So many birds, so little time.....: Weekends That Were

30.6.16

Enoggera

Arriving on site at 8 I found the track ‘Closed due to potential fallen or falling branches’. The bike/fire break track was, however, open, so I started up that and figuring I’d take my chances with falling branches, diverted to the walking track after 100 meters or so. Hoping the ‘closure’ would spare me other walkers/joggers/walkies-talkies……it did up to a point but others, obviously of similar mind, bypassed the closed sign, as two groups of joggers and one of walkers came through during my time…..

It was pretty quiet bird wise although a lovely calm, clear, warm-in-the-sunshine winter’s morning. Plenty of Eastern Yellow Robins, Large-billed Scrub-wrens,

Large-billed Scrub-wren

Scarlet and, especially, Yellow-faced, Honeyeaters – dozens of the latter. I only came across one Rose Robin and one White-throated Treecreeper and the lake was disappointingly empty apart from 23 Hardhead and a couple of Pacific Black Ducks, Australian Grebes and Dusky Moorhens.

I did find a couple of new fungi – presumably following recent rain, but apart from that it was a relatively uneventful morning.

Bitter Webcap - Cortinarius infractus

Blood Red Recap - Cortinarius sanguineus

Microporus affinis

28.6.16

Oxley

A cold, windy, clear day. Bird life was very quiet for most of the walk. Don’t know if it was the weather or a slightly later time of day (8.00 start) but there was bugger all around until I ran into a bird wave of sorts near the big gum with the Mistletoe. Then it was a sizeable flock of Silvereyes, a couple of Rufous Whistlers, Lewin’s and Brown Honeyeaters, Grey Fantail, Mistletoebirds and Willy Wagtails. Nothing of huge interest but it kept me busy for a while.

On out towards the ponds and the first raptor was an Australian Hobby on a mission heading southwest. Shortly afterwards a Black-shouldered Kite being harassed by Crows, followed by a Whistling Kite over the lakes themselves and a Nankeen Kestrel perched up as I walked back.

Nankeen Kestrel

The lakes were dead. Total of two Pacific Black Duck, 2 Black-fronted Dotterels, 2 Masked Lapwing, 2 Australian Pelicans and 1 Australian Darter, two Purple Swamphens and one Dusky Moorhen.
Along the track I found a couple of new fungi....

Fairy Ink Cap - Coprinellus disseminatus

And this one which I believe is a species of Hypoxylon most likely fuscum

Hypoxylon fuscum

Back along the track didn’t produce much more apart from one nice Fan-tailed Cuckoo that perched up voluntarily in front of me. A pretty uneventful morning.

Fan-tailed Cuckoo

Moreton Island

19-26.6.16

Day 1 190616 Up at 6, we had breakfast, finished packing the car, all crammed in and were off by 7.30. Got to the barge without incident – pumped up one of the tyres on the trailer that was pretty soft – and were loaded on straight away. Then it was a 90 minute trip across the bay drinking coffee and relaxing in the lounge area before returning to the car.

We let the tyre pressure down to facilitate driving on the sand and then did just that – drove off the barge and onto the beach.

https://youtu.be/1csmGsO5nW4

We had about 10 kms to go before we left the beach and drove up into Bulwer ‘township’ – a collection of houses and a shop and the fishing club’s accommodation where we were staying and quickly unloaded the car and trailer.

The accommodation block consisted of a TV/dining/4 bunk bedroom area which we assigned to the female part of our group – Catherine (Kerrod’s eldest) and her friend Meg and Olivia (Kerrod’s youngest) while Jack (Kerrod’s son), his friend Jack (!), Kerrod and myself took over the other many-bunked end of the building. Each end had its own toilet and bathroom and in between there was a kitchen equipped with gas stove, cupboards, dining and cooking items and three fridge/freezers. Outside a large covered barbeque and seating area provided protection from the rain that was just starting. An east coast low had been predicted so the rain was not unexpected – but we believed it would last no more than 24 hours.

We had some lunch, then hung around reading, drinking coffee, watching stuff on a laptop and generally sitting out the rain until it eased and we went for a drive up the inner beach towards North Light. The northeasterly wind was quite ferocious on the more exposed north beach and the seas quite rough, but with a low tide there was plenty of room for driving on the beach.

https://youtu.be/_NW7_0xV5mA

An immature Australian Gannet fished close to the beach edge and Jack and Jack tried their hand luring in a deep hole without luck. We found a large dead a Green Turtle on the beach – most probably killed by a propeller strike - and several Hutton’s Shearwaters came in right to the small surf to feed on a school of baitfish.

