27.4.19
Oxley
We decided on Oxley as an easy, Saturday morning dander and started out from the carpark at 6.15.
The track was pretty birdy the whole length. The Noisy Miner population seemed to have reduced in number from my last visit and therefore we had more birds along the full length of the track.
Rufous and Australian Golden Whistlers had arrived in numbers and Grey Fantails were a common sight. Halfway along and 2 Varied Trillers showed – only my third site-record. Brown Quail were calling at several locations and a Leaden Flycatcher and 2 White-throated Gerygones (one immature, one adult) added to the excitement. A single Red-browed Finch just before the turn off was a good site bird, but unfortunately there were no Pipits along the track to the ponds.
At the water the birds were thin on the ‘ground’, so to speak, as the main lake was now almost completely covered in Water Hyacinth.
We were heading back along that track when Mr D heard a calling Buttonquail. After a few minutes I too could hear the low ooooming sound coming from the long grass in the paddock beside the water trough – we agreed it was a Red-backed Buttonquail.
I set up the Bluetooth speaker at the fence and we stood and waited. Eventually, after about 10 or 15 minutes, we both had separate, but similar, views of the bird sticking its head and shoulders out of the rank weeds for a few seconds. It, or possibly another as it seemed to call further away, continued to call back, but refused to entertain us further. A great site tick and a lifer for Mr D.
We celebrated with breakfast at café Europa in Sherwood.
24.4.19
Minnippi
Felt like a walk so arrived on site at 6.30. It turned out to be quite a good morning.
The doe Red Deer was, again, at the lake at the same spot.
Two White-bellied Cuckoo-shrikes put in a brief appearance and a pair of Long-billed Corellas prospected for a nest site on the M1 track.
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| Long-billed Corella |
Along The Avenue yellow fungi had appeared and one or two split open. I thought they were Earthstars but believe they are Scleroderma cepa– a variety of Puffball with no ‘common‘ name. Interesting shape though.
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| Scleroderma cepa |
Back at the lake much the same as usual – the Black Swan is back along with 11 Wandering Whistle Ducks showing well.
After a smoke at the raptor-less raptor lookout, I headed for The Airfield Track. Two Striped Honeyeaters fed low down on the big fig tree beside the fence. Along the track nothing out of the ordinary – no sign of the Nightjar from my last visit.
Another sit-up at the lookout produced nothing new and I headed back along the concrete, stopping only to take photos of a small butterfly which I think is a Wattle Blue Theclinesthes miskini – if it is, it’s a new species for me for Minnippi.
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| Wattle Blue Theclinesthes miskini |
The last item of any note was a single Tawny Frogmouth sitting in an isolated She-oak about 50 meters before the grove of trees where they usually reside. There were none in the usual tree.
19.4.19
Oxley
With no one else available I headed out alone. The track was pretty birdy but for the first third was mostly Noisy Miners – they seem to have increased remarkably, whether this is as a result of the quantity of flowering trees or a full on invasion, I’m not sure.
Beyond their boundary there were loads of Brown and Lewin’s Honeyeaters. The rest of the walk was mainly business as usual, with nothing overly exciting. The main pond almost completely choked now with lilies.
On the return walk I picked up a Tawny Frogmouth perched up near the second culvert – the first one I’ve seen here in daylight.
Bumped into The Prof on the way back, but other than that it was pretty much as always.
16.4.19
Minnippi
More from a sense of doing something, rather than a passionate birding outing I headed to Minnippi after dawn. It turned out to be a pretty good morning.
First up crossing Bulimba creek a Pale-vented Bush Hen growled at me from just below the bridge, but refused to make a physical appearance.
The main lake was quite busy with a large number of both Great and Intermediate Egrets, Comb-crested Jacanas, Hardheads, Pacific Black Ducks, Australian Grebes and both Little Black & Little Pied Cormorants.
A doe Red Deer was on the left side of the lake, my first since July 2013, although others have seen it (?) on occasion – it was in exactly the same spot and looks like the same animal Mr P photographed and posted on the SEQ Mammal Watching Facebook page earlier this year.
