Weekends That Were - April 2026

3.4.26

JC Trotter

Mr P came to my place and we were on site by 6.15. Virtually my first expedition in two weeks - thanks very much Netanyahu and Trump you fuckwits.

We walked the track including the House Circuit and had what has become a bit of an expected norm at this location – bird waves with ‘dead’ gaps between. There is an obvious symbiotic relationship going on here.

Notably a plethora of Rufous Whistlers, a cornupia of Spangled Drongos interspersed with flicking Striated Pardalotes, several leering Lewin’s Honeyeaters, horny Yellow-faced Honeyeaters and dominant Grey Shrike Thrushes. We saw a few Common Bronzewings, a heap of Bar-shouldered Doves but only heard 1 Peaceful Dove. A single Little Corella high overhead and, later, a single plaintively calling Long-billed Corella flew by. Only 1 White-bellied Sea Eagle, perched up, in the raptor stakes and not a lot else of excitement on the bird front – the water itself was very quiet.

Butterflys – Orange Ringlet Hypocysta adiante (3), Common Crow Euploea core (1) and a Yellow-spotted Blue Candalides xanthospilos that was only my second record at this site.

I did ‘get’ a few new plants - Carolina Water Hyssop Bacopa caroliniana, Colombian Waxweed Cuphea carthagenensis, Creeping DentelaDentella repens, Eggs & Bacon Dillwynia retorta and identified the Grasstrees that have been there for ever as Johnson's or Forest Grasstree Xanthorrhoea johnsonii but in the main, the photos were so ‘average, verging on poor’, I thought I’d spare anyone looking at them.

Mackers for breakfast afterwards as a handy-not-too-far-to-drive location. 

6.4.26

Minnippi

I picked Mr P up and we were on site before 6.30. A bright, warm, calm morning with low humidity for a change.

It wasn’t a bad morning with the highlight possibly being 4 Tawny Frogmouths in one of the Paperbark Trees near the bridge. The M1 track was quite birdy for a change with the first of the ‘winter’ Grey Fantails showing.; later, on the Airfield Track, a female Scarlet Honeyeater responded to my ‘squeaker’ – another potential winter visitor. We also had a high flying flock of Topknot Pigeons passing overhead.

The cement track back to the car park was again closed as the BCC planned to replace the walking path over the next three months – the part of the path they should have replaced last year when they did work to replace a perfectly good path….

We headed home without stopping as Mr P had things to do and I had another appointment to donate plasma.

9.4.26

Oxley

On site at 6.15 after a slow, careful drive…… a bright, sunny, calm, morning, warming up as it went. The track was very quiet on the way out and only slightly birdier on the way back when walkey talkeys and joggers had largely disappeared. 

I ended up with 51 bird species but the numbers were generally low. Highlights did include 3 raptors – a Black-shouldered Kite, a ‘pair’ of Australian Hobbys on the pylons and an adult White-bellied Sea Eagle perched up on the island in the main pond, a small covey of Brown Quail scurried off the track between non-combatants and their dogs and two pairs of Chestnut Teal on the very reduced flooded field where the Pied Stilts waded in the centre demonstrating just how low the water level had become and, with no rain immediately predicted, it's likely this area of water will dry up completely in the very near future. Most notable, perhaps, not one single Australian Magpie!

Butterflys, while quiet on the way out became a little more active on the return, included 1 apparently freshly hatched White-banded Plane Phaedyma shepherdi, 3 Chequered Swallowtails Papilio demoleus and a single Meadow Argus Junonia villida.

Other Insects were generally absent, but I did find a single Celtis Leaf Beetle Menippus cynicus.

19.4.26

JC Trotter

Mr P picked me up at 6.15, on site at 6.30. Pleasantly cool, bright, calm morning warming up to being a bit sticky by the time we got back to the car. 

A very quiet morning in general with nothing to write home about. – i.e. most of the usual birds with nothing different.

We did see a good number (6) of Swamp Wallabys Wallabia bicolor but only 1 Red-necked Macropus rufogriseus and I did add Scarlet Jezebel Delias argenthona to my butterfly site list – other than that it was reasonably dead.

A short breakfast at Mackers afterwards.

20.4.26

Minnippi

On site at 6.30 – another cool (18C), bright calm morning, warming to 23C by 9am. 

Not too bad birdwise with a total of 51 species. Most ‘exciting’ was the small group of Wandering Whistle Ducks on the lake (10 in total). Other than that it was pretty much what one would expect on a decent Autumn morning at Minnippi.

