A year birding Oz & NZ (1 Viewer)

29/07/11
Things quietened down a bit as lectures started and I actually had to do some work, but a walk over to the other side of the river produced a nice pair of Mistletoebirds.

30/07/11
I planned to visit two new Brisbane birding sites – Sherwood Arboretum and Oxley Creek Common. There are frequent trains to Sherwood, and then it’s possible to walk to both sites (Oxley’s farther away). Sherwood has a couple of good lakes with nice reedy patches, but it’s mostly parkland. Oxley has large fields grazed by cattle, a couple of large lakes/lagoons, and some trees bordering the creek. Both get quite busy at weekends, and Oxley attracts model aircraft enthusiasts which could make things a bit quieter on the birding front!
Anyway, while walking to Sherwood, flipping some bark revealed one of Australia's most wanted - a Cane Toad. The rumour among students seemed to be that you legally have to kill them when you see them, but it’s an urban myth. The 'close encounters with birds of prey' theme continued when I reached the Arboretum and a magnificent White-bellied Sea Eagle took off from an island in one of the lakes. It continued to circle very low over my head for a couple of minutes before settling in a tree. There were a number of Australian White Ibises at their nesting colony on the island, but after seeing the eagle they took off and circled high above the park for the rest of the time I was there. Sacred Kingfisher was a nice new species, but other than that the park was fairly quiet.
I was thrilled to come across my first European Starling of the trip while walking to Oxley Creek Common and things picked up even more after that. A number of Eastern Cattle Egrets were feeding in the fields, and a Pheasant Coucal briefly popped out from some long grass by the creek. Red-backed Fairy-wrens and Golden-headed Cisticolas were in the grassland, and further along the track I spotted one of my main targets for the day – Variegated Fairy-wren. A group, including one stunning adult male, were moving through a low bush. I think it’s slightly unfair that other Fairy-wrens get names like ‘Superb’ and ‘Lovely, while these are just ‘Variegated’ – they’re one of the nicest of the lot! I couldn’t work out how to get out to the lagoon, but Grey Teal and Pied Stilt were visible from the track, and Bar-shouldered Dove and Double-barred Finch were seen on the walk back.

Birds
80. Mistletoebird
81. White-bellied Sea-eagle
82. Sacred Kingfisher
83. Starling
84. Eastern Cattle Egret
85. Pheasant Coucal
86. Variegated Fairy-wren
87. Grey Teal
88. Bar-shouldered Dove
89. Double-barred Finch

Reptiles & Amphibians
4. Cane Toad

Shots from Sherwood & Oxley:
1. White-bellied Sea-eagle being mobbed by Australian Magpie and Torresian Crow
2. White-bellied Sea-eagle being mobbed by Torresian Crow
3. White-bellied Sea-eagle being mobbed by.... nothing
4. Striated Pardalote from Sherwood. Part of a mixed-species flock which were getting extremely agitated about something moving around in the grass - I was disappointed when a fat black cat wandered out.
5. terrible shot of the male Variegated Fairy-wren, but it does show the amazing colour - they really do glow on dull days.

06/08/11 – Marsupials!
Walking back from uni on the evening of the 5th had given me my first marsupial encounter – a Common Brushtail Possum moving around in a bush by the path. But on this day I headed to Brisbane Koala Bushlands to try for another species – 10 points if you can guess which one. It’s possible to get a bus close to the south-west tip of Tingalpa Reservoir, and from there you can walk to the Koala Bushlands.
Unfortunately, despite plenty of scratch marks on the tree trunks and a few droppings, I did not find my main target. However, I was really pleased to see my first macropods – Red-necked Wallabies. There were a few at the site, and although quite wary I got some good views in the end. The forest looked good and there were a few new birds around, including White-throated Honeyeater, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Eastern Yellow Robin,Olive-backed Oriole and White-throated Treecreeper. Before catching the bus back I had a look at Tingalpa Reservoir, and there were a number of Comb-crested Jacanas delicately walking on the floating vegetation in one of the swampier areas.

