Jasmine in bloom and the birds are everywhere

The star of the show this month wasn't a bird, but the Silky Oak.  A Silky Oak is Australia's largest native Grevillea. About 6-years ago I noticed a small sapling had appeared on the side of the dam and so I gave it a bit of help by keeping the weeds from strangling it, staking it against the winds and giving it the occasional feed of some natives fertiliser and this year it has paid me back in spades.  Its golden blooms have been rich and luscious and have attracted all manner of birds...

A Little Friarbird was one of the first regular.

Even the seed eating Red Browed Finches were in on the feed.

Noisy Friarbirds enjoyed the nectar

and Olive-backed Orioles were regulars...

as were the Rainbow Lorikeets...

and a well pollened Spangled Drongo

Funnily enough I'm considering planting a few more around the grounds. That is of course when I find the time. We've had a rough couple of years, partly due to the end of the last commodities boom creating a real trough in my regular work as a recruiter, so to make ends meet I've been working one day a week as an HR Manager for a mining company, 2-days a week as a Careers Counsellor at QUT's Business School, a couple of days helping Susanne as shop assistant at our shop on the mountain, and playing host to an increasing number of Airbnb guests. It's been a tough period, but I think that we're beginning to see a little light at the end of the tunnel. The busy schedule has left less time for birding, which I think reflects in the number of bird species seen this month, but as you can tell, I still carry my camera with me when collecting the mail and having a tea break so that I can still capture our visitors.

Unfortunately the garden is looking somewhat unkempt due to partial neglect, but that doesn't appear to have bothered the wildlife at all. The Koalas can be heard growling almost every night and the Mountain Brushtail Possums are dominating the feeders after dark.  The Welcome Swallows have successfully raised a family in the garage rafters again and this year we have had a family of Spotted Pardalote successfully breed in one of the intermittent creeks.  So, the Holt is buzzing with wildlife even if the owners are looking a little threadbare!

Regulars (seen daily)

Bar-shouldered Dove
Common Bronzewing

Male Common Bronzewing

Double-barred Finch
Galah
Laughing Kookaburra

Laughing Kookaburra

Little Corella

Little Corella defends the feeder from a Cockatoo

Noisy Friarbird
Olive-backed Oriole

Olive-backed Oriole

Pacific Black Duck
Peaceful Dove
Pied Butcherbird
Pied Currawong

Pied Currawong

Plumed Whistling Duck

Plumed Whistling Duck

Rainbow Lorikeet

Rainbow Lorikeet

Red-browed Finch

Red-browed Finch

Scarlet Honeyeater

Female Scarlet Honeyeater

Male Scarlet Honeyeater

Striated Pardalote
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
Welcome Swallow
White-throated Gerygone
White-throated Honeyeater

White-throated Honeyeater

Yellow-faced Honeyeater

Yellow-faced Honeyeater

Common (seen weekly)

Australian Magpie
Forest Kingfisher

Forest Kingfishers start nesting in September

King Parrot

King Parrot

Little Friarbird

Little Friarbird enjoying the pollen

Noisy Miner
Pale-headed Rosella
Spangled Drongo

Spangled Drongo

Torresian Crow

Uncommon (seen occasionally)

Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike
Black-faced Monarch

Black-faced Monarch

Blue-faced Honeyeater
Eastern Yellow Robin

Eastern Yellow Robin

Figbird

Figbird balancing in the rigging

Grey Shrike Thrush
Leaden Flycatcher

Male Leaden Flycatcher

Lewins Honeyeater
Magpie Lark
Rufous Whistler

Male Rufous Whistler

Silvereye
Southern Boobook
Variegated Fairy Wren

Male Variegated Fairy Wren

Female Variegated Fairy Wren

White-throated Treecreeper
Wood Duck

Rare (seen only once)

Brown Honeyeater
Dollarbird

Normally arriving in October this Dollarbird has made an earlier appearance

Eastern Spinebill
Golden Whistler
Grey Butcherbird
Masked Plover
Pacific Baza

Pacific Baza

Pheasant Coucal
Rainbow Bee Eater
Wedge-tailed Eagle
White-bellied Cuckoo Shrike
White-headed Pigeon

A pair of White-headed Pigeon

Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo

A total of 58-species, which is a surprise to me as we have the winter migrants still here in dribs and drabs and the spring migrants arriving.  The numbers of birds were high, but I'd expect more species. Ah! well, there's always October.

