New Species for my Coles Creek Property

Over the last few months taking photos has been at a minimum due to work and other commitments. I have only taken a few quick photos when I have seen or heard something different around the house. Going elsewhere to look for birds to photograph hasn't happened for nearly 2 months!! I'm going to try to get out a few times in the coming months.

Here are some of the limited photos that I have taken over the last month or more. When I arrived home later one night I saw an owl land just above one of my poultry pens. I thought it looked like a Southern Boobook when it flew. I have been a hoping to get a photo of them all summer, as they are normally very common here during the summer. I grabbed the camera but it turned out to be one of the resident Tawny Frogmouths. A few Southern Boobook arrived early in the summer but the left and no others have been heard since. Normally between 6 and 12 could be heard most night of summer. The dry weather must have effected them this year.

Tawny Frogmouth

On the property Royal Spoonbills are seen quite often wading though the creeks and dams. Over the last few months my friend said that he had seen one or two Yellow-billed Spoonbills here quite often. I hadn't seen the Yellow-billed Spoonbills anywhere until the other day when I captured this solitary one on the dam. Apparently one is normally seen with several Royal Spoonbills.

Yellow-billed Spoonbills often appear grubby and dirty

Yellow-billed Spoonbill

The same Yellow-billed Spoonbill

The other night I was out a little bit later in the yard and I heard a very obvious call, which I haven't heard on the property before. I didn't go and look for the bird that night. The following night I heard it again from the same spot for a few minutes before it stopped. Last night I decided I would go and have a quick look in the same location where I had heard it the previous nights. Within a few minutes I heard it calling again and I was ready with my camera! It was an Owlet Nightjar. I know they are very common throughout most of Australia but it is the first one that I have heard for certain on my property and definitely the first one I have seen here. This bird showed very well, at close range for several minutes. I was very pleased with the photos that I obtained of this bird. Anywhere else I have seen them they are extremely flighty and land quite a distance from people.

Owlet Nightjar

The same Owlet Nightjar

The Owlet Nightjar watching me

Owlet Nightjar front view

Owlet Nightjar from the opposite side



Owlet Nightjar, front view, whole body shot

Owlet Nightjar, front view, whole body shot again

The Owlet Nightjars are definitely one of my favourite species!!


More updates and pics coming soon.

 

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Australian Birds Photography: KEUNEA PHOTOGRAPHY 

Birding around Imbil and Stirlings Crossing

Yesterday I went out to Imbil for a quick trip with my mate. We saw many birds while we were out there. It was a beautiful morning but within a few hours the light started to deteriorate due to the clouds coming in but that was ok as we couldn't stay for long anyway. I was surprised by the number of birds that we saw. Some of them I haven't seen often and/or I don't have decent photos of them. We saw a few Eastern Spinebills, New Holland Honeyeaters, Brown Honeyeaters, heaps of Grey Fantails and all the common garden type birds. I was very surprised to hear about six Noisy Pittas calling out in the area. We also heard many lorikeets, the most common of which were the Little Lorikeets. We managed to get a few photos for the morning but I wasn't happy with the quality at all. Most of the birds either didn't sit still once we sighted them or they were too high in the trees to be able to obtain a decent photograph.

Eastern Spinebill

New Holland Honeyeater

Grey Fantail

As I was turning off into my driveway I heard the resident Striated Pardalote that nests in the bank of the drain. Regularly he can be seen and heard calling out in the gum tree just above his burrow.

Striated Pardalote

The Striated Pardalote again

Coming down the drive I noticed this Whistling Kite circling the track. Even though they are common in the area I don't often see them on the property.

Whistling Kite

I decided to go back to have a look in the general area around Imbil last night for some night birds. I thought that due to it having many similarities to the Kenilworth area I might be lucky enough to spot a Marbled Frogmouth or a Masked Owl. That didn't eventuate but I did spot several Barn Owls and a few Tawny Frogmouths.

