February - March
Ireland
29.2.16
28.2.16
South side of Donegal Bay and north Co Sligo
27.2.16
North & Central Co Donegal
26.2.16
Antrim
25.2.16
Travel to Belfast and birding the port
24.2.16
Glendalough and the Wicklow mountains
23.2.16
Kilcoole, Newcastle & Wicklow harbour
Mum's Garden
19.2.16
Finally!! My bag arrived. 5 days late, but all good, everything intact, everything retrieved.
18.2.16
East Pier, Dun Laoghaire & Sandycove
17.2.16
Mum's garden
16.2.16
Dun Laoghaire
13.2.16
Minnippi
10.2.16
Sandy Camp & Lindum wetlands
9.2.16
Movies
8.2.16
Pt Lookout, North Stradbroke Island
7.2.16
Oxley
https://youtu.be/37kySHLnT2c
https://youtu.be/_sEKkNUUetg
https://youtu.be/jaUEGpitRu8
3.2.16
Anstead
2.2.16
Movies
1.2.16
Ireland
29.2.16
We woke to snow.
About two inches had fallen overnight. It was quite wet snow, melting even as
we woke, but pretty just the same. I figured it must be close to 40 years since
I have been in snow like this!
We hung around
reluctant to risk the hill until we knew for sure how the surface was. It
turned out it was OK and we headed down just before 10, finding the lower roads
completely clear and the fields snow-free.
We stopped at Mountcharles Pier,
but it was raining quite heavily so we didn’t stay. On to Killibegs, by which
time the rain had eased somewhat.
Killibegs is a fishing port and access to some parts of the dock
area are restricted, however, there were thousands of Gulls milling around the
town and harbor, perched on rooftops, lights, ships, walls, pontoons. We
stopped in view of the latter and immediately recognized two Iceland Gulls, one very white one.
 |
| Iceland Gull - adult (shit photo, I was shaking too much from the cold....) |
During the next two
hours or so we found a total of 6 Iceland
and 1 Glaucous Gull
 |
| Glaucous Gull & Iceland Gull No 2 behind it |
 |
| Iceland Gull no 3 |
 |
| Iceland Gull no 4 |
 |
| Iceland Gull no 4 |
 |
| Iceland Gull no 5 |
 |
| Iceland Gull no 6 |
and noted a high
number of darker winged Herring Gulls
which we believed were L a argentatus or a northern race visiting
for the winter. (Local Herring Gulls are L
a argenteus). By fluke I may have caught one on camera.
 |
| Probable Argentatus Herring Gull - note amount of white on primaries and 'darker' overall colour. |
The rain began
again so we headed further west to the end of the peninsula and Glencolmcille.
The wind was pretty wild and the seas torn up – we looked from the top of the
cliffs but didn’t venture down – the Atlantic at its best.
Our target here
took a while to find but eventually we discovered a flock of 16 Red-billed Choughs feeding in a field
about 100 meters from the road. I would have liked closer views but had to be
satisfied with these.
 |
| Red-billed Choughs |
Common Ravens were another feature of this ravaged landscape of bare
rock, heather and gorse, but little else was moving around.
We headed back to
Killibegs and had soup and sandwiches in the Bay View Hotel before heading back
to Donegal. I needed to top up the credit on my iPhone and iPad, but then,
having bought 20 euro credit for each, found I had no service on either
appliance so will be unable to load the credit until I get back to Belfast.
When we got back to
the house the snow still lay on the grass and in the fields, surprisingly as it
had reached 5 degrees by then. It was still raining so we retreated indoors,
lit the fire and relaxed for the rest of the evening.
28.2.16
South side of Donegal Bay and north Co Sligo
We had decided to
bird the south
side of Donegal Bay today as the weather was predicted to change by
Monday and we had a lot of ground to cover looking for flocks of sea ducks and
geese. Our first target was the reported male King Eider at Cullumore
– a fair distance around the bay. We would then work back home afterwards.
A breakfast of
porridge and coffee to sustain us and we were off in another lovely Irish
winter morning – the sun breaking through the scattered clouds, virtually no
wind, ice sheeting some roadside pools and frost glistening in protected cover.
