Back to Sterling's Crossing

Several weeks ago I dropped in at Toorbul hoping to find the Oriental Plover which had been sighted for a few weeks at the roost. Luck was not on my side. The only birds sighted on the flats or on the shore were Black-winged Stilts and a few Australian Wood Ducks. This was a beautiful spot though. I was surprised by the number of kangaroos that were throughout the town. There would have been over 100 kangaroos along the esplanade either on the ocean side or in people's yards. Most of them were very approachable as well.

A Black-winged Stilt

Over the last few months I have noticed more Sulphur-crested Cockatoos in the area than usual and they are in bigger flocks as well. Sulphur-crested Cockatoos are common throughout the area but are often seen in pairs and small flocks of less than 10. There are a couple of flocks of them in the area that have 30 to 50 individuals in them at present.

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

Another Sulphur-crested Cockatoo from the flock

This Sulphur-crested Cockatoo was keeping watch while the others were feeding

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

Several weeks ago I went with a friend to Sterling's Crossing again. I use to love going here due to the variety and quantity of bird life. On this occasion it was extremely cold even though there wasn't a cloud in the sky but most noticeable was how the area had changed over the last year. Non-native weeds have spread significantly throughout the area. Brazilian Nightshade and Lantana was everywhere. I know birds can live in Lantana, but it smoothers the native vegetation and limits variety within the ecosystem. The numbers of birds was down drastically and so was the variety of species that was seen. No pigeons of any type were heard, only one pitta called a few times. The only species that seemed to be in better numbers than normal were the Bellbirds. They seemed to be causing other problems though. A huge amount of gum trees in the area were dead. This is often the result of too many Bellbirds in an area.

Good numbers of Little Lorikeets were seen in the tree tops. They are difficult to photograph due to their small size and their position in the massive gums.

Little Lorikeet

Large-billed Scrubwrens were in good numbers also in the more tropical sections at Sterling's Crossing. These very active birds provided a challenge to photograph.

Large-billed Scrubwren

Grey Fantails were common in the open woodland as well.

Grey Fantail

After a few hours the New Holland Honeyeaters came out into view. They were very active but most were higher in the trees. Last time they seemed more relaxed. This time they were chasing other birds away from the areas where they were feeding, including other New Holland Honeyeaters. As these birds can nest any time of year it is more difficult to determine if this behaviour was due to nesting but it is very likely.

New Holland Honeyeater

Another New Holland Honeyeater

The same New Holland Honeyeater from above

The Eastern Spinebill below was one of two that were seen while we were at Sterling's Crossing. A terrible photo though as I didn't get time to adjust the settings before it was gone.

Eastern Spinebill

We decided to walk down the dry creek bed to see what other birds could be seen sunning themselves. Few other birds could be seen. Just as we were about to turn back a bird with a different call caught my attention. We soon realised it was a Rose Robin! This is the first time that I have seen these birds before so I was really excited. We could actually hear about eight or more calling to each other. I was surprised by the difference in call to many other robins but most of all was the size difference. I assumed most robins were about the same size. The Rose Robins are significantly smaller than most robins I have seen and they are in fact the smallest of all the Australian robins. They are curious about people like most robins are but they do not come as close. They are definitely more cautious and prefer to stay hidden amongst the thicker foliage. We spent a few hours attempting to obtain a photo of them but these were the best I could get.

Rose Robin

The same Rose Robin from above

Another Rose Robin

A male Rose Robin

Even though this area has changed significantly over the last 12 months (for the worse) I will be back to see if the numbers of birds and the species of birds increases again. Hopefully more factors effected the birds that were seen other than the changes in the environment.


More updates and pics coming soon.

 

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Australian Birds Photography: KEUNEA PHOTOGRAPHY 

A Quick Trip to Bribie Island

Last Saturday a friend and I called in at Bribie Island on our way down to Brisbane and Ipswich. I was hoping to see the Oriental Plover in particular but I knew it was unlikely as we arrived too late to see the shore birds when they are most active. We were late leaving the house and didn't arrive at Bribie until about 9 o'clock. We had a look at Buckley's Hole Lagoon to begin with and we saw several birds in this area. I was pleased as I actually got the first photos of a bird that I have only seen once before, which was the Mangrove Gerygone. I also got the first photos I have taken of a Little Egret.

A few Little Egrets were here along with many Mangrove Gerygones, Intermediate and Great Egrets, Whimbrels, Black-winged Stilts plus all the usual bush birds in the surrounding area like Noisy Miners,  Grey Fantails, Willie Wagtails, Noisy Friarbirds plus a few others.

