Back to the Lockyer Valley (Part 2) and Around Coles Creek

A few days after my last trip to the Lockyer Valley I went out just before dark on the property to practise some very low light photography. I saw many birds around that afternoon. It was great to see the White-eared Monarch out once again also. I was pleased with the photos I got this time, especially the Brown Cuckoo-Dove as this was taken about 50 metres away. Unfortunately the Spectacled Monarchs don't come out from the dense foliage until just before sunset so I either have photos that are taken in low light that are not up to standard or photos of them covered in foliage. I will spend some more time down there one of these days to get that better shot of them.

Brown Cuckoo-Dove eating berries

Spectacled Monarch

The morning of the 19th January we went back down to the Lockyer Valley to hopefully find the unidentified bird again that we saw near Seven Mile Lagoon that was in my last post. Along the way, just outside of Ipswich I spotted a Bush Stone-curlew and a few Masked Lapwings close to some houses. I couldn't pass up such a good opportunity to get a few good shots.

Bush Stone-curlew

Bush Stone-curlew

 

Masked Lapwing

 

Before we went to Seven Mile Lagoon, we went to Lake Galletly at The University of Queensland, Gatton Campus. I was hoping that today we might see the Blue-billed Ducks or the Australian Spotted Crake. No luck again today for either of these species. I saw all the same birds as my last trip, with no exceptions. On this trip there were not near as many Magpie Geese though.

 

Pair of Hardheads and a Pacific Black Duck

After leaving Lake Galletly we headed towards Seven Mile Lagoon. As soon as I pulled the car over I heard the distinct call of the mystery bird. It wasn't a mystery for long. We followed one that we saw landing on the field and identified it quickly. I was pleased that the mystery had been solved but I was underwhelmed by the outcome. It was a Brown Songlark. It was the first time I had taken a photo of one which was pleasing. We had seen them several times before but always at the same location. I have been to Cunnamulla 4 times and each time I have passed through you can see these birds flying around on the paddocks coming into town. I had never seen them close enough to see their unusual flight though. Through all my travels in the outback over many years, this is the only place I have ever seen them except for Seven Mile Lagoon. They are meant to be quite common though!

When the Brown Songlark flies up it has its legs tucked up close to its body and when it descends its legs hang down. This pattern of flying up for a short period then dropping briefly is repeated several times before it reaches its landing area. Once it starts to descend for the landing its legs are hanging right down and it drops very quickly! It looks like it has been shot out of the sky by the way it seems to fall to the ground when landing.

The Brown Songlark's flight as it is ascending

The Brown Songlark's flight as it is descending

It was very difficult to obtain a decent photograph of this bird while it was on the ground as the grass was quite long, ranging from 30cm to 1 metre in height. As soon as it lands it runs along the ground into the longest grass close by. It is a very secretive bird and flies off as soon as it spots you approaching. The female is very different from the male in terms of size. The female is at least 5 - 7 cm shorter in length. Their call and flight differs greatly also. The females flight is more direct and the call is less metallic.

A Brown Songlark on the lookout in the grass

A few days later on Tuesday the 22nd I invited a good friend of mine to come out onto the property to go birding with me. I was keen for her to see the White-eared Monarch in particular, while it was on the property. We went out fairly early even though it had rained only a few hours prior. I was hoping this wouldn't effect the birds that were out. Luckily for us it seemed to bring all the species out in large numbers.

We saw many Golden Whistlers, Spangled Drongos, Eastern Yellow Robins, Little Shrike-thrushes, Spectacled Monarchs and Brown Honeyeaters. We saw a few Red-backed Fairy-wrens, Channel-billed Cuckoos, Noisy Friarbirds, Lewin's Honeyeaters plus many other of the more common doves and regular garden birds of the area. We were lucky to see a few pairs of Spangled Drongos feeding their young as well as a couple of pairs of Eastern Yellow Robins feeding their young. Many other species could of been found as they were heard in the bush, but neither of us had much spare time that morning due to other commitments. Also we spent so much time taking photos of the White-eared Monarch which showed himself for a long time, not long after starting our walk. I got lots of beautiful photos again of this spectacular bird and my friend was very pleased that she got to see one and she too got some great snaps.