We arrived on site
- at the end of a narrow, twisting lane, a small stony beach surrounded by
rocky headlands, the sea relatively calm - only a strong swell with occasional
white water on the rocks. DHH changed his boots while I scanned a small flock
of Common Eider just beyond the wave
break. Finished with his footwear he set up his scope, looked in and
immediately said ‘There it is!” – my
obvious response of ‘Where?” was met
with the usual descriptive answer of “Out
there!” followed by “It was the first
bird I looked at!”
I followed his
general pointing and quickly contacted the bird too – alone, some distance from
the other Eiders, closer to the left hand headland - unmistakably a King Eider
– stunning!
We threw the scopes
back in the car and drove quickly up a muddy track to an empty cottage, parked
up, grabbed the gear and walked out to the grassy knoll. The bird, by this
time, had joined the other Eider about 200 meters offshore – easily visible in
the bins, it was very nice in the scope.
We watched it for
about 20 minutes during which it came closer in-shore and provided me with the
opportunity to take 230+ photos (later boiled down to 75, or thereabouts) and a
video and DHH the chance to draw it in his notebook in the old fashioned way,
before it headed out, alone, towards the far islands and disappeared
eventually, paddling away…
 |
| King Eider - & Common Eider |
 |
| King Eider |
 |
| and again King Eider! |
Very satisfied and
pleased with ourselves, we celebrated our life ticks with coffee from the
flask, then headed further southwest along the coast towards Sligo checking
bays and beaches as we went. We eventually came across a large flock of Barnacle Geese and worked through them
again, looking for Canada Geese sub species, again without success. The flock
metamorphosed into a total of about 1500 birds, but still no vagrants despite
searching and re-searching the flock over and over again.
We started heading
back towards Donegal and the rest of the day was much the same – up and down
little country roads checking beaches and bays, scanning from headlands looking
for sea ducks, divers and geese.
We saw a variety of
birds – approx 60 Great Northern Divers
and several Red-throated, Sanderling,
one Common Buzzard, Reed Buntings and Pipits,
 |
| Meadow Pipit |
…but the only trip
tick to add was Fieldfare, a flock
of 20 near one beach
 |
| Fieldfares |
…and the main
attraction – a flock of about 300 Common
Scoter some distance offshore whom we scanned for some time looking for
Velvet or Surf but finding neither. All in all I think it was too calm - almost
windless, the sea flat calm - I think our target birds, such as Long-tailed
Ducks, Black-throated Divers etc were all offshore, enjoying the conditions.
We had to be happy
with just a King Eider……
A couple of frozen
pizzas for dinner and we spent the evening writing this and ‘boneing up’ on
gulls for the morrow.
27.2.16
North & Central Co Donegal
Up and out by 9.
Cloudy but bright enough, no wind, no rain, thank God.
First stop was at Malin town
estuary where we immediately had an American Wigeon – a lifer for me. It was
difficult to photograph given the relatively low light and dullish conditions,
but video produced a reasonable result…
 |
| Malin town - and American Wigeon estuary |
On then to Malin Head
and a search for the Cackling Goose – sub species of Canada Goose – among 400
plus Barnacle Geese. But despite a
lot of searching and re-checking we failed to turn it up.
 |
| Malin Hd & Barnacle Geese in foreground! |
 |
| Barnacle Geese |
Back down the
peninsula and across to the western side of Lough Foyle to a small harbor at Greencastle.
There were very few Gulls around, but two of them were Iceland Gulls (an adult and a first winter) and a single first
winter Glaucous Gull. Excellent,
crippling, views.
 |
| Glaucous Gull |
 |
| Iceland Gull |
 |
| Iceland Gull |
A few kms back
along the coastline and Moville harbor where we found a Kumlien’s Gull. A really beautiful sub
species of Iceland Gull. I took about 300 photos which I later boiled down to
134 and a video…..well, it’s likely to be the only Kumlien’s I’ll ever see so….please enjoy it like I did!
 |
| Kumlien's Gull |
 |
| Kumlien's Gull |
 |
| Kumlien's Gull https://youtu.be/0qH_FULbkmM |
Dragging ourselves
away we headed back down the peninsula and over to Inch checking out some minor spots
along the way for divers and ducks, without encountering anything ‘special’.
 |
| Red-breasted Merganser |
At Inch we
had a picnic lunch…rugged up to the eyeballs – then walked out along the well
prepared bike/pedestrian path to the causeway, where we found our quarry – a
male Smew. Unfortunately it insisted
on staying out in the middle of the lake, completely too far away to attempt
any photographs, but we had reasonable ‘scope views in the very calm
conditions.
