Weekends That Were - March 2015

28.3.15

Eagleby

Picked Mr D up at 6.00 and we parked at the roadside at about 6.30. The road had been bitumened since our last visit, 2 years ago. Walked down the road noting the various birds in the roadside trees and fields as we approached the view over the flooded lake. Between conversations with the residents of a nearby retirement home who, accompanied by their respective mutts, treat this section of road as their early morning pre-breakfast constitutional, we scoped the lake and picked up 3 Pink-eared Duck and a White-bellied Sea Eagle flying low carrying a dead something along with the usual Black Ducks and, Wow!!! again, Black Swan.

A Black-shouldered Kite perched up in a huge old eucalypt in the middle of the field and a Striped Honeyeater carolled away in the back ground somewhere. Halfway along and, as I peered through my scope, Mr D hushed me and pointed out a Buff-banded Rail which had ventured out onto the road, tail all a-flick, to investigate the remains of a frog. Tawny Grassbirds, Golden-headed Cisticolas, Superb Fairy Wrens, Chestnut-breasted Mannikins all joined the list.

We reached the end of the road and turned to wander back when Mr D called out two raptors above – a Black Kite and an Eastern Osprey almost together. Two new birds for my site list at once.

Apart from a twisting, turning Latham’s Snipe that hammered across the lake and a brief view of a low flying Whistling Kite, not much else showed on the walk back until just before the car an Australian Hobby put in a close appearance flying around and then over us a low altitude to eventually perch up on a distant branch.

So a quiet day, but 6 species of raptor wasn’t a bad tally!

We drove around a few roads checking out some other wet areas, but the only noteworthy sighting was a couple of flocks of Magpie Geese feeding in the fields and the only noteworthy event was me nearly driving the car into a very steep sided ditch trying to tell if a perched kingfisher was a Sacred or a Forest?

We paid a brief visit to the (official) Eagleby wetlands area, but the main pond was very overgrown and quiet. On a secondary more open-watered pond a small flock of Plumed Whistle Ducks looked nervous – as they inevitably always seem to do, but I cracked off a few photos anyway.

Plumed Whistle Ducks

We headed back north trying to decide where to eat and choosing Lady Marmalade in Stones Corner where we had an interesting, if slightly different, breakfast and excellent coffee.

26.3.15

Lindum & Sandy Camp

                                                                                                                                                 

Arrived on site, Burnby Rd, at 6.30. Scoped the back of the muddy area – loads of Stilts, a few Red-kneed and Black-fronted Dotterels but not much else. Walked down the road and checked the trees – several Mangrove Gerygones and Willy Wagtails feeding on the flying insects that again seemed to have exploded.

Walked through the grass towards the second pond but had to stop after a short distance as it was very flooded – we’d had some heavy rain over the last few days. Nothing much of great interest in sight – a few Straw-necked and lots of Australian White Ibis, Eastern Cattle and a couple of Intermediate Egrets

Back to the car and drove around to Kianawah Rd – walked in and found no ‘brown’ waders at all. 250+ White-headed stilts, more Red-kneed and Black-fronted Dotterels and 12 Marsh Sandpipers. Hung out for a bit but nothing changed so headed on for Fuller.

Being a school day I thought I might run into trouble with sports, but no one paid me any attention and mostly it was just parents dropping kids off. The ‘lake’ was very full – but the activity was low – just a few Australian Grebes, 1 Wandering whistle Duck and the usual Moorhens etc. A flock of Tree Martins came in and hawked the water’s surface for a few minutes before moving on.

On to Sandy Camp and it, too, was very quiet. Nothing much to see. The path around the back of the papyrus bed was flooded so I didn’t go all the way. Little Pied and Little Black Cormorants, and Australian Darters nesting and a flushed Brown Goshawk were the main noticeables. A few Rainbow Bee Eaters hung around the tree tops and one obliged with a close visit. A pair of Forest Kingfishers were also present.

Rainbow Bee Eater

22.3.15

Oxley

Being alone I headed out at 6.00 arriving on site at 6.15. It was a cool, damp morning, a load of rain carried in by thunder & lightning the night before was still soaking into the ground.

