Alex's Big Year 2022

142 posts / 0 new
Last post
Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture
Alex's Big Year 2022

New Year - new Challenge :-) 

I've started the last two years aiming for 250 species, and failed - having not anticipated lockdowns etc. But ever the optimist, lets aim high again! So I'm setting myself a goal of 250 species, and hopefully 25 or so new birds on there for my life list. A lot of that will depend on ability to travel - I know now from expereince that I'm only likely to see 200 or so species in and around the greater Sydney region - but I'm hoping to get in a few road trips, and one or two trips to other states, so lets see. 

I clocked a bit of a milestone as the New Year started - 500 birds on my life list. I've seen more for sure, but these are my "official" ones on eBird, and thats a nice round number. 344 of those are Australian, and I've photographed 317 of those. Not that numbers mean anything, but its a fun way to keep track of what I'm seeing, contribute a little to the amazing citizen science project of eBird, and a great "diary" of sightings to look back on and enjoy again over time. 

Apart from the numbers, some other birding & photography goals for the year: 

  • Do more sociable birding - have really enjoyed going birding with Sue, Karen and others, and would like to do more of that this year - woudl be fun to find someone to come on photo expeditions with me / join theirs
  • Do some pelagics and learn more about seabirds - almost completely a mystery to me
  • Do a lot more shorebird photography and get more confident in identifying them / learn more about these fascinating birds
  • Learn more about low-light and flash photography - its a skill that can really help with gloomy rainforests and even spotlighting for nocturnal birds 
  • Learn more bird calls - I really struggle to retain them - perhaps recording them can be fun and help with that goal too. 
  • Complete "The Handbook of Bird Biology" - Cornell Uni's ornithology 101 manual 

So lots of goals apart from this fun contest - regardless of how I do, I think its going to be a good year :-) 

dwatsonbb
dwatsonbb's picture

Good to see your joining in again Alex.

Congrats on 500 species.

Life is just one big challenge, which hopefully we can all survive.

Birding for me is enjoying the process, taking the camera for a walk! drive or boat trip, and a bird photo is a bonus.

I like that you have some goals set, and that you enjoy the company of like minded people, and that it is not a competition (well serious competition).

Like many of us here, your photography has taken great leaps and bounds since you first joined. I for one am looking forward to seeing much much more of your work.

Dale Huonville, Tasmania

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

OK - lets begin! Had a wonderful Saturday exploring 2 new beach sites for me - Long Reef on Sydney's Northern Beaches, and Boat Harbour at Cronulla, looking for shorebirds

1) Osprey - first bird of the year and it was this Osprey with its freshly caught fish (Yellow-tailed Scad?) - too busy eating to be bothered by me. Awesome! 

2) Red-necked Stints - love these little birds, so small and yet such amazing flyers. They are getting fat now, and in a couple of months will be off to Siberia or even Alaska to breed. 

I posted a few shots of each bird as I liked them all - and they show some of the amazing range of bird types, they could hardly be more different! 

dwatsonbb
dwatsonbb's picture

Amazing clarity Alex, not sure about everyone else, but I like seeing different aspects/angles, so for me, the more photos the better (to a point I guess).

Love the Osprey, would be a lifer for me.

Dale Huonville, Tasmania

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

Still at Long Reef

3) Pelican - quite like this shot against the shore - shows how some nature at least continues to thrive in coexistence with the city. Plus a bonus beak shot just cos they have amazing beaks :-) 

4) Great Cormorant - love cormorant eyes :-) 

5) Pied Cormorant in breeding colours

6) Little Pied Cormorant cormorant - note the much shorter beak

7) Little Black Cormorant - also gorgeous jade eyes

All 4 NSW cormorants in one spot :-) I'll have to go south (maybe to Tassie) to get the Black-faced. 

dwatsonbb
dwatsonbb's picture

Simply stunning.

Dale Huonville, Tasmania

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

Boat Harbour near Cronulla has another rock platform, that was also very productive. 

8) It brought my first new bird of the year - Eastern Reef Egret, and a pair of them at that. While they are not uncommon, apparently, I've never seen one - so it was very exciting. Note the different colours of beaks in this couple - while my guide says they have variable colour beaks, it doesn't mention sexual dimorphism - so maybe just age variation? They looked like a pair (M/F) with one much larger than the other,but I couldn't tell for sure. Seemed to be quite grumpy birds - at one point they stalked through the roosting terns kicking them out of the way lol

9) White-faced Heron - a close-up study of one of my favourite birds. Thought it would be useful to show the difference between these not dissimilar birds. The Herons are widespread and successful in all sorts of environments - whereas the Reef Egrets are strictly coastal, normally on rock platforms and reefs. 

10) Silver Gull - ubiquitous in NSW, so I posted a couple of slightly different shots - a portrait ,and a BIF shot I quite like - screamisilverng "Mine, Mine, Mine" 

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

And a few common birds from a local park

11) Superb Fairywren - male displaying in the mangroves near Kurnell

12) Magpie-lark calling. 

