After living at our abode at Kureelpa (see previous post) for just over a year now, we have built up a nice list of 100 species of birds seen or heard, from the property.
One of the highlights was a pair of Black-shouldered Kites that nested in the top of a tall hoop pine out front, raising two chicks to fledging stage before dispersing.
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| Black-shouldered Kite - adult |
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| Black-shouldered Kite - juveniles |
We occasionally hear their contact calls or see them hunting in the distance over the surrounding paddocks.
A pair of frogmouths spent a morning trying to roost un-obtrusively before, I suspect, being moved along by a Magpie-lark that had alerted me to their presence with his noisy alarm calls.
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| Tawny Frogmouths |
This particular pigeon is a regular, recognizable by the distinct, patchy plumage around the head and neck.
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| White-headed Pigeon |
One of the seven species of cuckoo on our list, posed nicely on the back fence. We only hear it's mournful call for a short while at certain times of the year, before it moves on.
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| Fan-tailed Cuckoo |
This triller, a rare visitor to the area turned up one day, searching for invertebrates among the wilting flowers of a silky oak in the backyard. A bird I've only seen on a couple of occasions in over 15 years of living on the Sunshine Coast, it was a thrill to see one at home and so close, albeit for only a short time.
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| White-winged Triller |
Raucous flocks of these large cockatoos fly by, sometimes landing in the flowering grevilleas for a poke around before heading off down to the coast or up to the ranges. You can fully appreciate the size and character of these wonderful birds from close range.
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| Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo |
The Restless Flycatcher is a resident bird that usually lives up to it's name, but in this instant bucked the trend and sat still for more then five seconds.
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| Restless Flycatcher - at rest |
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| And restless! |
This lorikeet, a casual visitor to the garden was searching for sustenance in the form of nectar from a grevillea flower.
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| Scaly-breasted Lorikeet |
As was a Dusky Honeyeater, a regular here that competes for food resources with it's more prolific cousin the Brown Honeyeater.
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| Dusky Honeyeater |
Another highlight was couple of visiting Little Lorikeets. An uncommon species I have only seen a couple times up this way, that flew in with a small flock of Scalies amongst which they can easily be overlooked.
Another of our seasonal visitors are the Silvereyes, which I always delight in hearing and seeing as they pass through in busy little groups. Sometimes I am privileged to hear a solitary bird quietly mimicking other bird species, a trait not commonly known of this diminutive migrant.
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| Silvereye |
A lone White-necked Heron that flys in regularly to a small dam on the neighbours property, is one of the few members of this family we see from here.
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| White-necked Heron |
Our raptor count is quite impressive with ten species, but no decent images of any seen from here except the temporarily resident B.S.Kites. I had the pleasure of observing a Spotted Harrier flying past quite closely one day, but with no camera handy. I have included a photo of one taken this year from another location here on the coast.
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| Spotted Harrier - Bli Bli |
Cheers & A Happy (Birding) New Year!
| Bird list, Kureelpa: 17/12/14 - 31/12/15 | ||||||||
| Seq. | Species | Scientific Name | Date | Location | Comments | |||
| 1 | Australian Brush-turkey | Alectura lathami | ||||||
| 2 | Brown Quail | Coturnix ypsilophora | heard | |||||
| 3 | Magpie Goose | Anseranas semipalmata | heard | |||||
| 4 | Australian Wood Duck | Chenonetta jubata | ||||||
| 5 | Pacific Black Duck | Anas superciliosa | ||||||
| 6 | White-headed Pigeon | Columba leucomela | ||||||
| 7 | Brown Cuckoo-Dove | Macropygia amboinensis | ||||||
| 8 | Emerald Dove | Chalcophaps indica | heard | |||||
| 9 | Crested Pigeon | Ocyphaps lophotes | heard | |||||
| 10 | Bar-shouldered Dove | Geopelia humeralis | ||||||
| 11 | Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove | Ptilinopus regina | deceased (14-09-15) | |||||
| 12 | Tawny Frogmouth | Podargus strigoides | ||||||
| 13 | White-throated Needletail | Hirundapus caudacutus | ||||||
