Pardalote Holt

Pardalote Holt
The centre of it all

Wednesday, May 3, 2017

Dry.....dry....dry...Cyclone Debbie!

March and the wet season was still absent without notice, at least until the very end of the month when the tail end of Cyclone Debbie twitched it's tail over the mountain and we got 410 mm of rain over 36-hours! Wet, yes, very, very, wet, but great for ducks...speaking of which!  For the last few years we have had a family of Plumed Whistling Ducklings appear on the dam and this year was no different. So despite me being absent at work for much of the month, may I present to you my monthly cuteness collection...







They are a source of pleasure and fretting, as each morning I would anxiously await the ducklings appearance and count them to ensure they all survived. There's all sorts of predators at the Holt, including Lace Monitors, Carpet Pythons, Brown Goshawk and Collared Sparrowhawk, Magpies, crows, Currawongs and eagles. It's a wonder that any clutches survive, but as I write this in early May I am pleased to say that five of the six have almost reached full maturity.

Meanwhile back in the shrubbery we were graced with a new visitor, a Striped Honeyeater. Not only new to the Holt, but a lifer for me, and it's appearance set my scurrying back to the bird books to work out what it was.

A Striped Honeyeater comes to visit.


and for those of you who are less interested in our feathered friends....


A female Eggfly catches some rays.

The common Blue Percher is a regular on the edges of the Lap Swamp.


Gecko love!

Sydney Snake the Carpet Python has taken up residence in the gutters...at least until the Big Wet hit.

Scarlet Percher

Native Paper Wasps
and back to the birds....

Regulars (seen daily)

Australian Magpie
Brown Honeyeater
Common Bronzewing
Double-barred Finch
Galah
Grey Butcherbird
Pacific Black Duck
Pacific Black Duck


Peaceful Dove

Peaceful Dove

Plumed Whistling Duck
Rainbow Lorikeet
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
Torresian Crow
White-throated Gerygone
White-throated Honeyeater

White-throated Honeyeaters


Common (seen weekly)

Bar-shouldered Dove
Eastern Yellow Robin

Eastern Yellow Robin

Grey Shrike Thrush

Grey Shrike Thrush

Lewins Honeyeater

Lewins Honeyeater

Noisy Miner
Pied Butcherbird
Pied Currawong
Spangled Drongo

A Spangled Drongo

Striated Pardalote
Welcome Swallow

Welcome Swallow roosting in the garage

Willie Wagtail
Yellow-faced Honeyeater

Uncommon (seen occasionally)

Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike

Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike

Black-faced Monarch

Juvenile Black-faced Monarch

Golden Whistler

Female Golden Whistler

King Parrot
Leaden Flycatcher

Leaden Flycatcher

Magpie Lark
Noisy Friarbird
Rainbow Bee Easter

Rainbow Bee Eater

Restless Flycatcher
Rufous Fantail

Rufous Fantail


Rare ( seen once)

Azure Kingfisher

Azure Kingfisher

Brown Cuckoo Dove

Brown Cuckoo Dove

Brown Goshawk
Common Spoonbill
Figbird
Masked Plover
Rufous Whistler
Satin Flycatcher
Striped Honeyeater

New to the Holt, a Striped Honeyeater

Variegated Fairy Wren
White-bellied Sea Eagle
White-faced Heron
White-throated Treecreeper

White-throated Treecreeper
The lower numbers are more due to my being away at work than anything else, but that gives us a modest 51-species. See you all soon.

No comments:

Post a Comment