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Abberton Diaries...

Spring extracts Summer extracts Autumn extracts

Winter extracts

June

• We were diverted from our breakfast by a kerfuffle of small birds mobbing an unwanted bird of prey. At first glance we saw the back of what could have been a goshawk or baza. When he was shifted from his temporary refuge he led his pursuers past us and towards the bridge, giving us clear views of his clean grey back, close to pure white underparts and huge yellow legs. When he paused in a castor oil tree we were able to briefly enjoy perfect views of this very cleanly dressed dark-eyed bird, before he headed away again, showing the smallest touch of dark tips to his primaries. A Grey Goshawk.  
  
  In the afternoon we watched two noisy Glossy Black-Cockatoos fly across the creek and overhead at Abberton, one of them pausing briefly in a creek-side tree. One bird had a completely dark head, one had yellow markings about the head. They were smaller than the Red-tailed and Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos which we often see here. Later, two Eastern Whipbirds performed under and on top of lantana right next to me, close to our biggest forest red gum.

August

• A very good look at a platypus at about 7am, in fact one of the best views we have ever had. He was swimming on the surface, with his beak and tail clearly visible and all four legs paddling. After five or ten seconds he executed his otter-like roll and disappeared into the depths of the creek. We continued to watch, and a couple of minutes later he surfaced again, giving us perfect views as before with his pale eye clearly visible. Another roll beneath the surface, and another reappearance a couple of minutes later. Three good looks at a platypus in about ten minutes.
  
  
• A spring-like day, three Ground Cuckoo-shrikes; a noisy party of Banded Lapwings flew over the house. Brief view of a platypus at 7.30am, and a good, if brief, sighting again at about 4pm.
  Azure Kingfisher, Red-rumped Parrots earlier.
  
  
• Before breakfast, on a very windy and overcast end of winter’s morning a Wedge-tailed Eagle flew slowly westwards above the trees on the crest across the creek. From the verandah I thought he might be passing through but, despite the attention of the crows who were insisting that he should keep to his path along the creek and leave the area without delay, he swung around and flew slowly and heavily back along the further creek bank, wheeling just near the bridge to drop suddenly out of view behind the trees on our bottom corner boundary. Torresian Crows, magpies and Willy Wagtails descended on the area, and after a few minutes he rose towards us over the same trees, clearly carrying some freshly captured prey. Under bombardment, he flapped his way to a fence post alongside the old roadway where he landed clutching a lifeless mammal in the talons of his right foot. This gave us perfect views of this magnificent bird at rest. Clearly, a fully grown eagle, not yet a mature all-over black, but with a golden head and back, and a bold golden bar across his wings. He spent a few minutes on the post without attempting to start his meal in the exposed position under the constant attention of smaller birds, before taking to the air with his prey dangling beneath him, flying maybe 20 or 30 metres to the shelter of some fairly open tree cover in the form of a group of wattles on and around a rocky sandstone ledge. Here, he landed on the ground and turned his attention to his meal.
  
  We watched him tearing at what might have been a bandicoot, and then eating for some time, before we headed off on a walk to seek out any other birds which might be braving the gusty westerly winds.
  
  Not surprisingly, very little was to be seen, but as we returned towards the house along a path by the creek, we found the eagle flying towards us over the adjacent creek bank. At first, it appeared that he would fly closely over our heads as we watched him approach through our binoculars, and we were both ready to duck as this large bird headed towards us. But he wheeled back and landed in the open branches of a dead tree, once again ignoring the protesting crows and withstanding the more efficient dive-bombing of a pair of magpies who came for him in a bee-line from across the creek. A minute or so of this, and he moved onto a high branch of the big dead gum which has held so many interesting birds of prey over the last eight years. Now we were treated to a classic aquila pose, as he stood across a horizontal branch - his big feathered legs supporting his bulk poised at right angles with a jet black tail and a golden head - a photograph one sees in so many bird books. In due course he headed westwards along the creek showing his upturned fingered wings, and continuing to pay no regard whatever to his everpresent entourage.
  
  Breakfast was to prove merely an interlude in our raptor watching. No sooner were the dishes cleared away than we were all startled by a Collared Sparrowhawk which dashed past the verandah clutching a small bird in its talons. It appeared to drop into a wattle in the garden, so we attempted to stalk it to get a better close-up view. As often happens, I didn’t spot him again until I was absolutely on top of him and although I did succeed in one perfect view, it lasted no more than five seconds before he sped away. It was long enough however to confirm his identity. We managed to follow his path and note where he had landed, so we ventured further into the wet garden with more hope than expectation, until we found ourselves in a vantage point which allowed us clear views of both the Sparrowhawk and the unfortunate Double-barred Finch which was his prize. Clearly, the Sparrowhawk was seeking out a quiet spot where he could consume his meal undisturbed, and we were able to watch him plucking the tiny finch and pulling off and discarding its head. In size, the sparrowhawk seemed not very much larger than a kestrel, certainly not bigger than a Black-shouldered Kite. His eye was a bold yellow, his breast barred beneath a pale rufous. Grey above, with a distinctive rufous collar; yellow legs. We left him intent on his preparations for feeding, and returned to the house. It was still only around 10am.
  
  Around 11am, seated back on the verandah, and the Wedge-tailed eagle re-appeared! Once again, he was carrying a mammal, similar to the first, but this one seemed heavier to the extent that the eagle appeared to labour under the burden. Several times we saw him land and then flap a little way up the cliff-face, dragging his possession with him, until he made off along the creek clutching his prey beneath him.
  
  
• This morning we heard the trumpeting call of Red-tailed Black Cockatoos. From the verandah, we could see four birds - two male and two female - sitting at the very top of the big old dead gum on the other side of the creek. Mostly the birds sat in pairs, with each male from time to time flashing his bright scarlet tail feathers and calling out loud. As well, we could hear ongoing churring calls, perhaps from the yellow-tailed females. We watched for 5 to 10 minutes while the activity and the calling continued, with the males raising their crests over their heads when they trumpeted. An exciting and uplifting interlude on a sharply cool beautiful morning in late winter, with the feeling of spring just around the corner.

Spring extracts Summer extracts Autumn extracts

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Abberton Birding,  PO Box 53,  Helidon,  Queensland  4344, Australia

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