Jimna Area and Sterling's Crossing Again

Last weekend I went out near Jimna to pick up a few things. I decided to come home over the Conondale Range which comes out at Charlie Moreland campground. This is a beautiful and relaxing drive. The scenery is spectacular. The only down side is that there are few places where you can actually park the car to be able to take a photo or to get out and walk. The road is quite narrow, very hilly, quite wet in places but it is in very good condition. The few places where you can easily park the car are in the drier sections of the park.

Just before we went into the Conondale National Park we spotted a Brown Goshawk in the tree. Photos were difficult to get due to the position of the sun but I managed to get a couple. Only a few kilometres down the road we spotted a Grey Goshawk roosting in a tree just beside the road but before I took a photo it was gone. I saw many other birds along the drive which included Variegated Fairy-wrens, Large-billed Scrubwrens, White-browed Scrubwrens, Crimson Rosellas, Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, Grey Shrike-thrushes, Laughing Kookaburras, Restless Flycatchers, Pale-headed Rosellas and Olive-backed Orioles which I have never seen on the coast before and another bird that I saw was a Satin Bowerbird which I haven't seen on the Sunshine Coast before either. I know they are found here but I have never located one until last weekend.

I didn't get out to get many photos on the later part of the journey near Charlie Moreland as I was starting to develop a headache and we had to get home to meet someone.

Brown Goshawk

The Brown Goshawk in the distance

This little White-browed Scrubwren was in the grounds of the education centre on this road flicking all the leaves with his head. He was very approachable and even more entertaining to watch.

White-browed Scrubwren

Today I went back to Sterling's Crossing for a look. I arrived quite a bit later than last week. The weather was much colder than last week but it was a perfectly clear and sunny day. I had gone all the way down to where I had parked the car the previous week and I had hardly seen a bird. Laughing Kookaburras were in huge numbers. As soon as I pulled up a Wonga Pigeon flew off from the bank of the creek into the bush. The Wompoo Fruit-Doves were very active in the tops of the tall trees. Many birds were fighting and knocking each other off their branches. Within a few minutes I heard the Noisy Pitta calling out. I went into the bush near the creek bed and sat in the buttress roots of a big fig tree. It showed quite well for about an hour. It flew overhead a couple of times but mainly jumped along the ground close to me. Up to three were heard at one time calling out in the close vicinity. They obviously knew I was there and were quite cautious and wouldn't get too close.

Noisy Pitta

The only other decent shot I obtained of the Noisy Pitta

Due to the trees being so thick it was difficult to get a good photo where I could focus on the Noisy Pittas whole body. While I was attempting to get the photos of the Noisy Pitta I heard several Green Catbirds and I saw and heard a Satin Bowerbird. I was unable to get a photo of either of these birds though.

On the way home I saw a Spotted Harrier which I flushed from the grass on the side of the road. Within a few seconds of it flying off this Black-shouldered Kite landed on a light pole. They look very similar to the Letter-winged Kite but they have a marking behind the eye, whereas the Letter-winged Kite has a neat black ring. Also the Letter-winged Kite usually sleeps and roosts during the day and hunts at night!!

Black-shouldered Kite

The same Black-shouldered Kite

The Black-shouldered Kite again

 

I was very surprised by the small number of birds here this time compared to last week. I will be back again, to get a better shot of the Noisy Pitta and I would like a shot of the Satin Bowerbird on the coast too. I think I would see more if it was earlier in the morning on a clear day.

 

More updates and pics coming soon.

 

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Australian Birds Photography: KEUNEA PHOTOGRAPHY 

A Trip to Fig Tree Walk

It's great when plans work out. I went out early this morning to have a look around the southern outskirts of Kenilworth again.  This time I spent the entire time on the Fig Tree Walk circuit that follows Little Yabba Creek. To access it you make your way to the rest area on the left heading from Kenilworth. After you park you can walk over the bridge to access the walk. This forest is stunning! This rainforest has the same species as the walks around Charlie Moreland campground but are easier to photograph and actually seem more approachable. I saw a few other birds here today that I hadn't seen last week at Charlie Moreland but I know they are present in that forest too.

