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Late December, 2007 - The creek is back

When I looked out through the dining-room windows at 5am this-morning, a Black Bittern was standing in shallow water right in front of the house. 
I tried to sneak onto the verandah for some better photographs – but it flew off immediately I got out there.

However, just a little to the left of where the bittern had been the Bush-hen was strolling about in the shallows - calling occasionally as he wandered 
around completely in the open. I managed half-a-dozen photos from the verandah, as well as a good long look through my binoculars. 
This individual looks prime for breeding, with a rich bluish-purple breast.

Around 7am when I took another look through the windows, the Black Bittern was back again, so I just snapped away through the closed window, 
and got some passable images. The bittern turns up in the same spot at some stage most days, the present shallow level of the creek just in front of the house seems 
to suit its needs. But it's a very flighty bird indeed.

    
Black Bittern

21 December, 2007 - Some Good rain and some good birds.

Lockyer Creek is flowing again at Abberton!  Albeit, slowly at this stage. Twice this week we’ve seen a Black Bittern here, 
and a Bush-hen has returned for the fifth successive December. We've been hearing its distinctive call most afternoons and evenings since. 
We've had good views of it some years, but mostly we just get used to hearing it calling, usually through into January, and don't interfere with it.

December, 2007

A few birds seen at Sherwood Arboretum in Brisbane.

2 & 3 December, 2007 - visit to Durikai State Forest

Late November, 2007- 

This is the first time I've found White-browed Woodswallows nesting in the valley.
I counted four nests in the space of fifty metres, but I don't doubt there were several more

Striped Honeyeater nests are plentiful every year, 

1 November, 2007 - Forest in the morning - a lake in the afternoon.

October, 2007 - A visit to a nearby lake.

Two distant Great-crested Grebes

16 October, 2007 - A day uprange.

October - A lot of nesting going on

click image to enlarge
Tawny Frogmouth with two chicks

....as do Sacred Kingfishers

Some parrots  at Abberton

...and some raptors in the garden

7 October 2007 -  A day-trip to the west

This Little Eagle was one of a pair flying close to where we saw the Emus.

Late September/October 2007

                                   
Rainbow Bee-eaters are abundant

September 2007 -  Really Spring!

Saturday was the 1^st of September, officially the first day of spring, and it was a day full of warmth and bird sights and sounds galore 
- 66 species in the garden on Saturday and Sunday, many of them singing, courting or nest-building.

Red-backed Fairy-wrens, Variegated Fairy-wrens and Superb Fairy-wrens are all paired off and making themselves obvious, 
Rainbow Bee-eaters are overhead and on trees and powerlines in numbers, wheeling and calling all day.  

We had our first Horsfield’s Bronze-cuckoo of the spring, and a Brown-headed Honeyeater was a first ever for here, 
bringing our garden list to 208spp.

There was a lunar eclipse on 28th August, when thousands of photos got taken of the full moon going through its several colour changes, 
but this was the night before, and no-one was around, just the Tawny Frogmouth, the moon and me.

August 21, 2007 -  Some rain, and more signs of Spring

Most of the major lakes in the valley are dry, but those that do have water also hold a lot of birds.

From my window in recent days I've been watching many birds foraging for nesting material.

From a little distance, I've followed Speckled Warblers and White-browed Scrubwrens all the way back to their nests, which proved to be only about a metre apart -
the Speckled Warblers nest on the ground, the scrubwrens almost so - but although I'm seeing Eastern Whipbirds gathering twigs and leafy material every day, 
which they routinely take to the same general location every time, the exact placement of that nest isn't yet apparent.

July 24, 2007 - Signs of Spring

I found a paddock with 14 Banded Lapwings dotted around, all paired off and spaced around the field in a way that suggests they are nesting or about to nest.

Black-necked Storks are spectacular birds. This is one of two storks on a pond the other day.

Our local platypus continues to oblige.

All three resident Fairywren species are now in full breeding plumage, though a few males still have a little way to go.

An adult male Variegated Fairywren is a stunningly beautiful bird.
This is a young or eclipse male heading towards breeding plumage.
Some of the glories to come are hinted at in the blues and blacks around the head, with a touch of 
chestnut shoulder just beginning to appear in the first photo below.