So I took a photo
of a nearby Common Goldeneye
instead.
 |
| Common Goldeneye |
Returning along the
path a few Canada Geese foraged
along the water’s edge
 |
| Canada Geese |
and a Yellowhammer sat up for a few seconds –
these used to be much commoner, but have declined somewhat following changed
farming practices across most of the country.
 |
| Yellowhammer |
We returned to the
car and drove around the side roads finding Whooper Swans and Greylag
Geese in the fields
 |
| Greylag Geese |
 |
| Whooper Swans |
Then it was a bit
of a drive towards Donegal and a quick look at the bay area where we
had a distant flock of Long-tailed
Ducks, Red-throated and Great
Northern Divers a-plenty and a very distant flock of Common Scoter. Hopefully we’ll catch up with all those in more
detail tomorrow.
Food buying at Lidl
then on to our next loan house where we lit the fire, turned on the central
heating and cooked dinner before sorting through 800+ photos while listening to
the election results, which went on and on and on……proportional representation,
you’re welcome.
26.2.16
Antrim
Woke to a grey
cloudy day which persisted with intermittent rain showers, some heavy – a damp,
flat light medium cold kind of day.
We left DHH’s at 9
and headed north stopping first at Whitehouse Lagoon where out of the hundreds of Black-headed Gulls, Dunlin, Bar and Black-tailed Godwits I managed to pull
a single Mediterranean Gull – I was
very pleased with myself! Common Goldeneye and Red-breasted Mergansers were also good
to see and a Common Buzzard flew
overhead putting everything up at one point - this was to be our only raptor of
the day.
Basically we drove
the north Antrim coastline all the way round ending up in Derry – or
Londonderry depending on the level of your religious fanaticism - stopping at
various locations in search of specific specialties.
We stopped at Carrickfergus
looking for Ring-billed Gull but found only Black Guillemot to add to the trip list.
 |
| Black Guillemot - summer plumage |
We pulled in to the
car park beside the boat yard at Whitehead and, in drizzling rain, found a 23 bird
strong flock of quite confiding Twite –
long time no see for me.
 |
| Twite |
At Sandy Bay in Larne
we had the first Sanderling of the
trip and I managed some photos of Dunlin
and Common Ringed Plover on the
tideline.
 |
| Common Ringed Plover |
 |
| Dunlin |
Our final stop was
at Portrush
where, again we looked unsuccessfully for a reported Ring-billed Gull but we
did find 17 Purple Sandpipers on the
rocks.
We had a stop off
outside Derry where DHH had to do a short check on a council site for ‘invasive
alien’ plants and take GPS readings so they can be ‘eliminated’. Then it was on
to our loan house at Culaduff and after a fish supper writing up of notes.
25.2.16
Travel to Belfast and birding the port
Up at 6.30, had
breakfast, left at 7.15 to walk to Aircoach bus stop. Bus arrived at 7.25.
Charged me 10 euro, although I think the fare was 9… Arrived airport at 8.30,
bought a ticket for Belfast – 16 euro – bus left at 9.
On the way north
saw a Common Buzzard perched up but
apart from that no birds of consequence.
Arrived Belfast
at 10.50, DHH turned up 5 minutes later and we headed out straight away to the
port area and within 10 minutes (having grabbed a coffee on the way, an
experience where I found that the 200 sterling Mum had given me was, in fact,
200 euro…) we had a Lesser Scaup – first lifer of the trip. Also Greater
Scaup and Goldeneye and, in a
soggy patch of ground nearby, Common
Snipe.
