A NEW BIRD

I spent  a couple of hours last Sunday morning at Buderim Forest Park about a 20 minute drive from home. I specifically went to look for a Superb Fruit-Dove that had been seen here for the last couple of weeks. I had heard this species before at a couple of places here on the Sunshine Coast but never observed it. 

Serenity Bridge-Buderim Forest Park

Serenity Falls 

Another birder had arrived just before me and we were able to pinpoint the location of the bird after hearing it's distinctive call and after a 20 minute search we found it. It was a stunning male high up in the canopy. I snapped a half decent picture of him, puffing out his breast while vocalizing. A terrific bird and number 403 for my Aussie list.  

Superb Fruit-Dove

Although not quite as colourful as a Fruit-Dove these White-Breasted Wood-Swallows are a regular sight out on the powerlines in front of my workplace. They hawk for insects above the busy main road and harrass the  coastal raptors that fly by.

White-Breasted Wood-swallow

 

Not far from where I work is a spot where I go occasionally to try some seabird watching. At this particular time I saw only a few Crested Terns in the distance and to be truthful I haven't had much luck in the past there either. Besides Terns and Silver Gulls, I have seen Australasian Gannets and some Shearwaters that were too far out to identify.

Pt Cartwright

 A couple of days before my after work sea-watch, a storm had passed through our area but luckily left no damage. It was part of a series that had also torn through Brisbane causing flash flooding and power outages

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Storm front passing over Buderim

The same massive front over Kureelpa. 

A WATTLEBIRD AND THE BIG WET

We don't often get these birds around here, they tend to be more common down along the coast,

so it was a good opportunity to take a snap when this one came to the birdbath, 

while being eyed off by a Willy Wagtail.

Little Wattlebird & Willy Wagtail

This particular bird is a difficult one to photograph. A common enough species around here but very wary and flighty.When I first took an interest in birds as a 12 year old in suburban Doveton in Victoria, it was the first "exotic" bird I identified when going for Sunday drives with my parents in the country. It is still one of my favourites with its soft grey plumage, distinctive flight pattern and soft rolling call.

Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike

The cocos palm is flowering prolifically after the record rainfalls and getting lots of visits by various birds including these Scalies and Rainbows.

Scaly-breasted Lorikeets

Rainbow Lorikeets in the cloud.

This is a view from our back verandah of the Bli-Bli valley after the recent deluge.

The Sunshine Coast was spared the worst of the flooding and the depredations of Cyclone Yasi.

Our hearts go out to those who have been affected by these catastrophes and we, along with millions of others have been contributing to the Premiers Relief fund. 

Bli-Bli Valley

When the rain event earlier this month was at its peak there were a lot of landslips on the range including this one on the main road up and just around the corner from us.

According to some local long-range weather forecasters our area may experience a cyclone in the next month. Let's hope their prognosis is way off the mark!

Nambour-Mapleton Road

Another one of our local residents, the Grey Huntsman, tend to find their way in to the house quite often and I am constantly being asked to re-locate them by the rest of my arachnophobic family!

 Grey Huntsman spider.