Hi guys well it's good to be back and have I got a pleasant surprise for you guys over the next few weeks, with some birds that will blow your socks off!.
Firstly though I will kick the year off with some locals on my daily walk.
1. Bush Stone-curlew - Ths one was on some eggs, just off a main walking path so I grabbed a quick photo and let her be.
2. Noisy Miner
3. Blue-faced Honeyeater (Immature) with something to say
4. Rainbow Lorikeet - An average shot but will do for now
So the next day i decided t go a bit further out to Mt Glorious and see what was about.
Well there were so many birds there I didn't know where to look.
When the figtree is in fruit is attracts all kinds of birds
5. Satin Bowerbirds - The females were very cheeky and even stole frout off of somones table. This wone was eating a grape. The male on the otherhand was busy sunning himself.
6. Australian Brush-turkey
7. Red-browed Finch
8. Eastern Yellow Robin - Always plenty of these there
9. Russet-tailed Thrush (No Factsheet info) - A very EBC photo but we only get the Russet-tailed there.
10. Rufous Fantail - This one was flitting around a nest which I didn't even notice until she was on it. The nest shot wastaken from the walking track and heavily cropped so as not to disturb her.
11. Black-faced Monarch
12. Wompoo Fruit-dove - When the Fig tree is in fruit these guys can be seen gorging themselves
13. Regent Bowerbird - A female. No males around unfortunately
14. Lewin's Honeyeater - This one posed very nicely
15. Eastern Spinebill - At one stage this guy was hovering
16. Green Catbird - These were also engorging themselves on the figs from the Figtree
17. Grey Fantail
18. Brown Gerygone - These are such busy little characters when flitting about looking for food
19. Large-billed Scrubwren - Very EBC shot as the light was behind the bird
20. Yellow-throated Scrubwren - Yet another very difficult shot. Clearly I need a bit more practice in dark places. lol
21. Brown Thornbill
Wow Dev, some seriously great photos there. Love those Satin Bowerbirds. They are all amazing. Welcome back and looking forward to more.
ps I will swap you a Lyrebird for any of those amazing shots.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Fantastic Dev! It's good to see some of your locals are a little bit different to South Coast NSW. The wompoo fruit-dove is extraordinarily coloured, and I read that they may be making a very slow return to these parts, so long as we can keep some of our sub-tropical rainforest. Impressed the rufous fantail sat still for you!
Welcome back Dev! Awesome pics, I especially love the little Brown Thornbill, and the Rufous Fantail.
Welcome back, Dev. What a wonderful start to the year... love those Satin Bowerbirds and Wompoo Fruit-dove. Actually I like all of them but especially the two that still elude my camera, Regent Bowerbird and Russet-tailed Thrush. You're off to a flying start.
Thanks guys. Good to be back.
Heres some more from a local park that I went to with my mum just after new years. I was trying to help her set up her new R7 Mirrorless camers. It was raining so some of them are not great shots.
22. Torresian Crow - Not sure if this is an immature one because of some of the white feathers or if its something else.
23. Sacred Kingfisher
24. Bar-shouldered Dove
25. Dusky Moorhen - There were some chickes they were feeding quite far away so this is cropped in alot
26. Silvereye - Always a pleasure to see these little guys
27. Torressian Kingfisher (No Factsheet) - When I took this photo I just assumed it was another Sacred, but on further inspection, the thick bill and the white underneath lead me to believe it was a Torresian (aka Collard aka Mangrove Kingfisher). I put it on ABID & they even struggled. I sent it to a very trustworthy source and he confirmed Torresian that looks a little disheveled. Possibly because of the rain.
28. Varied Triller - Plenty of these flitting about but couldnt get a clear shot
29. Variegated Fairywren (female) - You can tell its a Variegated female by the darker mask on the eye as well as the longer blue tail. I did get a shot of the male but it was very ordinary. I liked these shots better.
30. Superb Fairywren - All 3 of the Fairywrens we get in Brisbane were hanging out in the same spot. Unfortunately I didn't get a great shot of the Red-backed so I will try for them later on.
