27.2.21
Jeff Skinner Reserve, Wellington Pt
Mr P suggested going to see the waders so I met him at his place at 6 and we arrived on site just before half past. Wellingtons were a necessity (it was Wellington Pt after all, har, har…Jesus save us) and we trudged out across the mud stopping on islands of samphire to scope-scan the flocks ahead.
It’s been a while since I looked at flocks of roosting waders – apart, that is, from the small numbers on Cairns esplanade – and there certainly were flocks.
Approx 1,200 Bar-tailed Godwits, ~600 Red-necked Stints, ~30 Curlew Sandpipers, ~ 350 Eurasian Curlews, ~50 Whimbrels, ~400 Lesser Sand Plovers, ~5 Pacific Golden Plovers, ~5 (probably more) Grey-tailed Tattlers, ~100 Great Knot, ~25 Common Greenshanks, ~20 White-headed Stilts, ~50 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, ~25 Ruddy Turnstones along with 1 Eastern Osprey and Little and Great Egrets. Impressive and great potential.
The local birder, Michael D, joined us after an hour and shared his experience of the site.
It was freaking hot and very humid standing in the full sun, even at that hour of the morning and I was a little relieved when Mr P called it and we headed home around 9.
Also had 4 White-throated Needletails overhead and a singing Striped Honeyeater, several Australian Pipits and a few other common birds around the low tree belt.
Butterflies: 2 Blue Tigers, 3 Common Crows and a single Varied Eggfly. Out on the marsh we had ~20+
Samphire Blues Theclinesthes sulpitius a common, but local coastal species which I hadn’t ‘seen’ before.
 |
| Samphire Blue Theclinesthes sulpitius |
As Manly is off-limits to birders (a bone of a contention and pathetic in the developed world in 2021, but that’s Australia for ya. Don’t for God’s sake, allow people to look at birds or, shock, horror, actually build a hide!! It’s the only developed – and commonly ‘developing’ country – that does not build hides or provide reasonable access anywhere to birders.…….don’t get me started…….)
Anyway…….. as Manly wader roost is now basically inaccessible, this is an excellent alternative and well worth a visit, especially on a higher than 2.5m tide (apparently).
23.2.21
Minnippi again
Back to Minnippi again – just to try to chase down the elusive Button-quail of Sunday morning.
I spent some time on the track – moving very quietly and slowly and tried for both species (Painted & Red-backed) using the usual methods. No luck, not a murmur, not a movement. Noting that they apparently breed ‘in Spring and Autumn’ – it will be worth following up in the coming weeks.
I walked the usual track around the lake and up to the Lookout – but nothing else worth noting, just the usual stuff – and a Purple Line-blue Prosotas dubiosa around the mango trees, which I’ve had here before.
By 7.30 it was super-humid and I dragged my sorry ass back to the car’s welcome air-conditioning.
21.2.21
Minnippi
With both my usual birding buddies unavailable again and wanting to get out, I was on site alone at 6.30. A small Water Dragon scurried along the bridge ahead of me.
The lake was much as usual, nothing astounding. I heard a Pale-vented Bushhen call once as I walked towards the M1 track, but couldn’t stimulate any further interest from the boat ramp.
Initially the M1 track was dead as the proverbial Dodo, however, 100 meters in and I flushed a small dark brown Quail from beside the track, it flew right and away behind me at an angle so I only got a brief glimpse. Now, given the environment I figured it was either Painted or Red-backed Button-quail. Based on its very small size, what appeared to be small white flecks on its back and absence of red - so far as I saw – (Painted often show red shoulders and are close to Brown Quail in size) and, basically, a gut feeling, I plumped for Red-backed Button-quail. I spent the next half hour or more trying to re-find it – predominantly using playback – without any success. This is a first for Minnippi so far as I know.
I exited the track and texted Mr P knowing he would be immediately interested. He called me back within 5 minutes and I waited 10 minutes or so for him to arrive. I attracted a Brush Cuckoo into overhead flight while I waited.
We spent another 30 minutes or so trying to re-find the bird but came away defeated. Frustrating.
