Pardalote Holt: June arrives and its looking like a wet winter, most odd!

Well that was a strange month, the summer (the wet season) had been relatively dry and now that we've moved into the dry season we got drenched. The dams and tanks were soon full and overflowing and the grass bounced back from a long dry summer. I was quite surprised at just how many birds were visible during the peak of the rain, as usually they disappear, but I think they were hungry and needed the feeders.

Waterfalls appeared on the duck tracks...

The poor old Guineafowl roost in a tree, which was no protection against this sort of downpour.

Rainbow Lorikeets just seem to get soaked.

Water dripping from their tails.

I was quite worried about the Guineafowl, but they survived without any noticeable effects.

This poor little finch couldn't get much wetter.

and there's nothing worse than seed sticking to your bill!

The 'rain event' was fairly heavy, but it was much needed as the ground was crispy crackly dry and we really needed it. The real upside is now appearing as the citrus trees are full of bloom and as we move into August there are birds nesting everywhere, secure that at least in the short term there will be ample food for their young.

The bird list this month was fairly thin, but that was more of a reflection of how busy I had been. After a long period with no work I finally swung a contract with a mining company to set up their HR policies and procedures. It was only supposed to be for 3-days a month, but it was soon clear that I was working on 'green fields' and so I ended up doing a lot of extra work (which was great for the bank balance that was as dry and crackly as the land before the rain). So, the bird lists are quite short and I'm sure that had I had the time to get out on the land I would have seen a lot more. Not necessarily a wider variety, but some birds that had dropped to uncommon or even rare would have been pushed up into the regular bracket. The Rose Robin is a prime example as when I wanted to find him I invariably did without too much effort.

The Koalas are still in the area, and apparently the council have now designated our area as official Koala habitat, which means they take more notice of anyone felling trees, which is good.

This healthy looking male was dozing in the gums.

He woke briefly to see what I was up to, but...

was largely unconcerned so I left him to his dozing.

It has been a very busy period recently and currently I am hosting 7 Chinese students aged between 8-11 and a team leader, so I will keep this post short and let the pictures do the talking.

Regular (seen daily)

Common Bronzewing
Double-barred Finch

DB Finches sweeping up beneath the feeder

Eastern Spinebill

Galah

Pacific Black Duck

Peaceful Dove
Plumed Whistling Duck

A raft of Plumed Whistling Duck

Rainbow Lorikeet

Rainbow Lorikeets mutual preening

Sulphur Crested Cockatoo

Common (seen weekly)

Australian Magpie
Bar-shouldered Dove
Brown Honeyeater

A Brown Honeyeater on a very wet day

Grey Fantail

Grey Shrike Thrush
Laughing Kookaburra
Little Corella
Pied Currawong
Rainbow Bee Eater
Striated Pardalote
Torresian Crow
White-throated Honeyeater

White-throated Honeyeater stakes his claim

Uncommon (seen occasionally)

Azure Kingfisher

I'm finally getting the measure of Mr Tricksy

Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike

Blue-faced Honeyeater
Golden Whistler

Male Golden Whistler

Female Golden Whistler

Grey Butcherbird
Lewins Honeyeater
Little Pied Cormorant

A fluffy looking Little Pied Cormorant drying out on the raft.

Noisy Miner
Pied Butcherbird
Restless Flycatcher

A Restless Flycatcher that led me a merry dance through the bush.

Rose Robin

Silvereye
Tree Martin
Welcome Swallow
Willie Wagtail
Wood Duck
Yellow-faced Honeyeater

Yellow-faced Honeyeater

Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo

Rare (seen but once)

Brown Thornbill

Brown Thornbill

Brush Cuckoo

Collared Sparrowhawk
Eastern Yellow Robin
Masked Plover
Olive-backed Oriole
Pale-headed Rosella

Pale-headed Rosella being photo-bombed by a Common Bronzewing

Royal Spoonbill

A surprise visitor, a Royal Spoonbill.

Rufous Whistler
Scaly-breasted Lorikeet
Spotted Pardalote

Spotted Pardalote showing his fiery rump

...and his spotted head.

Wedge Tailed Eagle
White-bellied Cuckoo Shrike
White-headed Pigeon
White-throated Gerygone

Which is a subdued 54 species, but we're moving towards peak season in August and the signs are good. See you next month.