May - the world grinds slowly to a halt

Whilst the world was happily steaming off towards Armageddon with Australia and New Zealand sealing their borders and the great western giants, the USA and the UK seeming in utter confusion as to what to do we carried on as usual.  Well, not quite, as I had to wear a mask on the now empty train to the deserted city of Brisbane for work and Susanne withdrew from her Friday coffee mornings, but the Holt seemed to ignore it all as wildlife often does.

A high-point of the month was being able to catch a pair of Glossy Black Cockatoos. These endangered birds are increasingly rare. Habitat loss and their only food, Casuarina cones, probably has much to do with their rarity.

Meanwhile, back on the dam it's Pacific Black Duck racing season....

And on the roof a medium sized Carpet Python appears to be searching for lunch!

 

Regular (Seen daily)

Australian Magpie
Bar-shouldered Dove
Brown Honeyeater
Buff-rumped Thornbill

Bush Turkey
Cicadabird
Common Bronzewing
Forest Kingfisher
Galah
King Parrot
Laughing Kookaburra
Little Corella
Noisy Friarbird
Noisy Miner
Olive-backed Oriole
Pacific Black Duck
Peaceful Dove
Pied Butcherbird
Pied Currawong
Plumed Whistling Duck
Rainbow Lorikeet

Scarlet Honeyeater

Striated Pardalote

Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
Torresian Crow
White-throated Gerygone
White-throated Honeyeater
Yellow-faced Honeyeater
Yellow Thornbill

Common (Seen Weekly)

Common Mynah

Eastern Yellow Robin

Golden Whistler

Grey Shrike-Thrush

Spangled Drongo
Welcome Swallow

Willie Wagtail

Uncommon (Seen occasionally)

Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike
Brown Thornbill

Crested Pigeon
Dollarbird
Eastern Boobook
Figbird

Leaden Flycatcher

Little Friarbird
Magpie Lark
Masked Plover
Pale-headed Rosella
Pheasant Coucal
Rainbow Bee Eater

Rose Robin

Rufous Whistler
White-throated Treecreeper

Rare (Seen once)

Australian Ibis
Collared Sparrowhawk
Little Pied Cormorant
Little Wattlebird
Grey Fantail
Rufous Fantail
Straw-necked Ibis
White-bellied Sea Eagle

Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo

Crispy November

Still no significant rain and it gets ever drier with bushfires burning at Binna Burra in the rainforest, something that's not supposed to happen. These are worrying times, not helped by a Government led by climate science deniers.  We're relatively unscathed compared to Victoria, South Australia and New South Wales, but the number of bushfires in Queensland has been over a hundred and the smoke travels huge distances.  One has to wonder about the future with increasing heat and less and less moisture it's difficult to be optimistic.  The greatest tragedy is the loss of wildlife and every day there are pictures on the internet of animals being rescued, but how many have died.  We will never know, but it will surely make a massive dent in the already stressed populations.

On a cheerier note, we seem to be seeing a good number of juvenile birds at the Holt, especially amongst the Scarlet Honeyeaters.

Juvenile Scarlet Honeyeater

Adult female

Juvenile Scarlet Honeyeater investigating a cobweb

and being loud about it.

Adult  male at the Grevilleas.

The Firesprite Grevillea is definitely their favourite.

and onto the monthly bird sightings...

Regular (Seen daily)

Australian Magpie
Bar-shouldered Dove
Brown Honeyeater
Bush Turkey
Common Bronzewing
Dollarbird
Double-barred Finch
Galah
King Parrot
Laughing Kookaburra
Little Corella
Magpie Lark
Noisy Friarbird
Noisy Miner
Olive-backed Oriole
Pacific Black Duck
Peaceful Dove
Pied Butcherbird
Pied Currawong
Plumed Whistling Duck
Rainbow Lorikeet

Mating dance of the Rainbow Lorikeet

Scarlet Honeyeater

Scarlet Honeyeater

Spangled Drongo
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
Torresian Crow
White-throated Gerygone
White-throated Honeyeater

Common (Seen Weekly)

Cicadabird
Common Mynah
Forest Kingfisher
Grey Shrike-Thrush
Magpie Lark
Yellow-rumped Thornbill

A shy Yellow-rumped Thornbill

Uncommon (Seen occasionally)

Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike
Brown Goshawk
Channel-billed Cuckoo
Figbird
Little Friarbird
Pale-headed Rosella
Pheasant Coucal
Striated Pardalote

Striated Pardalote

Welcome Swallow
White-throated Treecreeper

Rare (Seen once)

Buff-rumped Thornbill
Common Koel
Pacific Baza
Scaly Breasted Lorikeet
White-bellied Cuckoo Shrike
White-headed Pigeon

White-headed Pigeon

Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo

Which is 51-species.  And your Aussie critter of the month is:

The Yellow-footed Antechinus

October 2019

October is one of the big change months.  Our winter visitors, the small birds including Silvereyes, Fantails, Pardalotes and Whistlers drift away and in their place come the northern migrants including the Dollarbird, Spangled Drongo, Olive-backed Oriole and Channel-billed Cuckoo.  A sign that the wet season is due, but apart from one good shower mid-month the rain stayed away and the ground moisture continued to dry.

The Silky Oak managed a good showing of flower, but with the long dry it was short-lived. Despite all this arid weather there was one good splash mid-month, enough to give the Lorikeets a dip, so here's my Soggy Lori reveiew...

Keeping warm together

Dozing in damp warmth

Drying a little now

That's much better

All fluffed up

Yeah! we're better now

A trip up north added some variety during the earlier part of the month...

Forest Kingfisher

Sacred Kingfishers

A whole family

Darter

Striated Heron and Common Sandpiper

Brolga's in flight

And on to the monthly sightings....

Regulars (Seen daily)

Australian Magpie
Bar-shouldered Dove
Brown Honeyeater
Bush Turkey
Common Bronzewing
Double-barred Finch
Galah
Laughing Kookaburra
Magpie Lark
Noisy Friarbird
Noisy Miner
Olive-backed Oriole

Olive-backed Oriole

Pacific Black Duck
Peaceful Dove
Pied Butcherbird
Pied Currawong

Pied Currawong

Plumed Whistling Duck
Rainbow Lorikeet
Scarlet Honeyeater

Scarlet Honeyeater trills

Spangled Drongo
Silvereye
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
Torresian Crow
White-throated Gerygone
White-throated Honeyeater
Yellow Faced Honeyeater

Common (Seen Weekly)


Common Mynah
Forest Kingfisher
Grey Shrike-Thrush
King Parrot
Magpie Lark
Yellow-rumped Thornbill

Uncommon (Seen occasionally)

Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike
Brown Goshawk
Channel-billed Cuckoo
Dollarbird
Eastern Boobook
Figbird
Little Corella
Little Friarbird
Pale-headed Rosella
Pheasant Coucal
Striated Pardalote
Welcome Swallow
White-throated Treecreeper

Rare (Seen once)

Mistletoebird
Scaly Breasted Lorikeet

Scaly-breasted Lorikeet

Wedge-tailed Eagle
White-bellied Cuckoo Shrike
White-headed Pigeon
Wood Duck

Which is 51-species.  And your Aussie critter of the month is:

Long-nosed Potoroo from the Albany Advertiser

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