31. Spangled Drongo
32. Australian Magpie
33. Little Corella - You can see the overcast day so this was not an ideal shot
34. Spotted Dove - Another feral introduced bird at my mums place. They are cute though
35. Crested Pigeon
Some more awsome shots Dev, given the conditions you have done well.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Great pics! Those little fairy-wrens are so cute :-).
I have logged your Torresian Kingfisher as a Collared Kingfisher, though my googling shows two different scientific names for them. Torresian Kingfisher is not in my WLAB (updated to use v4) list. Let me know if this is ok or if it should be something else?
That's a good observation about the Kingfishers Karen. I have asked someone who knows about these sorts of things and just awaiting his reply
I believe that the Working List of Australian Birds has finally been updated. Our current list is still the old version which has not captured the split. It is very difficult to locate on the new Birdlife Australia website but I'll send Karen a link in hopes we can move to the new version.
Thanks for sharing your awesome photos of some very cool birds. I do love the kingfishers!
I had already updated our list to the latest list, before looking for the Torresian Kingfisher... in fact it was this kingfisher that prompted me to update the list :-). It's not in the latest list either.
Classic magpie pose. Good to know about the female variegated wrens, I wondered if it was possible to ID without the boys around showing off.
Here are a few more from a place a lot of birders go up here, Sandycamp Rd. From there you can pop into Hemmant tand then down to the Wynnum boardwalk.
36. Australian White Ibis - I actually like this shot of this one that flew right overhead
37. Black Swan
38. Australasian Darter
39. Pacific Black Duck
40. Grey Shrike-thrush
41. Comb-crested Jacana
42. Australian Reed Warbler - Doing what they do, hiding in the reeds and not coming out. So this is a very EBC shot
43. Tawny Grassbird - This one caught me by surprise as I walked by as it just stayed still amongst the branches
44. Brown Quail - These two were having a little dust bath in the sun
45. Olive-backed Oriole - Quite a large crop
46.Mangrove Gerygone - Very hard bird to photograph as the little blighters won't stay still
47. Pied Stilt (Formally Black-winged Stilt) - This is an immature one from around the corner from Sandy Camp Rd at Hemmant
48. Marsh Sandpiper - I had to get an ID on this as I am hopeless with some of the waders
49. Little Pied Cormorant
50. Black-fronted Dotterel - This little one was cute as a button as he ran around chasing bugs
51. Brown Honeyeater - Not a great shot but even worse because of that one stick. lol
52. Intermediate Egret (No Fact sheet) - Nice flyby. Did they change their name to Plumed Egret?
53. Australasian Figbird
54. Magpie-lark - White eyebrow and black throat indicate a male
55. Tawny Frogmouth - This was a bit further down the road at Wynnum Boardwalk. There were heaps of people looking for the Owlet-Nightjar but he was staying in his hollow. Found this treasure instead.
56. Scaly-breasted Lorikeet - Seem to be fewer of these around these days. This one was in a tree gorging himself
57. Grey-crowned Babbler - These were flitting around in the trees eating the ants out of their nests
OK thats it for these ones.
Man do I have a treat for you guys comming up. I can't wait to share it.
Off and racing Dev. I also love your Ibis flight shot. Too many there to have too many favourites. Some beautiful shots in that lot.
Re the Intermediate vs Plumed the working list used here (link in the stats thread) lists both Intermediate (Ardea intermedia) and Plumed (Ardea plumifera) as separate species, while others list Plumed as a ssp. of Intermediate. The IOC list I believe has Plumed as the Australian sub species of Intermediate (please don't quote me on that). I think it depends which list you are using. There has been some discussion on ABID Facebook phage, which might only confuse you further. Not sure if you will be able to seperate with enough confidence to get an extra species for the challenge?
I know that might not help, but it's all I got. Maybe Sue will offer some more insight?
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Looks like a great spot Dev and yes that Black-fronted Dotterel is very cute!!
Beautiful shots of a wonderful selection of birds Dev. Love your Ibis shot. Looks like a place I need to visit someday. :)
Apologies for being MiA but trying to plan a trip to enjoy with a good friend who lives overseas. Lots of planning.
sorry but I have no idea about the Egrets. It is hard to keep up with all the changes with various classification systems.