13) New Holland Honeyeater - the most common honeyeater in many areas of Sydney (discounting miners of course)

14) Crested Pigeon 

15) Australian Raven - not the best shot, but quite like it because it shows their rarely seen soft downy white underfeathers. He was facing into a strong wind. Who knew ravens were really white under that satin black? 

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

16) Australian Pied Oystercatcher, and 

17) Sooty Oystercatcher. Saw 15 of these at Flat Rock, great to see so many. Love the spectacular beak and eye colouring. 

18) Ruddy Turnstone - a solo individual at Flat Rock

19) In amongst dozens of Crested Terns was one Little Tern. The light was bad so I didn't bother with the Crested Terns (I'll see plenty of them over the year) but persisted with the Little Tern and eventually got a passable shot of him shuffling his feathers. 

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

I did a quick pass through Landing Lights as well on the way home - nothing unusual, but a couple for the records

20) Channel-billed Cuckoo - an EBC, I'll try for a better shot later in the year - but the silhoette is unmistakeable

21) House Sparrow - interestingly I didn't see one until Dec last year - so may as well tick it off now

22) Pied Stilt (the fact sheet has them as Black-winged) - the residents at the pond have bred again this year, and the juveniles are growing up :-) 

23) Chestnut Teal - male and female

24) Willie Wagtail 

Not bad for a Saturday - and always special to see a lifer in Sydney :-) 

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

dwatsonbb wrote:

Good to see your joining in again Alex.

Congrats on 500 species.

Life is just one big challenge, which hopefully we can all survive.

Birding for me is enjoying the process, taking the camera for a walk! drive or boat trip, and a bird photo is a bonus.

I like that you have some goals set, and that you enjoy the company of like minded people, and that it is not a competition (well serious competition).

Like many of us here, your photography has taken great leaps and bounds since you first joined. I for one am looking forward to seeing much much more of your work.

Thanks Dale :-)  Yes, while I am nerdy enough to like the numbers, its the process for me too - a day of birding is like meditation for me - I come back with my mind clear and feeling connected to nature again 

michaelrt71_1
michaelrt71_1's picture

Wow, Alex! Awesome osprey to kick-off with. The little tern, ruddy turnstone and the Eastern Reef Egret are unknown and unsighted for me.

Good luck with the goals!

I will have to get some 'landing lights' tips off you, and go before anyone thinks of another lockdown.

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

michaelrt71_1 wrote:

Good luck with the goals!

I will have to get some 'landing lights' tips off you, and go before anyone thinks of another lockdown.

Thanks Michael - any time you want to visit the Landing Lights I'd be happy to go for a walk around with you and see if I can show you some of the locals :-) 

dannyka6
dannyka6's picture

Wow Alex you're off with a real kick, some beautiful shots and I also love the clarity of your shots - that Pied Cormorant is just outstanding!

I also love the Red-necked Stint shouting off the rock!! So much attitude from a little teeny bird!

Your goals are admirable, a great idea to set them out even though we know from experience of the last 2 years that the best laid plans don't always come off...but gotta have optimism!! I love that. Best of luck getting your 250 - 3rd times the charm :)

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

Thanks Danika :-) 

Working from home again - blah - but meant I could sneak out to Sydney Park for some locals. All common birds, so I tried to shoot something different about each of them. 

25) Noisy Miner - got a nice conventional shot - then I saw some bathing in one of the ponds, and spent some time trying to catch the moment of impact. Took me a while, but fun :-) 

Lots of baby birds about, so tried to show a few of them rather than stock shots of the adults: 

26) Eurasian Coot - juvenile is missing the white casque and beak, making them quite anonymous

27) Dusky Moorhen chick - appealingly ugly (look at those wings!) and being fed by parent

28) Welcome Swallow juvenile in fresh plumage. Adult follows for comparison

29) Purple Swamphen - juvenile being fed by parent. Still a very striking bird without the red casque. 

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

30) Rock Dove (Feral Pigeon). Love the bokeh this lens produces on a good day - I swear I didn't manipulate that background at all LOL - its pondweed in the far background. 

31) Australian Reed-warbler - heard lot of them singing, so hung around and eventually managed to catch one peeking out of the reeds. They aren't shy about singing, but are often difficult to get a clear shot on, so I'm happy with this. 

And just for fun, a turtle - I think its a Murray River Turtle from that yellow stripe on the mouth, but his shell is so covered in weed its hard to tell! A nice green mood to this shot. 

dwatsonbb
dwatsonbb's picture

Great stuff, your off and racing Alex. Some more awsome photos.

Dale Huonville, Tasmania

sue818
sue818's picture

Wow, Alex... off to a great start and still Qld to come. Pleased that you have reached 500, an accomplishment. 250 sounds like a good goal for this year so it will be wonderful to see what you find around Australia.