Walking out to the lakes the only real item of interest were two calling Spotless Crakes in the second culvert – minimal calls in response to playback, they growled away for a few seconds deep out of sight in the reeds. On to the lakes and they were overflowing. A horde of Eastern Cattle Egrets and White Ibis appeared to be taking advantage of the spreading water feeding on the edges as, presumably, insects and the like were forced out of hiding as the water rose. There were minimal duck on the lakes, no Moorhens and only 2 Purple Swamphens. A Pied Cormorant was a less common visitor, but all in all bird life was pretty quiet. 5, a larger number than usual, Australian Pipits, bounced along the track ahead of me and I caught a very quick glimpse (again) of a Buff-banded Rail hightailing it into the undergrowth.

The heat and humidity started to build as I walked back, even though more rain appeared to be approaching from the south, so I kept up the pace and headed home.

21.3.55

Port of Brisbane, Sandy Camp & Lindum

I parked at Stu’s and we went in his car. We wanted to try to get in to Manly wader roost. Neither of us had been there for several months and had heard that access was no longer available. And so it proved. A ‘full metal jacket’ fence bars access and additional notices warn of huge fines and ‘AUTHORISED PERSONNEL ONLY’ etc. Pathetic carry on from an organisation (the yacht club) that destroyed the existing wader roost in its quest to build a marina for the rich and now bars access to birders to the muddy hole in the ground left for the birds.

We drove the esplanade checking on the Gull population to make sure no overseas visitors had snuck in and then headed for the Port of Brisbane. Headed for it - but due to the ridiculous complexity of the roadways ended up heading for the city, before finding our way off the motorway and back in the right direction.

The POB is run by the POB Corporation and is built on re-claimed land at the mouth of the Brisbane river. The re-claiming continues and most waders in the bay, it would appear, roost or feed in these completely inaccessible areas.

The POB in its pursuit of an environmental tick, left one area open as a wader roost. ‘Open’ is not quite the operative word as it is surrounded by an 8 ft wire fence and the only gate in requires a key to be collected from a visitor’s centre that is only open Monday-Friday…..Two hides were built inside this compound – both high above the water and quite some distance from any reasonable habitat and both facing into the morning sun, the prime birding time.. To top it off you need the skills of a contortionist as you struggle with scope & bins to see out the narrow slits that provide the view. How is it that most of the hides in Australia are so poorly designed when there are perfectly functional examples in places like the UK? Do they actually consult with anyone who has a clue?  Anyway, I am jumping the gun…..

We parked firstly in the car park beside the gate and peered through the wire fence into the sun identifying a handful of Sharp-tailed Sandpipers on a muddy patch and a pile of Australian Pelicans and Little Pied Cormorants on an island along with, Wow, 2 Black Swans!! A few Chestnut, and a greater number of Grey, Teal preened and slept around the edges and a Whistling Kite put in a lazy appearance. In the distance a small group of waders showed some promise so we drove further along the road and pulled over, quite safely, on a gravel patch, walked across the road and began scanning the banks again through the 8 ft wire fence designed to keep out…what?….flying foxes?? Ha ha…

A Brown Goshawk suddenly appeared and landed in front of us, literally, and then proceeded to walk along the top of the dyke towards a reed bed – interesting behaviour.

I suggested to Stu that it was only a matter of time before security appeared and, sure enough, as we were checking out the Red-necked Stints and a couple of Golden Plover, our friendly security guard arrived in a ute with flashing yellow lights and a high vis jacket.

Due to the fact that the POB reclaimed and ‘built’ the entire island they have private control over all aspects of the roads – including speed limits, parking, visitors - and appear to have a higher than average concern for any possible trespassing or subversive behaviour…… like birding.

Give him his due he was very polite and relatively friendly as he advised us he had been watching us on CCTV and we would have to move our car as the whole island was a no-standing area, and, he shook his head despairingly, we were crossing the road without high vis vests on….

We hung our heads accordingly and made silent vows to never, ever go birding in a high vis vest. I made some excuses about it being quiet on a weekend and there being no key available when all normal birders need access…… However, we moved the car and he opened the gate to the compound and told us we could go on into ‘the little brown room’ if we wanted to. For appearances sake we went on into the afore mentioned ‘little brown room’ and tried to see out the windows, but gave up after 10 minutes or so and, after locking up, headed off to Sandy Camp Rd, Stu staying well within the speed limit and observing all road rules – except the high vis vest one…..

So it was getting on in the morning when we reached Sandy Camp and the birds were quieter. We wandered around the two main ponds, but didn’t see too much apart from a couple of Forest Kingfishers and the usual few duck and ibises. We were pleased to see a family party of 3 adult and 12 well advanced Wandering Whistle Ducks.