As we left the track again he noticed a Titan Stick Insect Acrophylla titan clinging to my back. Nice!
 |
| Titan Stick Insect Acrophylla titan |
We went on up The avenue, back to the lake and then to the Lookout. Nothing much else – a Royal Spoonbill asleep in the tree on the island was a nice morning’s list addition, but apart from that and the (don’t–ask-me-about-the-) Black Swan still sitting on the nest, it was uneventful.
Butterflies increased in number as the morning progressed – Common Crows, Monarchs, Blue Tigers, Blue Triangles, Orchard Swallowtail, Cabbage White, Evening Browns, Meadow Argus and Varied Eggfly – again, nothing new.
It turned into quite a birdy morning with a couple of nice additions – would have been nice to see the Button-quail on the ground, but there’s always next time…..
20.2.21
Oxley
With neither Mr D nor Mr P available I decided to just go to Oxley – again – with thoughts of butterflies and taping stuff in mind. So I didn’t make a big effort to get there earlier, arriving on site at 6.45. A cool, pleasant morning the track was quite birdy but I still ended up with only 36 species. The ponds almost deserted, only 3 Australian Darters on the main pond.
Highlights:
A single White-throated Needletail low overhead as I approached the gate.
A perched up, presumably juvenile, Channel-billed Cuckoo suffering under the harassment of 10 or 15 Noisy Miners just inside the gate.
A family party of 2 adults and 4 well developed juvenile Brown Quail crossing the track a few meters from my feet.
An Elegant Snake-eyed Skink Cryptoblepharus pulcher perched on a log (my first confirmed record for this site, but I’ve seen it before at Minnippi and Anstead, a fairly common skink in SEQ).
 |
| Elegant Snake-eyed Skink Cryptoblepharus pulcher |
And, I re-taped Grey Butcherbird, Australian Figbird and Brown Quail, and added Spotted Dove and Masked Lapwing to my tape list. Well, you gotta start somewhere!
Butterflies - Monarch (6), Common Crow (3), Blue Tiger (1) Evening Brown (1) and 2 female Varied Eggflys.
18.2.21
Lake Samsonvale
Having planned to call in on Mr B in Ferny Grove mid-morning, I decided to start the day with a wander at Samsonvale – The Cemetery, to be specific. Leaving home at 6.30 I was on site by 7.15. A cool, pleasant, damp morning with regular heavish showers which forced retreat to the car at one stage – and soaked me to mid-thigh walking through the heavy grass to the Hoop Pine circle.
I walked down to the back of the cemetery (for those of you who know it) with the intention of scanning the available water, but the tree line planted years ago along the bank of the dam had grown to such an extent that it prevented any access to the shoreline and almost totally obscured the water itself- although what I could see appeared to be at a very low level.
Very disappointing as this used to be a good site, but Qld Water in their infinite, unfathomable wisdom had done everything to prevent access to the dam itself for anything. In the distance I could see a lot of bird activity on the water, but appeared to be of the common variety with just one Great Crested Grebe visible. It started to rain at that stage so….the retreat, as the shower passed over.
Hoping for more I walked up to the afore-mentioned Hoop Pine plantation, but it was as dead as. Very quiet, nothing but distant Lewin’s Honeyeaters and Eastern Whipbirds calling and absolutely no activity anywhere. I contented myself with checking the (very few) butterflies present – Common Crow (2) Orchard Swallowtail (1) and Yellow Albatross (1) and arrived back at the car 30 minutes later, wet and discouraged. (No sign of the Owlet Nightjar in the tree that it occasionally used to visit)
 |
| Yellow Albatross Appias Paulina |
I actually saw more birds in the car park than in the forest - a brief glimpse of a Striped Honeyeater was bird of the day......
I drove on up to the Picnic Grounds and had a look there, but it was even deader, if that’s possible, so I gave it away and headed to Mr B’s for a coffee and a chat.
15.2.21
Anstead
Headed out to the western suburbs and was on site at 7. I was targeting butterflies and possible recordings rather than massive numbers of bird species. Lucky I was too as I saw a total of 26 species of birds through a slow 2 hour walk. There were no small birds. Remarkable by their absence, the smallest birds I did see were Lewin’s Honeyeaters and Noisy Miners. No Fairy-wrens, no finches, nothing in that size range whatsoever. The place was dominated by a scourging flock of Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes (with 2 White-bellied among them), Pied Currawongs and Pied and Grey Butcherbirds. A couple of Little Lorikeets flew screaming overhead to keep me honest, but even the Rainbow Lorikeets and (one) Pale-headed Rosella were few in number. And, no, I don’t think it was my hearing that completely let me down!