August and spring is in the air

Somewhat late I'm afraid, but work is taking me into Brisbane most of the week. This means up at 0530 am to let the chooks out and feed the birds and back home after dark, which is understandably having an effect on my bird sightings.  Having said that whilst I have been free there has been lots of birds to see as the smaller birds that have migrated north for the summer have been here in abundance. The Eastern Spinebills that were so numerous in July have been pushed out by the Scarlet Honeyeaters. These striking little Honeyeaters have been dominating the Grevilleas, and the Silvereyes have been popping up everywhere. It's one of the best months of the year because the jasmine has burst into bloom and so the back deck is just awash with its fragrance and there is lots of colour in the garden.

Male Scarlet Honeyeater on an unusually damp day

Silvereyes appear in flocks of twenty or so birds

A female feeding on the Silky Oak

Another look at the female with her 'rosy' cheeks.

An immature Scarlet Honeyeater takes flight.

Enjoying nectar on a soggy day.

Hard to miss, but they have a sweet song as well.

Yum!

They do enjoy the Fire Sprite Grevilleas.

In the local fields we treated to a Jabiru, or Black-necked Stork.  These birds aren't rare. but we tend to see them in the wetlands rather than in the grassy pastures of Guanaba.

A Jabiru

So all in all a busy month, and it didn't get much easier in September, but that will be in the next post.So, I'll stop overdosing you all with Scarlet Honeyeaters and move onto the bird lists for August.

Regular (Seen daily)

Bar-shouldered Dove
Common Bronzewing
Double-barred Finch

Double-barred Finches enjoying the sun on the Bougainbillea.

Galah
Grey Shrike Thrush
Little Corella
Noisy Friarbird
Pacific Black Duck
Peaceful Dove

The pretty little Peaceful Dove is very common around the Holt

Pied Butcherbird
Pied Currawong
Plumed Whistling Duck
Rainbow Lorikeet

Rainbow Lorikeet on a very wet day/

Red-browed Finch
Scarlet Honeyeater

The female Scarlet Honeyeater

and the glamorous male

Silvereye
Striated Pardalote

A Striated Pardalote gathering nesting material for its burrow.

Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
Torresian Crow
Welcome Swallow
White-throated Gerygone

The Bush Canary - White-throated Gerygone

White-throated Honeyeater

A White-throated Honeyeater

Yellow-faced Honeyeater

A Yellow-faced Honeyeater on a Bronze Rambler Grevillea.

Common (seen weekly)

Australian Magpie
Eastern Spinebill
Figbird
Golden Whistler
Grey Fantail
King Parrot
Laughing Kookaburra
Little Friarbird
Noisy Miner
Olive-backed Oriole
Pale-headed Rosella

A Pale-headed Rosella

Wood Duck

Uncommon (seen occasionally)

Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike

Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike surveying the garden

Brown Honeyeater
Collared Sparrowhawk
Grey Butcherbird
Lewins Honeyeater
Rainbow Bee Eater

Rainbow Bee Eaters

Rose Robin

Rose Robin

Spotted Pardalote

The Spotted Pardalote nested at the Holt this year.

Variegated Fairy Wren

The male Variegated Wren

and the female

Wedge-tailed Eagle

A Wedge-tailed Eagle (Chicken fancier!)

White-throated Tree Creeper
Willie Wagtail
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo

Rare (seen only once)

Australian Hobby
Blue-faced Honeyeater

Blue-faced Honeyeater

Brown Cuckoo Dove
Brown Goshawk
Brown Thornbill

The tiny Brown Thornbill

Buff-rumped Thornbill
Eastern Yellow Robin
Fan-tailed Cuckoo

A Fan-tailed Cuckoo lurking in the scrub

Forest Kingfisher
Grey Goshawk

A Grey Goshawk

Pacific Baza
White-bellied Cuckoo Shrike

A White-bellied Cuckoo Shrike with a shorter black mask and a fine rear white eye ring to differentiate it from its cousin the Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike.

and th..th..th..that's all folks!