Your other goals are also achievable and you will enjoy reaching them. I love the challenge of identifying shorebirds and think I've picked up a few skills there but song eludes me... I am hopeless at that and other languages!

Looking forward to a ctach-up soon.

TommyGee
TommyGee's picture

Wonderful start Alex. Welcome to 2022! That Osprey, oh my... what a way to kick off your year.

michaelrt71_1
michaelrt71_1's picture

Great again, Alex. I have a reed-warbler at one of my local spots, and I just can't get any where near the whole bird in a shot. Perhaps work on my patience.

Beautiful shots of the swamphen family.

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

Thanks all. Found a couple more on a rainy weekday 

32) Olive-backed Oriole - singing high in a tree against a flat white background - this was the best I could do to rescue the silhoette

33) Red-Rumped Parrot - at a nesting Box provided for them - they are breeding well this year :-) 

34) Brown Goshawk - I flushed this guy at close range, but I could only finally get a bad EBC shot when he settled on a mast some 300m away. Great to see him - pity about the shot eek. He is a juvenile with extensive throat streaking. 

And with that, I'm off to QLD - see you all in a week or so. Wish me a cassowary! 

dannyka6
dannyka6's picture

Really loved the baby Swamphen portrait and the Noisy Miner coming up out of the water - lovely shots. The Oriole is very nice too I think. 

Good luck for your QLD trip and can't wait to see the wait you bring back!!

dwatsonbb
dwatsonbb's picture

The Oriole and Red-rumpled would be new to me. Some great birds. Good to se pe the nest box being used.

Dale Huonville, Tasmania

sue818
sue818's picture

Some lovely shots there. Fantastic start already, Alex and I hope you get that Cassowary on Mission Beach. We must catch up on your return.

AbbyGrace
AbbyGrace's picture

Wow, wow and wow!!! Really love your Osprey shots! Looks like you are having a great start to your year Alex.

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

[Edited to fix numbers, I missed 35]

I had a great trip to Far North Qld with one of my boys - not a birding trip initially, focus was on having fun with him, so we went diving, beachcombing, hired a boat to explore Dunk Island, stayed in the Cape Trib rainforest, and went for a cruise on the Daintree - all great stuff. 

But even for a non-birding trip, I was a bit disappointed in how few birds we saw - we dipped on the great cassowary hunt (we stayed in Mission Beach for a few days specifically looking for them, and just got unlucky) and the rainforest is actually insanely hard birding! There may be a lot of exotic species in there - but the dawn chorus was spookily quiet, I only saw a handful of birds, and they were invariably in the gloom of the forest, high up, far away or all of those things! Even the fabled Cairns Esplanade was underwhelming - walked it on 3 different occasions at different tide stages, and didn't see large numbers or varieties. Sometimes timing is like that.... 

So I decided to stay on by myself for an extra weekend of pure birding - and my luck turned around :-) 

But lets start with my absolutely most frustrating (but super fun) sighting - I went on a snorkelling trip with my son out to a coral cay off Cape Trib - didn't take my camera on the dive boat (a rather wet semi-rigid inflatable) - and to my surprise, the tiny little sand cay had a good number of seabirds, including a few terns I didn't recognise. And there I was with only my cellphone!  So I stalked birds for a while - leopard-crawling up to them to get as close as aI could, much to the amusement of the crew and embarrassment of my son LOL .

So for your amusement and for the comp, please find some truly appalling EBC shots from my Samsung S20!

First photo is an overview showing all 5 terns, and then a couple of detail shots showing : 

35) Black Noddy - the dark birds in this group - easy to ID as Noddys due to all black with white cap, and darker than the Common Noddy with no brown wingbar in flight. No factsheet

36) Roseate Terns - I could see several terns with red bills and black legs - far too small for Caspian, out of range for Arctic / Antarctic, super unlikely to be  hirundo ssp. of Common, leaving Roseate Tern (confirmed on ABID). They had some young with them that they were feeding, and their bills go competely red when they are doing that. No factsheet

37) Black-naped Terns - the bulk of them were Black-naped Terns - very pale birds, black nape extending through eye to point on lores, with white head, neck, undersides. 50 or more of them including a lot of young. No factsheet

38) Common Terns - the worst EBC of all I'm afraid - but full black cap extending to nape and bill with black beak is quite distinctive - also some less distinct immature birds with them. 

39) Greater Crested Terns - you can see these much bigger terns with shaggy black caps and yellow beaks in the back of the Common Tern shots - so I'll claim this now too, but expect I'll be able to post a much nicer shot as they are common near Sydney. 

