The final throw of Autumn

May,May, May, whatever happened in May. Now that I've been writing this blog for a while (since 2010 and have gathered a massive 10-followers in 5-years!) I find it interesting to look back on previous years and compare what's been happening.  The number of birds that I have identified appears to increase most years and I believe there are two reasons for that. Firstly I'm becoming better at identifying Australian birds and more familiar with their jizz (jizz is a Birders term referring to the whole of the bird in identification - colours, shape, silhouette, flight patterns, movement, song, etcetera), which has undoubtedly helped me to identify more species. Secondly as the garden matures and the feed plants have really kicked into gear we are definitely attracting more birds. The numbers of Silvereyes and Honeyeaters (of all types) have increased considerably. There have been some losses as one species has been displaced by another, a prime example here being Wood Ducks that were resident, but since the Plumed Whistling Ducks moved in they are now rarely seen at the Holt; having said that you can drive 2-minutes around the corner and they are all over the place, so they are still in the area.

Early morning and this is one group of the more than 60 Plumed Whistling ducks that were on the dam in May.

Although the Southern Hemisphere doesn't experience quite the mass migrations of the north, migration is still common. Silvereyes for example migrate to Queensland from Tasmania and southern Victoria each year. A journey of two-three thousand kilometres, which is remarkable for such a tiny bird. It is in April/May that we see the start of the birds that are migrating up from the south to enjoy the warmer climate offered by Queensland. At the same time there are local migrations. 

A Silvereye on a Wild Tobacco bush.

According to a local expert certain species, such as the Grey Fantail, are actually on the mountain escarpment throughout the year, but they move around the mountain as regularly as the normal migrations. I can't say that I'm entirely convinced by the expert's claim, as a number of species are semi-migratory and we see a number throughout the year, but large increases in certain seasons, and I think this more likely then the round around the mountain idea.

It has certainly been a busy month for the Wallabies on our hill. I'm not sure of the size of the local mob as they are usually seen in small groups of 2-4 animals, but there seems to be more and more of them. I think that they are getting more used to us, and of course Cheadle's death in May last year meant that there's no longer a large dog to give them grief.

Red-necked Wallaby

Getting very relaxed at the Holt nowadays.

On the dam the Brisbane Short-necked Turtle, Schnappy, has also started showing a lot more. He's now taken to stepping out to catch some sun occasionally. I'm informed by local Turtle fanciers that this is good for their shells.

Schnappy joins the ducks on the beach.

A bit of sun to harden the old shell up.

Moving away from the wildlife the chook colony is doing well and although we lost the Peahen and two of her chicks, Nitesh and Lady, the remaining chick, are doing well and became free roaming this month.  We have also 'inherited' a batch of Guinea Fowl chicks, or Keets as they are called, whom I am hoping will eventually become free ranging as well.

A Baker's Dozen of Keets aged 2-days in their new home for the next few weeks.

So, after all that, let's have a look at what's about at the Holt in May.

Regulars (Seen at least x5 per week)

Bar-shouldered Dove

Bar-shouldered Dove

Bronzewing
Brown Honeyeater
Double-barred Finch

Double-barred Finch

Dusky Moorhen
Eastern Spinebill

Eastern Spinebill at the Pineapple Sage again.

Galah
Grey Fantail
Little Corella
Pacific Black Duck

A steadfast resident at the Holt, a Pacific Black Duck.

Peaceful Dove 

The shy Peaceful Dove

Pied Currawong
Plumed Whistling Duck

Plumed Whistling Ducklings

Rainbow Lorikeet

Portrait of a Rainbow Lorikeet

Striated Pardalote
Sulphur Crested Cockatoo

Little Corellas (left) and Sulphur Crested Cockatoos (right)

Torresian Crow
White-throated Geygone
White-throated Honeyeater

White-throated Honeyeater

Yellow-faced Honeyeater

Yellow-faced Honeyeater after a dip

Common (Seen at least x2 per week)

Grey Shrike Thrush
Golden Whistler
Lewin's Honeyeater

Lewin's Honeyeater

Noisy Miner
Rainbow Bee Eater 

Rainbow BeeEater diving down for a dip.

Rose Robin
Rufous Whistler

A male Rufous Whistler

Silvereye

Silvereye

Welcome Swallow
Willie Wagtail 

Willie Wagtail enjoying the sun

Uncommon (Seen 2-5 times per month)

Australian Magpie
Azure Kingfisher

Azure Kingfisher on a PurpleThalia frond.

Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike

Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike enjoys a grub.

Blue-faced Honeyeater
Brown Thornbill
Buff-rumped Thornbill

Buff-rumped Thornbill

Eastern Yellow Robin

Eastern Yellow Robin

An Eastern Yellow Robin shares a bush with a Grey Fantail

Grey Goshawk
Laughing Kookaburra

Laughing Kookaburra

Little Pied Cormorant
Noisy Friarbird
Pale-headed Rosella
Pied Butcherbird
Red-backed Fairy Wren

Female Red-backed Fairy Wrens

The male Red-backed Fairy Wren

Red-browed Finch
Top Knot Pigeon

Top Knot Pigeons circling the house.

Wedge-tailed Eagle
White-throated Treecreeper
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo

Early morning visit by the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos.

Yellow Thornbill

Rare (Seen only once in the month)
Brown Cuckoo Dove
Brown Goshawk
Brush Cuckoo
Eastern Whipbird
Fant-tailed Cuckoo
Figbird
King Parrot
Magpie Lark
Mistletoebird
Scaly-breasted Lorikeet
Scarlet Honeyeater
Spectacled Monarch

A juvenile Spectacled Monarch

Spotted Pardalote

Instead of the normal Striated, here's a Spotted Pardalote.

Tawny Frogmouth

A Tawny Frogmouth (well, they are nocturnal!)

Variated Fairy Wren 
Varied Sitella
Wedge-tailed Eagle
White-faced Heron

White-faced Heron

White-naped Honeyeater
Yellow-rumped Thornbill 

And that's 68 species, up 11 on last year.  

April and the birds keep coming.

A Striated Pardalote, after whom the Holt is named.

Looking back on previous posts over the years April has been a traditional time for me to sort the garden out after the rains of summer have passed. This year I intended the same; however, the warm wet summer brought with it a rise in the mosquito population and the Gold Coast was struck with a swathe of Ross River Fever cases.  Unfortunately I was amongst them. The day I went down with the symptoms was the day after I had some really good birding. I had hosted a delightful pair of ladies, Sue and Pam, to the Holt. We'd seen lots of birds and we had done the 'grand tour' of the grounds, so the day had gone well. The following morning I awoke with some aches and my first thoughts were that my fitness must have gone rapidly downhill for my aching to be so strong after such a short walk; but that wasn't the case and over the next few days the aching grew until I was hobbling around like an old man. By the end of the week it dawned on me that these aches weren't going away and so I paid a visit to the doctor. He listened to me describing the symptoms, asked where I lived and then quick as a flash told me that I probably had Ross River. A blood test and a few days later it was confirmed. Ross River is a virus, so there's no cure. The Doc gave me some anti-inflammatory tablets, which really helped with the aches, but did little for the other symptoms that included constant nausea, fever, acute lethargy and my brain turning to jelly. The standard prognosis is that the initial bout of symptoms lasts for about six weeks and are likely to reoccur a number of times over the following 12-months before the body eventually develops an immunity.  So, no gardening!

 Of course that didn't stop me from birding, in fact sitting out on the deck watching birds at least took my mind off the nausea. This is also a good time of the year to be out in the bush as many small birds are migrating northwards to avoid the cold of the southern winter. Silvereyes, that are tiny, migrate from Tasmania and southern Victoria, all the way up to north Queensland. A remarkable trip of several thousand kilometers. It was recently discovered that they largely move at dawn and dusk spending the day feeding and replenishing their energy.  I've come to the conclusion that the Holt situated as it is, on a saddle between two foothills of Mt Tamborine, is probably one of the main migration highways, as the sheer number of small birds that pass through is impressive. At the same time there maybe some resident birds that have recently bred and who are now out and about with their young, so the upshot of which is there's a lot of small birds about.  New to the Holt was the Spectacled Monarch, which like the Black-faced Monarch last month, turned up with at least one juvenile in tow.  The other arrivals this month included Grey and Rufous Fantails, Eastern Spinebills, and Scarlet Honeyeaters. The Grey Fantails in particular arrived in numbers towards the end of April and within a couple of weeks were dancing from almost every tree.

