More Owling in the Hinterland and a Trip to the Brisbane Valley

This week I have been owling on a couple of occasions to find and photograph the Masked Owl. Each time I have gone with my friend or friends. On one trip we went around Elanda Point, Cootharaba, Wolvi and Kin Kin and the other trip we stayed more local, around Elanda Point to Cootharaba.
On the first trip we saw heaps of Tawny Frogmouths and a single Barn Owl and on the second trip we spotted the Masked Owl but failed to get a photo. They are not as approachable as the Barn Owls that's for sure! We also saw a few Barn Owls and a few Tawny Frogmouths on the second trip as well.

The Tawny Frogmouth with the damaged wing was spotted again

This Barn Owl with the damaged eye did have some difficulty landing on the branches on two occasions after being flushed off but it seemed to be coping.

A Barn Owl with a damaged left eye

Another Tawny Frogmouth located this week

On Wednesday two mates and I went down for a drive into the Brisbane Valley. We had to go to Ipswich to pick up some gear so I thought we may as well make a birding trip out of it too. As we came into Kilcoy I noticed a small dam on the right hand side of the road with lots of birds on it. We decided to pull up and have a look. I'm very glad we did. I finally found some of the Australasian Shovelers that I have been wanting to locate since they were sighted in SEQ, six months ago.
There was one pair of Australasian Shovelers on the dam with some Hardheads, Grey Teal, Pacific Black Ducks, Eurasian Coots, Darters, Australasian Grebes, Black Swans, Pink-eared Ducks, Australian Wood Ducks and some Australian Pelicans. Around the dam we saw a few Australian King Parrots, Pale-headed Rosellas, Rainbow Lorikeets and Little Lorikeets. Most of the lorikeets were too high in the tree to get decent photos. All of these birds except for the Australasian Shovelers and Australian Pelicans were in quite large numbers, especially the Darters. I was amazed with the amount of birds in such a small area! Just as we were about to leave a Spotted Harrier came gliding in just above the grass surrounding the dam and he gently glided alongside the dam and over the hill.

Australasian Shovelers

The pair of Australasian Shovelers

My first photos and sighting of Australasian Shovelers

Spotted Harrier

After leaving this location we headed down Esk-Kilcoy Road. We dropped in at the day use area at Lake Somerset or Somerset Dam. Not much to be seen here except for a few Hardheads out on the water and a mixed flock of Silver Gulls and Caspian Terns. This flock would have numbered 100 or more birds. They were all resting on the edge of the water on the grass.

Caspian Tern (Non-breeding plumage)

Silver Gull

Caspian Tern

Just after we left the day use area a Whistling Kite was spotted circling just near the road. I couldn't resist pulling over to get a photo. Luckily for me he came back for another few laps which enabled me to get a shot before he flew over the hills.

Whistling Kite

Whistling Kite from beneath

Not long later, my mate spotted this Spotted Harrier on a post on the side of the road. As soon as I pulled over it flew off but I got a few photos of it in flight which I was happy with. Then it landed on another post in the distance and I managed to obtain a few more shots of it roosting before it flew off again.

Spotted Harrier in flight

Spotted Harrier in flight again

The pattern beneath the wing of a Spotted Harrier

Shot of the Spotted Harrier flying off

Spotted Harrier roosting

The Spotted Harrier looking directly at the camera

The Spotted Harrier flying off into the distance

Only a few minutes drive down the road several Australian Pipits were seen on the side of the road. I drove past them and then turned around to see if I could get a shot of them. I spotted one, quickly stopped the car and I got a few shots before they flew off into the longer grass. They were only seen for about a one kilometre stretch and not again for the entire trip, even though the habitat was similar for much of this area.

Australian Pipit

Further down the road we were driving past and noticed some white ducks on the side of a dam wall. None of us could think of any ducks in this area that were white so we quickly turned the car around to see what they were. One of my mates was hoping they might be white Australian Wood Ducks, which have been spotted on the odd occasion. Much to his disappointment and our amusement this is what we found!

These ducks weren't going anywhere

This Black Swan was seen with its mate on the edge of a small dam in the Lockyer Valley.