The butterflies were out in number, again dominated by one species – Glasswings everywhere. Well, I reckon I saw about 30. I also had Blue Tigers, No Brand Grass Yellows, Common Crows, Meadow Argus, Small Dusky-blues, Small Grass Yellow, Lemon Migrant, Long-tailed Pea-blue and added Varied Eggfly to my site list. I did get a new moth Forest Day Moth Cruria synopla.
 |
| Forest Day Moth Cruria synopla. |
Apart from that it was pretty average. Taping wasn’t very successful either – a Pied Butcherbird and more Eastern Whipbird with a Pied Currawong thrown in the background. It had been a pleasant morning at 7, but by 9, when I left, it was turning into another warm one.
13.2.21
Minnippi
Minnippi again.
I know this year it’s been ‘Oxley, Minnippi, Oxley, Minnippi’, but really there has been minimal incentive to travel further - in the Brisbane area anyway. The patch thing is always interesting anyway – looking to find new site-ticks or just to see some of the local birds up close and personal.
Mr P and I were on site at 6 and it wasn’t a bad morning. Mostly the usual birds ect but good numbers and a bit more activity than of late. The weather had cooled down a little - especially overnight – and had not been quite as tiring over the last few days; maybe that accounted for it.
The highlight of the morning was the butterflies. Although we only had one new species – a lifer for me and a site tick for us both – we ID’d about 10 species altogether. The new one was a Pale-orange Darter Telicola colon – one of those frustratingly difficult to identify Skipper type things (Thanks Mr P for nailing it).
 |
| Pale-orange Darter Telicota colon |
We also had the usual Evening Browns and Monarch, Blue Tigers and Triangles, a Meadow Argus, Common Crows a-plenty, a couple of Varied Eggflys, Orchard Swallowtail and Glasswings along the Airfield Track that we walked for the first time in ages.
There were, again, 40+ Macquarie Turtles sticking their heads out of the pond attracted by the bread being fed to them by a small boy.
Bird-wise, nothing outstanding although a female Australian Golden Whistler was the first in months – Rufous & Grey Fantail, White-browed Scrub Wren, 2 Latham’s Snipe ect.
We didn’t stop for breakfast, just headed home after the walk.
9.2.21
Oxley
On site alone at 6.30. (dawn was at 5.30). A pleasant, bright, relatively cool, (23C) morning with a small breeze from the south.
The track was dead. D.E.A.D. So much so that I thought maybe my ears were blocked or my hearing had completely disintegrated. Then I realised I could hear my footsteps, the distant traffic and so I hadn’t finally fallen under the wheels of complete pensioner-ism.
But the track remained deadly quiet. Silent Spring stuff.
Eventually, well after the first bend, it brightened up a bit but overall it remained very, very quiet.
A Fan-tailed Cuckoo calling was the most exciting thing before the pond turnoff. Along that section of track I videoed a trio of Red-backed Fairy Wrens preening each other which was kinda cute.
Video:
I also managed to tape a calling Golden-headed Cisticola.
Taping is something I have done on and off for a few years using my Tascam DR-05. It’s been an incidental activity, low in my priorities – find the bird, see the bird, photograph the bird, video the bird, then maybe if I think about it AND the bird is still there, AND the bird is calling, AND there is not too much background noise, AND I have time – tape the bird.
I’ve accumulated 83 individual species calls (total of 115 calls) worldwide, with 48 (72) of those being Australian birds. Recently I have found that using Audacity allows me to ‘photoshop’ the calls and produce reasonable (in my opinion) results. As the bird scene is so freaking quiet lately (did I mention that at all?) this is another aspect of birding that provides a small challenge and another ‘thing’ to collect and store and cause the kids to shake their heads and ‘tut’ when I eventually shuffle off this mortal, godforsaken, coil. Along with the 1000+ CDs, the 28,000+ photos etc. Oh well, I guess that’s what the delete button is for.
Lucky for you I haven’t figured out a way to load them here or you’d be stuck listening straining to identify the species from low quality recordings and looking for an excuse not to read this lame assed blog.