I won't go into all the species again, as all the birds from last week were seen again today. If you want to check out the list go to my last post. Some others that I did see today included a large amount of Green Catbirds. There must have been 20 or more. Spectacled Monarchs, Little Shrike-thrushes, Lewin's Honeyeaters, Brown Gerygones and Brown Quails were some of the other species that were seen today, that were not seen on my trip last week.

I was very surprised to see such a large number of Wompoo Fruit-Doves here today. In one small area alone I saw at least 50 birds and also about 50 Brown Cuckoo-Doves. Both of these flocks were fighting over certain Piccabeen Trees and fig trees in the forest. I got some better photos of most of the birds from last week so I will include them in this blog.

Female Logrunner

Green Catbird

Green Catbird

Green Catbird calling out

Male Logrunner



Noisy Pitta

The same Noisy Pitta as above from a different angle

Topknot Pigeon

One of many Wompoo Fruit-Doves that were seen

Male Paradise Riflebird

This female Paradise Riflebird came from nowhere as soon as the male called

Another one of the many Noisy Pittas that were seen

The same Noisy Pitta as above from a different angle

One of the many Brown Cuckoo-Doves that were seen

I would have to say that this is a brilliant place to go for bird watching or even just a beautiful, relaxing walk in the forest. Even more relaxing and fruitful in terms of birdlife than the Charlie Moreland campground. This would be my new favourite spot on the coast. A great morning out that's for sure!

More updates and pics each week.

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

Australian Birds KEUNEA PHOTOGRAPHY

Birds around Kenilworth

Went out early yesterday morning to have a look around the southern outskirts of Kenilworth. Much of the time was spent at and around the Charlie Moreland campground near Little Yabba Creek. This would have to be the best birding spot on the Sunshine Coast. It has lots of the more common birds as well as the not so common, all in one place. I arrived just before 6 and the birds were still active and calling when I left the area around 10 o'clock.

Unfortunately I had camera issues for the first few hours of the trip so I missed out on many good oppurtunities. As a result many of the species mentioned below have not been included as photographs in this blog due to the quality. I did include the Noisy Pitta  and the Logrunners, even though they are terrible photos.

Noisy Pitta (Too bad about the photo quality)

 

The highlights of the trip were seeing several Topknot Pigeons and getting my first photograph of them and seeing dozens of Wompoo Fruit-Doves and Rose-crowned Fruit-Doves. It's great to see that both of these birds are in large numbers at this location on the Sunshine Coast. The other highlights of the trip was seeing my first Noisy Pittas and Paradise Riflebirds on the Sunshine Coast. There were about 10 individuals in the area of each species. Some Noisy Pittas were roosting in the trees but the majority were flushed from the forest floor. Unfortunately all of the male Paradise Riflebirds were in flight that were seen. Beautiful to observe but hard to photograph. Many were heard calling from within the forest as well.

Wompoo Fruit-Dove

My first ever sighting and photo of a Topknot Pigeon

 

 

 Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove
In large numbers and easily heard but hard to photograph

Brown Cuckoo-Doves, White-headed Pigeons and Spangled Drongos were also seen in reasonable numbers. Bell Miners were in the 100's if not thousands in the whole area. Noisy Miners were common near the campground but not elsewhere. Hundreds of Logrunners were also sighted.

Brown Cuckoo-Dove feeding on wattle seeds

Male Logrunner

Female Logrunner

Other species that were observed were the Pale-headed and Crimson Rosellas, White-browed Scrubwrens, Yellow Thornbills, Eastern Whipbirds, Eastern Yellow Robins, Golden Whistlers, Grey Fantails, Yellow-throated Scrubwrens, Restless Flycatchers plus a few others. Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos and Little Lorikeets were in quite large numbers also.


I would recommend this area to anyone that enjoys bird watching. One of my favourite birding spots from around Australia. An amazing collection of birds. Might even try this place again next weekend now the camera is back in action and will hopefully get some good quality pics of the other species that were sighted.

More updates and pics each week.

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

Australian Birds KEUNEA PHOTOGRAPHY