So ya, I kicked myself for days for not wrapping my camera up and taking it - but I would definitely have kicked myself more if I'd drowned it that early in my trip! So I'm going to just count myself lucky to have seen these cool birds. None lifers ,but I haven't seen Noddies, Black-naped and Roseate terns since a 2003 trip to Heron Island, so they were pretty special :-) 

sue818
sue818's picture

A difficult decison, Alex... save the lens from the saltwater and just use the phone seems the safest option... and you kept everyone amused with your stalking skills.

I have never found a Cassowary at Mission Beach but often found them at Mt Hypipamee... even had one cross at the Cassowary sign. Looking forward to your successes when you find the time.

AbbyGrace
AbbyGrace's picture

Sounds like a great trip away! And the stalking skills sounds very entertaining. 

dwatsonbb
dwatsonbb's picture

Lucky to see all those shorebirds Alex. I think the most likely place for the Cassowary is Etty Bay, not far from Mission Beach, there is one that hangs around the beach. Was lucky enough to see it in 2010, when my brother lived at Etty Bay. We also had one cross the road in front of us between Etty and Mission, but I was not a mad keen birder back then.

Hind sight is a wonderful thing, pitty we don't have it!
I am still impressed with the photos, so well done.

Dale Huonville, Tasmania

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

OK - finally finished the editing of my Qld batch, with various disasters and delays while learning Lightsource. Eventually went back to my usual editing suite, and will try Lightsource again on a somewhat smaller batch. 

We moved around a bit, so I'll group by theme. 

First up - Cairns Esplanade - visited it 4 times over the trip, at high tide, medium and low tides, morning and evening, and never really saw a lot of shorebirds - bit of a disappointment really, as I'd thought it would be teeming with birds. Still, got a few, including a couple of new ones for me. And its really beautiful in the right light :-) 

40) Bar-tailed Godwits - the most noticeable of the shorebirds. I searched them carefully for Black-tailed, but no joy. I do like godwits :-) 

41) Grey-tailed Tattler - he was quite shy and kept hiding behind the Godwits - he knew perfectly well I was trying to get his picture!

42) Whimbrel - a nice sighting, haven't seen one for a while. Similar to Curlew, but smaller, with shorter beak than the Curlew, and distinctive white wedge on its back when it flies

43) Eastern Curlew - what an amazing beak! 

44) Varied Honeyeater - a bit of a Cairns Esplanade speciality - this rather muddled looking honeyeater is resrticted to FNQ coast and most people see their first on the Esplanade. No factsheet

dwatsonbb
dwatsonbb's picture

Great set of photos Alex. Godwits seem to have some character, can't quite put my finger on it. All except Fodwit and Curlew would be new for me, and I don't have any decent Curlew photos.

Looking forward to seeing some more.

Dale Huonville, Tasmania

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

45) Great Knot was a lifer - took me a while to work him out, and eventually needed some help - looks so similar to other birds, and I kept second guessing myself. Size really helps if you have other birds you know to compare to. No factsheet - thats knot great. 

Cairns Botanical Gardens was pretty good - some lovely birds, althought it was chucking with rain and the light was awful. 

46) Pale-vented Bush Hen - stalked this guy in the deep gloom for a long time, eventually smiped him through a tiny gap in the bushes, and paid a mega mosquito-tax. Very please with this lifer though, they are not easy to see at all - so I'll take the high-ISO EBC. No factsheet

47) Red-tailed Black Cockatoo - the male eating the fruit was on the Esplanade, the BIF I got a little later in the trip. I love the YT Black Cockatoos we have in Sydney, but the Reds are even more spectacular!

48) Peaceful Dove - lots of these beautiful tiny doves in Cairns - simply gorgeous. 

49) Little Kingfisher - another one shot in the rain and the gloom, but very happy to see this exquisite little bird at all - not common. No factsheet

50) Nutmeg Mannikin - haven't seen these for a while, and almost overlooked them as being sparrows! A rather more handsome bird...

dannyka6
dannyka6's picture

Brilliant work with those noddies and terns :) very brave of you to commando crawl in front of everyone, can just imagine your son! But as they would have all been lifers for me except the crested I would have been very tempted to do the same!! Pretty credible results, but not what your camera would have achieved I know...

Love all the shorebirds from the Esplanade, I understand how from people's pictures you would think it was packed with birds up there but my experience has only been birds speckled here and there as well. And quite far out sometimes! That Tattler shot is excellent! 

Love the Red-tailed, that would be something to see, as would the Little Kingfisher - very nice shots for shocking conditions!!

sue818
sue818's picture

Wonderful set, Alex. Not sure that I can pick a favourite... great work getting the Pale-vented Bush-hen and the Little Kingfisher apart from braving the conditions. I suppose if you are ready to commando crawl for a phone shot of a Noddy then a few mozzies are nothing!

AbbyGrace
AbbyGrace's picture

Beautiful photos Alex! Would love to visit Cairns one day. Love your Godwit shots!

dwatsonbb
dwatsonbb's picture

All lifers for me there. Love the Kingfisher and the RTBC. Awsome work in what sounds like trying conditions.