Headed off to Victoria Park
and had close Tufted Duck, a distant Common
Kingfisher, nesting Grey
Herons, Eurasian Siskin, Coal Tit, Green
and Gold Finches, Black-tailed Godwits, Common Shelduck, Little Grebe and a Grey Squirrel.
 |
| Tufted Duck |
 |
| Little Grebe |
 |
| Dunnock |
 |
| Grey Squirrel |
Then it was on to
another spot beside the RSPB hide. The cost to enter the hide is now 5 Pounds,
so we used an old shipping container nearby that has been set up as a hide with perspex windows. Not too bad, but the Perspex distorts any but a straight
through view - it'd be better with no windows at all. Hundreds of Common
Shelduck, Northern Shoveler and a large flock of waders including hundreds
of Black-tailed Godwits with a few
Bar-tailed among them, hundreds of Dunlin and
similar numbers of Red Knot all huddled together, preparing for roost.
 |
| Common Shelduck |
Another site on a more open stretch of water near Hollywood produced rather distant Eider Ducks and Red-breasted Mergansers.
Time for lunch - so
back to DHH’s place and, after lunch, a walk in the park with his dog – Redwings, at last, and a nice singing Siskin – when, of course, I had left the camera in
the car.
The afternoon was closing in so we gave it away and went home to plan the next few days.......
24.2.16
Glendalough and the Wicklow mountains
I wanted to get up
in the Wicklow mountains to try for the reported White-tailed Eagle, but it was
after midday before I could get away. It was always going to be a random
chance, the bird had been seen over the past week or so at several locations
from Wexford to Greystones and inland to the Roundwood area, but I thought I’d
give it a go anyway.
Another beautiful
winter’s day in Ireland – a heavy frost had coated the lawn, car and roof tops
and it was brittly cold despite the sun and lack of wind.
I got to the Roundwood
area in about half an hour and drove on to Glendalough. Stopping at the lower
carpark I immediately saw a White-throated
Dipper perched up in the river beside the car park.
 |
| Typical Dipper river - with Dipper installed |
 |
| White-throated Dipper |
It was as well I
did as I didn’t see very much else.
I drove on up the
upper lake car park, paid my 4 Euro car park fee and walked up the lake side. I
was hoping maybe for Buzzard? Or Goosander? Or even Siskin or Coal Tit? Maybe
even Crossbill? Nope, nope and nope. The only things moving in the cloudless
sky were Ravens, about 4, high above
the valley. I did see 2 Deer which
remain to be identified, but nowt else.
 |
| Glendalough - upper lake |
I returned to the
car and took the Sally Gap road home – across the moorlands, it’s a nice drive.
Some patches of snow high on the eastern side of the hilltops and cracking ice
in muddy pools belied the apparent heat of the sun. It was lovely, but By God
it was cold!
23.2.16
Kilcoole, Newcastle & Wicklow harbour
First the thermals,
top and bottom, then the heavy army pants, then the long-sleeved t-short,
followed by the heavy bush shirt, topped by a thick waterproof jacket, finished
off with gloves, beanie and muff. It was a perfect Irish Winter’s day, clear,
blue skies, no wind, sunny and very, very cold. I had to scrape the ice off the
windscreen before jumping onto the M50 and scream down the road at 120 kms an
hour in the insect on wheels my Mum calls a car.
I got to Kilcoole
by 9.30 and started to head down the beach. In the distance another birder
packed up his scope and headed away from me. A scan with the bins and I knew it
was Richard Coombes, an old friend who wasn’t aware I had arrived back in the
country. I caught up with him and his dog and after some friendly abuse we
birded together as far as the bridge and back to the cars.
Highlights: 7 Whooper Swans, Common Wigeon, Brent
Geese, Eurasian Teal, Common Skylark, Northern Lapwing, European Golden Plover,
Common Ringed Plover and Dunlin, but most a bit distant for photographs.
 |
| Whooper Swan at some distance |
I headed south to
Newcastle bird reserve and ‘tidied up’ some common hedgerow birds - Blue, Great and Long-tailed Tits, Common Chaffinch, Song Thrush & Dunnock,
 |
| Male Common Chaffinch |
 |
| Female Common Chaffinch |
On then to 6 Mile
Point and a long walk up the beach - Red-throated
Divers, Reed Bunting, Northern Shoveler,
 |
| Red-throated Diver |
 |
| Reed Bunting |
 |
| Common Stonechat |
 |
| Eurasian Teal |
 |
| Northern Shoveler |
I headed further
south towards Wicklow town and a Common
Pheasant flew over the car. There was nothing exciting that I could see in
the Gulls so turned round and headed back north again to Greystones. By the
time I got there I was feeling hungry (15.00) so found The Happy Pear and had a
bowl of Broccoli, Spinach and potato soup and bread and a coffee (7.70 Euro),
and watched the Pied Wagtails on the
path.