Green Turtle - possibly killed by propellor strikes on side

The rain increased in intensity so we headed back ‘home’ and settled in for the evening.

Day 2 200616 We woke to a sunny, if slightly damp, morning. We hung around for a while during which I noted a number of birds around the immediate area – nothing outstanding, but quite a number of Silvereyes feeding voraciously with a female Australian Golden Whistler, Spangled Drongo, Willy Wagtails and a couple of Whistling Kites overhead.

After breakfast we headed off across the island to the surf beach stopping at North Light, Cape Moreton on the way.

Cape Moreton from North Light looking west

Cape Moreton from North Light looking east

On the track from there a pair of Whistling Kites were on the ground - a crushed Broad-shelled Turtle had attracted their attention.

Whistling Kites

https://youtu.be/r0fTJEFFyaw

We spent a lot of time on the main beach trying to catch beach worms and Pippis for bait. Jack and Jack fished a gutter for a while without much success. The surf beach was quite sheltered from the medium strength westerly wind, the sun was warm and the sky clear. I saw a few birds along the beach – a small flock of Hutton’s Shearwaters headed north just outside the surf line, a pair of Australian Pipits on the beach itself was a little surprising, given the lack of grassland on the island – presumably they occupy the narrow dune system. Australian Gannets were a regular feature off shore and a few Pied Oystercatchers and Red-capped Plovers hung out.

https://youtu.be/WXSDVRCeMcg

We headed back mid-afternoon and the westerly wind was a little cool as the sun went down. Afterwards, when it was dark, the local Bush Stone Curlew visited the outdoor area, presumably to feed on any insects attracted by the lights.

Day 3 210616 Started as a windy morning. The Boys finally got it together and we drove over the island to the surf beach and did some fishing – not very successful, but we caught a few Dart, small Whiting and other assorted beach fish.

We drove back over to the inner beach and while Jack and Jack tried their luck again I got some photos of the ever present Whistling Kite.

I saw a small damsel or dragonfly over a patch of brackish water – very small with a bright blue end to the abdomen, but was unable to get any photos.

We got back to camp around midday and had lunch, then we all mounted up and drove back across to the surf beach again and up to the lighthouse. Bottle-nosed Dolphins, Manta Rays, several distant Humpback Whales and a shark were the main attractions, a Nankeen Kestrel perched up close for a few seconds and I grabbed some quick shots.

Nankeen Kestrel

Surf beach from Cape Moreton

Cape Moreton

Back down to the beach and, again, the boys fished while the girls went for a drive. Once again the fishing was not overly exciting, but we got some bigger Dart which were returned to the sea and a few more small Whiting and Bream.

By the time we got back to camp it was dark and we had dinner pretty quickly. Afterwards we all went down to the beach near camp – a minute’s walk – and lit a fire, while Jack, Jack and I put out lines in the hopes of a shark. We all got hammered but nothing hooked up. Gave it away at 22.00 and had coffee in company with the very confiding Bush Stone-curlew.

Day 4 220616 A light wind, grey sky, warm day. It took us ages to get going in the morning, then we all headed over to the surf beach. We went to have a closer look at a dead Flatback Turtle we had seen yesterday but not stopped for.

Flatback Turtle

Unfortunately, we had forgotten to pack the bait so we dropped J and J off at the rocks to fish with lures and drove back to collect the bait. I eventually joined the boys and we fished while Kerrod wormed and the girls drove round the beach.

We started out catching small fish – Butter bream and small Bream – then we started fishing with bigger baits and both Jack (B) and I got hammered by big fish which we never landed or even saw. I did catch a Remora, which I thought was a bit weird.

Coming down one track a bird flew up off the side of the track and I was pretty sure it was a Noisy Pitta – unexpected at this sandy location, but logical given their seasonal movement to the coast. I also added Sooty Oystercatcher, White-faced and Striated Heron to the trip list.

Day 5 230616 A lovely morning – dead calm, warm, cloudy. We hung around then went down to pick up a friend of Catherine’s from the ferry at 10.30. The on-site manager, Clint, had offered to take us on an island explorer type trip so the two cars headed off across the island from the ferry to the surf beach and then south down the beach. We stopped at the Rous battery, built to defend Moreton Bay from, presumably, the Japanese during the second world war – and explored the underground bunkers with torches. There were hundreds of Granny Cloak Moths now using the bunkers for a daytime roost.