Dale Huonville, Tasmania

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

Thanks all :-) Danika - yes, I'd kinda imagined thousands of shorebirds lol - will have to visit Roebuck Bay for that I think

Sometimes the hardest conditions bring the best memories... I love the tropical North, but we paid the mosquito tax for sure... they seemed oblivious to bug spray, and the only thing that helped was to have my son with me, they loved him much more than they liked me! Poor Jack ... but he had the last laugh, 2 days after I got back I came up in huge red bites from ankles to groin that are still suppurating and itching a week later - maybe sandflies - and at least he escaped those! I'll never forget being eaten alive and yet still being quiet and calm enough to stalk and catch (bad) photos of the Bush hen and Little Kingfisher in the swamp :-) 

Ok - some more: 

51) Common Myna - found this poor guy on the Cairns Esplanade too - and thought he'd make an unusual photo of a common bird. Seemed perfectly healthy and was in company of other Mynas. 

52) Yellow Oriole - poor backlit EBC, but you can see they are yellow-fronted unlike our Olive-backed versions in Sydney. No factsheet

53) Torresian Imperial-Pigeon - Jack was impressed that instead of feral pigeons (only saw a couple) Cairns has Imperial-Pigeons as their standard pigeon. I agree, a lovely bird, and I've included a few pics, showing them feeding on berries, sitting quietly in a tree, and a dawn shot showing them flying back inland from their overnight roosts (often on offshore islands)

Jack was most impressed with a group of Pelicans we found on the Esplanade - they let him approach really closely - and he was enthralled with how spectacular they are. Slowly slowly he is getting interested - at least in the more charismatic birds :-) A pic for your pleasure. 

Personally I was more impressed by a young Victorian photographer showing everyone else how to get good closeups of shorebirds :-) A nice young guy (we chatted later and I showed him the Little Kingfishers the next day :-) and great to see young bird photographers! And he clearly shares my lack of inhibition when it comes to getting the photo 

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

Next stop was a couple of days at Mission Beach, hoping to see cassowaries. They were there, and about - I was following a FB page which showed sightings all over the place - but we were never quite in the right place at the right time. Ah well. We had a fab time boating out to Dunk Island, hiking to the top, exploring the beaches, and swimming. And my habit of waking at dawn was repaid when the volcanic ash from Tonga treated us to one of the most extraordinary sunrises I've ever seen. And I did find some good birds :-) 

54) Australasian Figbird - even these were exciting - so much yellower than our Sydney version, very striking

55) White-breasted Woodswallows were the common woodswallow up there, and there were a lot about. Very smart looking swallows. 

56) Bush Stone-curlews - these were really common, wandering into the hotel grounds, strolling the streets, and taking over the school grounds, which were still closed for holidays. Didn't get any great shots for some reason, but quite like these juveniles kicking back in the COLA (covered outdoor living area) at the local primary school. Don't you love the way their knees work? 

57) Olive-backed Sunbird - absolutely my bird of Mission Beach! I normally wouldn't approach an occupied nest so closely - but this pair had built their nest hanging off the local pub eaves right over the pavement. So I could sit there with a beer and photograph them coming and going - best "hide" ever! I'm so happy with these shots - one or two for my portfolio there. Isn't the nest itself beautiful? No factsheet (!?)

And check that sunrise.... what a gorgeous place. Nothing like offshore islands to add some interest (and a volcanic eruption helps a bit)

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

Swallows, Swifts, Starlings and things - apart from the woodswallows, there were a lot of swifts up north as well. Hard enough to see properly let alone photograph! But I tried, and managed to snag a few EBC shots. 

58) White-throated Needletail - familiar stub-tailed swift, and as the largest of the lot its often possible to catch them on the wing. I'm yet to get a decent photo though!

59) Pacific (Fork-tailed Swift) - a little smaller than the Needletails, with distinctively forked tail and white rump. Pretty common in FNQ. Posted 2 shots, first showing pale throat, and second showing deeply forked tail (which is sometimes not evident when closed) No factsheet

60) Australian Swiftlet - also common up north, much smaller (about swallow sized - very evident when you have both Swifts and Swiflets in the air together) and with less curved wings, paler underside, and whitish rump and neck. HARD to photograph! lol. No Factsheet

61)Tree Martin - although this one was being a Boat Martin out at Dunk Island :-) 

62) Metallic Starling - ubiquitous up north at this time of the year. Gorgeous colours in the sun, and a mad red eye. Love how different the juveniles are to the adults. They are incredibly gregarious birds, always in flocks and groups, and I saw their huge colony nests at Mission Beach for the first time - vey cool. No factsheet. 

