20.9.15
Minnippi
19.9.15
Oxley
12.9.15
Minnippi
5.9.15
Minnippi
Stu suggested a late morning at
Minnippi so I went to his place and he drove us to arrive at 7.45.The morning
started out quietly – 3 Eastern Water
Dragons sunned themselves on the mud in the creek, visible from the bridge,
but the water on the main pond was almost undisturbed for lack of birds. A Pacific Koel calling was the first for
site for the Spring and later a pair of Channel-billed
Cuckoos flew over the ‘airfield’ accompanied, as always, by a couple of
attendant Crows.
The M1 track was quiet but good
quality – 2 Sacred Kingfishers
returned for the Summer and a Rufous
Fantail remaining from the winter months.
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| Rufous Fantail |
A mixed flock of Variegated and Red-backed Fairy-wrens crossed the track in front of us and a pair
of Blue-faced Honeyeaters sought
nectar above.
Walking up the forest edge a soaring Brown Goshawk overhead was the only
interest. Back at the lake and the usual Black
Ducks, Swamp & Moorhens, Coots
and 9 Hardheads were present. A
roosting Royal Spoonbill up a tree
was a little unusual.
The Airfield track was a bit quiet
until half way along a strange call alerted Stu’s attention and a Spectacled Monarch jumped into view! A
new bird for site for both of us, it brought my total to 159 and Stu’s to 158,
although we both have birds on our lists that the other one hasn’t… A second Rufous Fantail also put in a close
showing while we tried to pull the Monarch into closer view… Not long
afterwards Stu heard a Gerygone
calling and we tracked it down – White-throated
in full voice.
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| White-throated Gerygone |
Heading back up over the hill a Fan-tailed Cuckoo eluded us for a short
time while a stop at Stu’s Raptor Lookout produced nothing of interest and we
headed home.
Oxley
Lazy morning again – but Oxley proved
pretty birdy and my interest perked up! I tracked down a nice Eastern Yellow Robin calling away with
that single call that is irritatingly familiar, but always sows
confusion…..it’s so un-Robin like really. However I got the blighter on video
now, so hopefully it’ll stick in my ravaged memory banks….until next weekend
anyway.
Sacred Kingfisher feeding low along the track was the first for the season and later a Forest Kingfisher also showed. A lovely
male Golden Whistler also fed low
down and I managed to get him in the lens too. I would have thought he’d have
headed up the hills to breed by now, but a female with him suggested otherwise.
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| Male Australian Golden Whistler (& Brown Honeyeater) |
At the end of the trees, beside the gate to the ponds a pair of Yellow-rumped Thornbills took food for
young into a bush, but I was unable to locate the nest. It’s possible they were
feeding free flying young, but their nests are so small and well camouflaged
that it is possible to overlook them.
The flock of Double-barred Finches were still feeding along the track allowing
incredibly close approach – hoping they stick around like this until DHH gets
here. At the second culvert a Buff-banded
Rail stalked quietly through the grass, but there was no response to
playback for Spotless Crake.
The lakes were very quiet, almost no
duck and even a lack of the usual number of Cormorants. As I walked back I met
an older couple and the man pointed out a distant Latham’s Snipe on the far bank of the right hand pond. I had overlooked
it on my initial scan – my first for site for the season, although they had
been reported for the last few weeks.
I was trying the ‘burst’ facility on
my camera and experimented with an overflying Ibis and, later, a Pelican – I
was pretty happy with the results!
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| Australian Pelican |
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| Australian Pelican |
Minnippi
Really didn’t feel too enthusiastic
or motivated for birding – it has been very quiet for a while around SEQ, so I decided
on a relaxed stroll around Minnippi.
6.30, a grey, cloudy, cool morning
and the birds were subdued. 4 Common
Starlings in the grass around the carpark were a little bit noteworthy,
considering Starlings generally aren’t common. In fact if I had to show someone
Starlings in SEQ, I’d probably be struggling a little – out in the Lockyer is
probably the best? They’re a bit erratic elsewhere….
Anyway, the M1 track was quiet – a
couple of Whistlers and Brown Honeyeaters was all. As I walked
back out I noticed two birds vigorously chasing through the canopy and,
thinking they may be Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, waited for them to land. When
they did I tried to pick them up in a leafy crown with some flowering buds –
but what actually jumped into vision was a female White-winged Triller! This was a bit of a thrill (Haw, Haw) as the
only other WWT I have recorded at Minnippi was many moons ago and I have no
details of the record. Mr P had one last year and we are fairly certain they
move through the area in Spring & Autumn, but have rarely seen any evidence
of it. I only had a few seconds before it disappeared back into the leaves and
I failed to find it again, despite watching, waiting and playback – typical WWT
on migration.
The rest of the morning was a bit of
a non-event, the ponds were normal, the Airfield track very quiet apart from a
feeding flock of about 20 Silvereyes
accompanied by two Grey Fantails and a Spangled Drongo hanging around the
edges looking for an easy meal.
I stopped off at Stu’s Raptor Lookout
– but I think it was too cool for any thermals and no raptors showed. I got
back to the car around 8.30 and headed over to Mr P’s for coffee and a chat
while Master P ran in and out of the pool.
Oxley
It was a pretty ‘birdy’ morning as I
walked the track alone. The place was dripping Brown Honeyeaters and most of the trees blossoms had been stripped
over the preceding days. A nice surprise 15 minutes into it was a pair of Bazas overhead flying low, but heading
somewhere else. 3 male Leaden
Flycatchers showed along the first half – I assume there were three and not
the same one passing me by discreetly and popping up ahead….
A very confiding 15 strong flock of Double-barred Finches hopped around the
track almost ‘at my feet’ and I thought of DHH’s imminent arrival and how
valuable a sighting this would be for him.
Further on I actually heard a Mangrove Gerygone singing and spotted
two together, while a single Brown Quail
scurried across the track ahead. Just before the trees ended and the turn off
for the lakes, a small bird in a dense tree revealed itself, with pishing, to
be a Yellow-rumped Thornbill, a bird
I hadn’t seen on site for quite some time and unusual in its being alone.
 |
| Yellow-rumped Thornbill |
The lakes were relatively quiet – as
they have been now for some time – a couple of Australian Grebes, a few, very few, Black Ducks, a single roosting Chestnut
Teal, a single White-headed Stilt
and a pair of Black-fronted Dotterels.
A Striped Honeyeater showed well in
a low Coral tree posing with the bright red flowers and a couple of Tree and Fairy Martins zoomed around
over the water.
As I walked back along the track a
pair of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos
were poking around and lifted as I approached. One decided that a gate was a
good perch and sat there nervously, allowing me to get very close indeed – to
the point of me putting my hand on the rail and it threatening to peck me. Its
head and neck were almost bare of feathers – I think it was either in moult or
a young bird. It had no rings or tags, so I assume it is being fed somewhere
locally and thus used to people, eventually it had had enough and flew off and
I continued back to the car.
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| Sulphur-crested Cockatoo |
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