Granny's Cloak Moths

On down the beach and then into the Mirapool area – a flock of Pied Cormorants the only occupants. On around the bottom corner and in to Kurringal. We stopped at an oyster farm for a while where Kerrod knew the owners, then travelled on, now up the inner beach past a long stretch of mangroves – heard Mangrove Honeyeaters and saw a Collared Kingfisher. A large number of Striated Herons also in this area. On up the beach, beach combing as we went, and seeing a single Beach Stone Curlew, until we reached Tangalooma. Then it was up a soft sand track to The Desert – an area of wind-blown sand with the tobogganing hill in the middle. We didn’t have any boards so actual tobogganing was out of the question.

A half an hour or so later we arrived back at camp.

16.30 and the boys headed off to fish the beach. Half way to North Light and Kerrod suggested that, due to the calm conditions, rock fishing might be a better choice. So we carried our gear around to the rocks off Honeymoon Bay and did just that.

https://youtu.be/66DXcIoaj_c

I got a large Bream almost straight away – first cast, in fact – but nothing else during the night. Kerrod and Jack (S) caught a few small Snapper/Squire. I managed to lose a bit of gear on the rocks – standard practice for me – but otherwise it was a good evening.

We left the rocks at 21.00 and headed back to the car, cleaning and filleting the fish on the beach. When we started to head back along the beach we found our way barred by the high tide – it had come up much higher than we anticipated. We had to drive on the top of the sand dunes with Jack, Jack and I clearing trees and guiding Kerrod through the open spaces until we reached the track off the beach. A long drive back along the sand tracks followed accompanied by dozens of Masked Lapwings and a few Bush Stone Curlews. We got home at 22.30.

Day 6 240616 We didn’t do a lot today. Hung around most of the morning, then headed across to the north rocks where Jack, Jack and I spent most of the afternoon fishing with no major success. Quite a strong south westerly blowing and cool, but not cold. Saw a few Humpback Whales passing the headland and a school of about ten Bottle-nosed Dolphins came quite close. Other than that the Whistling Kites were our constant companions, but little else of interest.

Kerrod returned having dropped Katy off at the barge and we all returned home as the wind increased in intensity. We cooked a barbeque dinner and watched TV.

Day 7 250616 When we finally got going at 10.30 we drove up the inner beach to a gutter and fished for Whiting. We didn’t find any, but we did run into a school of Bream and after catching several small ones I got a good-sized fish big enough to keep.

We headed back to camp and cooked sausages for a late lunch, then Catherine and the girls took the car for a drive while the boys prepared for rock fishing.

We headed up to North Light at about 16.30 and got out on the rocks just before dark. Almost immediately Kerrod caught a couple of small Snapper and I got a small Trevally. Once dark settled in however, the decent fish all but disappeared and we were just baited time and time again - Jack (S) did get a good-sized keeper Bream. We left the rocks at 20.00 and headed back to watch the second half of the England v Australia third test.

'Camp' - and Jack and Jack mucking around....

Day 8 260616 Everyone got up late and we spent most of the morning clearing up, packing and tidying. Walked to the shop and had hot chips and coffee, then left the ‘campsite’ at 14.30. Waited an hour and a half before boarding the barge and leaving the island at 16.30.

Arrived back on the mainland at 18.00, Kerrod’s at 18.45 and I left for home at 19.30.

18.6.16

Trotter

Mr D’s suggestion of ‘Trotter’ for our Saturday morning’s outing didn’t inspire me with optimism and most of our walk didn’t change that opinion. We never cease to be bewildered by the lack of activity in a place with such apparent resources and varied habitats.

The water levels were still very low and the exposed lake bottom had acquired a new layer of grass, weeds and sprouting eucalypts, but still nothing was taking advantage of this new growth. The forests were, as always, almost devoid of life and the remaining lake itself almost completely barren.

Four Australian Pelicans, one Little Black Cormorant, one Red-capped Plover, one Black-fronted Dotterel, four Wood Ducks and 5 Black Ducks did little to improve the walk. I mean really? WTF?

So, back into the woods and we found some newly emerged Scarlet Bracket fungi; Pycnoporus coccineus beside the track.

Scarlet Bracket Pycnoporus coccineus

Further along a small bird wave of 3 Eastern Spinebills, a male Australian Golden Whistler, a couple of Striated Pardalotes, two each Yellow-faced and Brown Honeyeaters took our attention. A larger bird in the background turned out to be a new species for the site for us and one rarely seen south of Brisbane – a Little Wattlebird - Mr D was especially pleased at this occurrence.

Little Wattlebird

We’ve now had both Queensland/east coast Wattlebirds here, both ‘difficult’ in the Brisbane region and, once again, this, otherwise sterile, site had produced a surprise.

Back to the car without further excitement and breakfast at Belesis.