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

Note - I'm going to stop saying "no factsheet" - so many of these birds don't have factsheets, QLD seems a bit neglected. I'll post if they have them, and not if they dont

And then it was off to the rainforest at Cape Tribulation. Jack and I had a fabulous time there - stayed in a lovely airbnb that used to be an exotic fruit orchard carved out of the rainforest, and we dived, went for rainforest tours, swam in river waterholes and soaked up the amazingly different environment. But let me tell you - rainforests might be home to all sorts of exotic birds, but don't indulge in the fantasies of picking off boatbills and pied monarchs by the dozen - the birds are scarce, shy, and very hard to see let alone photograph in the stygian gloom! As an exampe - we went on an amazing guided tour of one of the last patches of Gondwana rainforest run by the owner, a passionate ecologist who knew every creature and plant in his domain, how they all interacted, and told us endless stories for 5 hours of exploring. It was one of the best wildlife experiences I've ever had. But in 5 hours in the deep rainforest we heard 6 birds, saw 3 and there was only one possible photo opportunity! So go for the beauty and strange wonderfulness of the rainforest - not so much expecting to shoot lots of birds :-) 

That said, I did get a few photos...

63) Black Butcherbird - the most visible of the rainforest birds by far, and audible too! Very vocal, with a wide range of calls - I had trheir song on my app, but they had a huge range of other calls that sounded like pigeons, or songbirds, or crows -  and I'd stalk them patiently to find - yet another Black Butcherbird! But I was grateful to see any birds, and I like butcherbirds - this was a new one for me and completes my set of AU butcherbirds :-) And the juvenile is different enough that they fooled me several times into thinking I'd found a new bird! Not great photos, the only time I caught them in the open it was raining!

64) Pale-yellow Robin - the one forest bird I did photograph on my 5-hour walk! This photo is a better one from later in Atherton, as my Daintree one was a grainy high ISO horror. A new bird for me, but quite confiding like its Eastern Yellow cousin (and unlike nearly all the other rainforest birds!)

65) Striated Heron - photographed on a Daintree River cruise - always like seeing these. 

66) Australian Brush-turkey - these were common in Cairns and the Daintree

67) Orange-footed Scrubfowl - cousin to the brush-turkey, and one of the silliest birds I know - I'm quite fond of them :-) 

68) White-bellied Sea-eagle. Also on the Daintree river, a cool sighting - we were watching a colony of Spectacled Flying Foxes, and then the Eagle cruised over the rainforest, scared a flying fox into taking to the air, and then chased it down into the trees and caught it. Amazing! The real action was too far away and in the trees, but I got a reasonable BIF shot of this young bird. 

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

We stopped at Cattana Wetlands back in Cairns - once municipal wasteland, now a really gorgeous wetland / forest area - very much worth the visit. I had more joy photographing birds here in 1 hour than I did in 3 days in the rainforest :-) 

69) Spangled Drongo - saw quite a lot of them over the trip, quite hard to photograph if the light is poor (and we had rain every day), but eventually got a passable shot 

70) Rainbow Bee-eater - not the best shot, but I'll claim it now. One of my little projects is to get a nice BIF shot of these living jewels, so I'll try for that later in the year. 

71) Intermediate Egret - rain and soft light can be good for photographing white birds

72) Comb-crested Jacana - love these little birds. Struggled to get close enough for a decent shot, and eventually got one I liked

73) Crimson Finch - what stunning little birds, and this one finally posed for a second in the rain for a decent shot. 

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

Doves and pigeons - it was so cool to see so many different doves and pigeons. I'd hoped to see more fruit doves, but they are hard to photograph, normally at the tops of trees, and quite shy. But I did see a good few of these pretty birds, as well as the the Imperial-pigeon and Peaceful Dove already shown: 

74) Wompoo Fruit Dove - a lifer, and so exciting, I tried so hard so many times and never caught them. Finally caught one at Cape Trib Cape Trib, pretty poor as it was at the top of a huge tree and I missed focus, but gives some idea of the incredible colours. Hopefully I'll see them again 

75) Bar-shouldered Dove, cousin to the little peaceful, and another beautiful dove. very common up north but quite unusual in Sydney

76) Brown Cuckoo-dove - another quite unusual bird in Sydney that I saw a few times in Qld. Always in the forest shade, but I eventually got a shot

77) Brown-capped (Pacific) Emerald Dove - another shy dove that I was very happy to eventually capture in the dark rainforest - this one seems to have lost some head feathers (is it a thing in Qld?!) and doesn't have a brown cap! Super high ISO, but shows some of the amazing colours

78) Squatter Pigeon - very exciting, another lifer, and totally unexpected as I had thought it was a desert bird. I took a wrong turning on the way to Atherton, and found them on the dirt road - so doubly fortuitous. 

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

Ducks and Geese - had some pretty good success with these too :-) 

79) Spotted Whistling-duck - a New Guinea bird that is slowly colonising the far tip of North QLD. My guide says they are only found as far south as Port Douglas, but I found these at Cattana Wetland in Cairns - what a treat to see them in the only place in Aus that you can. 

