Weekends That Were - February 2020

2.2.20

Oxley

On site at 6.15 with Mr D – on another hot, sweaty morning. The track was relatively birdy and the fields and fence lines active. Usual stuff with the only ‘oddity’ and that’s probably exaggerating – an Australian Reed Warbler singing from the second culvert. According to my records there’s a 60% chance of seeing one in February - only outclassed by a 76% chance in December…so it wasn’t unusual, it’s just I haven’t heard or seen one for some time at Oxley.

The ponds were pretty quiet with only 1 Glossy Ibis worthy of note, but along the track before the ponds we did have 3 Plum-headed Finches and, later, another one back near the carpark. We also had multiple Chestnut-breasted Mannikins and several single Red-browed Finches so it was a good morning for seedeaters. Heaps of Red-backed Wrens too, looking eager to start a family.

The only raptor was a distant Whistling Kite late in the piece as we dragged our soggy asses back to the car and headed off to Sherwood for a militarily precise Hungarian breakfast.

8.2.20

Minnippi

The lake level had risen, no more muddy edges. Parts of the grassed areas were flooded. Heavy rain in the previous couple of days had left its effect when I arrived on site at 6.15. It was a cool, but humid, damp morning. Everything was sort of muted – quiet, minimal activity. Bird numbers seriously down – especially on the lake. I assumed because things had moved out as the rain had covered a large part of SEQ and possibly stuff had returned from whence it came. 

The Striped Marsh Frogs Limnodynastes peronei were going off all over the place – wherever the rain had left temporary water. Under the trees along the Avenue, in the reed beds, around the creek. I hoped for their sake, the lying water wasn’t too temporary and they managed to breed successfully.

The M1 track was very quiet, the Avenue dead. In fact the highlight of the morning was seeing 3 or 4 White-banded Noctuid Moth Donica obigera, a moth species of reasonable size that I have seen here before, fluttering around on the M1 track and a Collared Sparrowhawk perched up beside the track from the Avenue to the lake.

White-banded Noctuid Moth Donica obigera

Collared Sparrowhawk

I checked the water, of course, for the usual species, although very much down in number (for example: a total of 14 Pacific Black Ducks, which is very low) then sat at the raptor lookout for a smoke, before wandering back to the car. 

All in all it was a bit of a waste of time, but it was nice to be out and about again, even if for only a short walk, after a week of non-activity.

23.2.20

Oxley, the Noosa Twitch and a Famous Cricketer

Mr P had been in contact and we had agreed to ‘do’ Oxley - he would pick me up at 6.

The night before I went out for dinner with ex-work colleagues, two of whom I hadn’t seen for 10 or 12 years, at one participant’s house in Ashgrove. I had sort of expected to be home by maybe 11? However, it didn’t quite turn out that way.

Mr P contacted me around 7 and told me a probable Kentish Plover had been reported on the Noosa river sandbank by an unknown and, it appeared, non-birder, via the ABID Facebook page where people generally post photos of Magpies and Starlings asking what they are? In this case the poster obviously recognised something different in the small plover and Andy J picked up the report and planned to head up to Noosa on the Sunday morning.

Mr P and I discussed our options, but decided to go ahead with the planned Oxley visit and see what panned out.

In any event, I didn’t get home till nearly 1am, having had a very enjoyable, but completely sober, (thank God), evening and crashed for the 4 hours I had left, before getting up to meet Mr P at 6.

We got to Oxley on the grey, dull but comfortable morning and headed out the track discussing, of course, when to go to Noosa, while monitoring Mr J’s texts.

The track was quite birdy and we had a reasonably good hour and a half’s walk without seeing anything outstanding.

By the time we got back to the car we had made the decision. We’d pick up another birding friend, Elliot L, and head north straight away from Oxley….well, first we went to Mackers to get coffee and something to eat, then it was off on the two hour drive.

I tried to sleep, unsuccessfully, in the back seat, but at least managed to close my eyes and relax.

We sat in the extreme traffic on the last couple of kilometres on the streets into Noosa and joked that everyone was coming ‘to see the plover’, although in reality, in most circumstances, a complete Queensland twitch could be comfortably included in a single 10 seater mini-van.

At the end of the peninsula overlooking the river mouth we found several other birders clustered around a group of scopes, including Mr D who had spent the weekend at Mooloolaba, a few ks south of Noosa.

The bird was present on a sandbank on the other side of the river, approximately 500 meters (?) away, hanging out with several local Red-capped Plovers. It was relatively easy to ID even though, for most of the time, we could only see its head and upperparts over the lip of the shallow sandbar. It’s longer bill and white collar were pretty obvious once one got a profile view.