 |
| Pied Wagtail |
Then headed down to
the sea front to look for the Snow Bunting of several reports – without luck,
but it was probably too late in the afternoon anyway – found a belligerent Rook instead.
 |
| Rook |
I headed for home
at 16.00.
20.2.16Mum's Garden
Saturday and the Big Lunch - while waiting for the preparation to begin I threw some bread in the garden and watched the locals come in - the main visitors were a couple of big Wood Pigeons.
 |
| Wood Pigeon |
19.2.16
Finally!! My bag arrived. 5 days late, but all good, everything intact, everything retrieved.
18.2.16
East Pier, Dun Laoghaire & Sandycove
I was up early as I
was quite hungry, not having eaten much since breakfast yesterday. Mum didn’t
surface until after 9.30. We had breakfast, I made the usual non-successful
call to Etihad and left the usual message and as…
The morning was
superb – icy frost on the lawn and the car, clear blue skies, little wind,
painfully cold – I decided to give the Black Redstart another go, so left about
11 and headed down to the East Pier area.
It was beautiful on
the coast – flat calm, no wind, clear and very busy. Heaps of people, even
midweek, walking dogs, sitting in the sun, pushing prams and strollers, just
wandering – surprisingly busy.
I checked the pier
up to the bandstand then returned to the rocky beach, walking towards the old
baths, a flicker ahead in the sun betrayed a small bird perched on the fence –
it was a beautiful male Black Redstart.
Happily feeding a few meters from passersby on the pavement above, he flicked
backwards and forwards from the grass to the fence, tail bobbing – smart bird!
I managed to get on the sun side of him and get a few shots off before he flew
into the inaccessible defunct public baths.
 |
| Black Redstart |
 |
| Black Redstart |
I wandered around a
bit and took some photos of resting Eurasian Shags
 |
| Eurasian Shag |
Then he
re-appeared, unfortunately again in the sun. This time I wasn’t so lucky - as I passed him he flew and was gone,
whereabouts unknown, although I suspect he retreated into the baths again. I
hung for a half an hour but gave it away eventually.
I had time to
reflect on the last Black Red I saw – and I believe it was here, in exactly the
same place in 1976 – 40 years ago! It’s amazing to think that with that span of
time I could see the same species (I know its not the same bird!) at the same
location – especially when it’s a vagrant, not a resident. I wonder if this is
a descendant of the original Black Reds that showed here then? Is that
possible? Its not like dozens of birds turn up – it’s always (so far as I know)
only been one at a time. Interesting concept.
I drove down the
front to Sandycove and finally got parking around by the 40 foot men’s swimming
area. I walked back to the ‘corner’ where the Med Gulls hang out. On the way a Grey Heron showed on the rocky shore
 |
| Grey Heron |
And a couple of Eurasian Curlews also probed the weed…
 |
| Eurasian Curlew |
As I watched them a
pair of Brent Geese landed on the
water….
 |
| Brent Geese |
Moving on, I
approached the resting birds and immediately started seeing Mediterranean Gulls, most not as well
marked as this one - a beautiful gull in a beautiful location on a beautiful
day…..
 |
| Mediterranean Gull |
Heading back to the
car a pair of Western Jackdaws ran
around the grass….
 |
| Western Jackdaw |
I headed home for
lunch, pretty happy with my hour and a half’s birding.
17.2.16
Mum's garden
I couldn't resist this European Robin singing his heart out in the cold winter sunshine. Not the best of positions, but thought it might bring some memories back for ex-patriot birders overseas...
