21.6.15
Minnippi
http://youtu.be/z_dw_9TuEE0
20.6.15
Samsonvale
13 - 15.6.15
Minnippi
A late start saw me on site at 7.30. The
M1 woods were quiet, (apart from a silent Fan-tailed
Cuckoo and a group of Scarlet
Honeyeaters high in the canopy), the main lake was empty (of birds, very
full of water) and even the walk from the woods up to the far end of the main
lake was almost dead.
The usual Black Ducks, several Hardhead,
a single Grey Teal, Moorhens, a few Swamphens and Wood Duck were hanging off the boardwalk looking for handouts.
The Airfield track was also very,
very quiet, although I did find a happy Cuckoo
singing its heart out on an exposed branch that was worth filming….
Back to Stu’s lookout, but nothing
stirring, on down the bike path towards the car park and s solitary roosting Tawny Frogmouth in the same tree, on
the same branch, I think as last year’s sleepy pair.
I thought I heard the ascending call
of a Brush Cuckoo just about the same spot, but playback did not encourage any
further calling or visible response, so considering my hearing and my being
bird-call- challenged I assume I was mistaken.
I headed out for the pleasure of a
date with an almost-two year old and doing the grandfather thing.
20.6.15
Samsonvale
Mr D picked me up at 6, we stopped to
pick up two free mackers coffees in Enoggera and arrived on site at the
cemetery at 6.50. Three Black-shouldered
Kites greeted our arrival as we made our way down to the lake shore. The
edge of the forest produced as usual – a Varied
Triller and a Shining Bronze Cuckoo
(thanks to Mr D’s ears) were the best of a number of species. On the lake there
were about 300 Hardhead and 40-50,
mostly sleeping, Great-crested Grebes.
A few Cormorants, a small group of Royal Spoonbills and a perched up pair
of Whistling Kites made up the
numbers around and on the water and a distant White-breasted Sea Eagle cruised over the tree line.
We made our way back through the dew
soaked grass, over the fence and along the track. Generally it was fairly quiet
although we counted upwards of 30 Grey
Fantails hunting and chasing along the sun lit trees at the top of the
escarpment overlooking the lake.
We walked the Hoop Pine circuit and
checked for the Owlet Nightjar who wasn’t at home. Then, near the big Mango, Mr
D thought he heard a call he recognised. A quick playback and a pair of White-eared Monarchs flew into view.
One adult and one appearing to be a juvenile, they flitted around the crown of
a nearby tree silhouetted against the sky. I tried for photos but got none I
was happy with and we left them to it and headed off to Samford for a pancake
breakfast at the Happy Berry.
13 - 15.6.15
South Australia
13.6.15 We
landed in Adelaide on time in the Virgin goddess at 8.30am (local time). The
morning had started at the ungodly hour of 4.00 for a 6.10 departure.
We got our bags, got the car and
headed off towards the beach front just north of Glenelg to look for Colin’s Target No 1
– Fairy Tern. The sea was flat calm, not much disturbed the
tranquillity of the Adelaide Saturday morning, cyclists whizzed past, locals
strolled, but no Fairy Terns disturbed the peace. We tried a couple of
locations as we moved south?, more like east, along the coast.
Eventually we gave it away promising
ourselves we’d see them in the Coorong or at Port McDonnell, our destination
for today.
Hours of driving for Stu – we had
piked at the thought of paying an extra $5.50 per day to authorise me to be an
additional driver so it all fell on his shoulders – not the best decision we’ve
ever made considering the distance.
Not much happened before we reached Salt Creek, half
way along the Coorong.
I kept a bird list as we went, but it was fairly average.
We drove the unsealed Loop road from
the service station and searched around the 3.7 km mark, as advised, for the
reputed Malleefowl
mound – Colin’s
Target No 2. No sign of the mound or the bird although we did flush
several Rabbits and saw a couple of Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters, a Grey Currawong and Inland Thornbill.
 |
| Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater |
We drove the rest of the Loop road
without any excitement then continued on our way stopping only in Meningie for
some supplies and reaching Port McDonnel at
16.00. We didn’t even stop at the caravan park, but headed straight out to some
narrow local roads for Colin’s Target No 3 – Blue-winged Parrot.
Up and down, round and round we drove
until dark, but no BW Parrots did we see. We did find a small flock of Red-rumped settling down for the night
and a humongous (most likely Western)
Grey Kangaroo, but apart from
that….nothing.
 |
| Male Red-rumped Parrot |
We returned to the caravan park,
found beds, unpacked, chatted to the other pelagic participants and then headed
off to the local pub for dinner. It was all well-arranged. The pelagic
organisers - Colin & Stuart, funnily enough – booked the cabin at the
caravan park and the table at the pub so we didn’t have to worry about
accommodation or restaurant choice – not that there appeared to be a big choice
of either in Port McD…….
14.6.15 Up at
6.00, scratch breakfast, then down to the wharf where we waited for an in-ordinarily
long time until eventually the Remarkable
pulled in beside the wall and we clambered aboard – it was now about 7.30. We
set off seawards and the boat chugged along happily in the gentle, calm swell
and the almost unnoticeable wind.
We travelled along at 17 knots for
about an hour and had started to see the odd Albatross when there was a sort of
grinding noise and the engine went into overdrive before being brought under control
by the skipper. The deckie ran out, lifted an engine hatch and peered in. With
a worried look on his face he hurried back in to report. The skipper came out
and disappeared down the ladder emerging minutes later coughing and choking.
Eventually the main engine hatch was lifted, the thick smoke quickly dispersed
and chins were scratched while heads were shaken as it became apparent we
weren’t going to make the shelf today.