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| Red Deer (doe) |
The M1 track was fairly quiet. At least one calling Fan-tailed Cuckoo and an immature perched up were the stand outs.
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| Imm Fan-tailed Cuckoo |
Not much along The Avenue, back at the lake much the same as previously noted plus the Striated Heron poking its head out of the grass on the island. Shortly afterwards it flew past me as I approached the airfield and landed at the bare mud pond where it was mobbed by 10 Magpie Larks.
I started down the Airfield Track and stopped after about 50 meters as 2 Bar-shouldered Doves flew up off the track. I updated my notes and started walking again and a White-throated Nightjar lifted off and glided ahead around the corner and out of sight! Wow!! A new site record and not just for me, according to E Bird it has not been recorded here previously. I was unable to re-locate the bird, assuming it went off-track and either perched up or bedded down somewhere.
The rest of the walk was a bit of a non-event after that, although I did have a Whistling Kite over the woods, only my third site record and there were 2 Tawny Frogmouths perched up in the usual tree, so maybe breeding isn’t happening at the moment.
14.4.19
Sandy Camp & Lindum
We (Mr D driving) picked up Mr P at 6.10 and were on site by 6.30.
Started at Lindum to look for the (supposed) Cox’s Sandpiper. Only Sharp-tailed were present today, plus the usual White-headed Stilts, a few Avocets, Red-kneed Dotterels etc. A Black-shouldered Kite flew over being harassed by a Blue-faced Honeyeater – a new site tick for me.
On then to Sandy Camp. It was pretty birdy with lots of flowering trees and the subsequent numbers of Little Friarbirds and Rainbow and Scaly-breasted Lorikeets. The usual stuff on the water, nothing to get excited about. A calling Australasian Reed Warbler hidden in the reedbed and at least 3 Striped Honeyeaters singing at different locations around the area.
We had a few raptors – an Eastern Osprey on its nest pole and, later, in flight, a big female Brown Goshawk and an immature White-bellied Sea Eagle (only my second site record). A fly-by dark Peregrine Falcon completed the day list and was a new site addition for all of us, I think.
The only other bird of real interest was a female Common Cicadabird on the back track. Again only my second site record, but maybe new for Mr P’s? Other than that it was same same and we headed for Belesis for a same same breakfast.
11.4.19
Anstead
Been a while since I ventured out to Anstead, but I was on site just after dawn on a pleasant, autumn morning.
The track was very quiet, hardly anything moving or calling. A few Little Lorikeets screamed overhead, but other than that I had little reason to lift my bins for the first 40 minutes or so.
All in all it was a quiet morning, the only excitement being a Painted Buttonquail that trotted out onto the track in front of me on the slope to the quarry, and, with a little playback, came within 2 meters, calling back quietly.
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| Painted Buttonquail |
A couple of pairs of Australian King Parrots and the only cuckoo being a Fan-tailed made up a short list of only 34 species.
9.4.19
Minnippi
Decided to give Minnippi a run and arr on site just after dawn at 6.05.
The lakes were almost completely covered in lily pads – the main, first part, 100% covered. I’m not sure what that holds for the future but there were plenty of Ducks, Moorhens, Jacanas, Egrets, Cormorants and one Black Swan feeding on and under the floating plants.
The M1 track was very quiet, only an Australian Bush Turkey and the usual Rainbow Lorikeets overhead.
Along the avenue a Swamp Wallaby made a dash across from right to left before the lone tree which was closer than usual and a family (?) group of 18 Australian Magpies hung out very confidingly.
Back at the lake it was much the same as the main part including the Striated Heron again flying from side to side.
I sat at the raptor lookout for a cigarette then decided to bite the bullet and do the Airfield Track. It was a mosquito ridden nightmare – although they don’t worry me for too long, they’re just plain annoying. I did have two female Golden Whistlers and two Grey Fantails and, bird of the day, was, again, a juvenile Black-faced Monarch. Looking at my records this is my sixth sighting, 4 of the other 5 have been of juveniles in the March-May period which was sort of interesting?
