The merry month of May comes round again

I was looking back at last May's blog and the monthly numbers are very similar, 56-species in 2013 and 57-species this year. With that in mind one would expect the bird species to be very similar, but whilst there are some regular seasonal trends such as the re-appearance of the Easter Spinebills, there are a few oddities.  The continuing rise of the Plumed Whistling Duck numbers continues, up to 134 at last count, and the Dusky Moorhen and pair of Purple Swamphens have become permanent features although there has still been no sign of the Bush Turkeys since the hailstorm last November. The number of small birds has increased dramatically, with Grey Fantails appearing on almost every other tree, and both Golden and Rufous Whistler numbers are increasing.

The saddest moment of the month was the death of Cheadle, my Border Collie.  Over a period of just a few days he lost his appetite and took to spending his time just sitting in the long grass down by the creek.  We took him to the vet, who told us that it was his time to go and so I made the extremely hard decision to have him put to sleep. I'm still emotional about it now, so I'll move on to other subjects.

Cheadle - sorely missed.

We had a couple of firsts for the Holt with a brace of Tree Martins flying with the Welcome Swallows and a lone Musk Lorikeet appearing on an emu feeder. I understand that around 750 of the 850 bird species can be seen on the Gold Coast and we're only reaching the 200 mark so there's still a lot of potential, although our specific habitat will make some limits.  I was really pleased to see the Rose Robins again, a beautiful little bird. I saw a pair of them on four separate occasions and have seen them since, so I'm hoping they may become regulars. I'm afraid these are archive shots because my camera is in the repair shop.

Female Rose Robin

Male Rose Robin

As we say farewell to Cheadle we say hello to a new member of the household, Montague.  Monty is a red Burmese, following Susanne's affection for the breed, and has already settled in. He was five months old and sitting in a glass box in a local pet shop, which Susanne passed on a regular basis. As the weeks passed his siblings were all purchased, leaving the kitty all alone.  Susanne felt she couldn't leave him there in the 'aquarium' and so after a few negotiations over the price he's joined the family. He's already proving to be a real character and spends lots of time playing with Tolkien (another cat that thinks he's a dog!).

Monty bird watching.

I'm just cute and innocent!

Will somebody fill the damn water bowl.

Go on, give me some. You know that ice-cream isn't good for you...please.

And onto the birds...

Regulars (Seen at least x5 per week)

Australian Magpie
Bar-shouldered Dove
Bronzewing
Double-barred Finch
Dusky Moorhen
Galah
Grey Fantail
Pacific Black Duck
Peaceful Dove
Pied Currawong
Plumed Whistling Duck

Plumed Whistling Ducks at feeding time,

Purple Swamphen
Rainbow Lorikeet

Rainbow Lorikeets on a seed bell

Striated Pardalote
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
Torresian Crow
Yellow-faced Honeyeater

Common (Seen at least x2 per week)

Eastern Spinebill
Grey Butcherbird
Lewin's Honeyeater
Noisy Miner
Rainbow Bee Eater
Welcome Swallow
Willie Wagtail

Uncommon (Seen 2-5 times per month)

Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike
Blue-faced Honeyeater
Brown Honeyeater
Collared Sparrowhawk
Eastern Yellow Robin
Golden Whistler
Grey Shrike Thrush

A Grey Shrike Thrush - dull colours but a wonderful juicy song.

Figbird
Laughing Kookaburra
Little Corella

Little Corellas and a Galah on the old gum tree.

Magpie Lark
Noisy Friarbird
Pale-headed Rosella
Red-backed Fairy Wren
Rose Robin
Rufous Whistler
Scarlet Honeyeater
White-throated Gerygone
White-throated Honeyeater
White-throated Treecreeper
Wood Duck
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo

Rare (Seen only once in the month)

Brown Thornbill
Grey Goshawk
Musk Lorikeet

A Musk Lorikeet - a first for the Holt

Satin Flycatcher

Satin Flycatcher on a Tree Fern

Silvereye
Tree Martin
Variated Fairy Wren
Wedge-tailed Eagle
White-faced Heron
Yellow-rumped Thornbill

And that's 57 species.  Next post winter arrives.