September sizzles

A bit of a scary month with bushfires in the region, one close enough for us to see from the back deck .Although it was supposedly a 'controlled burn' with the slightly more distant but far more destructive fires in the nearby Lamington Rain Forest, it was definitely undesired.  For several days there was huge amounts of smoke and I worked from home just in case we needed to move.  Our Bushfire Emergency Plan is to stuff every dog, cat, peacock, guinea fowl and chicken we can into the cars and then leg it, taking into account the chances of returning to a charred ruin are probably quite high. Perks of living in woodland! Local bushfires are a relatively new development for us as the areas more prone to bushfires are in Victoria and New South Wales, but climate change appears to have developed a new norm and I have a lot of work planned to better fire proof the house as we go forward.

Whether the butterflies were avoiding the burn or not (the controlled burn was in the reserve where they breed) we benefited with a host of gorgeous Richmond Birdwings and Orchard Swallowtails. We normally see the odd Birdwing but this year they have appeared in numbers.

Female Richmond's Birdwing.

Male Richmond's Birdwing.

Orchard Swallowtail (Male)

Orchard Swallowtail (Female)

Orchard Swallowtail (Female)

Male Richmond's Birdwing

Female Richmond's Birdwing

Dymple, our Peacock has been causing problems with our neighbours. It's mating season and he's in full plumage and looking for a mate. I have had problems getting a Peahen so he's been out and about searching for one himself, and as he has traveled he's been stopping for snacks at convenient veggie gardens and rose beds which has not endeared him to the owners. Unfortunately I have been forced to contain him in his run until his hormones calm down, which is when his tail feathers will drop out.

Dymple in full plumage

and back to the native birds....

Regulars (Seen daily)

Australian Magpie
Bar-shouldered Dove
Brown Honeyeater
Bush Turkey
Common Bronzewing
Double-barred Finch
Eastern Spinebill

Eastern Spinebill

Galah
Grey Fantail
Laughing Kookaburra
Lewins Honeyeater
Little Corella
Magpie Lark
Noisy Friarbird

A pair of Noisy Friarbirds 'serenading'each other!

Noisy Miner
Pacific Black Duck
Peaceful Dove
Pied Butcherbird

Pied Butcherbird

Pied Currawong
Plumed Whistling Duck

Plumed Whistling Duck getting pecky with a passer-by!

Rainbow Bee-Eater
Rainbow Lorikeet

Rainbow Lorikeets drinking at the chooks po.

Scarlet Honeyeater

Scarlet Honeyeater in the Honey Gems.

Silvereye

Silvereye

Striated Pardalote
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo

Sulphur Crested Cockatoo

Torresian Crow
Welcome Swallow
White-throated Gerygone
White-throated Honeyeater
Yellow Faced Honeyeater

Yellow-faced Honeyeater

Common (Seen Weekly)

Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike
Forest Kingfisher
Grey Shrike-Thrush
King Parrot
Little Pied Cormorant
Magpie Lark
Varied Sitella
Yellow-rumped Thornbill

A tiny Yellow-rumped Thornbill with his lunch

Uncommon (Seen occasionally)

Brown Goshawk
Eastern Yellow Robin
Golden Whistler
Grey Butcherbird
Leaden Flycatcher
Little Friarbird
Masked Plover

Masked Plover

Olive-backed Oriole
Pale-headed Rosella
Restless Flycatcher
Spotted Pardalote
Willy Wagtail
White-throated Treecreeper
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo

Rare (Seen once)

Scaly Breasted Lorikeet
Spangled Drongo
Top Knot Pigeon
Wedge-tailed Eagle


Which is 57-species.  And your Aussie critter of the month is:

Pygmy Possum from Malee Futures

Arid August

August has been a busy month with a couple of trips up to the Cape and lots to keep me occupied at work. My work on the Cape has increased which is good as I get to see some different birds but bad because of the amount of time that I'm away from home, but hey ho!  you have to make a daily crust somehow.

At  home its very, very dry and we're hoping for rain.

Australian Hobby

Little Bronze Cuckoo

Yellow Honeyeater

Pale-headed Rosella (Northern)

Rainbow Bee-Eaters

Satin Flycatcher

Meanwhile back at the Holt the butterflies have started to appear, in this case the rare Richmond's Birdwing.

In this case a female, which is larger and has black and white wings.

and here's the smaller male

But back to the birds...

Regulars (Seen daily)

Australian Magpie
Bar-shouldered Dove
Brown Honeyeater
Bush Turkey
Common Bronzewing
Double-barred Finch
Eastern Spinebill

Eastern Spinebill

Galah
Grey Fantail
Laughing Kookaburra
Lewins Honeyeater
Little Corella
Magpie Lark
Noisy Friarbird
Noisy Miner
Pacific Black Duck
Peaceful Dove

Peaceful Dove

Pied Butcherbird stealing kibbles

Pied Butcherbird

Pied Currawong

Pied Currawong


Plumed Whistling Duck
Rainbow Bee-Eater

Rainbow Bee-Eater

Rainbow Lorikeet
Leaden Flycatcher
Scarlet Honeyeater
Silvereye
Striated Pardalote