One of the many Golden Whistlers that were seen

A Spangled Drongo eating a cicada (soon to be regurgitated for a chick) 

The spectacular White-eared Monarch

The White-eared Monarch singing

A Brown Honeyeater trying to dry off



More updates and pics each fortnight.

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Australian Birds KEUNEA PHOTOGRAPHY 

Back to the Lockyer Valley (Part 1)

While I still have some time before I go back to work I decided to go back for a follow up visit to the Lockyer Valley. I was hoping to find a few of the species that I didn't see a few weeks ago, that have been recorded in the area of late. I won't include a list of all the birds that were seen as this would take much too long. The species are the same as the last trip (Refer to Older Post) plus a few others.

This time we left at a more reasonable hour to arrive at our first destination: The University of Queensland, Gatton Campus around 8:00 a.m. Just before we arrived at Lake Galletly, a bird calling out caught my attention. I pulled over and saw several Brown Honeyeaters but I knew the call was from a different bird. After looking through the trees for a few minutes I found the bird I was after. It was a Yellow-rumped Thornbill. There were several in the tree. This was the first definite sighting I have made of these birds. Unfortunately the photo isn't the best.

Brown Honeyeater



Yellow-rumped Thornbill

Once we arrived at Lake Galletly we went straight to the bird hide. I was shocked by the quantity of birds that were here today. Unfortunately none of the species I didn't get to see last time were here again. I was happy with the photos I took though. I have seen over one hundred Royal Spoonbills and thousands of Intermediate Egrets before but I have never seen either with visible breeding plumage, even though I have seen them during breeding season. I was very pleased to get both of these birds today with their breeding plumage. Not long after I took the photos the birds moved from where they were roosting to feed and you couldn't tell that they had their breeding plumage. It only shows when the are relaxed, sunning themselves or preening. The big difference from this trip to Lake Galletly from the last one was the quantity of Magpie Geese. It was one of the biggest flocks I have seen and definitely the biggest gaggle (more accurate name for a flock of geese) I have seen close to the east coast of Australia. There would have been well over one thousand, and this Lake isn't that large!

It was great to see some Purple Swamphen hatchlings running around the bank plus I saw the baby Australasian Grebe that I photographed on the back of the mother in the older post from the Lockyer Valley. Due to the position of the hide, afternoons would definitely be better to take photos as the light at times was blinding off the water and it made taking the photos a little more challenging.

A Purple Swamphen with 2 very active hatchlings

Update of the Australasian Grebe and the baby: hasn't the baby grown in 3 weeks!

One of the 3 gaggles of Magpie Geese on the lake



A Magpie Goose posing for the camera

Another gaggle of Magpie Geese plus a few other species around them

A pair of Grey Teal on the island in the middle of the lake

A pair of Hardheads and a camera shy Eurasian Coot



Some of the Magpie Geese in flight

A small flock of Plumed Whistling-Ducks were also seen

Intermediate Egret in breeding plumage

A White-faced Heron enjoying the company of the Royal Spoonbill

Royal Spoonbill in breeding plumage

The Black-fronted Dotterels are surprisingly well camouflaged on the rocks 

 

The Cattle Egrets were still there also. Last time I was here the eggs had just recently hatched. Now the chicks are moving around the trees. Unfortunately many dead babies were seen beneath the trees, but this was minimal compared to the quantity of young that was still alive. If the babies fall from the tree the parents will not feed them any more. Sometimes the babies can climb back up the tree but if they are unable to get themselves back into the tree near the nest they will die of dehydration or starvation. While we were there we placed about 10 chicks back into the trees. I know we shouldn't intervene but it's hard to walk past knowing they will die a slow and painful death for nothing.

 



One of the many Cattle Egrets in breeding plumage

One of the many nests of chicks (3 to 4 weeks old)

A pair of Pink-eared Ducks with some Grey Teal

A Red-kneed Dotterel wading on the edge of the lake

A small flock of Black-winged Stilts

The next stop was Lake Clarendon. Last time I was in the Lockyer Valley I didn't go here as I was told it is usually pretty quiet for waterbirds. I was glad that we did stop in, as I sighted and photographed my first Glossy Ibis and I got to see some Cotton Pygmy-Geese with goslings. There were lots of species here too. There were a few dozen Black Swans, heaps of Australasian Grebes, Darters, Little Pied Cormorants and a few other species that were seen at Lake Galletly.