Several Black-winged Stilts were present at Buckley's Hole Lagoon

One of the many Mangrove Gerygones sighted

Some of the Mangrove Gerygones were quite approachable

A Little Egret hunting

The Little Egret preening

Little Egret

The Little Egret ready for take off

The Little Egret in flight

A couple of Gull-billed Terns were doing laps around the tidal zone and were collecting small crabs and other small prey from the mud each time they flew around.

Gull-billed Tern in flight

One of the Gull-billed Terns collecting some food while flying

The Gull-billed Tern with some food, which was eaten while flying

Just as we made our way back to the car, a Pheasant Coucal flew past and landed at the top of a shrub in the distance. I see these birds regularly but have few photos of them due to not having a camera or, because I usually see them while driving or they land in long grass. This one gave me an opportunity to get a few better shots. I love their advertising calls. What impressed me most of all was the fact that he did several calls while we watched him and the whole time he had a large bug in his mouth!!

Pheasant Coucal

The same Pheasant Coucal

The Pheasant Coucal just before he flew

The Pheasant Coucal in flight (still with his meal)

After this we headed around to Kakadu Beach. This area had a few species visible still even though it was getting late. There were heaps of Pied Oystercatchers and Silver Gulls plus several Whimbrels and a trio of Chestnut Teal. This is the first time that I have seen the Chestnut Teal in the wild too! A couple of other bush birds were also sighted around the gardens near the hides and along the path. While we were here, we did hear the Beach Stone-curlews calling from within the protected area. Unfortunately we didn't see them though.

Maybe the Oriental Plover was present but I was unable to locate it from the walkway or hides and I do not have a scope. Maybe I was just too late too. As much as I would have loved to see the Beach Stone-curlews as well as the Oriental Plover, it is important that people keep out of this area and allow these birds to rest and feed in this protected zone. If people keep/start going into this area for there own selfish reasons, just to obtain a photograph it would upset the birds. We noticed a large number of footprints going into the protected area. I'm sure more footprints than rangers that may be entering!! I noticed that many of the Pied Oystercatchers had bands on their legs too.

Pied Oystercatcher

A Pied Oystercatcher feeding

The same Pied Oystercatcher

These were the best few photos I could obtain of the Chestnut Teal as they were inside the protected area. These have been zoomed in and cropped, hence why they are so blurred.

A trio of Chestnut Teal

The same trio of Chestnut Teal in the ocean

The Chestnut Teal on the sand

Two of the Chestnut Teal in flight

Whimbrel

One of the many Silver Gulls

More updates and pics coming soon.

 

 

If you're interested in my blog check out my site below by clicking on the link.

Australian Birds Photography: KEUNEA PHOTOGRAPHY 

Elusive or Common Birds of the Lockyer Valley

On Sunday I decided to go to the Lockyer Valley again to try and locate some of the "now common birds" of the Lockyer Valley. Over the last few weeks there have been many reports of Hoary-headed Grebes, Australasian Shovelers, Freckled Ducks and Yellow-billed Spoonbills, most of them in large numbers according to several blogs and web sites. I have made many trips to the area in the last few months but have not seen any of these species except for 2 Freckled Ducks on one occasion. Since the reports have been more frequent and larger numbers of all these species in the area recently I thought I would go for another look with a few friends to help me scan the dams, lakes and lagoons. It seemed to be a sure thing as just the day before all of these species had been sighted in large numbers in many spots, by several people in the Lockyer Valley.

 

We arrived at the first location before 9 o'clock and we left the Lockyer Valley just after 2 o'clock. It was a glorious day. A warm day of about 29 degrees and hardly a cloud in the sky all day. A perfect day for bird watching.

 

We arrived at Atkinson's Dam first. There were heaps of Australian Pelicans here along with heaps of Eurasian Coots, Little Black Cormorants and numerous Black Swans, Australasian Grebes, Great Crested Grebes, Grey Teal and Pink-eared Ducks. We didn't stay here for long as all of these species I have photographed before and most of them were quite a distance from the bank which made it near impossible to obtain decent photographs.

 

A postcard shot of the Australian Pelicans

We headed to Seven Mile Lagoon next. All the same species were seen here that were at Atkinson's Dam along with several Black-winged Stilts, Masked Lapwings, Magpie-larks, Intermediate Egrets, Great Egrets and possibly a few thousand (at the most) Pink-eared Ducks spread over several flocks. Hardheads were also very common. Two Freckled Ducks were also spotted. I didn't take many photos here either due to the distance between myself and the birds.

 

Black-winged Stilt

Australian Pelicans flying in formation over Seven Mile Lagoon

A Black Swan with some Pink-eared Ducks

Great Egret at Seven Mile Lagoon

Great Egret just after landing in the water

On the way to our next destination one of my friends spotted this Nankeen Kestrel on the power pole on the side of the road. This is the first time I have photographed this particular bird.