Striated Pardalote looking for Lerps

Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
Torresian Crow
Welcome Swallow
White-throated Gerygone
White-throated Honeyeater
Yellow Faced Honeyeater

Common (Seen Weekly)

Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike
Eastern Whipbird
Forest Kingfisher
Grey Shrike-Thrush
King Parrot
Little Pied Cormorant
Rose Robin

Female Rose Robin

Varied Sitella
Yellow-rumped Thornbill

Uncommon (Seen occasionally)

Brown Goshawk
Eastern Yellow Robin
Golden Whistler
Grey Butcherbird
Leaden Flycatcher
Little Friarbird
Red-browed Finch
Restless Flycatcher
Spotted Pardalote
Willy Wagtail
White-throated Treecreeper
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo

Rare (Seen once)

Brown Thornbill
Little Friarbird
Pale-headed Rosella
Scaly Breasted Lorikeet
Spectacled Monarch

Spectacled Monarch

Top Knot Pigeon
Wedge-tailed Eagle
Yellow Thornbill

Which is 62-species.  And your Aussie critter of the month is:



A Tree Kangaroo courtesy of the Currumbin Sanctuary

July...summer, winter....I lose track

Little Pied Cormorant and Plumed Whistling Duck

It's that time of year when the Honey Gems really kick into gear and golden nectar heavy blooms drip from their narrow leaved branches. The Jasmine blankets the bushes around the back deck making the air heavy with scent and algae blooms in the back dam turning it an unhealthy if somewhat colourful shade of green. It's the season for Scarlet Honeyeaters, Eastern Spinebills and Silvereyes to be foraging amongst the foliage and the canopy of the gum-trees is busy with the furtive movements of the smaller birds such as Varied Sitella, Golden Whistler and Thornbills.

Eastern Spinebill

Eastern Yellow Robin

Scarlet Honeyeater

Grey Fantail

Female Scarlet Honeyeater

Scarlet Honeyeater in the Honey Gem Grevilleas.

Which is nice as the rest of the world seems to be going to Hell in a hand basket! I find myself increasingly drawn to the latest news and sit in incredulity as I read about Trump, the refusal to accept the science of climate change, personality politics, companies closing their borders and anti-immigration, ongoing wars in Syria and Yemen, the burning of forests, the spilling of oil, plastic pollution in our oceans and micro-plastics in our food, the melting in Greenland and tundra fires in Siberia.  We elected Trump, Bolsonaro, Duterte, Johnson, and Morrison, how could we?  We allow the Monkton's, Hansons, Corbyns, Rees-Moggs, Hannity's and Bannons to shout over us, why do we? I suppose I still believe in little England, that mythical green and pleasant land, in the voices of reason and moderation, in good husbandry and a love of nature. I still believe in science and learning from history, but unlike all those smug little memes on Facebook that celebrate the 'good old days' of bottled milk, scraped knees and a computer free childhood, I am encouraged by the youth of today and it is them that I have hope for the future. Who would have thought that a sixteen year old Swede with Asperger Syndrome would launch an optimism not seen since the heady days of the sixties.

Still, back to the far more important subject of our backyard, we've heard an increasing chorus of deep bass growling as the Koala males broadcast their message the mating season is on.

At the same time Dymple the Peacock's tail leaves us in no doubt about his frame of mind, and the roosters are happily chasing the hens all over the yard,

Pepper, Dymple and Spot.

and the birds seen this month include...

Regulars (Seen daily)

Australian Magpie
Bar-shouldered Dove

Bar-Shouldered Dove

Brown Honeyeater
Bush Turkey
Common Bronzewing
Double-barred Finch
Eastern Spinebill

Eastern Spinebill

Galah
Grey Fantail

Grey Fantail

Laughing Kookaburra
Lewins Honeyeater
Little Corella
Magpie Lark
Noisy Friarbird
Noisy Miner
Pacific Black Duck
Peaceful Dove
Pied Butcherbird
Pied Currawong
Plumed Whistling Duck

Plumed Whistling Duck

Rainbow BeeEater
Rainbow Lorikeet
Leaden Flycatcher
Scarlet Honeyeater

Scarlet Honeyeater

Silvereye
Striated Pardalote
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
Torresian Crow
Welcome Swallow
White-throated Gerygone
White-throated Honeyeater
Yellow Faced Honeyeater

Common (Seen Weekly)

Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike
Eastern Whipbird
Forest Kingfisher
Grey Shrike-Thrush
King Parrot
Little Pied Cormorant

Little Pied Cormorant

Rose Robin

Rose Robin

Varied Sitella
Yellow-rumped Thornbill

Uncommon (Seen occasionally)

Brown Goshawk
Eastern Yellow Robin

Eastern Yellow Robin

Golden Whistler
Grey Butcherbird
Hardhead

Hardhead

Leaden Flycatcher
Little Friarbird
Red-browed Finch
Spotted Pardalote
Willy Wagtail
White-throated Treecreeper
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo

Rare (Seen once)

Brown Thornbill
Little Friarbird

Little Friarbird

Pale-headed Rosella
Scaly Breasted Lorikeet
Top Knot Pigeon
Wedge-tailed Eagle
Yellow Thornbill

Which is 61-species.  And your Aussie critter of the month is:



A Northern Bettong courtesy of the Dept. of  Environment and Science