Peak everything season - September

September is always a great month for wildlife at the Holt and this year was no different. It's times like these that I really wish that I was retired so that I could spend more time at home just watching the great range of birds and critturs that we get here.  Every night the male Koalas have been growling, the Fruit bats squabbling and the Mountain Brushtail Possums...well my vocabulary isn't up to describing the sound they make, but my nickname for them is 'Squealing Kangarillapigs', which might give you a clue.

Young male Koala

Just dozing in the sun.

I attended a bird/animal box course run through the local Land for Wildlife offices and now have a new nest box placed. This one is focused on the Owlet Nightjar...a bird that I have never seen, but could well be here, so why not give it a try?  I'm confident that even if the Owlet Nightjars don't see the for rent sign, something will.

Owlet Nightjar nesting box

I was really pleased to see a Richmonds Birdwing Butterfly here again. These gorgeous butterflies used to be common in the region, but are apparently less so now. They are really Rainforest butterflies, but this one seemed to enjoy the Jasmine.

The male Richmond's Birdwing Butterfly.

On the wing the green is quite stunning.

Feeding on jasmine.

Everyone seems to have young at the moment, including the Red-necked Wallabies. This one comes down to the bird feeder each morning and grabs a snack of grain.

Red-necked Wallaby and joey.

Dad? keeping an eye out.

And onto the bird lists...

Regulars (Seen daily)

Australian Magpie

The noble Australian Magpie

and sitting on her nest.

Bar-shouldered Dove
Brown Honeyeater
Common Bronzewing
Double-barred Finch

Double-barred Finch

Galah

Galah - crest up.

King Parrot

Juvenile King Parrot

Laughing Kookaburra
Little Corella

Little Corella - crest raised

Noisy Friarbird
Olive-backed Oriole
Pacific Black Duck

Just love those scapulars - Pacific Black Duck

Peaceful Dove

Peaceful Doves - probably one of our most common residents

Pied Butcherbird
Plumed Whistling Duck

Plumed Whistling Duck

Preening and dozing

Pied Currawong
Rainbow Lorikeet

The raucus Rainbow Lorikeet

Scarlet Honeyeater

Scarlet Honeyeaters are present in numbers

Female Scarlet Honeyeater on the Fire Sprite

Sulphur Crested Cockatoo

Portrait of a Sulphur Crested Cockatoo

Torresian Crow
Welcome Swallow
White-throated Gerygone

Common (Seen Weekly)

Eastern Spinebill
Eastern Yellow Robin

The adult Eastern Yellow Robins are getting run ragged feeding their young...

Who are getting plumper by the day..

Forest Kingfisher
Grey Shrike Thrush
Golden Whistler
Lewins Honeyeater
Little Friarbird

Little Friarbird

Magpie Lark
Noisy Miner

Noisy Miners in the Silky Oak

Silvereye

Silvereyes are still busy

and still very cute.

Striated Pardalote
White-throated Honeyeater

White-throated Honeyeaters

Willie Wagtail
Yellow-faced Honeyeater

Yellow-faced Honeyeater

Uncommon (Seen occasionally)

Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike

Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike

Blue-faced Honeyeater
Brown Cuckoo Dove

Brown Cuckoo Dove

Brown Goshawk

Brown Goshawk

Brown Thornbill
Buff-rumped Thornbill

Buff rumped Thornbill

Crested Pigeon
Eastern Boobook
Figbird

Figbird

Grey Fantail
Leaden Flycatcher

The beautiful female Leaden Flycatcher

I just love these birds

and the male.

Little Pied Cormorant
Pale-headed Rosella
Rainbow Bee Eater
Sacred Kingfisher

Sacred Kingfisher way up the old gum tree.

Shining Bronze Cuckoo

A shy Shining Bronze Cuckoo

Spangled Drongo

Spangled Drongo

Wedge-tailed Eagle
White-throated Treecreeper

Rare (Seen once)

Black-faced Monarch

Black-faced Monarch calls

Channel-billed Cuckoo
Grey Butcherbird
Little Shining Bronze Cuckoo
Masked Plover
Pale-headed Rosella
Restless Flycatcher
Rufous Whistler

The charming female Rufous Whistler

Spotted Pardalote
Varied Sitella

Varied Sitella

White-bellied Cuckoo Shrike

White-bellied Cuckoo Shrike

White-bellied Sea Eagle
White-headed Heron

White-headed Heron imitates a Wedgie and scatters everything

Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo

Which is about all for now. See you next month.