16.6.16

Minnippi

It was one of those dull, damp, windless days when everything is very quiet – nothing much calling except the odd Lewin’s Honeyeater rattling away in the undergrowth.

However, with a bit of patience it turned out very well. The lake was its usual – not much happening there and the M1 track was dead – initially. I did manage to drag a Mangrove Gerygone out and a couple of Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, a pair of female Australian Golden Whistlers and a single Shining Bronze Cuckoo eventually gave themselves up. A pair of Wood Duck appeared to be prospecting the dead trees for a suitable nest hole, calling quietly to each other.

Walking up along the side of the woodland a number of birds were moving in the single, stand-alone gum. Brown, White-throated and Scarlet Honeyeaters, Variegated Fairy-wrens, White-throated Gerygone and at least 3, possibly 4, Eastern Spinebills flitted between there and a few scattered blossoms along the edge of the trees.

On the lake the 4 Pink-eared Ducks reported by Mr P last weekend were still in residence.

https://youtu.be/CahDgNE1YuI

Up the hill and in the grass a new fungi – Yellow Stainer;Agaricus xanthodermus.

Yellow Stainer;Agaricus xanthodermus.

Onto the Airfield track and a bit of work brought forth a pink-breasted Rose Robin – a good bird for Minnippi.

Rose Robin

Shortly afterwards a Striped Honeyeater showed up voluntarily – another good species, not recorded here, I believe, for some time.

Back up the hill and 10 minutes at the Raptor Lookout produced nothing, but down the bike track returning to the car a single Red-browed Finch and the resident pair of Tawny Frogmouths added to the morning’s list.

14.6.16

Pt Lookout, North Stradbroke Island

With the promise of 25 knot south easterlies and high winds for the previous 48 hours I thought it would be a good idea to do a seawatch so did the car/boat/bus thing and got to the point at the usual 8am.

In the first ten minutes I thought I saw a couple of Prions but wasn’t 100% sure – the wind was very much easterly blowing straight into my face and the ‘scope was trembling as a result, making it difficult to follow anything in the choppy, 2-3 meter surf. However, it quickly became apparent that there were in fact dozens of Prions passing, some quite close off the rocks, but most a medium distance out. Easily recognizable by their flight patterns, masters at skimming the waves without getting wet, but not so easy to identify individual species, I assumed all were Fairy Prions. Nice portent for the next few winter weeks as we don’t always get Prions this far north.

Fairy Prion

https://youtu.be/EID8JJ4Je0w

Strange to see Common (and 1 Black) Noddy at the same time, they were heading south. Tropical and Antarctic birds mixed in together. Australasian Gannets made up the rest of the bulk of the birds – both adult and immatures moving north and south made a count pointless.

During the rest of the two and half hour watch about 15 Hutton’s/Fluttering Shearwater species hammered past both ways and one Short-tailed Shearwater, unusual at this time of year, headed south.

Early on several pods of Humpback Whales passed too, a couple within a few meters, it seemed, of the rock. However, I didn’t see any after 9.00, although with the wind, the broken, disturbed white-capped waves and the general rough conditions I may have missed their blows.

I was half expecting an albatross or Giant Petrel, but when neither appeared and things seemed to ease off I gave it away at 10.30 and headed home.

11.6.16

Anstead

Mr D picked me up at 6 and we arrived on site 30 minutes later. A flock of Apostlebirds flew past and disappeared into a thick shrub.

We headed up the track and ran into a bird wave of sorts – dozens of Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, several Australian Golden and Rufous Whistlers, surprisingly mostly males, a Rose Robin (we ended up seeing about 4, Mr D claimed to hear about 6), Scaly-breasted Lorikeets overhead, Grey Fantails, A couple of Scarlet Honeyeaters, Silvereyes, Striated and one Spotted Pardalote – it was all going off!

Once we had identified all the visible birds and satisfied ourselves there was nothing out of the ordinary, we headed on up the path. It was very quiet for some time along the ridge and then right along the top track to overlook the private dam- really almost nothing seen!

Returning to the track out to the lookout I found a Koala descending a tree in the background and we had Noisy Friarbirds, more Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, Rose Robin, a pair of Little Corellas, Sulphur-crested Cockatoos and Variegated Fairy wrens. As we returned back along this track a new site tick for us both – Large-billed Scrub-wren was a nice addition to the list.

Out then to the open area under the power lines, the second lookout and the fig tree, then back down the bitumen and so back to the car park – nothing much new was seen.