Love the Tawny Frogmouth just sitting there and posing but also love the Babbler as your picture captures their behaviour so well. Great to you off to a flying start.
I couldn't help but post these 2 pics from the weekend as I was very happy to get them.
58. Noisy Pitta at Mt Glorious
59. Australian Owlet-nightjar - Taken at the Manly Boardwalk. How cute is this little one. Probably the most photographed Owlet-nightjar in Qld. lol
60. Little Kingfisher (No fact sheet) - Just to take my tally to an even 60, this Little Kingfisher was taken on my recent trip to Cairns. I was at the centenary Lakes, looking at this Scrub Turkey that was making its way towards me when I noticed this beautiful little guy beside the water. He is a lifer for me, 1st lifer in over 18 months so I was very happy!
Appears you can't count Dev, you said 2 pictures and there's 3! Not that an extra shot of such good quality bothers me (much - I kinda wish they were mine). Stunning colours, and the eyes on the Nightjar, just beautiful. Congrats on another lifer, it must be getting hard to get them now.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Haha, well technically I was right as the 2 pics (Pitta & Owlett-Nightjar) were from the weekend. The photo of the Little Kingfisher was from Cairns a few weeks ago
How cool to get an accidental lifer, Dev, while you were enjoying the ugliness of a brush turkey too! A beautiful blue and such short tail feathers. Great clear shot of the whole of a frogmouth too.
Stunning photos of stunning birds! What marvelous finds!
Thanks guys.
Here are a few more from my trip to Cairns. I was only there for an afternoon, so not a whole lot of variety. (for now)
61. Nutmeg Mannikin. I think they used to be referred to as a Spice Finch (bot official name) back in the day. I was surprissed how many of these were around. This one was making its way down to get a drink then a jogger spooked him.
62. Little Bronze-cuckoo (female - race russatus or Gould's Bronze-cuckoo) - No fact sheet
This one had me stumped because it's female and the different race. You learn something everyday. lol. I had to put it on ABID to identify it.
63. Orange-footed Scrubfowl. These guys are always in dark areas and where I got them was literally infested with mosquitoes, so this was the best I could do.
64. White-throated Honeyeater - Another one with no Fact Sheet
65. Olive-backed Sunbird - (Yet another one with no Fact Sheet). These things are so beautiful but very nimble and quick. This is a beautiful male with the iridescent throat .
66. Pied Imperial-Pigeon - Literally flocks of these flying overhead in the afternoons
Love the Olive-backed Sunbird and that Mannikin is superb. I like all the others too, so hard to pick favourites.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Fantastic line-up for the nutmeg manninkin (never heard of it!), just one twig against a background. I find noisy puffing joggers annoying, too, except when its me, then its fine and the 'twitchers' should just calm down ;-)
I can imagine chasing the yellow and blue flash of the sunbird from tree to tree, but never quite lining it up in time.
It looks like you'll have to start writing your own fact sheets, too, Dev.
Thanks Dale & Michael.
So after Cairns I headed up to Cape York and did a tour for 10 days to get some of the local species up there.
67. Pheasant Coucal - The first one is not so local but was nice to see with food in its mouth and the breeding plumage
68. Rufous Shrike-Thrush (AKA Little Shrike-thrush) NO FACTSHEET again! - Not an endemic but these are everywhere up there
69. Lemon-bellied Flyrobin (or Flycatcher) No FACTSHEET- Now we are getting to some of the Northern species. These guys are as friendly as EYR and just went about their business hunting insects right next to me. Very cute little bird and Lifer number 3 for me! (Forgot to mention the PIP was a lifer as well)
70. Palm Cockatoo (No Factsheet)- This is one of the main birds people go up there to see and they don't dissapoint. Lifer 4.
71. Eastern Reef Egret (Dark Morph) - Not an endemic but a nice find
72. White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike (No Factsheet).- Was just hanging out in the town
73. Magnificent Riflebird (No Factsheet) - Lifer number 5. As we were walking along the road. This guy just flew in above us and sat there for about 30 seconds looking around. We never got veiws like this again the whole 10 days we were there.