July 19, 2007 - Winter birds and others

Azure Kingfisher is a bird that we are used to seeing every day - when there isn't a drought. 
But the creek is dry in front of the house at present, and for now we must go a couple of kilometres upstream to see Azure Kingfishers and platypus.

We have to go to the coast to see Mangrove Honeyeaters. I found this one at a new location (for me),
just a few minutes south of Brisbane Airport, alongside the Brisbane River. 

Winter has brought a lot of inland species eastwards into the Lockyer Valley. This Western Gerygone is one of them. 
It's a tiny bird, not nearly as distinctive as our resident White-throated Gerygones, and can be hard to pick until you get a good look at the tail!

              

Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters are usually only found west of the Great Dividing Range - winter has delivered several to 
Toowoomba and the Lockyer Valley. Red Wattlebirds are year-round Toowoomba residents.

(Photos: Phil Palmer)

Fan-tailed Cuckoos can turn up at any time of the year. When the one above dropped onto a fence just up the road the other day, I raised my camera 
only to find that I'd left the battery at home on charge! Fortunately Phil Palmer, who was with me, got a few photos of this gorgeous little cuckoo.  
It is unusual to find White-plumed Honeyeaters this far east. When one appeared on the birdbath at home, I had the battery in the camera, 
but I wasn't quick enough to get a photo. Phil however managed just this one excellent shot - and the bird was gone!

There are always a few Little Corellas around the valley, but the flocks are getting larger of late. 

July 2007 - Around the Garden

More raptors in June and July

July 1, 2007 - A great Sunday morning!

Before the current dry spell, platypus were a regular sight here at Abberton. 
Early morning or late afternoon were favoured times, when we would frequently watch them from the verandahs, or from the windows of the house.
On overcast days, they could sometimes be seen feeding busily along the creek at any time, even at mid-day.

Just now, the creek bed is dry here - still plenty of birds, but no platypus for a while.  But this-morning, I bumped into an old friend, just five minutes upstream from our place,
and was able to watch him floating on the surface every few minutes as he digested the food he had gathered from the bottom of the creek. 

Each time he surfaced, he stayed on top just long enough for me to take maybe 5 or 6 photographs.

click image to enlarge

June 12, 2007 - More winter birds

Glossy Black Cockatoos feed almost exclusively on the cones of Allocasuarinas. 
Consequent upon significant loss of that habitat throughout throughout much of their range, 
they are now considered a vulnerable species.

June 1, 2007 - First day of Winter

My first bird of the winter was a big brightly-coloured Brown Goshawk, which glided into the jacaranda tree 
closest to the house just on cue as I stepped outside this-morning.

 As we sat in the garden for a while before lunch, small birds were constantly coming and going around us, fly-catching 
from the branches of trees, gleaning their way through the canopy, foraging on the garden floor, or visiting bird baths.

This pair of Speckled Warblers were working their way together through leaf litter and along garden paths, 
with the male bird from time to time delivering a morsel to the female.   

Just a couple of metres from the Speckled Warblers, I watched two Striated Pardalotes emerge from a nest hole 
right alongside our car shed, which they have used many times over the years, and photographed them as 
they paused just under the roof of the shed before heading out into the surrounding trees.

May 31, 2007 - An unusual robin.

May 19, 2007 - A visit from a southern pardalote.

Ornatus, photographed above, has a streaked, not black, crown, and shows a much narrower 
white-line on the folded wing than does melanocephalus below.

This month, we've seen White-plumed, Yellow-faced and Fuscous Honeyeaters here, alongside our regular 
White-throated, Striped, Blue-faced, Brown, Lewin's and Scarlet  Honeyeaters. 

Eastern Yellow Robin

Rose Robin and Scarlet Robin have visited, flycatching from branches as the much bigger resident 
Eastern Yellow Robins forage below. 

A Western Gerygone has joined the constantly calling White-throated Gerygones in the tree tops.

And just one southern ornatus race Striated Pardalote has visited a birdbath, while our ever-present 
melanocephalus version seems to be getting on with still more nesting.

 
Just a few more photos from around the garden....

May 2, 2007 - Australian Pratincoles!