They really are an incredibly beautiful bird.
 |
| European Robin |
Dun Laoghaire
As my checked bag
had not arrived with me yesterday, I was expecting a call from Dublin airport
around 9.30 to advise me when they would deliver it. No call, so at 10.00 I tried
contacting the mislaid baggage section – I finally got through at midday to be
advised that my bag had not arrived today, but they believed it would arrive
tomorrow. I gave them a piece of what remains of my mind and promised
retribution if it wasn’t delivered.
Decided I might as
well get out and about so, wearing borrowed jacket and beanie it was off to Dun
Laoghaire for my usual visit to the West and East, Piers. I arrived at 12.45
and paid my 3Euro parking fee. Walking out along the West Pier a flock of Common Linnets flew up off the grass.
 |
| Common Linnet |
The wind was a
howling south-westerly and it was quite cold – about 9 degrees – so photography
was very difficult; simply holding the camera steady, especially at 60X zoom,
was almost impossible.
The first birds seen
on the water were Great-crested Grebes,
in, of course, winter plumage, something we don’t see in Australia.
 |
| Great-crested Grebe in semi-winter plumage |
Further on along
the wall a very nice surprise – a single Snow
Bunting feeding among the Ruddy
Turnstones - possibly the same bird reported earlier in the week from the
East Pier.
 |
| Snow Bunting |
Great Northern Divers, Common Guillemots and, nearer the end of the pier, a couple
of Razorbills showed.
 |
| Great Northern Diver |
 |
| Common Guillemot |
Near the end of the
pier, also, on the rocks, a single Purple
Sandpiper fed on the weed – also a nice turn up.
 |
| Purple Sandpiper |
Black-headed, Herring, Great and Lesser
Black-backed Gulls sat around avoiding the worst of the wind.
 |
| (3rd winter) Lesser Black-backed Gull - on the verge of being blown away.... |
 |
| (1st winter) Lesser Black-backed Gull - leaning into the wind |
 |
| Black-headed Gull |
 |
| Black-headed Gull (just in case one ever turns up in Aus) |
And finally as I
came back a couple of Common Redshanks
also fed on the weed exposed by the tide,
 |
| Common Redshank |
while a Common Magpie hunted the pier wall.
 |
| Common Magpie |
I headed over to
the East Pier and bumped into a trio of local birders, one of whom remembered
me from 2014. They were looking for a reported Red-necked Grebe,
unsuccessfully, but were interested in the Snow Bunting I had just seen. They
also had some gen on the Black Redstart I was looking for – it looked like I
had probably missed it today, as they claimed that mornings appear to be the
best time. However, I wandered around the site checking anyway, but only found
a couple of Great Cormorant, European Shag and Rock Pipits.
 |
| Rock Pipit |
Finally a Hooded Crow allowed close approach in
the car park.
 |
| Hooded Crow |
It was only 15.30
but had become gloomy and was spitting rain so I headed home with the heater at
full blast.
Spent the rest of
the day trying to stay awake again….
Note: previous incorrect identification of a dragonfly on 7.2.16 at Oxley, see below, ref 7.2.16
13.2.16
Minnippi
A last morning’s
birding before I left for Ireland and we decided Minnippi would fit the bill.
On site at 6.00 to a dull, coolish morning, invigorated by a stiff
south-easterly. The lake was quiet, as normal, as was the M1 track. The first
bird of interest was an Australian Hobby
landing on the overhead power lines as we re-approached the lake.
The island end of
the lake was also ‘normal’ – most of the salvinia had been removed – and we
headed up and over the hill to the Airfield track. It was quite birdy with an
increase of Brown Honeyeaters, Spangled Drongos and Silvereyes over recent weeks, but
nothing of huge excitement until we encountered a juvenile Black-faced Monarch….
 |
| Juvenile Black-faced Monarch |
…..but that was it
really. A brief stop at Stu’s Lookout then it was back to the car and breakfast
at Belesis before heading home.
Sandy Camp & Lindum wetlands
It had been a few
weeks so I went to Sandy Camp again.
There was an
immediate noticeable reduction in Reed
Warblers – I only saw one. But otherwise the usual stuff plus 5 Magpie Geese, 3 Wandering Whistle Ducks and a Little
Egret apparently working with a Little
Black Cormorant.