Rainbow Bee Eater

Forest Kingfisher

Eastern Water Dragon

Not wasting too much time we headed on for our last stop of the morning – Lindum wetlands.

Out on the grassy spit from Kianawah rd, scanning the muddy waters – a flock of 25 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, a smaller number (14) of Marsh Sandpipers, 250 + White-headed stilts, a handful of Red-kneed Dotterels, a couple of pairs of Double-banded Dotterels, a single Australian Grebe, a few Chestnut & Grey Teal and Black Ducks….and Stu brought my attention back to a single Sharpie-like wader well away from the main group and looking a bit different. He had been watching it for a few minutes and it now had its back turned to us. A few more heartbeats and it turned to face us and the clearly marked, cut off breast instantly dismissed Sharp-tailed and brought into focus Pectoral Sandpiper. Stu had already noted the lighter coloured base to the bill and the browner appearance of the mantle compared to the rufous feathering on the Sharpies coming into breeding plumage. Even as we assessed this a Brown Goshawk flushed all the brown waders – the Marsh Sands & Stilts didn’t move - but ‘our’ bird flew high and joined the flock of Sharpies to eventually vanish into the heat haze.

We hung around hoping for them to return, but they didn’t re-appear so we gave it away and headed down Burnby Rd to just double-check the far end of the wetland, just in case.

It was not to be – there was nothing much of interest there although a single Glossy Ibis at the far end of the road was a nice addition to an otherwise frustrating and fairly low key morning.

We finished up at Belesis for the usual chicken and pork products and further chat about fantasy trips…..

15.3.15

Anstead & Moggill Swamp

Mr D picked me up at 5.45 and we arrived on site at 6.15 to a pleasant cool, clear morning. Mr D immediately called “Rainbow Bee Eaters” and we spotted a small flock overhead ‘heading north’. Walking up the track, at first, everything seemed very quiet. Then Mr D followed a medium sized bird as it moved from tree to tree, seemingly nervous and moving further away, we finally got bins on it – a hepatic Oriental Cuckoo. Good bird, Mr D!

Just after that a Painted Buttonquail could be heard calling from the long grass beside the track and, as we tried to call it out, I had another ‘normal looking’ Oriental Cuckoo in sight! The jizz was quite distinctive – as the first one, it kept moving ahead of us, at quite long range and maintained a nervous disposition throughout. I did manage to get the camera on it, but the results were poor.

Oriental Cuckoo

We moved on when it disappeared altogether and another pair of Buttonquails were calling, in stereo, on either side of the track. A male Common Cicadabird provided some photographic opportunities, but again the results weren’t brilliant. Then as we watched it, first one, then another, Oriental Cuckoo flew past us! We were unsure if these were the same birds seen earlier -one of them appeared to be a hepatic - but they continued on without landing so the total number remained in doubt. It never rains but it pours! OCs are a difficult bird at the best of times, but they seem to like Anstead, being a regular visitor, and almost (almost!) a guarantee at this time of year.

Male Common Cicadabird

Nothing much else showed for a while until, as we moved down the track towards the lookout over the river, a female Collared Sparrowhawk glided across in front of us pursued by a belligerent Spangled Drongo.

Further along and Mr D kept hearing Fan-tailed Cuckoos, which for the most part eluded my battered eardrums. I did, however, eventually hear them and we saw a couple chasing over the bitumen track. Pale-headed Rosellas, a White-throated Gerygone, lots of Australian Figbirds, Little Friarbirds and Blue-faced Honeyeaters moved through almost as a feeding flock, with a number of Spangled Drongos around the edges and small parties of Rainbow and Scaly-breasted Lorikeets in the wings, so to speak……

We reached the car without further excitement and headed off for Moggill Swamp

Both sides of the road had plenty of water. Grey Teal, Pacific Black Ducks, a pair of Wandering Whistle Ducks with a huge brood of chicks, a White-headed Stilt sitting on a nest, a White-faced Heron and a pair of Black-fronted Dotterels on the left side of the road, while a pair of Little Corellas made lots of noise in the tree behind us.

Crossing the road it was, as usual, Purple Swamphen central, with another 6 Wanderers looking, nervous, as they do, trying to hide among the water plants. A late Channel-billed Cuckoo flew silently across the road while a Pheasant Coucal and a Fan-tailed Cuckoo called – both the latter being new for my site list.