Nankeen Kestrel

The same Nankeen Kestrel

Our next stop was Lake Clarendon. Here we found basically all the same birds as the first two locations, just in lower numbers.  Pacific Black Ducks were also common here. While we were here we did see several Cockatiels, Grey-crowned Babblers and a large flock of Whistling Kites. In total there were approximately 40 - 50 birds circling the lake.

A Black Swan up ending searching for food

Part of the flock of Whistling Kites

Our next location was Jahnke's Lagoon. This lagoon had a large number of species for the size of the body of water. Basically the same water birds were seen again as the other locations except no Australian Pelicans were seen. Many Plumed Whistling-Ducks were present along with a couple of Little Pied Cormorants.

Mixed flock of Plumed Whistling-Ducks, Pink-eared Ducks, Grey Teal, Eurasian Coots and Little Black Cormorants

Same species as above with a Little Pied Cormorant

Pink-eared Ducks



Great Egret

Our next stop was Pechey's Lagoon. We went to lagoon 1 and 2. This area is beautiful. The surrounding bush had many birds calling out. One of the birds I was unable to identify by call. We didn't go looking for the birds in the bush as we had a limited time at each place. After scanning the waters of the lagoon basically the only birds we could see were a few Black Swans and Pacific Black Ducks along with heaps of Eurasian Coots and Plumed Whistling-Ducks. We didn't keep many photos from here as we already have heaps of good quality photographs of these birds and they are extremely common in SEQ.

Our second last place to visit was Karasch's Lagoon. This lagoon had the same species of water birds again that we had seen at the other locations. Several Red-kneed Dotterels and a few Black-fronted Dotterels were spotted also. In the surrounding trees we saw a couple of Little Corellas, heaps of Common Mynas, several Australian White-Ibis and Scaly-breasted Loikeets.

Pink-eared Duck

Little Pied Cormorant

Black-winged Stilt

A pair of Little Corellas

Australian White-Ibis

Our last stop before heading home was Lake Galletly at The University of Queensland, Gatton Campus. There were mainly Magpie Geese. There were possibly a 150 in total. Other than that there were a few dozen Pink-eared Ducks, Grey Teal, Plumed Whistling-Ducks, Eurasian Coots, Australasian Grebes and several Hardheads. Red-kneed Dotterels and a few Black-fronted Dotterels were also sighted. In the trees around the lake several Grey Fantails were seen as well as 50 or more Superb Fairy-wrens. The Superb Fairy-wrens are not near as photogenic as the Variegated or Red-backed Fairy-wrens. I had a few issues with the focussing of the camera too while trying to photograph them which didn't help, hence the quality of the photograph.

Pink-eared Ducks circling searching for food

Magpie Geese preening

A couple of Magpie Geese with some Plumed Whistling-Ducks

Another couple of Pink-eared Ducks

Grey Fantail

Superb Fairy-wren

Magpie Goose

After visiting all these locations and having a good look at each spot plus scanning all the smaller waterholes and dams along the way we failed to find the species we were after. It was still a great day out and we got a few good shots and saw a new species. One of my friends got to see many new species on the trip as this was her first time birding in the Lockyer Valley.

After I got home that evening I saw that there were another few reports that said that most of the species I was looking for were sighted in the same places that we visited, by a few different people. I must be very unlucky. I know that the birds can move from place to place throughout the day but what is the chances of not seeing any of the species I was looking for, at any location yet others were able to see them around the same time (within a few hours at the most) at the same place? 

The one that confuses me the most is the Hoary-headed Grebe. Grebes will stay on a given body of water until nightfall. They don't travel during the day except very short distances if they are attacked, usually still on the same body of water. At one of the smallest locations that I visited apparently the Hoary-headed Grebes were sighted by others. I would nearly guarantee that they were not present at this location as we had two good quality cameras scanning the water and reeds plus a good set of binoculars.

If they were sighted on Atkinson's Dam or Seven Mile Lagoon I could understand as they are huge bodies of water and they could easily be missed. Pechey's Lagoon is quite small and easily observed. I have no doubt that the birds have been seen by people in the area and in the numbers they are saying but I think some of the reports could be inaccurate too. I think I will take sightings and blogs with a grain of salt from now on as anybody can post bird sightings on web sites really. Without a photo, or good equipment mistakes can be made on identifications. To be honest I thought I spotted the Hoary-headed Grebes on two occasions that day. After getting a more detailed view or shot I realised that they weren't, they were in fact juvenile Australasian Grebes.

Anyway that's enough about that. I hope I haven't offended anyone in the last few paragraphs, as that is not my intention.

More updates and pics coming soon.

If you're interested in my blog check out my site below by clicking on the link.

Australian Birds KEUNEA PHOTOGRAPHY