Barn Owl

The Barn Owl preening

The Barn Owl trying to ignore me

Tawny Frogmouth



Close up of a Tawny Frogmouth

 

 

 

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

Birds at my Coles Creek Property and a Trip to Kenilworth

Over the last week I have gone out looking with a few friends to locate the Masked Owl that has been seen in the Elanda Point area. Unfortunately we didn't see or hear it this week. We did see the usual Tawny Frogmouths and Barn Owls though. We have found that if it is raining the other owls don't like to come out as much but the Tawny Frogmouths come out in larger numbers. We spotted at least six Tawny Frogmouths one night within a few kilometres.

Tawny Frogmouth

Another Tawny Frogmouth

Yesterday I saw the Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos coming in to land in the trees not far from the house. They have been very common over the last few months on the property. Many of them are juvenile birds also. I went to the area where I saw them land and I was very surprised to see what they had done to the trees there. They were on a gum tree and they had chewed into the trunk of the tree to the middle where a chamber was. I assume by looking at this chamber that there was a large grub of some sort in there. They tree will most likely die as they had chewed it through to the centre of the tree and the area they chewed through was about 15cm in height. In a strong wind the tree will snap off even. I couldn't believe that they could chew into the tree like that!!

After I took the photos I noticed they had done this to about five trees in the same place. All of which are now quite unsafe, as they could easily snap off where they have chewed into the trunk, and if not they will die anyway. It appeared that the cockatoos knew that the grubs were in the places that they chewed as all had this small tunnel, where a grub or borer had lived, in the area where the cockatoos had been chewing. I'm unsure if this is regular behaviour or if they are hungry.

Male Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo

Juvenile Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo

Another male Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo

One of the trees chewed by the Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos

The pieces of timber chewed out by the Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos

Another tree chewed by the Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos

A close up of the tree above where they have chewed

Walking back to the house I spotted this Laughing Kookaburra sitting in the tree not far from me. They are seen here daily but are not normally very approachable on the property as they are not hand fed. This one allowed me to get that little bit closer.

Laughing Kookaburra

As I was watching the Laughing Kookaburra, I noticed all the White-throated Honeyeaters moving around busily in the trees feeding. One looked a bit different but it was following the White-throated Honeyeaters all around the trees. I used my camera to see a bit closer and it landed in front of where I was looking. It was a long way up in the tree and it only sat there for a second, so the picture isn't very good quality. It was a Yellow-faced Honeyeater. This is the first time I have knowingly viewed one and the first time I have photographed one.

Yellow-faced Honeyeater

Last night a friend and I decided to go have a look for the Masked Owls out near Kenilworth, near the Charlie Moreland Campground and Booloumba Creek. We arrived around 7 o'clock and left after 11 o'clock. We didn't find any Masked Owls but we did hear numerous birds. We couldn't access any of the places where we could hear them though so we left without any photos. We were also hoping to see some Marbled Frogmouths but we didn't see or hear any of them either.

We did see heaps of Ringtail Possums and Red-necked Pademelons though in the Charlie Moreland Campground. We also found a species of frog that neither of us had seen before on the banks of Little Yabba Creek.
You can access more information about the frog by clicking on this link:

http://www.keuneafrogs.blogspot.com.au/

Ringtail Possum

One of the many Red-necked Pademelons

A Red-necked Pademelon eating

The Red-necked Pademelon still chewing

Another Red-necked Pademelon

We found this family of Ringtail Possums at the turnoff to the Charlie Moreland Campground. It was a mother with two babies. The other baby was not to far below these two.

Mother Ringtail Possum with her baby

Near Booloumba Creek we found another Tawny Frogmouth. This one was a different colouring from the ones I usually get at home.

Tawny Frogmouth

 

Even though we didn't find any Marbled Frogmouths or and Masked Owls we still had a fun night out. It was pleasing that we heard so many Masked Owls in the area. I will be coming back out here in the next few weeks when the moon is more full. From all the owling trips that I have done in the last few months I have found that they seem to be more active when the moon is close to full, compared to when the moon is close to new. Tonight when we were here the moon was less than a quarter.

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

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