A Collared Sparrowhawk flashed in and
caused a stir before perching up for a few minutes.
 |
| Collared Sparrowhawk |
Nothing much apart
from the usual on the back ponds but I did get a new dragonfly – Black-faced Percher.
 |
| Black-faced Percher |
On to Trotter
and the pond was pretty busy – 15 Chestnut
Teal, 2 Marsh Sandpipers, a Latham’s Snipe and a total of 17 Glossy Ibis among the usual Black Ducks, Egrets and Stilts.
And so to Lindum
– very quiet, no ‘brown’ waders at all. About 40 Stilts and 8 more Chestnut
Teal were all, in the well-flooded wetland.
9.2.16
Movies
No birding today, but I did go to see 'The H8ful Eight' at Bulimba. I had been looking forward to another Tarantino movie - his eighth in fact.....and so far as blood and guts was concerned wasn't disappointed, but it took a long time to come. A 2 hour 40 mins movie that realistically I reckon could have been done in 2, maybe 2 hours 15? I almost fell asleep in the second hour, but maybe that's just my age etc etc........I wouldn't go to see it again and I doubt I'd watch it again on free to air, but for Tarantino fans it's probably a must.
8.2.16
Pt Lookout, North Stradbroke Island
South easterly
winds for several days at last, peaking at up to 25 knots, suggested a visit to
the point had potential. Mr P had gone on Saturday without any great
outcome, but it had been a while so I did the car/boat/bus trek and arrived on
site at 8.00. The wind was strong, from the south, the sea average, but choppy
- it looked good…..
It wasn’t to be. 5
Wedge-tailed Shearwaters and (by coincidence) 5 Common Noddys later, and I gave
it away at 9.40. Ten seabirds in total in an hour and a half just wasn’t worth
hanging on for another hour, even the Crested Terns were passing in minimal numbers.
The glare was so bad I had moved after 20 minutes from the shelter of the rock to
the grass slope, to suffer the wind, but at least have a relatively improved
view.
I headed back and
reversed the bus/boat/car journey. Guess you can’t win them all.
7.2.16
Oxley
Rain at last and
cooler temperatures….and things picked up. Oxley at 6.00 was quite birdy,
calling, singing, feeding actively. And,
as we approached the canoe ramp on the creek, a very dark Brushtail Possum eyed us warily from its low down perch – out late,
or early, depending on your point of view.
An immediate
noticeable increase in Brown Honeyeaters,
Tawny Grassbirds, Golden-headed Cisticolas, Red-backed Fairy wrens and the
first Rufous Whistler I’ve seen here
for some time.
A pair of Leaden Flys
gave us pause for a few minutes to confirm identification – in the duller,
cloud filtered light they appeared quite dark.
We reached the
second culvert and had some luck – a Lewin’s
Rail answered our call and came to check out the noise…a juvenile bird, but
still a great view!
On to the lakes
and nothing out of the ordinary – the Pied
Cormorant was still on site – been here all summer now.
A female Varied Eggfly Hypolimnas bolina perched
up nicely and a (possible) Coastal Petal
Tail Petalura litorea (to be
confirmed) showed nicely. Note - incorrect identification - thanks to the Queensland Museum for correction - it is in fact a male Australian Tiger, Ictinogomphus australis.
 |
| Female Varied Eggfly Hypolimnas bolina |
 |
| male Australian Tiger, Ictinogomphus australis. |
Back along the
track and at the second culvert again a small Eastern Water Dragon stood up on a rock and did some head nodding
and hand waving – the significance of which I have no idea.
https://youtu.be/_sEKkNUUetg
https://youtu.be/jaUEGpitRu8
By now the
mugginess had started to return - but nowhere near last week’s excesses – and we
headed off for our normal Oxley-related Hungarian breakfast at Café Europa.
3.2.16
Anstead
It was a heavy,
still muggy 6.30 when I started up the track from the car park. Heavy, still
and very quiet…. A few Little Friarbirds
and Blue-faced Honeyeaters picked
through a small flowering area but otherwise…..dead as.
It was probably a
little late considering dawn was around 5am, but I had thought it would be a
bit cooler given the overnight low of about 23 degrees.
