Muddy March

All change, 3-months of sweltering misery over and the vegetation breathes a sigh of relief as the rains arrive at last. Autumn arrives and as the summer migrants return to North Queensland and Papua New Guinea the winter migrants appear. One of the less commonly seen migrants (at the Holt) is the Rufous Fantail. In a way they remind me of squirrels back in the UK, as the Grey Squirrel is common and seen in almost every patch of woodland, whilst the Red Squirrel is rare, shy and most difficult to find. Similarly the Grey Fantails appear in numbers and there are times when there seems to be a Grey Fantail on almost every tree, dancing from the branches as they catch small insects on the wing. The Rufous Fantail is far less obliging and in the past I have been lucky to see one or two each year. This year though I have been treated to a number of these charming birds.  Unfortunately they enjoy the shadows of the thicker bush beneath the canopy and are such vivacious little birds they rarely stop still for a moment, but I'm hoping you will forgive the poor quality of my camerawork in exchange for some views of one of the prettiest birds of the Australian bush.

These birds aren't perhaps as glamorous as the Scarlet Honeyeater or as garish as the Rainbow Lorikeet, but I find them quite stunning. They are dainty little birds about the size of a wagtail, with a striking rufous rump and tail. Their breasts are covered with a soft mottling and they have relatively large eyes, which is always attractive.  Anyway, enjoy...

The Rufous Fantail looking for its next snack

Rarely still

and often in the thicker brush.

or flitting around in the canopy

Shame it isn't well focused as this could have been the classic fantail shot.

Another visitor that reappears at this time of the year is the Lace Monitor. These lizards are large, sometimes growing to 2-metres long and are constantly lurking around the chook runs hoping to steal eggs. They are also opportunist feeders and will chew on roadkill, including wallabies, on the side of the road and will go for anything that is injured or unable to escape. Despite this they are quite skittish and if disturbed will shoot up the nearest tree with surprising speed. In the case of this particular individual I was sitting in my 'hot spot' hoping for another chance to get a shot of a Rufous Fantail when I heard what sounded like a person striding through the leaf litter toward me. I looked around and despite being unable to see anyone continued to hear the nearing footsteps.  To be honest it was with a sense of relief when I finally saw the monitor striding through the leaves on the forest floor as the approaching footsteps without any obvious cause was becoming a little unsettling.

A Lace Monitor stalks the woodland floor.

This one wasn't much more than a metre long.

and onto the birds...

Regulars (Seen daily)

Australian Magpie
Bar-shouldered Dove
Brown Honeyeater
Bush Turkey
Common Bronzewing

I didn't realise that singing could be such an effort!

The Common Bronzewing showing its true colours.

Double-barred Finch
Galah
Laughing Kookaburra

A Laughing Kookaburra on the hunt for skinks.

Lewins Honeyeater

Lewins Honeyeater in the Box Brush.

Little Corella
Magpie Lark
Noisy Friarbird

The Noisy Friarbird

Noisy Miner
Pacific Black Duck

A dozing Pacific Duck.

Peaceful Dove

and a dozing Peaceful Dove.

Pied Butcherbird
Pied Currawong
Plumed Whistling Duck

Obviously afternoon naps for all, a Plumed Whistling Duck.

Rainbow Lorikeet
Leaden Flycatcher

The Leaden Flycatcher

Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
Torresian Crow

Caw...Caw..

White-throated Gerygone

A White throated Gerygone (pronounced Jer - Ih - gon-ee)

White-throated Honeyeater

Common (Seen Weekly)

Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike
Eastern Whipbird
Forest Kingfisher
Grey Shrike-Thrush
King Parrot
Spangled Drongo

Yellow Faced Honeyeater

Uncommon (Seen occasionally)

Common Mynah
Eastern Boobook
Eastern Yellow Robin
Figbird
Golden Whistler
Grey Butcherbird
Grey Fantail
Rufous Fantail
Leaden Flycatcher
Little Friarbird
Purple Swamphen
Scarlet Honeyeater

Scarlet Honeyeater

Silvereye
Striated Pardalote

Striated Pardalote

Welcome Swallow
White-bellied Cuckoo Shrike
White-throated Treecreeper
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo

Rare (Seen once)

Australian Owlet Nightjar
Brown Goshawk
Brown Quail
Brown Thornbill
Little Pied Cormorant
Olive-backed Oriole
Pale-headed Rosella
Scaly Breasted Lorikeet

Scaly-breasted Lorikeets always seem to look annoyed

Spectacled Monarch

A juvenile Spectacled Monarch

Spotted Turtle Dove
Varied Sitella

The rare site of a Varied Sitella not moving

White-bellied Cuckoo Shrike
Wood Duck
Yellow- rumped Thornbill