The following four hours saw a small
fishing boat turn up, pick up the tow rope and slowly but surely get us
underway back to land. Meanwhile fish frames, guts and bones were tossed
overboard and, in a matter of a few minutes, the boat was surrounded by 40+ Black-browed and Shy Albatrosses fighting over the scraps. They were shortly joined
by a Northern Giant Petrel and,
later, a single Indian Yellow-nosed
Albatross while a Northern Royal
hung around without landing for 10 or 15 minutes before moving on to more
attractive surrounds. During the morning several Sooty and a couple of Short-tailed
Shearwaters passed by, mostly without stopping. The squabbling Mollymawks
followed us for about 3 hours as we were slowly dragged back to land. The
skipper fired up the barbeque and fed us lunch as Stu and I pondered the luck
of the third break down we had experienced on pelagic boats……..
Back on land at 13.30 and we set off
to look for Blue-winged Parrots again – still no luck in the back roads near
the caravan site, so we headed for Piccaninne Ponds Conservation Park or Pec’s Swamp.
It took a bit of finding as Stu’s memory indicated 10 kms when in fact it was
about 25, however, find it we did, parked up and wandered in. Stu heard, and
then we saw, a Striated Fieldwren in
some rough ground near the shed and a Swamp
Harrier drifted away over the fields.
We walked along the back of the swamp
and around the far side for a time, but there was nothing much showing apart
from some large, very dark Black or Swamp Wallabies so we headed back to
the car as the winter’s evening was starting to close in even though it was
only 16.30. As we crossed the field overlooking this end of the swamp Stu
spotted a distant large brown bird flying low across the reeds – before I could
get onto it it dropped out of sight – it would have been my second Australian Bittern.
 |
| Black Wallaby |
Back to the side roads again for one
last throw at Blue-winged Parrot – but once again only Red-rumped found, again looking like they were settling in for the
night. By this time we were well and truly ‘over’ the back roads of Pt McD and,
after a shower, it was in to the hotel for the evening meal.
15.6.15 We
left the caravan park at 7.15 and headed west back towards Adelaide. Stopping
only for fuel in Mt Gambier and breakfast in Kingston SE (bakery in the main
street highly recommended for quality & price) we arrived again at Loop Rd on
the Coorong with hopes of a Malleefowl.
It wasn’t to be, we drove the road
stopping and scanning at intervals with no sign of the elusive Target no 2. We
did find the mound, following directions from one of the other pelagic hopers,
but no sign of any recent activity. (It is opposite Loop Rd 3 – which is in
fact Campsite 3, it has a seat and a descriptive plaque)
Cutting our losses we headed on,
aiming for Parnka
Pt and, we hoped, a date with
either BW Parrot or Fairy Tern!! Too much to hope for – we saw neither, but
added Emu, Red-necked Avocet, White-headed Stilt and Fan-tailed Cuckoo, among others, to our trip list.
Between Salt Creek and close to
Meningie 3 small parrots lifted off the edge and landed on a distant fence line.
We parked up, got out the ‘scope and watched 6 Elegant Parrots feeding and fly hopping around for 10 or 15
minutes. The farmer/owner of the land approached us and we showed him what we
had stopped for – close, but not the hoped for Target no 3 unfortunately.
On then towards Adelaide and a
planned final throw of the dice at Glenelg for the tern….maybe?
As we drove through Grandor
on the busy Cross
St we started thinking about Colin’s Target Bird
no 4 and within a few minutes we both
saw a likely candidate on a wire above the road. Some smart round-the-block
driving by Mr P put me back under it and I hopped out between traffic jams to grab
some shots and get my tick – Barbary
Dove!
 |
| Barbary Dove |
On then to West Beach and the mouth of the Torrens River – just an ooze really. The tide was full and the
beach deserted apart from a single hopeful Pelican.
The sea was even calmer than Saturday and almost as empty as the beach. In
preparation for our flight we packed our bins and cameras away – tern-less.
And so it ended, our sojourn in South
Australia, Stu swearing colourfully never to return. But it will be remembered
for Barbary Dove –Bird of the Trip and
us setting the record for the birders with the most broken down pelagic
boats……..
8.6.15
Oxley
A bit of a lazy morning – didn’t get
to site till 7.30. Generally fairly quiet out along the track. Most exciting
was a nicely perched up Baza who
showed extremely well allowing photographs and video…..
The morning was very pleasant and the birds were OK, but nothing much else showed to excite the senses so I headed home at 9.30.
6.6.15
North Stradbroke Island
I got the ferry alone at 6.55 and,
after the usual bus trip arrived at Pt Lookout at 8.00am.
For the first 30 minutes there was
very little – a few Gannets zoomed
around, most appearing to be fishing not moving anywhere, mostly immature
birds. An eastern osprey flew up from the sea and low overhead carrying a fair
sized Dart in its talons. Then a single Noddy which I put down as a Common
initially as I thought it might have been a trick of the light making it very
dark, even though I had mentally noted its more compact look, very obvious
white cap and apparently smaller size. However, in the next two hours I had a
total of 90 Common Noddys heading
south against the increasing wind, and identified a single Black Noddy among them – this encouraged me to re-label the first
bird I saw for a total of 2 Black Noddys!
A flock of 22 Pied Cormorants flew past at one stage – which is quite a number of
this usually solitary or paired off bird and a brief glimpse of a Brahminy Kite below the cliff line was
my first in some time.
As nothing else showed I decided to
quit at 10.30 and get the bus back. This I did uneventfully, getting the water
taxi at 11.30.