I took some photos
of Shield bugs to pass the time….
 |
| Immature Brown Shield Bug - Poecilometis sp |
On up the track ,
4 King Parrots flew through
overhead, a couple of Drongos hunting
in the canopy, turned right and walked the top track to the edge of the reserve
– nothing on the private dam across the paddock, back along and suddenly a
flock of Varied Sitellas appeared…
 |
| Varied Sitella |
 |
| Varied Sitella |
Out to the outlook
over the river, full tide, nothing on the water. A flock of about 20 White-throated Needletails drifted west
very high, invisible to the naked eye.
Moved on to the
quarry track and checked the fig tree – virtually no fruit either green or
yellow - and no birds. Down the bitumen and a couple of Pied Butcherbirds were only birds seen before the turn off back
towards the car park.
A pair of Dollarbirds, overhead, a few Monarchs, a Checkered Swallowtail and a Meadow
Argus around the grass under the power lines,
 |
| Meadow Argus Junonia villida |
then a break! A pair of Blue Tigers flittering around just
inside the tree line. It took a while and a bit of patience but I eventually
got them in the lens.
 |
| Blue Tiger Tirumala harnata |
 |
| Blue Tiger Tirumala harnata |
So the day hadn’t
been a complete waste – a new butterfly photographed. Further along the track a
large pigeon flew up into an overgrown tree carrying a twig – Common Bronzewing nest- building and a
female Cicadabird in a nearby tree
was also a nice list addition.
 |
| Common Bonzewing on nest |
Back at the car
and the thermometer claimed 28 – within 10 minutes of driving it had reached 31
– and it was only 9.00. I’m over this, roll on Ireland!!
2.2.16
Movies
With a predicted 37 degrees in Brisbane today I decided to go to the movies, so took myself down to Bulimba for the ten o'clock viewing of the latest Star Wars movie. It was 35 degrees in the car on the way down, but, thankfully, a drier heat than normal. I joined the queue for tickets and realised all the other patrons were way older than I was.......welcome to retirement!
It was very pleasant sitting in the air conditioned cinema watching a galaxy far, far away. I liked the movie - it harked back to the original Star Wars movie - the first one - I thought. And seeing Harrison Ford back as Hans Solo was great!
Leaving the cinema at 12.30 I went to a local St Vinnie's bookshop and picked up some old vinyl albums - Platinum by Mike Oldfield, A Nice Pair by Pink Floyd and a Wishbone Ash album, Argus, I haven't heard for about 40 years!
The temperature in the car topped out at the predicted 37on the way home, but it didn't actually turn out too bad as there was a heavy cloud cover and it was, as I said, quite 'dry'.
1.2.16
Minnippi
Another warm muggy
morning, started off OK at 6.15, but within an hour the usual sweaty shirt and
desire to jump into a bath full of ice….
The M1 track was a
bit birdy – mainly stimulated by three Brush
Cuckoos that responded to my speaker and called plaintively for quite some
time. Presumably all males, trying to find an end of season encounter……poor
buggers.
A Scarlet Percher Diplacodes haematodes added
itself to the dragonfly list for Minnippi while a nice example of a Lyell's Swift Pelopidas lyelli was
feeding on the Lantana at the entrance to the track.
The cicadas had
started calling and I taped one. I believe it’s a Razor Grinder Henicopsaltria eydouxii Haven't worked out yet how to load a sound recording here....
(Found a great
website for cicada calls…. http://dr-pop.net/cicadas.htm)
The BCC were
‘harvesting’ the Salvinia at last…
See here for more
info on the weed: https://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/invasive/weeds/publications/guidelines/wons/pubs/s-molesta.pdf
Up the hill and
into the Airfield track – a striped form of Garden Orb Weaver Eriophora biapicata suspended above the track was
photographable
 |
| Garden Orb Weaver Eriophora biapicata |
and a nearby Garden Skink Lampropholis delicate was
my first (official) record for Minnippi.
 |
| Garden Skink Lampropholis delicate |
The birds were
fairly quiet, although a flock (20) of Black-faced
Cuckoo-shrikes moving in on the (presumably) Cicadas was unusual – along
with about the same number of Figbirds.
Back to Stu’s
Lookout but nothing much showing so headed home for the sanctuary of the couch…