Birds
90. White-throated Honeyeater
91. Yellow-faced Honeyeater
92. Fan-tailed Cuckoo
93. Eastern Yellow Robin
94. Olive-backed Oriole
95. White-throated Treecreeper
96. Comb-crested Jacana

Mammals
2. Common Brushtail Possum
3. Red-necked Wallaby

Photos from the 6th.
1. Red-necked Wallaby!
2. Fan-tailed Cuckoo
3. I had to get to campus early for the bus, which gave me a good opportunity to photograph the resident Bush Stone-curlews
4 & 5. returning in the afternoon, there was a confiding Royal Spoonbill at UQ Lakes

07/08/11
Another trip to Oxley Creek Common, and this time I worked out how to get out to the wetland areas (turns out you needed to open a gate, who’d have thought it?). Anyway, new species included some Yellow-rumped Thornbills and Australian Pipits in the grassland – the Thornbills were around on a number of other visits, but it’s the only location that I saw them in Brisbane. At the shallow lagoon a couple of attractive little Black-fronted Dotterels had appeared, while among the ducks on the lake were a pair of Black Swans with 8 tiny cygnets.

Birds
97. Yellow-rumped Thornbill
98. Australian Pipit
99. Black-fronted Dotterel
100. Black Swan

13/08/13 – Pelagic Birding
One of the things I was determined to do while I was in Australia was a pelagic trip. There are some operating close to Brisbane (Southport, and now Sunshine Coast), but I really wanted to see Albatrosses, and the greater numbers and variety are down South. In the end I found some cheap flights down to Sydney, and booked on to the August 13th pelagic on the Halicat.

I left Brisbane on Friday evening, getting in to Sydney fairly late in the evening and heading to a hostel close to the main train station. Things were a lot chillier down South. I was up at 5am on Saturday and caught a bus which dropped me close to Rose Bay for the 7am pick-up. Weather was sunny with a slight breeze, and it was quite cold. After the boat arrived, I settled in to a spot near the bow and we headed out towards the harbour entrance. As soon as we were past the Heads, Black-browed Albatrosses started to appear – absolutely incredible! Fluttering Shearwaters were also passing the boat, and as the crew started throwing some chum out we gained a good following which included Yellow-nosed Albatrosses, Australasian Gannets, a Brown Skua, Crested Terns and more Black-browed Albatrosses. A Buller’s Albatross also appeared briefly, but didn’t stick with the boat. Watching the Albatrosses in flight was awesome – despite the boat going at a good speed they would approach from a long way behind and then zoom straight past us without even flapping, before looping back round to snatch some food from the water.
Further offshore, our first drift attracted more Black-browed Albatrosses, some dainty Fairy Prions and a couple more Brown Skuas, but seeing my first, giant Wandering Albatross cutting over the stormy sea was the highlight, and a truly memorable experience.
Heading out again we were joined by a pod of 8 Oceanic Bottlenose Dolphins, which gave amazing views as they played on the bow. The boat slowed as we came across a number of sport fishing boats with plenty of birds also present - at this point the dolphins got bored and left us. This patch turned out to be very productive with some Cape Petrels, a Providence Petrel and a Grey-backed Storm-petrel. Two huge Fur Seals (probably Australian) jumped up behind the boat at one point, and later a very large fish fin appeared above the surface briefly.
However, most exciting for me were the Albatrosses, and we ended up with an impressive collection sat around us looking for food like Swans on a duckpond. Species included the majestic Wandering and Antipodean Albatrosses, as well as the smaller Shy, Black-browed and Yellow-nosed Albatrosses. I was also able to pick up at least one Campbell Albatross, with its lion-like eye, among the Black-brows. There was quite a good swell at this point and some people were getting sea sick, but seeing Albatrosses over big seas feels like the proper way to do it!
The Albatrosses kept us entertained as we headed back in towards the Harbour, and we also found another huge bull Fur-seal loafing on the surface. This one stuck around for long enough to be identified as a New Zealand Fur Seal, eventually revealing the long pointed snout after surfacing a couple of times holding his nose between his flippers!
Finally, just to top things off, as we were getting closer to the Harbour someone spotted a whale, and after some time wondering whether it would reappear again, 2 Humpback Whales surfaced nearby. We were then able to move along parallel with them for some time, getting excellent views – my first ever encounter with one of the ‘great whales’.
All in all it was an amazing day, and would definitely rank as one of the best days ‘wildlife-ing’ I’ve had.