Many more Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, Pardalotes, Silvereyes, Whistlers and a second Koala; a pair of Varied Sitellas – very reliable here – and a small flock of Red-browed Finches were the only additions to our day list. A few of the ubiquitous Monarchs and a single Lesser Wanderer were the only butterflies noted.

We retired to Kenmore and breakfast, as usual, at Café Tara.

9.6.16

Bribie Island

6.30am found me at Buckley’s Hole minutes after dawn. A warmish (for winter) calm, clear sunny morning. I was hoping for maybe Little Bittern? But had to settle for an Azure Kingfisher, Striated Heron and Nankeen Night Heron.

Nankeen Night Heron

An hour or so later and I walked along the back of the beach finding Mangrove Gerygones, Red-browed Finches and Chestnut-breasted Mannikins among the dozens of Brown Honeyeaters.

A short drive then to Red Beach – but nothing of much note in the car park or the walk to the beach.

Stopped off at Scoopys and checked for Gulls – nothing on the beach at all - so had breakfast instead.

Drove to Kakadu wader roost near White Patch – almost nothing there either, apart from a few White-headed Stilts and a sleepy pair of Pied Oystercatchers so headed home.

7.6.16

Sandy Camp, Fuller and Lindum Wetlands

On site at 7.00, the wind had finally died off after the ‘weather event’ of last weekend. I expected to find flooding, but the water levels were pretty much as a few weeks ago. The usual birds around the ponds, including 4 Wandering Whistle Duck. The place was heaving with Brown and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters with the odd Scarlet, especially around the Bittern Pond.

Down the end a larger Honeyeater stood out – a Mangrove Honeyeater, my first on this site, although I see it has been recorded here before.

Mangrove Honeyeater

I was horrified to find the land immediately beyond the Bittern Pond completely cleared, right to the bank of the channel. Probably wasn’t much there in terms of habitat, but it provided a buffer between the pond and the ‘development’ – now there is nothing, just bare earth, I’m sure to be soon concreted, fenced and the resulting toxic run off and blockages will ultimately affect the diminishing wetland.

I finished up back at the car at 9, having seen nothing else to get excited about, apart from 2 Black Jezebels chasing each other half way to the canopy.

A short drive to Fuller and I walked in to scope the flooded field. The water level here was definitely up and most of the birds were focused around the semi-floating vegetation on the far side. A single Glossy Ibis and approx 30 Black-fronted Dotterels were the highlight until another wader popped into focus. It took me by surprise and some time before I was happy with ID – Double-banded Plover! What a weird location. I include a crap, heavily photo-shopped, image purely to prove I wasn’t imaging it! It was feeding quite enthusiastically and I can only assume it got caught up in the wild easterly wind on the weekend and was dumped here.

Double-banded Plover

I moved on to Lindum/Kianawah Rd wetlands but it was very quiet, although again the water level was high – probably due to the high tides we have had recently. Plenty of Stilts and Teal (both sp) but not much else.

1.6.16

Minnippi

Still suffering the effects of jet lag I had a late start on a cloudy, still, warm for the first-day-of-winter morning. It is so dry at the moment, everything brown and dead looking – the comparison with the recent lush green of Ireland is stunning.

The lake was fairly quiet and the M1 track appeared the same, but I managed to drag out a few good birds. First up - a flock of 9 Red-browed Finches was the biggest flock, by 7 birds, I have ever seen here. The usual wintering Striated Pardalotes, Grey Fantails, Rufous and Golden Whistlers showed up, with a beautiful yellow male of the latter less common at this site. A Shining Bronze Cuckoo was a surprise addition, a couple of White-throated Gerygones, identified by sight as I just can’t hear them, a Spangled Drongo and Variegated Fairy wrens completed the activity.

Up along the wood’s edge and a pair of Eastern Spinebills showed briefly – have only ever seen one single bird here before.

A Black Jezebel flew by, but otherwise it was quiet on the way back to the lake. The level is low but nothing unusual showed. Over the hill and onto the Airfield Track and added Leaden Flycatcher (nice male) and a single Double-barred Finch to the day list and a small yellow butterfly later identified as Pink Grass-yellow – a new species for my records.

Pink Grass-yellow

Walking back along the side of the airfield I disturbed 4 Heliotrope Moths (small and apparently all white, until the colours show on closer examination)

Back at Stu’s Raptor Lookout a White-faced Heron fly by was the only air activity while a Buff-banded Rail, beside the footpath, took advantage of the very quiet, civilian-free morning.

Back along the bike path and a Shield Bug on a paperbark attracted my attention. Turned out to be a Brown Shield Bug - 5th instal - they go through a number of changes from juvenile to adult and this is a the fifth stage of that development.