Another Trip to Kilcoy

Over the last few days the Forest Kingfishers have been particularly active on my property. This Forest Kingfisher was actively hunting bugs in the grass all afternoon today at my place. They are very common on the property all year round. This one was particularly quiet and allowed me to get closer than most of them here.

Forest Kingfisher in flight




Forest Kingfisher

Last night we attempted to find the Masked Owl yet again. After spending a few hours in the Elanda Point area we managed to find several Barn Owls and we heard the Masked Owl calling, but it was quite a distance from where we were looking. Several Owlet Nightjars were also heard. This Barn Owl below is different from all the other Barn Owls I have sighted and photographed in the Sunshine Coast hinterland over the last few months as it has little or no spotted markings on the chest and belly. I know that females have heavier spotting below compared to the males, but all of the other birds (more than 30 individuals) have been spotted.

A Barn Owl with little or no spots on the underside

Another Barn Owl

Another Barn Owl that was sighted

 

 

Today my friend and I decided to go back to have a look around the Kilcoy area again. We started off at the small dam as you come into Kilcoy. Most of the same species were here again as the other day except there was no Pink-eared Ducks or Darters were here today. The Australian Wood Ducks were in much larger numbers along with the Pacific Black Ducks. A heap of Black-winged Stilts were also spotted here today. A few days ago there was only 1 pair of Australasian Shovelers present here. Today there was 4 pairs!!

 

Around the edge of the dam in the long grass several Golden-headed Cisticolas were seen. They were very curious compared to normal and as a result I was able to get better shots. A couple of Tawny Grassbirds were seen in the reeds also but they were not as approachable.

 

Golden-headed Cisticola

A Golden-headed Cisticola keeping an eye on me

Australasian Shoveler

 Male Australasian Shoveler

Australasian Shoveler preening

Another one of the male Australasian Shovelers

Two male Australasian Shovelers

A male and female Australasian Shoveler

A trio of Australasian Shovelers

The Australasian Shovelers in flight

The Australasian Shovelers flying overhead

Just as we were leaving the dam a very large bird was seen in the sky heading towards us. It was hard to make it out as it was flying in from an easterly direction so we could only make out the silhouette of the bird. The first bird to come to mind that is that size was the Wedge-tailed Eagle. As it turned we could make the bird out. It was a White-bellied Sea-Eagle. I have only ever seen them on a few occasions and this was the first time I have ever taken a photograph of them. It was quite a distance from us but I managed to capture its landing sequence as it was flying away from the Torresian Crow that was harassing it.

The White-bellied Sea-Eagle gliding in towards the gum tree



The legs of the White-bellied Sea-Eagle are lowered as it approaches



The White-bellied Sea-Eagle slowing itself before landing

 

 

The White-bellied Sea-Eagle preparing for landing

The White-bellied Sea-Eagle lands on the limb

The White-bellied Sea-Eagle takes a quick rest before flying off again

Just down the road we pulled over near another few dams. There were heaps of birds in the area. In the shallow dam and floodway lots of Black-winged Stilts were seen along with Black Swans, Hardheads, Australian Wood Ducks, Black-fronted Dotterels, Red-kneed Dotterels, Eurasian Coots plus other waterbirds. In the shrubs around the roadside heaps of smaller birds could be seen and heard. There were dozens of Yellow-rumped Thornbills, Red-backed Fairy-wrens, Golden-headed Cisticolas and Tawny Grassbirds.

Yellow-rumped Thornbill

Another Yellow-rumped Thornbill

Back shot of a Yellow-rumped Thornbill

Another back shot of a Yellow-rumped Thornbill

A Yellow-rumped Thornbill on some wild tobacco

The Yellow-rumped Thornbill on some wild tobacco again

Side view of a Yellow-rumped Thornbill

A different Yellow-rumped Thornbill

Black-fronted Dotterel

Red-kneed Dotterel

The last place to stop in at was a small section of rainforest on the Stanley River, which was near the side of the road on the way to Kilcoy from Beerwah. I was amazed at the quantity of birds in this isolated pocket of rainforest. I saw and heard a few birds in here that I have not seen or heard before. I will definitely be back here at some point to locate more of the birds in here when I have more time and the sun is brighter. It was very dark, especially considering it was about midday.

The most common birds that I saw here were the White-browed Scrubwrens and even more common was the Large-billed Scrubwrens, which I have never seen before. I was very surprised as to how approachable the Large-billed Scrubwrens were. They had a lot of character too. I saw several of them playing with feathers that they found on the ground. They were very active, moving from the ground to low in the shrubs and back very quickly.

White-browed Scrubwren

Large-billed Scrubwren

Large-billed Scrubwren again

Another Large-billed Scrubwren
 

One of the Large-billed Scrubwrens playing with a feather

Another Large-billed Scrubwren playing with the same feather

Rufous Fantail displaying
 

Rufous Fantail

Another Rufous Fantail displaying

I was very pleased with the birds that I saw and photographed today. I got to see a few new species and got some photographs of other species that I hadn't taken as yet. A very productive day overall. I will definitely be back to this area in the near future.

More updates and pics coming soon.

 

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Australian Birds KEUNEA PHOTOGRAPHY