A belated August post

Busy, busy, busy! Another very busy month at work has meant far too little time for me to watch birds, which is especially disappointing as we're moving towards the most active time of the year in regards to our feathered friends at the Holt. Another week spent up on the northern tip of Cape York allowed me to catch some birds that I wouldn't see at home, which is a nice change, but my bird counts are inevitably less reliable as I've had less time to get into the bush and look for the more shy birds such as the Thornbills and Pardalotes (that I know are present). But here's some of the stars of August...

However, here are some of the birds and critturs I found up north...

Bent Wing Bats

 I was lucky enough to be shown this colony living in an old silo of the the old Kaolin Mine that used to run at our mine site.

The colony

 There was quite a thriving quality. The photo's aren't the best, but I basically stuck the camera into a darkened silo and used a flash and auto focus and hoped for the best as I couldn't actually see them.

A small Salty sunning on the mud flats.

A Black-naped Tern on the wing

A Great Bowerbird near the mess.

Jabiru and Egret on the river.

Part of a Little Egret Colony established over the old Kaolin settling ponds.

Pelicans.

Pheasant Coucals on the haul road.

and a Whistling Kite

Meanwhile, back at the Holt, it's small bird season and the Scarlet Honeyeaters and Silvereyes have been present in numbers.

Silvereye hunting bugs in the Black Wattle

Scarlet Honeyeater in the Honey Gem Grevillea.

With the warmer, drier weather there have been some interesting insects abroad as well...

A Teddy Bear Bee on the Billy Goats Weed

A Scarlet Jezebel enjoys some nectar

A Monarch on the Grevillea

So, to the bird lists

Regulars (Seen daily)

Bar-shouldered Dove
Brown Honeyeater
Common Bronzewing
Double-barred Finch

Double-barred Finch

Galah
Laughing Kookaburra
Little Corella

Little Corella hunkered down for some oncoming rain

Olive-backed Oriole

Olive-backed Oriole

Pacific Black Duck
Peaceful Dove
Pied Butcherbird

Butch singing his heart out.

Plumed Whistling Duck

Plumed Whistling Ducks on the dam wall.

Some get quite curious.

Rainbow Lorikeet
Silvereye

Silvereye

Sulphur Crested Cockatoo

Sulphur Crested Cockatoo in the Silky Oak

Welcome Swallow
White-throated Gerygone

Common (Seen Weekly)

Australian Magpie

Maggie checking out the deck for dog food.

Eastern Spinebill
Eastern Yellow Robin

Adult Eastern Yellow Robin

Juvenile Eastern Yellow Robin

Grey Fantail
Grey Shrike Thrush

Another great singer, a Grey Shrike Thrush.

Golden Whistler
Lewins Honeyeater
Little Friarbird
Noisy Friarbird
Noisy Miner
Pied Currawong

A Pied Currawong who got out of the wrong side of the bed that morning.

Scarlet Honeyeater

A Scarlet Honeyeater takes a break.

Striated Pardalote

Striated Pardalote keeping an eye out.

Torresian Crow
White-throated Honeyeater
Willie Wagtail
Yellow-faced Honeyeater

Uncommon (Seen occasionally)

Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike

A Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike.

King Parrot

King Parrot

Leaden Flycatcher

A male Leaden Flycatcher having a bad hair day.

Little Pied Cormorant
Pale-headed Rosella
Rainbow Bee Eater
Wedge-tailed Eagle
White-throated Treecreeper

Rare (Seen once)

Brown Goshawk
Crested Pigeon
Eastern Boobook
Figbird
Grey Butcherbird
Masked Plover
Restless Flycatcher
Rufous Whistler

Male Rufous Whistler

Spangled Drongo
Spotted Pardalote

Spotted Pardalote collecting nesting material from a Stringy Bark gum.

Success!

Which is only 52-species, but the numbers are more due to my absence than the birds!