Grey Fantail

Rufous Fantail

I became quite excited in the middle of the month when I discovered our 'hotspot'. There's a particular area of bush, just a couple of metres off the driveway and up near the road where the spillway from the dam and a minor intermittent creek join with the main creek. It's sparsely wooded with Box Brush, Spotted Gum and Casuarinas, mostly growing to no more than 4m high and for some unknown reason, for a period of about half an hour each day, usually starting just after 2pm, it becomes a magnet for small birds. It was here that the Spectacled Monarch turned up, but it was joined by Yellow-faced and White-throated Honeyeaters, Leaden Flycatchers, Red-backed Fairy Wrens, Golden and Rufous Whistlers, White-throated Gerygone, Yellow, Yellow-rumped and Brown Thornbills, Grey Shrike Thrish, White-throated Treecreepers, Striated Pardalote and the Grey and Rufous Fantails.

Dragging myself away from birds for a moment (just a brief one), I've noticed that when we get a big downpour of rain, combined with a big drop in temperature, then the larger fish in the dam all shoal near the surface.

Silver Bream shoaling

 It almost looks as if they are struggling for air, but it only lasts for half an hour or so and then they happily disappear back to the depths.

Still, that was long enough to be away from birds so onto the monthly sightings....

Regulars  (seen at least 5 days in the week)

Bar-shouldered Dove
Bronzewing
Brown Honeyeater

Brown Honeyeater feeding on the Pineapple Sage

Double-barred Finch

Double-barred Finch

Galah

Galahs

Pacific Black Duck

Pacific Black Duck munching on the feeder.

Peaceful Dove

Peaceful Dove

Pied Currawong

Pied Currawong singing in the gums

Plumed Whistling Duck

The Plumed Whistling Ducklings continue to grow.

2-weeks later and all this growing takes it out of you!

Rainbow Lorikeet

"Room downstairs only!"

Rainbow Lorikeet

Striated Pardalote

Striated Pardalote digging

Sulphur Crested Cockatoo
Torresian Crow
Welcome Swallow

Welcome Swallow

White-throated Gerygone

Sometimes called the Bush Nightingale, the White-throated Gerygone

White-throated Honeyeater

White-throated Honeyeaters

Yellow-faced Honeyeater

Yellow-faced Honeyeater in the Grevilleas.

Common (Seen at least twice a week)

Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike

Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike

Dusky Moorhen

Dusky Moorhen on the dam.

Eastern Spinebill
Golden Whistler

The male Golden Whistler

Grey Fantail
Grey Shrike Thrush

Grey Shrike Thrush (imm)

Mature Grey Shrike Thrush catches the bug.

Laughing Kookaburra
Leaden Flycatcher

Leaden Flycatcher

and again because she's so pretty!

Lewins Honeyeater
Little Corella

Snowy the Little Corella

Noisy Friarbird

Noisy Friarbirds

Noisy Miner
Rainbow Bee Eater

Rainbow Bee Eaters

Rufous Whistler

Rufous Whistler

female Rufous Whistler

Spangled Drongo

Spangled Drongo

White-throated Treecreeper

White-throated Treecreeper

Willie Wagtail

Willie Wagtail

Uncommon (Seen two to five times during the month)

Australian Magpie
Boobook
Brown Cuckoo Dove
Brown Goshawk

Brown Goshawk eyeing up the chooks!

Brush Cuckoo

Brush Cuckoo juvenile

Brush Cuckoo adult

Eastern Yellow Robin

Eastern Yellow Robin

King Parrot
Little Friarbird

Little Friarbird

Magpie Lark
Mistletoebird
Pale Headed Rosella

Pale-headed Rosella

Pied Butcherbird
Red-backed Fairy Wren

Red-backed Fairy Wren

Red-browed Finch
Silvereye
Spectacled Monarch

Spectacled Monarch

Wedge-tailed Eagle
Buff-rumped Thornbill
Yellow Thornbill

A tiny Buff-rumped Thornbill

Yellow-rumped Thornbill
Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo

Rare (Seen only once)

Brown Thornbill
Masked Plover
Purple Swamphen
Red-browed Finch

Red-browed Finch

Rose Robin

The shy Rose Robin

Rufous Fantail
Scaly-breasted Lorikeet

Scaly-breasted Lorikeet

Scarlet Honeyeater
Swamp Harrier

Three of seven Swamp Harriers circling the house.

Which comes to a total of 64-species, one more last year, but not all the same species. Wood Ducks were common last year, but I suspect the Plumed Whistling Ducks have driven them off; however I cannot explain the drop in Australian Magpie numbers. Still, let's see what next month brings.  Cheers Rob.