74. Eclectus Parrot (Male) - These were very flighty and we never saw a male perched. They were always flying about making a very loud racket. Lifer number 6.
75. Metalic Starlings (No factsheet) - There were at least 2 colonies of these birds up there. They were everywhere. If you saw a black bird flying over, it was generally either one of these or a spangled Drongo.
I took 4300 photos up there so I have sooo many to go through. Here are a couple of non feathered friends I got up there as well.
Frilled-neck Lizard
Green Tree Python in ambush mode. Fun Fact - The adults are green, hunt during the night and sleep during the day. The Juveniles are yellow, hunt during the day and sleep at night.
Oh wow stunning selection Dev, love the Palm Cockatoo and Eclectus Parrot, what a treat to see. Great reptile additions (and fun fact) too!
By the way, I have an Olive-backed Sunbird at #45 for you already....
Thanks Karen.
45 Is an Olive-backed Oriole not a Sunbird
Oh sorry, my mistake, I must have recorded it incorrectly, will fix....
Just wow! Some awesome photos of some awesome birds! looks like you had a fantastic time.
Wow, Dev, what a selection! I don't know where to start as some amazing birds represented here. Those Cape York birds are wonderful as is the effort put in to find them.... love the Palm Cockatoos and the Magnificent Riflebird. The Eclectus would be a lifer for me as we never found one at Cape York.
However, the Noisy Pitta, Owlet-nightjar and Little Kingfisher are also brilliant photos and birds. I am really looking forward to seeing more from your outings (and there probably won't be Fact Sheets as they seem to be missing birds only seen north or west.
Thanks guys, yes it was an amazing time up there. Soo much wildlife!
Before I do some more from my trip, here are a few lovals I got last weekend.
I went looking for the Glossy black cockatoos on Saturday but dipped on them. As I was heading towards Samford I head some of these guys. I watched as they were in a guys yard and I was just getting some ebc shots. Then the guy came out and invited my into his yard to take the photos. Very Happy
76. Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo
Since I dipped on the Glossy blacks the day before, I though I would try again with a mate of mine the next day and ... Success!!
77. Glossy Black-cockatoo
A couple of replacement shots
Replacement for 17. Grey Fantail
Replacement for 8 Eastern Yellow Robin
Now back to my Cape York trip.
78.Leaden Flycatcher
This bird has been on my bucket list for a while now and my heart just melted when I managed to see it and get some photos. Such a beautiful looking birds. Needless to say its a lifer (7)
79. Buff-breasted Paradise-kingfisher (No Factsheet) - This one was nice enough to give me a front and a rear view.
80. White-eared Monarch (No Factsheet)
81. Double-eyed Fig-parrot (Marshalli Race) - No Factsheet. These guys were extremely hard to spot as they are so small and blend in with the canopy brilliantly. This pair were way up in a tree so was quite a heavy crop.
What stunning photos Dev. How awesome of that guy to invite you into his yard! That Buff-breasted Paradise-kingfisher is beautiful.
Wow again! Great to see such wonderful birds and photos. The Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher is a stunning bird and you captured it very well. Congrats on another beautiful lifer.
I agree that it was a generous of a stranger to invite you into his backyard. Quite envious of your home location and this fantastic trip. Looking forward to more and so pleased you are back.
Well done on the Glossy and the kingfisher! The kingfisher I haven't heard of or seen before, and there it is posing for you :)
Thanks Michael, Sue and Abby.
Here are a couple of locals I photographed last weekend.
82. Striated Thornbill - Lots of these guys aroung, ready to pose
83. Azure Kingfisher - Went looking for this one afternoon and saw a father and son fishing. They said they had seen it while they were there so I waitied for a whaile after they left but he didn't show. I hoped in the car and as I was heading over the bridge i checked the creek one more time and there he was. It quickly pulled over and made my way back down again. It was getting quite late by this time to light was not great. The difference in the background of the 2 shots is the difference between sitting and standing.
84. Welcome Swallow (Immature) - The light was in the wrong place but he was sooo fluffy!
85. Golden-headed Cisticola - Lots of these around, just trying to find one out in the open was the difficult part
86. Dollarbird - A very cropped in shot of an immature one. (Hasn't developed the really red beak yet)
Another great set, Dev. I especially love the Azure Kingfisher. Seems great posers there.