Back at the raptor lookout again, nothing doing, so headed back to the car. A lone Tawny Frogmouth perched up in the usual tree led me to think its mate maybe on a nearby nest, but I didn’t find it.
Confessions of an Uber driver - restarted
Chapter 60 (8.4.19, Monday)
So, back at it. I’ve actually been ‘back at it’ since mid-March, but, quite frankly, didn’t think it was worth continuing to post updates. It’s been good, nothing super spectacular, but no major hassles or strange experiences, just nice, normal riders…. until today.
So, I headed out at 6 and parked up in my road for a while, reading. After about 10 minutes, a ride popped in Coorparoo and I headed over to pick up the guy.
When I got there I stopped in the side street and he crossed over and got in the front passenger door. I had just started the ride and was about to drive away when a female appeared at my window, wrapped in a towel, obviously just out of the shower.
I powered my window down, she stuck her arm in and demanded my passenger ‘give me back my f…….g key!’ He told her to ‘F…k off, I’m going to work’ but she persisted – with her arm still extended in front of me. He told me to just ‘drive on’but I said ‘I can’t so long as her arm is in the window’.
The situation continued for a few minutes as they traded insults and threats, until he, reluctantly, gave her back her key, while she threatened to put all his stuff out on the front path…….
We drove away in an awkward silence. Luckily it wasn’t too far and I dropped him off without much further conversation, just saying I hoped his day improved…….
My next ride took a while but eventually I picked up a young guy in the Greenslopes area and took him to work. During the ride he told me he’d ‘lost’ his license, then been caught driving without one, suspended for two months, then been caught AGAIN driving without one and been banned from driving for two years, next stop, jail.
One really has to wonder why people take the risks they do.
The next ride took a long time and I went back to park in my own road again. However, it was worth the wait as I picked up a (Australian) lady with a super-heavy bag who needed the international terminal as she was going ‘home’ to Tokyo where she had lived for 30 years. We had an interesting conversation about Japan and all things Japanese.
A few short rides ensued without much excitement, then as I headed back in along Lutwyche Rd a ride popped in Lutwyche and I waited for a guy to come out of his unit.
It was 8.55 and he was flying to China, international obviously, at 10.10!
We went through the airport tunnel, sticking carefully to the 80 km/hr limit, then I pushed it a bit, well, quite a bit, along Airport Drive and dropped him off at 9.05. Pretty good going even if I say so myself. He obviously thought so too, ‘cause he gave me a $20 tip.
A few more rides saw me back in the valley picking up a couple of guys who worked for CUA – I told them I was a 38 year member and, when I dropped them off in the city, told them they had better do a good job today!
Got fuel and headed home.
3.4.19
Oxley
Been three months since I visited The Ox, obviously I’ve been away for a lot of that time, but with the daily temperatures now much more liveable – 26-28 degrees – I looked forward to walking the track again.
On site at 6 – grey, dull, cloudy morning, rain spitting very lightly, the whole area very green after the recent heavy rains.
The track was medium quiet! On the way out anyway, on the way back two hours later it had picked up somewhat. Most of the usual stuff, although fairy wrens were noticeably absent, presumably due to the moulting period at this time of year. Interesting stuff includedRufous Whistler and Rainbow Bee Eaters, Double-barred Finches and a female Leaden Flycatcher along the way.
The main pond (on the right) was almost completely covered in lily pads, hence very few duck and no Grebes present. A Comb-crested Jacana on the opposite shore was only my third site record and a pair of Australian Pipits on the main track would have made Mr D’s day.
Bird of the Day was a juvenile Black-faced Monarch in the bushes right at the end of the track. This was, too, only my third site record, the others been ‘2’ on 23.10.15 with Mr H and a juvenile on 18.4.16. Obviously it’s the time of year when the young ones start moving around.
On the way back a Fan-tailed Cuckoo perched up nicely in a dead tree and that was about it.
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