A pair of Black Swans taking to the air (Would have to be the longest run-up before take off I have seen)

Glossy Ibis

Female Cotton Pygmy-Goose with her goslings

The male Cotton Pygmy-Goose wasn't far behind

Glossy Ibis in flight

Two Glossy Ibis fighting (This went on for over 10 minutes)

An Australasian Grebe taking to the air (Grebes usually only take to the air at night to travel)

The next stop was Seven Mile Lagoon. Last time we were in the area we ran out of time to have a good look, and to be honest we couldn't really find how to get down to the lagoon from the road without going through people's properties. This time we parked the car and walked down beside the drains that carry the water into the lagoon. The birds were abundant here with a good variety of species too! The main species were Pink-eared Ducks and Australian Wood Ducks. Pink-eared Ducks are not that common in the area but are sighted regularly in smaller numbers if conditions are right. Obviously the conditions are pretty good at the moment as there were more than 400 of them. The picture below is just a small part of the flock that was in the air, plus many more were in the water too! There was even more Australian Wood Ducks than that, probably double the quantity.

A small part of the flock of Pink-eared Ducks

Straw-necked Ibis

The Pink-eared Ducks coming in for landing

Some of the Pink-eared Ducks on the lagoon

A small flock of Glossy Ibis that were seen

 Whistling Kite

One of the many Whistling Kites that were eating a carcass close to the bank

This lines the edge of the lagoon which is probably the main food source for the Pink-eared Ducks

Not long before we left a bird flew out from beneath some of the sedge in the paddocks beside the lagoon. It would have to be one of the more bizarre flights I have seen. This bird hovered in flight and went up, then it lowered itself before rising up again, and this repeated multiple times. It was like it was in slow motion. It flew, if you want to call it that, about 50 meters away and landed at the base of some more sedge. While it was flying it was also making a strange call. The bird call it reminded me most of was a Chiming Wedgebill, even though it was quite different from this call.

 

I was very keen to find out what this bird was as I knew I had never seen or heard a bird like this before. As I approached the sedge where it landed it flew off again, as it had moved out about 10 meters from where it landed. It repeated the same strange flying pattern and call. I managed to get a photo of it flying but it is one of the worst photos I have taken. This has been zoomed in and cropped to actually see the shape of the bird. I am very keen to find out what this bird may be as I have looked through books and listened to bird calls of all the birds it could be and none match this bird. If anyone can help me identify this bird please post a comment. As a result I think I will have to go back to see if I can find it again and obtain a decent photo.

 



 

A picture of the unknown bird

After leaving Seven Mile Lagoon we dropped in at Atkinson Dam. Very few birds were present here today. One pair of Australian Wood Ducks with some ducklings and one pair of Cotton Pygmy-Geese. Other than that a few Purple Swamphens and Eurasian Coots were seen near the bridge crossing. I was shocked by the small number of birds in such a large area, especially when I know it regularly has many species in good numbers.

A pair of Australian Wood Ducks with their ducklings

The following day I went out birding on my property. I was attempting to get a better photo of the Spectacled Monarchs. I did see them but they wouldn't come out from the dense foliage today. While I was looking for them in the tree tops another bird caught my attention. I saw it had some black and white on it. I assumed it was a Varied Triller as they are found on the property. Much to my surprise it ended up being a White-eared Monarch!!!! Firstly these birds are found over quite a large area but are uncommon throughout most of their range. In some places within their range they are considered to be endangered, like around the Sunshine Coast. On top of this they are only meant to be found in rainforests and mangroves. I have a very small strip of rainforest on my property that follows one of the creeks. It's barely rainforest to be honest but it has some characteristics of sub-tropical rainforest. I found this bird in this area and he gave me quite a show. He came down and was very inquisitive of me and the call I was making. He showed very well for about 15 minutes before I left him be. They have so much personality. This would have to be one of my new favourite birds. They have a lot of personality, an interesting call and I love the little crest!! A very cute bird all round.

White-eared Monarch

 

More updates and pics each fortnight.

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

Australian Birds KEUNEA PHOTOGRAPHY