogs-walking-people and walkie-talkie oldies. The initial section was very quiet bird-wise, almost nothing except Noisy Friarbirds that dominated the whole scene, until I ran into a loose bird wave near the end of the upper track. 

Checked everything – Striated and Spotted Pardalotes, both Whistler sp, Yellow-faced, White-throated, Scarlet and Lewin’s Honeyeaters and a couple of Olive-backed Orioles. This happened a few times – possibly the same birds in a couple of cases. Not big numbers at any time and nothing I could turn into anything exciting. Late in the piece along the bitumen section a couple of Red-browed Finches and ditto Chestnut-breasted Mannikins, the latter not a particularly common species at this site, in my experience.

Picked up a coffee at West Vets and drove to Moggill Swamp – again, nothing outstanding, just usual stuff there. I did walk 100m up the road to check the small pond-that-used-to-be, but is now completely overgrown, and found a Brown Honeyeater building a nest, which was a surprise, given the season, but other than that all so so.

17.6.26

Blacklighting JC Trotter

I decided to give Blacklighting a go again. Being winter I didn’t think it would be very successful, but figured if I didn’t give it a go, I’d never know for sure.

On site at 19.30, a cool, calm, clear night I set up at the usual spot, 300 meters in along the track. I used my ‘new’ sheet (created by my ex-wife, Ms J) for the first time. It went up well and was more stable than the original sheet I had been using.

It turned out to be pretty much what I had suspected. Over a two hour period 2 small Moth species, a Click Beetle sp and an unidentifiable-to-species-level Beetle showed. The fact that the two Moths were new was notable, but maintaining interest with the lack of activity was challenging. 

Wandering along the track either side of the Blacklight position I found a number of small spiders, their beady little eyes showing well in the spotlight. They were all the same species – Variable Wolfspider Venator spenceri  - a new spider for my list.

 

Variable Wolfspider Venator spenceri 

The semi-boredom was somewhat compensated for by a nearby Powerful Owl who called fairly regularly through the period, whom I ‘stalked’ 100 meters off-track through the thick undergrowth and who sat waiting patiently for me to crash my way through until I could see him. It was, in fact, a new species for my site list and not a bad view, although he was fairly high up in a dead tree I couldn't get the camera to focus while fumbling with the head-lamp.

I neither heard nor saw any other birds or any mammals during my visit.

19.6.26

Oxley

A perfect winter’s morning – warming up more than expected, but very pleasant. The track was overall quiet, numbers of Noisy and Little Friarbirds dominating the landscape as they seem to be doing everywhere these days.

At the ‘Yellow Thornbill Junction’ there were a number of Silvereyes flitting around the bushes – I checked as many birds as I could but could find nothing different, and no Yellow Thornbills. As I walked away towards the ponds a small very white looking bird flew past me into the same Brazilian Pepperbush. I managed to relocate it quite quickly and once I realised it wasn’t some strange Canary identified it as a leucistic Silvereye……I got some photos - they weren't the best but they'll do....

 

Leucistic Silvereye

A little further on a group of large fungi had sprouted through the grass – Great White Slender Caesar Amanita egregia, I believe.

 

Great White Slender Caesar Amanita egregia

Not much else to report – a Whistling Kite cruising overhead and the Australian Hobby perched up on its favourite pylon made it a 2-raptor morning that was more notable for the birds I didn’t see; there were a number of key species missing on the perfect morning leaving me with a rather meagre list of 45 species.

23.6.26

Minnippi

A perfect winter’s morning – bright, clear sky, sunny, warming – but still pretty cool in the shade and slight breeze. 

The lake was very busy with multiple Egrets (Little, 5, and Plumed, 8), a good number of Wandering Whistle Ducks, 15, Great, Little Black and Little Pied Cormorants, Darter, White-faced Heron, Hardhead (1), Eurasian Coots (3), Australian Grebes (6), Pacific Black Ducks and Australian Wood Ducks, Dusky Moorhens, Australasian Swamphens and Comb-crested Jacanas (6).

The M1 track was quiet – with just the resident Eastern Yellow Robin banging away and a Fan-tailed Cuckoo trilling in the trees so enthusiastically it sounded like two birds.

The birding highlight occurred as I exited the Cut back Track to the lake and a brief view of a Pale-vented Bush Hen flying off the track under the powerlines into the long grass.

The Airfield Track was also quiet with only small numbers of Noisy Friarbirds and Scarlet Honeyeaters of note.