Birds
101. Black-browed Albatross
102. Fluttering Shearwater
103. Australasian Gannet
104. Yellow-nosed Albatross
105. Brown Skua
106. Buller’s Albatross
107. Shy Albatross
108. Fairy Prion
109. Wandering Albatross
110. Providence Petrel
111. Antipodean Albatross
112. Campbell Albatross
113. Cape Petrel
114. Grey-backed Storm-petrel

Mammals
4. Oceanic Bottlenose Dolphin
5. New Zealand Fur Seal
6. Humpback Whale

The pelagic regulars make it look easy, but I found photography very tricky so none of these shots are particularly good!
1. Black-browed Albatross
2. Brown Skua
3. Wandering Albatross
4. Yellow-nosed Albatross

1. a chocolate-coloured juvenile Wandering Albatross
2. Campbell Albatross
3. the snout of a New Zealand Fur Seal
4. Humpback

14/08/11
I had another free day in Sydney, but the weather was looking pretty miserable. I decided to get a train up to Wentworth Falls in the Blue Mountains anyway, and in the end I didn’t get rained on at all. While travelling through the city, New Holland Honeyeater, Australian Raven (identified on the basis of being a crow in Sydney....) and Great Cormorant were added to the trip list.

The journey got more interesting as I got into the mountains, with some nice eucalypt forest and sandstone cliffs. Crimson Rosella and Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo were both seen from the window in the forested bits. Arriving at Wentworth Falls (village), I headed for a path that would take me down to the actual falls. A spluttering call alerted me to a Red Wattlebird in a nearby tree, and a nice male Satin Bowerbird shot across the track into some dense undergrowth beyond. Red Wattlebirds and Crimson Rosellas were seen frequently all along the track. Some small birds feeding in a tree turned out to be Brown Thornbills, and farther along the path there were a few Little Wattlebirds among the Reds. In places the vegetation was quite low with open patches, which gave me a few really good views of the normally secretive Eastern Whipbirds. Aside from stunning views from the viewpoint at the end, I was also very pleased to find my first Eastern Spinebill – very attractive birds! Wandering back up the track, a big flock of Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoos had arrived and were feeding in the trees. It was a pleasure to follow them as they moved slowly up the valley with their buoyant flight and wailing calls (much nicer than the screeches of the white cockatoos!).
All in all it was an excellent couple of days down South, and after an early flight the next morning I was back in Brisbane in time for lectures on the Monday.

Birds
115. New Holland Honeyeater
116. Australian Raven
117. Great Cormorant
118. Crimson Rosella
119. Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo
120. Red Wattlebird
121. Satin Bowerbird
122. Brown Thornbill
123. Little Wattlebird
124. Eastern Spinebill

1. Wentworth Falls
2. New Holland Honeyeater
3 & 4. Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo

great report :t:

Larry Sweetland said:

great report :t:

Click to expand...

Agreed - keep it coming.

Cheers chaps :t:

17/08/11
A trip to Sherwood Arboretum gave me two new species – Little Friarbird and Australian Reed Warbler. Something swimming close to the bank of one of the islands turned out to be a very large Water Rat, and I saw it go back and forth a few times while I was there. The Pacific Black Ducks had some ducklings, and I had a much better look at an Olive-backed Oriole in a low bush.

20/08/11
Another visit to the Brisbane Koala Bushlands, where once again I failed to find any Koalas! There were Red-necked Wallabies around though, and one Swamp Wallaby dashed out from some dense undergrowth
The highlight came while walking along the boardwalk, and a flash of colour caught my eye as a bird flew away from the path. Following it up, it turned out to be a stunning Noisy Pitta! The habitat at the Bushlands is dry forest, so certainly not typical Pitta habitat, and this one really took me by surprise. It’s lucky that I did find it anyway as, I’m ashamed to say, I failed to see another for the rest of the trip despite spending a fair bit of time in proper Aussie rainforest.
A Brown Goshawk overhead was another new species, while some flowering Grevilleas were attracting a number of birds including some nice Scarlet and White-throated Honeyeaters. A couple of Bush Stone-curlews on a nearby lawn were the first I’d seen outside of the city, and they seemed to be warier than their urban counterparts.

Birds
125. Little Friarbird
126. Australian Reed Warbler
127. Noisy Pitta
128. Brown Goshawk

Mammals
7. Water Rat
8. Swamp Wallaby

No shots of the new species from Sherwood, but here are a few of the usuals:
1. a nice fresh Sacred Kingfisher
2. Olive-backed Oriole
3. Pacific Black Duck
4. Royal Spoonbill, laughing about something...