We headed off discussing our breakfast options, I eventually relented and we went to the slightly-more-expensive-than-the-average-birder-wants-to-spend Plum cafe in Kenmore for the usual.

14.3.15

Pt Lookout, North Stradbroke Island

With 30 knot winds predicted and a week of tough rides home from work against the prevailing south-easterlies Straddie seemed the place to be on Saturday morning. The bay was fairly calm and no wind apparent until I rounded the corner on the walk from the bus and the howling gale staggered me.

I tried sitting in the camp chair sheltered somewhat by the rock, but the ‘scope was trembling in the wind so I moved into the cave and a more complete shelter. The glare was on and off – they had been predicting 70% cloud cover, but it was sporadic at best and sheets of glaring light competed with cloud shadows on the ocean’s surface making it difficult to see clearly at times.

http://youtu.be/aYOyCnbI1T4

At first glance the ocean looked empty, however, through the scope I quickly picked up numbers of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters and Common Noddys moving south. Large number so Common Terns were also on the move with a very small number of Little Terns flickering above the waves. In the first hour a single dark phase Pomarine Skua ploughed strongly straight through the wind low over the waves and in the second hour a maniacal Hutton’s Shearwater sheared through, passing everyone else.

And that was about it. I gave it away at 10.30, got the 10.50 bus and the 11.30 ferry. On arrival back at Cleveland - after a spray ridden journey across a very choppy Moreton Bay – 4 Pacific Reef Herons were standing around on the mud bank opposite the ferry terminal. 2 of each phase made for interesting photos.

7.3.15

Minnippi

I picked up Mr D at 5.45 and we arrived on site on a pleasantly cool morning at 6.00. Everything was quite wet and lush due to the recent rain, subsequent flooding and heavy morning dew.

The lake was very full – all signs of the recent lily-pad area and small exposed mud edges completely submerged. Not much activity on the main lake just a few Pacific Black Ducks pottering around and above on the high voltage lines 7 White-breasted Wood swallows huddled together. The M1 wood trail was quiet too – a single Galah perched up but otherwise nothing moving or calling. Walking through the grass connecting track a small party of Chestnut-breasted Mannikins took flight and a pair of Variegated Fairy wrens tried to hide in the scrubby vegetation.

Meanwhile, back at the lake…..lots of Pacific Black Ducks again, a couple of Australian Grebes, half a dozen Hardheads, a pair of Grey Teal, a few Dusky Moorhen and Purple Swamphens. A Pacific Koel calling, a Pheasant Coucal calling and 4 White-throated Needletails flashed by – hangers on from Summer. We appeared to have a surfeit of Spangled Drongos – approx. 7, although hard to keep track of them as they moved around - a pair of Rainbow Bee Eaters and, later, a single, very discreet Oriental Dollarbird all seemed to support a northerly movement in our summer populations. To call it ‘migration’ would over- state the situation, however, a migration of sorts it is – just a lot more subtle than the migrations of the northern hemisphere (some of us) are used to. We also had a larger than usual number of Grey Shrikethrushes calling at least 6 so far as we could ascertain. Don’t; believe they ‘migrate’ – but it was an abnormal number for the site.

At the top of the hill a persistent male Pacific Koel was spotted in the top of a fig tree and some photos attempted. It is always hard to get on to this species in Australia, despite their persistent and familiar call and getting a male in the open long enough for me to get the camera on him was unusual.

Pacific Koel - male

We walked down the Airfield track and ran into a bird wave of sorts. A pair of Grey Shrikethrushes were carrying on hissing like Bowerbirds and obviously distressed about something. We thought it might be an Owl or a raptor, a snake or maybe a cat? In the end we didn’t find anything but a juvenile tail-less Shrikethrush obviously just out of the nest, fluttered across the track and the adults seemed to settle down somewhat. The benefit was that their carry on had attracted a number of other species in curiosity – a male Leaden Flycatcher, a Varied Triller, a pair of Variegated Fairy-wrens, Brown Honeyeaters and a Little Shrikethrush had all turned up to see what the commotion was.

Otherwise the track was quiet – we did see a European Hare near the turn off to the field, only my third record at Minnippi.

A short sit at Stu’s Raptor Lookout produced nothing and we headed back down the back of the lake to, eventually, breakfast at Belesis’s and, in celebration of Mr D’s reduced cholesterol level, we both had bacon & eggs.