Alex's Big Year 2021

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dwatsonbb
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Great set Alex, some lovely shots there.

Dale Huonville, Tasmania

Alex Rogers
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Thanks Sue. No, just drove down to the Royal yesterday, parked at Audley, and walked up the Lady Carrington Drive. Easy walk and a little irritatingly full of mountain bikers, but would be perfect early on a weekday. There are also a lot more challenging walks in the area that would be quieter, so I'll make this a regular expedition and do some more exploring. Birders quite often see Large-billed and Yellow-throated Scrubwrens, Rockwarblers, Pilotbirds, White-headed Pigeons and others that I've never seen, so lots to see still. 

TommyGee
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Alex, that Catbird is just beautiful. But I don't see any lyrebird pics? 

Alex Rogers
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Thanks Tommy - I think the upload failed as the files were over the irritatingly low limit, and I missed them - have edited the post to add them to the bottom. Fluffy lyrebird :-) Cheers

Devster
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Just wow. What a wonderful variety of birds Alex and great photos. The Lyrebird is my favourite. One I have yet to see or photograph

michaelrt71_1
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Success! Great stuff Alex. Lucky so many birds came to check you out, they must have been sick of the locals :-)

Alex Rogers
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Hello again - been a while - not much birding recently as I've got a new job and have had to do a bit of travel. So strange not to be able to go to most of Australia, but yet I could go to San Francisco and LA! 

I did get in a little camping trip - to a private campsite in the Nattai National Park in the Blue Mountains foothills. Gorgeous spot, and picked up a couple of birds I haven't photographed this year. Bad light and rain made it hard to get good pics, EBCs all, I'm afraid, so I'll throw in a couple of better shots of birds I've already phtographed. 

196) Mistletoebird - contender for EBC of the year (sorry!), but unmistakeable. Only got this glimpse of it before it hurried off

197) Eastern Koel - poor shot, but quite like the colour in the tree

198) House Sparrow - quite like this shot of a wet little sparrow in Bowral on the way home. Don't seem to see sparrows in Sydney any more. 

And I'll throw in an Emu and Jacky Winter just because I like the pics

Its going to be another year where I don't make my photo goals, had to cancel another QLD trip, and despite borders opening, I'm not game to try again. So my last birding expedition starts Friday, when I kick off an 8-day solo camping trip up the far north of NSW. Going to camp in Bald Rock and Border Ranges National Parks, then come back down the coast. Hopefully see a few birds, but mostly looking forward to some down time in the bush by myself :-) 

Devster
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Yes that is unmistakenly a Male Mistletoebird. Love the contrast of the yellow leaves with the Black Koel. I hope you have a great time on your trip Alex and managed to spend some quality down time. Hopefully next year you can come to Qld.

sue818
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Welcome back, Alex... I was about to SMS you. Hope the new job proves to be a bonus for overseas birds. Definitely a male Mistletoebird and love the Koel perched so high in the Silky Oak, quite typical.

Enjoy your camping trip and perhaps we will be able to catch up in the New Year.

dwatsonbb
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Glad your back, enjoy your camping trip. Some more great birds, well done.

Dale Huonville, Tasmania

michaelrt71_1
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Lovely emu portrait - looks like its contemplating the weather.

karentwemlow
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Nice work Alex, hope your solo camping trip went well, sounds bliss.... 

Alex Rogers
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Happy New Year to you all :-) Hopefully we are done with lockdowns and we can all get out a bit more this year. Bring on a Big Year for all of us :-) 

I finished my year with a trip up north - camping in Bald Rock (beautiful rocks and walks, birdlife very disappointing as it is still recovering from major fires), Border Ranges (gorgeous rainforest, but of course it rained torrentially for the 3 days I was there) and then back down the coast. It chucked down every day - but it was still so good to be out camping and exploring. Made photography diffficult too - got in a lot of low light practice lol - but saw a few good birds and managed to wangle some passable pictures. So lets finish off my year: 

199) Pied Butcherbird - saw quite a few, they really do sing better than the Greys we get down in Sydney. 