No Butterflys seen at all, but I did take photos of two small flys one of which I have been unable to ID definitively but believe is a Fruit Fly of some sort. The second I did get an ID on as a Long-legged Fly sp - Chrysosoma leucopogon. 

Other than those it was a pleasant, if a bit average, morning’s walk.

Chrysosoma leucopogon 

Fly sp Genus Pogonortalis

21.4.26

Blacklighting Minnippi 3

Set up and started just before 19.30. I wasn’t expecting much, but figured if I didn’t try I’d never know.

I wasn’t surprised then, when it was very, very slooooooow. Despite being a relatively warm evening (20C feel like 23C) the activity level was almost non-existent. I had decided to give it 2 hours, however, around 21.00 a few moths appeared so I hung on until 22.00.

In the end I had 5 (photographed) species of Moth, one Planthopper and 1 Crane Fly. Two of the Moths were new (lifers), 2 more, the Planthopper and the Crane Fly were new for the site. I tried for the usual birds species, but got no response to any. I also walked the track, locally, but saw no mammals, not even a Possum. There were few spider eyes along the track too. It was possible this level of insect activity was due to the very dry weeks we had had recently - difficult to know definitively.

Not a complete waste – and definitely better than sitting on the couch watching re-runs of ER (although I am loving that show) I was relatively content with the outcome.

Common Brown Crane Fly Leptotarsus costalis 

24.4.26

Oxley

On site at 6.30, a bright, warm, low humidity morning, slight breeze, but very pleasant.

The track was very quiet. Overall I totalled 41 species only, but it was a 3-Raptor Morning so that wasn’t too bad – an Australian Hobby perched up on its usual pylon, a Whistling Kite sat quietly in the big tree on the left over the small pond and, after I climbed the gate, a Brown Falcon complained as a couple of Torresian Crows disturbed its favourite perch in the big tree to the right of the track. 

 

Whistling Kite

The ‘flooded field’ itself was almost dried out with just a muddy pool surrounded by the chopped up earth from the cattle; there were 21 Grey Teal huddled on the bank and a pair of Black-fronted Dotterel – everything else was gone.

Butterflys were particularly absent with only Monarch Danaus plexippus seen – and only 3 or 4 of those – despite the warm sun. Insects too, predictably, almost absent with just a couple of Pacific Golden Orb Weavers Nephila plumipes and two Small Round Orbweavers Araneus rotundulus noted - a spider I thought I had recorded before but was, in fact, a new one!

28.4.26

Minnippi

Following 4 days of, at times, heavy rain showers I was on site at 6.30. A soggy, grey, cool morning to start, but warming up through my visit. The M1 track was a bit quiet – but a couple of Scarlet Honeyeaters in the canopy and a male Leaden Flycatcher brightened it up somewhat.

The number of Magpie Geese had been reported as 96 – to my count it came to 85-90, there being a regular increase over the past few months. It’s a strange invasion and one wonders where they have come from – possibly a location under threat? They did seem fairly settled and I noted a couple of very young goslings with a parent just below the pylon lookout point, so they are still breeding on site. The other unusual observation was of 7 Great Cormorants, 6 perched up in the Cormorant Tree and one in the water. One or sometimes two would be an expectation, but 7 was an unusually high number.

The Airfield Track was very quiet and there was nothing else of significance. No butterflys at all or, in fact, any other insects of any note and even the expected fungi hadn’t made any appearances.

JC Trotter

29.4.26

Following further rain overnight – a damp, cool morning that, once again, brightened up to be quite warm when the sun broke through.

Very, very quiet passerine-wise and about average on the water. Didn’t encounter any bird-waves, one Banksia attracted Brown, Scarlet and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, but only one or two of each. A few Grey Fantails and two female Golden Whistlers and that was about it.

I did have a Nankeen Kestrel briefly perched up before a Willy Wagtail chased it off.

 

Nankeen Kestrel

On the water much the same same, but a couple of Australian Grebes were the first at site for some time.

Butterflys started to appear late in the piece but only 3 Meadow Argus Junionia villida and a couple of Orange Ringlets Hypocysta adiante. Insects were almost non-existent apart from 1 Yellow-headed Leafhopper Brunotartessus fulvus.

I did find a new plant - Pink Boronia Boronia rosmarinifolia.

Pink Boronia Boronia rosmarinifolia