And from the Koala Bushlands:
1. Noisy Pitta!
2. male Scarlet Honeyeater
3. White-throated Honeyeater
4. another Red-necked Wallaby

28/08/11
On this day I got out to Brisbane Forest Park. It’s possible to get buses to Enoggera Reservoir from the city, and although this you’re still a long way from the rainforest of Mount Glorious etc. It’s still a good birding spot. In the end I walked around the whole reservoir – mainly because I got to a stream at roughly the halfway point, took my shoes and socks off to cross it, then couldn’t be bothered to repeat the process. Walking round that way eventually lead me to a private fenced off area owned by the water company, although I didn’t actually find that out until I’d got through the fence, turned around and seen the ‘no access’ signs.
On arrival, some Noisy Miners alerted me to a Lace Monitor clambering around at the top of a dead tree. This one was fairly large, but there were bigger ones further along the walk. I could also hear my first new species, with the constant tinkling of Bell Miners coming from the other side of the reservoir. It turned out to be a really good walk with 10 new species being seen including some really nice ones: Shining Bronze-cuckoo, Leaden Flycatcher, Bell Miner, Spotted Pardalote, Varied Triller, Rufous Fantail, Varied Sittella, Red-browed Finch, Tawny Grassbird and, saving the best ‘til last, a beautiful pair of Australian King Parrots. On top of this, the three Brisbane Fairy-wrens (Red-backed, Superb and Variegated) were encountered at intervals along the track, and I had another good view of a group of Eastern Whipbirds which included a couple of fledglings. It was great to see three White-bellied Sea-eagles soaring overhead too. I also had my first snake encounter at some point around the loop, although I’ve no idea which species it was as it was basically just a tail disappearing into the grass.

Birds
129. Shining Bronze-cuckoo
130. Leaden Flycatcher
131. Bell Miner
132. Spotted Pardalote
133. Varied Triller
134. Rufous Fantail
135. Varied Sittella
136. Red-browed Finch
137. Tawny Grassbird
138. Australian King Parrot

Reptiles & Amphibians
5. Lace Monitor

30/08/11
An afternoon trip to Oxley Creek Common added three new birds of prey to the list. Firstly, a Peregrine sat on a pylon, then a really nice little Australian Hobby perched on a dead tree by the lake and finally a Black-shouldered Kite hunting over the grassland before being mobbed by a Torresian Crow. I failed to notice a huge thunderstorm creeping up on me, and got soaked on the walk home!

Birds
139. Peregrine
140. Australian Hobby
141. Black-shouldered Kite

1. didn't manage any bird photos at Enoggera, but here's a tree-hugging Lace Monitor
2. a Pied Butcherbird from a visit to Oxley on the 22nd
3. Australian Hobby and Darter
4. Peregrine - subtly different pylon and subtly different Peregrine, but I could walk 5 minutes down the road from my UK home and take a nearly identical photo.

Your report of your day at sea made me green with envy - still looking forward to going out on a boat with the prospect of the great albatrosses.

Cheers
Mike

MKinHK said:

Your report of your day at sea made me green with envy - still looking forward to going out on a boat with the prospect of the great albatrosses.

Cheers
Mike

Click to expand...

I hope you get to do it at some point Mike, it really is an awesome experience!

02/09/11 – A ‘deadly’ encounter
In a gap between lectures I headed over the river to Dutton Park. Australia is famous for its ‘scary’ wildlife, which seems to worry a lot of international visitors. Personally, I would’ve been very disappointed if I hadn’t seen anything dangerous while I was out there.
Anyway, while walking on the path by the river I spotted a snake out of the corner of my eye, basking a couple of feet to my left. I continued walking straight on, then looped back round to get a look from a safe distance. Checking through binoculars I was fairly certain that I’d just walked past an Eastern Brown Snake, the second most dangerous species (based on venom toxicity) on the planet, and checking my photos later I was able to confirm the id. As expected, there wasn’t actually any real danger – the snake showed no signs of aggression/interest and, after having me hovering nearby for a while, decided it would retreat down the bank into some long grass.
To complete a good reptile day, I came across a large Eastern Blue-tongue in the park – a really cool lizard.

Reptiles & Amphibians
6. Eastern Blue-tongue
7. Eastern Brown Snake