Emerald beckons and a new Pardalote Holt begins

 As much as Susanne and I would have liked to continue living at Pardalote Holt for ever, life just doesn't work that way and so in February 2022, after 19 years in Guanaba, we uprooted ourselves and moved to Emerald in the Central Highlands of Queensland. I took on a new job as HR Manager for the largest citrus farm in Australia but after 2-months decided that my new employer wasn't what they portrayed themselves to be and so I resigned. Not what we had planned, but we sold the Holt at the peak of the market and bought our new property on the outskirts of Emerald for a reasonable price and so we're here to stay for the time being.  The new property is considerably smaller on just under an acre of land but it backs onto an expansive area of land owned by the local Rifle Club. We've been here almost 5-months now and I've yet to hear a shot fired, but the land appears to be broken scrub ideal for wildlife and of course birds.  We're over 1000 kms further north and considerably further inland so I am finding new birds and critters to keep me amused.

Blue-winged Kookaburra

and just to show the blue wings

One of the first birds to catch my attention was the Blue-winged Kookaburra. Down south we used too entertain the Laughing Kookaburra and whilst both birds 'laugh' the call of the Blue Winged Kookaburra is quite different. Difficult to describe but when I awoke on my first morning here I heard the chuckles and immediately knew something was different. We seem to have a family of four that visit the garden on a daily basis.

Our next newbie is the Apostlebird. These birds live in communal groups, usually with one pair breeding and the others assisting with incubating the eggs and feeding the chicks, not something I can recall coming across before. Apostlebirds, or Happy Jacks as they are colloquially named, are immense fun. They chatter and play and appear relatively unafraid of humans although they keep a careful eye on our cats, which is wise.

Apostlebird

Part of a family group

Keeping a wary eye on Monty

Loving couple

Always inquisitive

prepared to stick their beaks in anywhere

Another species we didn't encounter at the Holt was the humble House Sparrow. Much maligned by Ozzies as an invasive species the I've usually seen them in more urban environments, but we have a flock of fifty or so that seem to live in the vines over the garden arch.

Female Sparrow on the pool fence

The advantage of having such a healthy flock of Sparrows is that we're also host to a Sparrowhawk.

This cheeky beggar appears next to the Basil patch no more than 10' from the garden door.

No Sparrows in the Basil.

So lets check out the garden arch...

There's a large flock of Sparrows just 5' above him!

Some birds are familiar from the Gold Coast and that includes; 

Peaceful Doves

Sulphur Crested Cockatoo

Double-barred Finch

Blue-faced Honeyeater

Grey Fantail

Brown Honeyeater

Silvereye

But back to the newbies. Down south we had King Parrots, here Red-Winged Parrots.

The gorgeous female

and a striking male.

Replacing the Yellow-faced Honeyeater of Guanaba we have the Singing Honeyeater. Slightly larger but similar in its habits.

Singing Honeyeater

And then, just to get me really excited, I discovered we have a Spotted Bowerbird that visits regularly. In Guanaba, if I trotted up to the Tamborine Mountain Rainforests I could see the gorgeous Regents and Satin Bowerbirds, but this one is in my back yard. How good is that. 

Spotted Bowerbird

and finally, the Superb Fairy Wren that's been avoiding me all week.

And yes, there are Pardalotes here, I hear them regularly, but so far they've been hiding way up in the tree tops.