200) Pacific Emerald-dove - a bit of an EBC, it was a long way away in an orchard, and I couldn't go voer the fence - quite excited to see this, have only ever seen one before in 2016. No factsheet

201) Red-backed Fairwren - was so excited to see these lifers - have wanted to see them so much - saw the female first, and then the male. Stunning!

202) Satin Flycatcher - my only interesting bird from Bald Rock - gorgeous couple, and very active and defending their territory vigorously from the currawongs - I think they had a nest in the area but never saw it. 

The Pied Currawongs are always one of the first back into regrowth after a fire, and there were lots, and pretty predatory. I got back from a walk to find one had stolen a carton of nuts, managed to get it open, and had eaten most of them. But then I saw he had 3 hungry offspring he was feeding - so I left him to it :-) 

Alex Rogers
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203) White-throated Gerygone - sorry about the horrible EBC - but it was a lifer, and I only got one crack at it in the pouring rain, and thats what I got! 

204) Tawny Grassbird - saw a couple of these, was pleased they weren't pipits! Keep seeing pipits and thinking they were something more interesting - and finally I did. No factsheet

205) Striped Honeyeater - I stopped at Cattai Wetland on the way back, and very glad I did - lovely walk, lots of birds, including this lifer having a bath on the track. Very exciting!

206) Chestnut-breasted Mannikin - another vey exciting sighting - have only ever seen these once, and so briefly I couldn't photograph them - and had 3 great sightings this trip, very satsifying. 

207) And another lifer! A very obliging White-headed Pigeon just sitting on the ground, too full of fruit to fly. The Qld border area was superb for pigeons and doves, also saw many Bar-shouldered Doves, Brown Cuckoo-doves, Crested Pigeons and heard Wonga pigeons, as well as the Emerald-dove above.  

sue818
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Gorgeous set of birds, Alex. Shame about the weather but not under our control. Still great to get out and about.

One query about your Flycatcher, as I suspect it might be a Leaden rather than Satin. Is the undertail grey as the head seems bluer than the greyish wings? The angle of colour band on the chest is also upward rather than straight where it meets the upper body. They are so hard to tell apart at times.

Alex Rogers
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I stopped at Flat Rock near Ballina on the way back down the coast, hoping for some shorebirds. The weather was shocking - horizontal rain in the howling wind - but there were lots of birds on the rocks trying to shelter from the wind, so I had a fantastic time stalking them and trying to get some passable shots. 

208) Red-necked Stints - such tiny little birds, its hard to imagine these migrating for 10,000km, but they do. They weren't hiding from the wind, but foraging on the edge of the surf as normal. 

209) Wandering Tattler - another lifer! Very similar to the Grey-tailed, but darker, with darker grey flanks as well. Much less common, but this is a known spot for them. Saw several on the rocks, including one with one leg who seemed to be getting around just fine. No factsheet

210) Yet another lifer - the Common Tern. Not very common, I'll have you know! At least, I've never seen them :-) Lots of them, in company with the much more common Crested Terns. I posted two shots, one showing an immature bird with a dark wing-bar, and an adult just landing. The main ID features are a black hood that stops leaving a white forehead, and a black spot in front of the eye, together with balck legs and beak. They are small terns, about the size of ...

211) Little Terns. Another great bird to see, similar size to above, but yellow beak with black tip, yellow/orange legs, and the black extends through the eye in a point down the lores to the beak. I've seen their nexting colony down the south coast last year, so it was good to see a couple of these mixed in with the Common and Crested Terns. 

Alex Rogers
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212) Ruddy Turnstone - havent seen these for a couple of years, so great to see them again. 