It was only the 4^th Australian record for Kentish Plover, a lifer for Mr L and an Australian tick for both Mr P and I, bringing my Australian list to 660.

We hung out for about 90 minutes during which we saw the bird move around a bit more, but it eventually couldn’t be seen again, because, we believed, it was feeding in a low tide-exposed channel in between two banks.

During the watch a number of local visitors approached us asking what we were doing? Mr P recognised one of them who was talking to ME and looking through MY scope and, to my surprise, asked this guy if he played cricket?

The young, muscular dude said he did and Mr P said ‘You’re Morne Morkel, aren’t you?’

I, of course, had recognised him straight away, being the cricket tragic I’m not…….but had not wished to advertise the fact and embarrass Morne, cause after all, we’d become BFF – he looked though MY scope!

Obviously, in reality, I had NO idea who he was, even after Mr P explained he was a world famous member of the South African team, but he was a nice guy and was happy to meet other birder/cricket types who were a little in awe.

We headed home around 12.15 and suffered the usual traffic SNAFU one experiences on the northern highway approaching Brisbane every Sunday afternoon, God alone knows why.

25.2.20

Sandy Camp & Lindum

At least one, possibly 2, dubiously 3, White-fronted Honeyeaters had been reported from Sandy Camp for the past 10 days or so. Having found the one at Minnippi on 8^th May 2011, I wasn’t in a hurry to go see them – especially given my success rate at chasing ‘rarities’. However, I decided after the success of Sunday to give it a go and was on site at 6.15.

These birds are approx 800 kms out of range. They are usually seen west of St George or in other similar away-from-the-coast locations in other states. To see them in Brisbane is rare.

There were plenty of Blue-faced and Brown Honeyeaters, Rainbow Lorikeets, Little and Noisy Friarbirds, Grey Shrike Thrushes and Noisy Miners hanging out in the advised ‘spot’, but a half hour or so didn’t bring me my target. A couple of other birders turned up and eventually one of them mumbled something about them being seen 50 meters or so away from where I was standing, locally near a tree with mistletoe hanging off a branch over the water. Moving there we managed to find a single bird fly-catching and chasing smaller birds off the site. It was approx 50-75 meters away and there was no easier access to get closer than looking at/for it at that distance which was a bit disappointing. I did get several views of it perched up in between sallies and its regular disappearance into thicker cover, but it wasn’t particularly satisfying.

After another 30 minutes or so of fleeting glimpses I moved on to casually bird the rest of the site. I didn’t bother walking around the Black Bittern Pond and didn’t see anything else of particular note.

I stopped off, briefly, at Lindum and just checked the waders by scope from inside the fence. There was a handful flock of Sharp-tailed, Curlew and Marsh Sandpipers poking around in the flooded mud, a few Black-fronted Dotterels and 20 or so White-headed Stilts.

29.2.20

North Stradbroke Island

Mr P suggested Straddie so I picked him just after 6 and we arrived at Pt Lookout, after the usual automobile, boat, bus trek, at 8.

It was predicted to be blowing ESE between 15 and 25 knots and it probably was, but the results were not as good as hoped for. The sea was choppy and the glare was horrendous, until the scattered clouds blocked the direct sunlight and then we had scattered patches of shade on the water but it was still really hard at times.

There were a few scattered Wedge-tailed Shearwaters flying slowly right and occasional Short-tailed Shearwaters hammering along, as they do. 

A dark phase Arctic Skua and 2 (1 dark, 1 pale phase) Pomarine Skuas also headed south and, late in the piece, a single Common Noddy north.

I picked up a large shearwater type thing a long way off that showed a pale belly, long-winged, pale brown colour when in the shade – in the glare it looked darker – and eventually decided it had to be a Streaked Shearwater. I couldn’t get Mr P onto it, but as a matter of elimination, that’s what it had to be – not a very successful sighting.

The ‘highlight’ of the morning – although I didn’t realise it till later – was a single Peregrine Falcon fly past. It turned out to be a new species for me for Straddie. 

Gus D turned up for a while and we had a probable second sighting of the Streaked Shearwater, but it was around the edge of the rock and I didn’t get onto it from my position. 

We also had a Whistling Kite and a Hutton’s Shearwater – both out of my sightline ‘round the corner’.

At 10.30 Mr P and I headed for the bus, leaving Gus to enjoy the rest of the weekend on the island.