The ‘Other’ highlight of the day happened as I walked back along the fence line on the edge of the Airfield. Ahead of me a large 2 meter long snake lay sunning itself across the track. Once I ID’d it as a Carpet Python Morelia spilota variegate I quietly walked up and past it and it was only then that the snake seemed to become aware of my presence. Not that that seemed to make any difference as it lazily lifted it’s head and looked at me as if to say ‘just piss off and leave me in peace’ ……. so I did.

One butterfly only – an Evening Brown Melanitis leda.

Carpet Python Morelia spilota variegate

25.6.26

Palm Lakes Wetland, Eagleby

As I was at my daughter’s place looking after Ms Shadow while they were away, I decided to go to the nearby wetlands. I took Ms S along with me for the safe walk along the road.

A lovely winter’s morning, bright, sunny, calm and warming up rapidly following a rather cold start to the day. On site at 8.15 – a bit later than normal, but as it was only a short expedition I hadn’t hurried out.

Wasn’t a bad morning with a total of 40 species, the highlights being a White-necked Heron (my 5^th site record) and a briefly seen Swamp Harrier (3^rd site record) which flew low across the road and disappeared quite quickly out of sight behind the fringing bushes and reed beds. Its been ages since I had seen a Swamp Harrier – couldn’t remember the last one – and I was a little disappointed at the view, hoping to get photos of this uncommonly seen bird. The only other bird of note really was a flock of approx 10 Red-browed Finches, mostly juveniles.

Ms S enjoyed the walk and, as she warmed up, immersed her lower body in the roadside ditch of muddy water looking very pleased with herself as she cooled down. I assured her it was OK she was wet as I liked the smell of wet dog in the car……….

A couple of Monarchs Danaus plexippus were the only butterflys seen.

26.6.26

Eagleby Wetlands

Another local site to my current abode. A grey, wet, dull morning and it was raining lightly when I arrived on site at 7.30. I decided I’d walk in anyway and, thankfully, the rain stopped within a few minutes. Although it did break the shone only broke through for a few minutes at a time and eventually, shortly after I had finished, it rained again.

Overall the site was quite birdy, but the lakes were a disappointment. The last visit I had made to this location was in 2011 and I only had 2 previous recorded visits, both in Autumn, so a fairly limited species site list. I added 10 new birds to my site list on this visit, but nothing unusual or surprising – more surprising that they weren’t already on my list – 44 species for the morning.

15 Wandering Whistle Ducks on the lake were the dominant waterfowl, but there wasn’t a lot of open water, most of the surface being covered by Common Water Hyacinth Pontederia crassipes, so ‘duck space’ was pretty limited. 

The trees along the ‘river walk’ and in general were birdy with the expected birds, given the season and location. A Brahminy Kite flying low downriver was probably the bird of the morning. I took photos of a number of flowering plants – mainly for ID purposes, but did add 2 new plants to my database.

27.6.26

JC Trotter

I met Mr P on site at 7 – another lovely winter morning if a little damp underfoot, bright sunny, calm.

Not too bad a morning with at least 8 Eastern Spinebills, a trio of White-throated Treecreepers, a White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike, 2 Little Lorikeets and a Koala Phascolarctos cinereus.

Bird numbers were low in general and the water level in the dam still very high preventing easy access – 43 species for the morning.

Coffee in Mackers afterwards.

28.6.26

Palm Lakes Wetland, Eagleby

Me and my Shadow went for another walk and, in her case, another wallow. A rather dull, overcast morning, a bit glary, but not warm and rain spitting for a few minutes at one point.

Similar to the previous visit 3 days ago, but a few species ‘missing’ and a few additional birds. Three raptors – a Whistling Kite, Black-shouldered Kite (2) and a Brown Goshawk. Two Buff-banded Rails scurried off the road as a local elderly resident hurtled down the road in his golf buggy with his cattle dog-type running beside him, unfortunately scaring off everything ahead of us. 

There were a number of Royal Spoonbills (6), Great Egrets (2), Eastern Cattle Egrets (~10), Plumed Egrets (2) and Australian White Ibis (300) feeding in the roadside swamp, but no sign of the White-necked Heron of last week.

Very difficult to see into the open water on the left side of the road, the reed/grass beds were too high. Undoubtedly more water birds available in there, but, frustratingly, out of sight.

The roadside trees dominated by Brown Honeyeaters and several Striated Pardalotes with 1 Yellow-faced Honeyeater showing on the river bank.

All in all an easy walk with 39 species recorded in an hour's birding.