213) I saved the best for last - I finally saw Regent Bowerbirds, and they were as stunning as I'd hoped. First I saw a lot of females feeding on berries in a tree in the rainforest - wen't back the next morning and staked it out, and soon a couple of males appeared. Awesome! And yes, another lifer. 

Also saw Satin Bowerbirds (previously photographed) who aren't too shabby with their gorgeous eyes :-) Its cool to see the differences and resemblance between these cousins. 

And I'll throw in a Red-necked Wallaby for fun 

And thats all from my trip. I do have some EBC shots from the year though whcih I'd been holding off on posting hoping for better shots that never eventuated

214) Bell Miner - despite seeing lots I never got a decent photo - perhaps because they irritate me so much I don't like to photograph them! This one was actually from this trip, the Border Ranges forest was full of them :-( 

[Edited as a duplicate] Grey Butcherbird - can't beleive I never got a decent shot, saw so many in lockdown. Their singing has been a joy this year 

215) Just missed posting this Blue-faced Honeyeater, not sure how

And thats my lot for the year - just missed out on catching Sue (again), and well behind Devster (again) So I'll concede (again!) but the New Year is here - lets try again! Its been so much fun seeing all your birds and enjoying our friendly competition - looking forward to a Bigger Year in 2022. 

Devster
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A great set with some stunning birds. I particularly liked the shore birds as there are some there I haven't managed to photograph. Thats a beautiful shot of the Blue-faced Honeyeater with a great background. There are some there that were lifers for you which I take for granted as I see them regularly like the white-headed Pigeon and Striped Honeyeater. Just goes to show that just because something is common for you doesn't mean people it's common for others.

sue818
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Wow Alex, great trip despite the weather. I am quite envious of some of your birds... I still have not photographed a Regent Bowerbird or a Wandering Tattler and these are great photos. 

Housekeeping... Grey Butcherbird is already a replacement shot at 114 so please find one more bird or make 215 the Blue-faced Honeyeater. That is why the list shows your total at 215 not 216.

Your thoughts on the Satin Flycatcher? I'm looking at a few things which suggest Leaden over Satin: angle at which colour boundary meets wings, undertail colour, wing colour versus head colour. They are never easy and you were there on the day. I thought my Leaden was a Satin Flycatcher until I really studied it before posting. Happy to be told I'm wrong.

Alex Rogers
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Thanks Sue - deleted the Grey Butcherbird (seems I just didn't tick it on my own list) and will settle for 215. Yes, I'm pretty sure the Flycatcher is a Satin, curved edge to chest line, buffy tinge to wing coverts, but mostly the call - they were calling incessantly, and very like the calls on my PK Birds app for Satin not Leaden. They are hard to pick, but the calls clinched it for me. Thanks for updating the lists :-) 

Cheers Dev - yes it can be strange someone getting excited over a bird that is common for you - how cool that we all have different locals :-) I'm currently sitting down planning a FNQ trip with my son for next week - he doesn't yet know it will be a birding trip lol - and everything will be new for me! Hooray for interstate travel again (if I can find a rapid covid test anywhere for love or money....) 

sue818
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Great news, Alex... nothing like being on the spot and hearing the bird as well. I expect you to get out there this year and take the lead but I also expect some great challengers from this years players.

I am itching to get back to so many favourite places around Australia so quite envious of your FNQ trip. Good luck getting a rapid test kit! 

dwatsonbb
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Wow Alex, some stunners in that lot. The Wandering Tattler and the Regent Bowerbird are my faves, closely followed by everything else. A great tally, well done.

Dale Huonville, Tasmania

michaelrt71_1
michaelrt71_1's picture

Awesome birds, Alex. Gorgeous colours.

AbbyGrace
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Lovely shots Alex. Really love the colours on the Regent Bowerbird. Stunning!

TommyGee
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Hey Alex, that's a great set of birds to finish the year! Really pleased for you that you got so many lifers on your last trip for the year, especially that lovely little Striped Honeyeater having a bath :)

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