(It’s OK! I don’t know who you are anyway so……)
The ponds were quiet as well apart from a few Double-barred Finches looking suspiciously like they were breeding and a possible Striped Honeyeater that flew past but I was unable to re-locate on landing.
I was back at the car by 8, and 25C, as both the day and the morning warmed to its usual tiring self.
6.2.21
Moggil SF
Picked up Mr D at 5.45 and on site by 6.15. We spent the first 10 minutes standing in the road compiling a list of birds ‘heard only’ – Wonga Pigeon, Eastern Whipbird, Pied Currawong, Lewin’s Honeyeater, Bell Miner, Pheasant Coucal, Bar-shouldered Dove, Striated Pardalote, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo & Fan-tailed Cuckoo.
Starting in on the track we added other ‘heard only’ species – Common Bronzewing, Olive-backed Oriole - and a few others which we eventually saw along the way.
Several juvenile Black-faced Monarchs and one Spectacled, Spangled Drongos, Large-billed and White-browed Scrub Wren, Eastern Yellow Robin, Rufous Fantails, White-throated Honeyeater, Little Shrike Thrushes ect.
Quite birdy and I added 2 new species to my site list – Brown Quail (H/O) and Little Friarbird.
Quite butterfly-y too. Blue Triangles, Orchard Swallowtails, Common Crow, Blue Tiger, Evening Brown, Large Grass-yellow, Brown Ringlet, Large Purple Line-blue & Dainty Swallowtail among others.
A female Cicadabird was possibly the bird of the morning.
We retired eventually to Plum café in Kenmore for a rather disappointingly expensive breakfast which encouraged me to suggest we try somewhere else next time we are out this way.
4.2.21
Minnippi
Another warm, dull, still morning, on site at 6.15.
The lake was busy enough – but the only ‘new’ additions from last visit were 2 Hardheads (another one later near the boardwalk). The M1 track was very quiet again, apart from a dumb Galah, a couple of Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes and half a dozen Evening Browns.
Along the Avenue it became a little more interesting with a distant Swamp Wallaby and 4 Spangled Drongos trying to catch one of 3 Willy Wagtails. The latter kept up his merry song between swooping attacks by the Drongos. So much so that I managed to tape him for posterity. A Sacred Kingfisher put in an appearance and 4 White-throated Honeyeaters fed nearby, undisturbed. A further point of interest – a pair of Leaden Flycatchers, also feeding unconcernedly, a little further along.
Back at the lake the Black Swan continued to sit on the ‘new’ nest in the middle of the small water area. I took a photo as I realised, to my horror, that I didn’t actually have a photo of a Black Swan on its nest…..
 |
| Black Swan on a nest in a sloping lake |
Over the lake a single White-throated Needletail passed by and later at the Lookout I saw another, or possibly the same, single.
In the lake the Macquarie Turtles were putting up the same demonstration in support of ‘More Bread for Wildlife.’ I counted at least 40 and took a pretty useless photo of a small number immediately below me.
 |
| A pretty uninteresting and uninformative photo of Maquarie Turtles |
The Lookout produced nothing (apart from the aforementioned WTNT) and I headed back towards the car not even bothering to check for Little Curlews on the Airfield.
No sign of the Little Shrike Thrushes I saw nest building last visit. I couldn’t actually pinpoint the nest so it’s possible they have succeeded and are currently brooding eggs…… we’ll see.
Just near the Tawny Frogmouths’ usual roost, the event of the day – I heard a call I couldn’t identify (Surprise, surprise I hear you say! A call YOU couldn’t identify? It wasn’t a Kookaburra then?), anyway I found a Channel-billed Cuckoo perched up and just as I saw it, a Toressian Crow flew in and the Cuckoo dropped into a begging stance, wings spread, bill open, begging calls. It was obviously a young, but very well advanced, bird and apparently a successful end result to a local parasitic event. Clear evidence of breeding I guess. Unfortunately, it flew off immediately after the Crow, denying my camera and tape recorder.
Other butterflies – a single Monarch, a single Common Crow and 2 or 3 Blue Triangles.
On a side note, of sorts. Hanging out the washing when I got home I disturbed a small brilliantly coloured Green Tree Snake sunbathing on top of the clothes line. I managed to catch it and have a few words with it before releasing it back into the wild. Very cool.