Black Swan

We went to have a look around near Pechey's Lagoon. This area had a huge amount of birds again. Some of the more common birds that were seen and heard included about 15 Brown Quails, Double-barred Finches, many Red-backed Fairy-wrens, Eurasian Coots, Ducky Moorhens, Pacific Black Ducks, Masked Lapwings, Black Swans, Darters, Jacky Winters, Rufous Whistlers, Cockatiels, Galahs plus many others. All of these species were in really large numbers.

Double-barred Finches feeding on grass seeds

Rufous Whistler

Darter

Welcome Swallows

This bird below was seen but to be honest I'm not certain as to what it is. I am pretty sure that it is a female Golden Whistler or a Female Robin of some sort. I have seen many female Eastern Yellow Robins and Golden Whistlers on my property and they both look different, but similar to this bird. It was very dark on its belly which makes me unsure. I didn't see a male of either of these species here either.

If someone can help me identify this bird for certain please post a comment.





Unknown species front on

Unknown species from behind

Red-backed Fairy-wren

Male Red-backed Fairy-wren

Male Red-backed Fairy-wren calling



Female Red-backed Fairy-wren

Galah

Another predator arrived at my house this week. I thought it was the Collared Sparrowhawk back, that was here several weeks ago but when I got a better look at it I realised that it was in fact a Brown Goshawk. Hopefully soon enough it realises that it can't get into the cages and moves on like the Collared Sparrowhawk.

Brown Goshawk trying to get my birds

Brown Goshawk on the aviary

Brown Goshawk

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

Birding Around Cootharaba

A few weeks ago I went with a couple of friends to do some bird watching around Cootharaba. First job was to get a photo of the Brown Falcons that had been around the area for the last few weeks. An adult bird had been seen along with a juvenile bird and they were the dark morph of this species. This was the younger and smaller bird in the photos directly below and the adult bird is further down. It was seen feeding the younger bird even at this age even though it can hunt by itself.

Young Brown Falcon

Brown Falcon again

Juvenile Brown Falcon

The adult bird could be seen but she was in a tree down the hill so we thought we would come back later to see if we could get a photo from a closer distance. Next we went down closer towards Boreen Point onto a private property to get a photo of the Scarlet Honeyeaters. They are always very common on this property so we thought we would get a photo. Unfortunately the weather was turning bad and it started sprinkling lightly and was quite cool and dark, even though it was about 2 o'clock. We managed to get a few photos in the area before we had to leave. We saw all the birds photographed below and we also saw many Red-backed Fairy-wrens and Variegated Fairy-wrens that we didn't photograph.

Scarlet Honeyeater

Juvenile Rufous Whistler 

This Spotted Harrier was flying around just above the top of the long grass in the gullies for the entire time we were there. When we first arrived it was perched in a tree fairly close to the car. By the time I wound the window down and got the camera ready, it was gone!! So these photos are the best I could get with such a large distance between me and the Spotted Harrier for the rest of the trip.

Spotted Harrier from a distance

Spotted Harrier

Golden-headed Cisticola

Golden-headed Cisticola on the lookout

When we went back to where the Brown Falcons were, we found that the adult bird had moved into a more suitable position to be photographed. I walked down close to the tree where it was perched and got a few photos. It was really dark and it was actually sprinkling when I took the photos so I rushed them a bit and as a result the colour isn't as good as it should be.

Mature Brown Falcon

The following day I had a quick look around in the trees around the house. I found dozens of White-throated Honeyeaters. They are seen fairly regularly on the property but I haven't seen them in this quantity here before. As usual they were really high in the trees which made it difficult to get a good photo. This was one of the better ones I got of them today.

White-throated Honeyeater

There were heaps of female, male and juvenile Rufous Whistlers around as well.

Rufous Whistler

This Peaceful Dove was left behind when the rest of the flock flew off as I approached. Over the last few years their numbers have continually increased. Most days now you see between 20 - 30 in the flock that stays relatively close to the house. They definitely take advantage of all the food left behind by my poultry.




Peaceful Dove

 

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