I think the Stiated Thornbill is my favourite, but is so hard to choose. I also love the Azure Kingfisher, a bird I have only seen once!
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Some birds from the weekend. I am trying to go for quality rather than quantity so only a few new ones and a couple of upgrades
87. Spectacled Monarch - We were actually trying to get some better shots of the Azure but he wasn't around. There were two of these that were happy to come over and check us out.
88. Crested Shrike-tit - Very happy to get these guys. There were 3 of them feeding on insects in the bark.
89. Scarlet Honeyeater - These guys are funny as they chase each other around through the trees. I managed to find one on a lower branch which was nice as they are usually so high up. This is an immature male by the looks.
90. Golden Whistler - Very happy with this shot. We were photographing other birds and then spotted this guy just sitting in the tree checking us out.
Now a couple of upgrades. Lots of these Variegated Fairy-wrens about. There were 4 coloured up males in a group
29. Variegated Fairywren (Replacement)
Another Striated Thornbill (82), just because he posed so nicely on this branch.
Still going through my Far North Qld photos but I'm getting opportunities to go birding with friends so I am doing that while I can.
Here's ona new one I have processed that's kind of a big find up there. We had to go into swamp to get this one and boy were the insects thick.
91. Blue-winged kookaburra - Another Lifer (9 as Fig-parrots were 8). This one was high in a tree beside the road one morning, looking for a feed. Their call has some similarities but is quite different from their laughing cousins
92. Northern Scrub-robin (No Factsheet)- They sit and call in between foraging for food on the ground where their markings make them very hard to spot amongst the leaf litter. Lifer 10.
A nice group of perfectly-posing, well-behaved birds. Sharp focus, blurred background, and no random sticks - I think the golden whistler is my fave there.
The scrub-robin is a totally unknown for me, and it looks like it is belting out a tune. Is the bill on the BW kookaburra proportionally bigger? - it looks very hefty!
Must agree with Michael on the perfectly posed etc. I love the Northern Scrub-robin! I've seen the Southern a number of times but this one would be a lifer for me. The facial markings are quite different with much more white. What a fantastic trip aside from the wonderful area in which you live.
Had a chuckle at your "quality over quanity" comment, your're showing both quality (with some exquisite shots) and quantity with the vast number and range. Loving them all. You have been lucky and or patient to capture some of those striking poses. Congratulations.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Thanks Michael, Sue and Dale.
A few more from my Cape York Trip.
93. Frill-necked Monarch (No Factsheet) - This one did not play nice and the sun came out just as I was taking photos which caused my lens to fog up. Thats a real problem up there with the humidity. Lifer (11) & only found in the top end of Qld.
94. Brush Cuckoo - Lots of these up there
95. Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo (No Factsheet) - Lots of these around but very, very hard to photograph. Would not play nice. Lifer (12) & another Top End Endemic
96. Red-cheeked Parrot (No Factsheet) - A very noisy and very flighty parrot. The first photo is of an immature one and the second is a female. Didn't get any photos of males unfortunately. Lifer (13) & Endemic
97. Graceful honeyeater (No Factsheet) - This is a very hard bird to ID as there is another one called a Yellow-spotted Honeyeater that is almost identical. There's lots of these there and they act a lot like the Lewin's but smaller and not quite as aggressive. Lifer (14). Has a slightly larger range but still endemic to FNQ.
Good to see a photo of the brush cuckoo - they are seen here on the south coast, but I can't quite pick them - I think I just get the fan-tailed variety at differing ages and genders.
Your second shot of the RC parrot I took to be an error, as I could not see anything! And then slowly the white around the eye popped out.
Some more exotic birds Dev, loving the variety. Nice to see in their natural habitat.
Dale Huonville, Tasmania
Wow Dev, what a rewarding trip --- so many lifers! Two of those would be lifers for me as well. It is not easy travelling to these places let alone birding in those conditions, so congratulations. I'm with Dale, enjoying the variety of exotic birds.