80) Wandering Whistling-duck - interesting to be able to compare to the Spotted. Seen in Atherton

81) Magpie Goose - never got close to any, but did see quite a few flying over. The rains had been intense (and continuing) while we were there, so many of the traditional bird lakes were empty, with the waterbirds widely dispersed. 

82) Green Pygmy-goose. Saw a couple of these at Cattana, long way off, so EBC shots but clearly showing male and female differences. Very pretty birds, but wary. 

And for something different, I'll throw in a bonus (repeat) Reef Egret with a couple of fish. Jack and I watched him fishing all the way down the beach until he was catching them just metres away from us. Awesome watching this master fisherman at work :-) 

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

So eventually Jack had to go back to his mother - and at the last minute, I decided to stay on and have a long weekend of proper birding by myself. So I got Jack on the plane (he is a seasoned solo traveller) and got on the phone. Yes, the Kingfisher Park at Julatten did have accommodation! So back in the hire car, and back north to Julatten for 2 days. Very exciting - I had to cancel my trip to Julatten twice, so even a quick weekend stop was going to be pretty exciting. Of course, it was raining heavily, and forecast to do so all weekend.... But - these challenges are sent to us to be overcome :-) The birds here WERE amazing - but like all rainforest environments - dark, mosquito-ridden and often really challenging photography!

83) Chestnut-breasted Mannikin - a poor shot, but I never got a better one - my first night, almost full dark, and enjoying a beer on the balconey and watching the birds come in to the feeder.  

84) Dollarbird in the pre-dawn, a long way off. Never got close to one. 

85) Leaden Flycatcher - quite like this shot of the male singing

86) Mistletoebird - caught this tiny bird at the top of a huge tree, so I'm pleased to have any shot at all. 

87) Red-browed Finch - they were breeding in the garden, and I quite like this close-up study

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

The Kingfisher Lodge grounds are special, but the area has a lot for birders - a side trip to Mt Lewis was totally rained out (my 4x4 struggled to get up, and I shouldn't have bothered, it was chucking with rain) - but another trip to the Abbatoir Swamp was much better than the unpromising name :-) 

88) Eastern Yellow Robins were nesting, but one of them followed me all around in its usual endearing fashion. 

89) Northern Fantail - I went to enter up this bird as a Grey Fantail, and found that they aren't in the area - this was a Northern Fantail! On careful inspection I could see the differences, but they are very similar birds. It has a darker head, heavier bill - but most noticeably sat more upright and wasn't as frenetic as the Grey but more quiet. Ive seen them once before - I wonder how many I've confused for a Grey?

90) Forest Kingfishers - a distant pair over the swamp provided some colour - gorgeous birds, and I'd love to get closer to them but never did. 

91) Spectacled Monarch - they were also breeding in the Kingfisher Park grounds, beautiful birds! 

92) Little (Rufous) Shrikethrush - heard and saw these in several places, but at Julatten I finally caught one in the sun - much prettier than their Grey cousins that I know (and also with a lovely song). A lifer. 

Bonus shot while we are doing songbirds on nests - loved this Willie Wagtail nest :-) 

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

93) Silvereye - common where I live, but I quite like this closeup shot. You can see it is tiny white feathers making up the eye ring :-) Shame about the stick!

94) Saw a lot of Helmeted Friarbirds - never really got a good shot, so this will do. 

95) Rainbow Lorikeet - in the forest rather than shrieking in my window at 4:30am!

96) Scaly-breasted Lorikeet, looking rather gorgeous in the flowering tree :-) 

Kept a very close eye out for Double-eyed Fig Parrots, and think I saw some fly over, but not good enough to claim a sighting, let alone photograph. 

97) Whistling Kite - EBC roadside shot - hope to improve over the year

98) Black Kite - did better with these, a credible BIF shot as well as a rather nice perched shot. 

99) Nankeen Kestrel - and MUCH better with this guy. Caught in low sunlight under massive rainclouds, I got a nice portrait, then had fun watching the Willie Wagtails giving him hell. I love the look of resignation on his face (my anthropomorphosis, sorry) in the second shot. Seconds later, one of the Wagtails yanked his tail really hard, and successfully chased him off. 

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

But ya, you want to know - did I see the Kingfishers of Kingfisher Park? 

Yes - they had 3 breeding pairs on the property, one right by the accommodation - so I could watch them flying in and out of the gloom with a beer in the evenings :-) Again, it was dark and raining for much of the time I was there - but I saw them a lot, and eventually one sat in a perch where I could actually see it :-) Truly stunning birds. I was lucky enough to see them in various places outside the park too, all up saw them in Cairns, Daintree, Julatten and surrounding areas as well. They look blue and orange in the photos, but in flight, all you see is  their white back and incredible streamers - useful for following each other through the dark rainforest, I guess. and then that conspicous shade is hidden when they are sitting so they are not entirely obvious to predators. Cool! 

100) Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher - a fitting bird for my century :-) 

I like the shot, and amazing for ISO12800 - but I might use it as impetus to try out Topaz Denoise and see how effective that is at cleaning up some of these high iso shots. 

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

Ok - how about some honeyeaters? Apart from the Varied already posted, saw a good number, and got some nice shots :-) 

101) Blue-faced Honeyeater - one of my favourites, they are SO striking! 

102) Brown Honeyeater - tiny and elegant by comparison, a more subtle taste in honey :-) 

103) Brown-backed Honeyeater - a new one for me, with a subtle colouration and pink beak. I like this shot in the pouring rain :-) 

104) Dusky Honeyeater - a plain brown honeyeater, but very smart with a gorgeous long bill. I dressed him up with some flowers 

105) Graceful Honeyeater. One of 3 very similar birds all potentially found in the same area (Lewins, Yellow-Spotted and Graceful). In fact, I was sure this was a Yellow-spotted when I was photographing it, as I'd been hearing their distinctive calls all trip, and finally got one on the open. But on reviewing it carefully, it is a Graceful (for ID, it has a longer more curved bill, and the yellow gape goes into a much paler less distinct feather line, whereas the Yellow-spotted has a much more prominent gape extension that is the same yellow as the gape). So I still havent seen the Yellow-spotted although heard it often! I'll take the Graceful lifer though :-) 

106) Macleay's Honeyeater - an endemic to the region, and a very unusually marked and rather beautiful honeyeater :-) Saw lots of them but generally quite shy, and often in the dark. A lifer

107) White-throated Honeyeater - another one that needs careful attention to separate it from its melithreptus cousins (White-naped, Black-chinned) - this photo shows the distinguishing white eyeliner and white throuat all the way to the bottom of the beak. Tiny, busy, beautiful honeyeaters, I was lucky to find a perch that let me see them working through the higher tree foliage. A lifer. 

108) Yellow Honeyeater - not much in the way of markings, but a gorgeous yellow wash overall - super pretty bird. 

I remember 2-3 years ago being so frustrated that I couldn't distinguish honeyeaters and thought I never would be able to - its fun feeling your knowledge grow (even if I still get tripped up quite a bit :-) And so cool to see so many new honeyeaters for my little collection!

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

Last day, and I did a quick side trip to Atherton - didn;t see a lot there, but I stopped roadside to photograph the Black Kites above, and found a few cool roadside birds: 

109) Nankeen Night Heron high in a tree roost - EBC shot, but happy to have it as I haven't seen one for a couple of years

110) Grey-crowned Babbler - I just love all the Babblers, squabbling in their close-knit families

111) Red-backed Fairywren - this little guy had me stumped - I knew it was a fairywren, but couldn't match it to anything in any of my guides - none of which show the eclipse / in-between stage of a male going into or out of his breeding plumage. I eventually got there with a little help - and its cool to see this different plumage. There were a number of males like this, but none in the very distinctive black. 

112) Pheasant Coucal - another lifer. I saw 3 or 4 of these from the road, and kept stopping, but they were off in a hurry. I eventually stalked one for ages to get this EBC (and a bad case of sand fly bites lol) 

113) White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike - very smart little cuckoo-shrikes - and when they look directly at you it looks like they are wearing VR goggles! Its quite disconcerting so I went for a profile shot. 

Alex Rogers
Alex Rogers's picture

And I was done. Drove back from Atherton to Cairns, and decided to plan in a stop at Kuranda for one more chance at that elusive cassowary! I thought a suitable place might be the Black MountainRoad at the entrance to the Kuranda National Park, so I parked near the Cassowary House lodge (you would, right?) and with 45 minutes to go, set off up the road on foot. 

Typical rainforest - not a damn bird in sight, and precious few calling - but very beautiful :-) With 15 minutes to go, I decided I'd give it 5 more before turning back to the car - and quite whimsically, just visualised a big beautiful cassowary stepping out of the forest onto the road and looking at me. 3 minutes later, it did. 

114) Southern Cassowary. You can imagine my heartrate lol - but somehow I managed a couple of credible shots - and then I followed it back into the rainforest, and while keeping trees between us, managed to get close enough for some phone video for my kids - with rather shaky hands. It was totally unconcerned about me, and ignored me for 10 minutes while I watched it forage, before stepping back into the deep forest and disappearing like a dream. Best Bird Ever. I really felt like the universe had shared an amazing gift with me. 

And that is that from FNQ. A pretty good trip for something that wasn't (just) a birding trip lol

AbbyGrace
AbbyGrace's picture

WOW Alex! What a trip! Sounds like you and Jack had a great time exploring. 

Love all your photos. And yes I think your photos of the Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher are quite fitting for your century!! Amazing.

Congrats on your 100! 150 to go :)

Pages

 and   @birdsinbackyards
                 Subscribe to me on YouTube