March 29, 2007 - Accipiters close up

Brown Goshawk

Size apart, the most-handy feature for separating these two in flight is the goshawk's rounded tail, 
contrasted with the sparrowhawk's squared or even notched tail.

This Brown Goshawk, photographed this-morning through the window, displays some of the other 
distinguishing  factors which come into play at close quarters. You will note the rounded tail, 
still a factor at rest not only in flight. 

In addition, you can see the goshawk's distinctive heavy brow ridge. When you meet a 
Collared Sparrowhawk close-up, it does show a brow-ridge, but never as neanderthal-like as this one.

And the sturdy legs; take a look at a Collared Sparrowhawk's spindly legs 
in the photos further down the page. 

March 21, 2007 - A regular owl

About a week ago, we noticed a Southern Boobook at roost in an Acacia tree not far from the house, on the other side of the garden from where we saw the Powerful Owl and the Southern Boobook recently.

It's the first bird I check for from the verandah each morning, and it has been there every day since - so far. 

March 18, 2007 - All quiet on the bird table

The first bird of the day was this Collared Sparrowhawk, which I snapped from indoors
- the feeder was otherwise empty. 

Four photos from the garden:

March 14, 2007 - Another owl

It was the chattering of Lewin's and Brown Honeyeaters, scrubwrens and such that led me to the 
Powerful Owl that was here a week or so ago.

Just on dusk, last night, we could hear them from the kitchen again, fussing around in the same general area. 
This time the bird at the centre of their attention proved to be a Southern Boobook -in the same tree 
as the Powerful Owl had been.

Pre-breakfast this-morning, when I followed up more racket from the garden, it led me not to an owl, 
but to a Collared Sparrowhawk which dashed from the same tree to a nearby gum, then to another 
and then another, all in the same corner of the garden. Sparrowhawks are often around, and will drop 
silently into the depths of a big tree to sit quietly as long as unobserved and untroubled, but if they're 
hassled they usually move on straightaway.

However, after I got back indoors, I could hear the small birds still kicking up a fuss in the same spot. 
I managed to hold off until after breakfast, but then I had to go back out there.

Sure enough, a small, richly-coloured, Southern Boobook was in the fiddlewood tree. 

It was quite low down towards the outer part of the tree, and when it spotted me it made off to a 
higher branch of an adjacent gum. I took some photos without approaching any closer 
and a couple of hours later, I can see from the verandah that the bird is still settled there, 
seemingly oblivious to the occasional fuss from the locals.

Maybe this is one part of the reason that pishing works - the birds that come down to investigate 
might not only be curious to see what is pishing, but also to find out what it's pishing at.

March 5, 2007 - Powerful Owl

click image to enlarge
Powerful Owl

Instead, I found this magnificent Powerful Owl looking down at me, from a height of no more than 15 feet!
I darted back indoors and returned with the camera for a few close shots, 
before retreating again to the verandah. 

By lunchtime, we discovered that there was a clear view from the kitchen window, and we were able to watch him through binoculars from inside the house as he sat with his head turned over his back. He appeared to snooze for some of the day, with eyes closed, though from time to time one or both would open briefly. 

Just on dusk, I looked through the scope and the bird was still there; I looked again a few seconds later,
and it was gone. 

We've heard Powerful Owls here occasionally, but this is the first one we've seen in the garden.

February 24, 2007

Plum-headed Finch and Double-barred Finch

Several Plum-headed Finches dropped in this-morning for a communal splash around on
the rock outside what is now our breakfast room, alongside Speckled Warbler, 
White-throated Honeyeaters, Yellow-rumped Thornbills and Silvereyes.

Breakfasting with an uninterruped view of an expanse of sky, as well as of
the garden, has yielded plenty of raptors too. In the last week, we've seen
Spotted Harrier, Black Kite, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Brown Goshawk,
Black-shouldered Kite, and Australian Hobby.

On the other side of the house, this Collared Sparrowhawk flew onto the new shaded birdbath, 
clutching a big grasshopper in one foot. If you look at the other foot, you can just make out the very distinctive, 
extremely long, middle toe - a significant characteristic of Collared Sparrowhawks. 

The White-browed Scrubwren turned up in the same spot some time later......