Hi all
Well still no internet in our office so sorry that we are late yet again! This week's theme is your favourite birding place - you don't have to feature a bird in your photo - but just share your spot (and tell us what makes it special for you)...
Scarborough - at the northern end of the Redcliffe Peninsula, Qld; at the right of this pic is the water's edge where Oyster Point Esp & Endeavour Esp meet - here I got my Great Knot pics and other shorebirds, terns and oystercatchers, always worth a look as you drive past; in the background is the Scarborough Marina & breakwater - similar waterbirds, terns & oystercatchers on the marina, pelicans, on the breakwater plover & others, great Welcome Swallow resting on rock pics in very high winds; and in between a section of mangrove and rock on water's edge - Striated Heron, Collared Kingfisher, Figbird & others, Wandering Tattler on the rocks - and that is my LD (long distance) Triumph Sprint ST1050 motorcycle in the foreground - many stories there. With a bit of literary licence I could say that Bribie Island is in the far background ......
Peter
Well no surprise to you that know me and far to many birds for me to list.
Shorty......Canon gear
Canberra
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rawshorty/
Cape Palmerston Qld... Its a costal national park just to the south of Mackay. Only been there once, but it was a wonderful spot withvery few other people and plenty of birdlife (and, seeing as I live in NSW, much of it was new to me!). Excuse the photos, they're from a Point & Shoot camera, the first one is the camping area at Cape Creek and the second is looking out from near the headland, and the last one is of the camping area at Windmill Bay (at http://www.nprsr.qld.gov.au/parks/cape-palmerston/camping.html there is a better photo (nicer than Cape Creek, the person who took the photo is standing where tents can go). There was an astounding range of Qld birds within a 700m radius of the campsite at Windmill Bay: A Beach Stone Curlew, Dark morph Eastern Reef Egret, Kingfishers Galore, Flycatchers, Fantails, Doves, Bush Turkeys, an Orange Footed Scrubfowl, Frogmouths and an assortment of shorebirds. Highly recommend the place if you have a 4WD that you are willing to take on the beach!
Around the house is my favourite spot
I love seeing the birds that come through here at the different times of year, and watching the resident ones too! I do love to go traveling to see new birds but we have over 100 bird species on our block so I never have to go far to see a special bird
So far I'm the same as you, Elsie. Most of my photos are from our own block of 12 acres at Victoria Point, Qld - it helps that we have a small dam which attracts all kinds of water birds, and we have lots of bushy areas that the wrens and other small birds love.:) I've identified around 70 species so far and still counting!
Funny ? Not really, I would say the same, "my garden". There is some logic to it though, we chose (if we can) where we live because we do care about the environment and wildlife.
Other than my garden, I love the Western Treatment Plant (Vic), to me the best birding place. (that's after the Camargue in the South of France
)
M-L
There's another reason for gardens being so good: you don't have to drive anywhere to get to them (although, depending, you might have to walk). So very convenient, which makes you go out there more, and thus you see more birds there and get more photos.
Eagleby wetlands at the moment as I am yet to visit other places with the exception of a few local bush walks, I saw soo many new species there. I can't wait until I move soon and have my own garden because of right now I'm chilling with the mother in-law who has a garden full of non-native plant's and is 70% furns
, won't be to much longer though (fingers crossed)
Yes, home is my favourite spot, too. Here's a shot of a water hole (some folk would call it a dam) last winter. It only has water in it when there's been enough rain to create runoff. One very wet year Australasian Grebes nested on it but they had to be quick because the soil is very porous & the water drains away pronto.
Wow! Over 100 species at home! That is so amazing and wonderful, Elsie. I like watching the birds in my garden too but do not have anything like that many.
How lovely for you...what part of Australia are you in?
Kim
Melbourne – South-East
That looks just beautiful Woko.
We’ve got a water hole , it only fills up when it rains a lot. It used to be much bigger because it is spring fed. We even found it on very old maps, but one of the neighbours has a larger water hole on his land, and he has decided to pump some of the water, no idea where to? He has hardly any vegetation left after he slashed most of it. He dug up some old pumping rights, there is not much we can do about it. His next door neighbour tried to argue, the edge of the dam is on his land, so he thought. Turned out the fence was in the wrong place.
Well, so our hole is mostly dry.
But when it rains, we get to listen to hundreds of frogs
M-L
Silvereye: Yes it is wonderful! The birds are never all there at the same time of the year but there are always lots of birds to watch
I live in QLD 
By the way, I love your profile picture!
Elsie: Ah yes, Queensland is a great place for birds! I live on a suburban block and not that far from Melbourne so although we have quite a few interesting birds here and I can go to a local parkland with a large pond or down to the beach, I never see anywhere near the number of species that you do!
However, I have only recently become more interested in the birds around my garden and area so maybe I am missing quite a lot too! Time will tell as I become more experienced and also I am making over my garden to accommodate more small birds also so am hoping I end up with many more garden visitors in the future!
Thanks for the compliment on my profile pic. That is one of the birds in my garden but I haven't seen them for a while. Lately I am seeing the Brown Thornbill which I got my first photos of last week .
Both little birds are hard to catch on the camera so I'm hoping that when my little bird friendly garden is established there will be more opportunities!
Kim
Melbourne – South-East
That's such a shame, Araminta. I guess with the ever increasing population placing ever increasing pressure on natural resources water holes with water in them are going to be in decreasingly short supply. You could extrapolate your neighbour's right to pump water to the River Murray & look at the mess that's in!
O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat in Queensland has blown me away every time I have been (3 visits). Rainforest, incredible birds everywhere... heaven!!
Although I would love to go back and see some of the birds I missed in the past due to my inexperience.
Cheers, Owen.
Hi Woko, have a look at this,
there is some water in the water hole
since it rained for a few days.
There is a fence around it, we want to keep dogs and horses out of there, so the water doesn't get poluted. (when there is any
)
M-L
That looks so beautiful Owen! Where exactly is this in Queensland? I know when we visited the far north years ago there were some fantastic birds there!
Kim
Melbourne – South-East
Owen, that's very evocative for me having been to O'Reilly's twice many years ago. So thanks.
Araminta, looks like a great place to set up a camera for shots of red-browed finches. Well done on keeping it fenced off. Fortunately, we don't run stock (although the neighbour's cattle come calling occasionally) so we don't fence off our water hole. So far no water in it this year but there might be enough rain tonight for there to be some run off.
Peter