| 14 | Little Pied Cormorant | Microcarbo melanoleucos | ||||||
| 15 | White-necked Heron | Ardea pacifica | ||||||
| 16 | Eastern Great Egret | Ardea modesta | ||||||
| 17 | Cattle Egret | Ardea ibis | ||||||
| 18 | White-faced Heron | Egretta novaehollandiae | ||||||
| 19 | Australian White Ibis | Threskiornis molucca | ||||||
| 20 | Straw-necked Ibis | Threskiornis spinicollis | ||||||
| 21 | Black-shouldered Kite | Elanus axillaris | ||||||
| 22 | Pacific Baza | Aviceda subcristata | ||||||
| 23 | White-bellied Sea-Eagle | Haliaeetus leucogaster | ||||||
| 24 | Brahminy Kite | Haliastur indus | ||||||
| 25 | Brown Goshawk | Accipiter fasciatus | ||||||
| 26 | Collared Sparrowhawk | Accipiter cirrocephalus | ||||||
| 27 | Spotted Harrier | Circus assimilis | ||||||
| 28 | Wedge-tailed Eagle | Aquila audax | ||||||
| 29 | Nankeen Kestrel | Falco cenchroides | ||||||
| 30 | Brown Falcon | Falco berigora | ||||||
| 31 | Purple Swamphen | Porphyrio porphyrio | ||||||
| 32 | Dusky Moorhen | Gallinula tenebrosa | heard | |||||
| 33 | Masked Lapwing | Vanellus miles | ||||||
| 34 | Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo | Calyptorhynchus funereus | ||||||
| 35 | Galah | Eolophus roseicapillus | ||||||
| 36 | Little Corella | Cacatua sanguinea | ||||||
| 37 | Sulphur-crested Cockatoo | Cacatua galerita | ||||||
| 38 | Rainbow Lorikeet | Trichoglossus haematodus | ||||||
| 39 | Scaly-breasted Lorikeet | Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus | ||||||
| 40 | Little Lorikeet | Glossopsitta pusilla | 22/02/15 - 2 birds in silky oak | |||||
| 41 | Australian King-Parrot | Alisterus scapularis | ||||||
| 42 | Pale-headed Rosella | Platycercus adscitus | ||||||
| 43 | Pheasant Coucal | Centropus phasianinus | ||||||
| 44 | Eastern Koel | Eudynamys orientalis | ||||||
| 45 | Channel-billed Cuckoo | Scythrops novaehollandiae | ||||||
| 46 | Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo | Chalcites basalis | heard | |||||
| 47 | Shining Bronze-Cuckoo | Chalcites lucidus | heard | |||||
| 48 | Fan-tailed Cuckoo | Cacomantis flabelliformis | ||||||
| 49 | Brush Cuckoo | Cacomantis variolosus | heard | |||||
| 50 | Southern Boobook | Ninox novaeseelandiae | heard | |||||
| 51 | Laughing Kookaburra | Dacelo novaeguineae | ||||||
| 52 | Forest Kingfisher | Todiramphus macleayii | ||||||
| 53 | Sacred Kingfisher | Todiramphus sanctus | heard | |||||
| 54 | Rainbow Bee-eater | Merops ornatus | ||||||
| 55 | Dollarbird | Eurystomus orientalis | ||||||
| 56 | Red-backed Fairy-wren | Malurus melanocephalus | ||||||
| 57 | Brown Thornbill | Acanthiza pusilla | heard | |||||
| 58 | Striated Pardalote | Pardalotus striatus | ||||||
| 59 | Lewin's Honeyeater | Meliphaga lewinii | ||||||
| 60 | Noisy Miner | Manorina melanocephala | ||||||
| 61 | Little Wattlebird | Anthochaera chrysoptera | ||||||
| 62 | Dusky Honeyeater | Myzomela obscura | ||||||
| 63 | Scarlet Honeyeater | Myzomela sanguinolenta | ||||||
| 64 | Brown Honeyeater | Lichmera indistincta | ||||||
| 65 | White-cheeked Honeyeater | Phylidonyris niger | ||||||
| 66 | Blue-faced Honeyeater | Entomyzon cyanotis | ||||||
| 67 | Noisy Friarbird | Philemon corniculatus | ||||||
| 68 | Little Friarbird | Philemon citreogularis | ||||||
| 69 | Eastern Whipbird | Psophodes olivaceus | ||||||
| 70 | Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike | Coracina novaehollandiae | ||||||
| 71 | Cicadabird | Coracina tenuirostris | ||||||
| 72 | White-winged Triller | Lalage sueurii | 9/11/15 - single bird in silky oak | |||||
| 73 | Varied Triller | Lalage leucomela | ||||||
| 74 | Golden Whistler | Pachycephala pectoralis | ||||||
| 75 | Little Shrike-thrush | Colluricincla megarhyncha | heard | |||||
| 76 | Australasian Figbird | Sphecotheres vieilloti | ||||||
| 77 | Olive-backed Oriole | Oriolus sagittatus | ||||||
| 78 | White-breasted Woodswallow | Artamus leucorhynchus | ||||||
| 79 | Grey Butcherbird | Cracticus torquatus | ||||||
| 80 | Pied Butcherbird | Cracticus nigrogularis | ||||||
| 81 | Australian Magpie | Cracticus tibicen | ||||||
| 82 | Pied Currawong | Strepera graculina | ||||||
| 83 | Spangled Drongo | Dicrurus bracteatus | ||||||
| 84 | Grey Fantail | Rhipidura albiscapa | ||||||
| 85 | Willie Wagtail | Rhipidura leucophrys | ||||||
| 86 | Torresian Crow | Corvus orru | ||||||
| 87 | Restless Flycatcher | Myiagra inquieta | ||||||
| 88 | White-eared Monarch | Carterornis leucotis | heard | |||||
| 89 | Spectacled Monarch | Symposiarchus trivirgatus | heard | |||||
| 90 | Magpie-lark | Grallina cyanoleuca | ||||||
| 91 | Eastern Yellow Robin | Eopsaltria australis | heard | |||||
| 92 | Golden-headed Cisticola | Cisticola exilis | heard | |||||
| 93 | Tawny Grassbird | Megalurus timoriensis | heard | |||||
| 94 | Silvereye | Zosterops lateralis | ||||||
| 95 | Welcome Swallow | Hirundo neoxena | ||||||
| 96 | Common Myna | Sturnus tristis | ||||||
| 97 | Mistletoebird | Dicaeum hirundinaceum | ||||||
| 98 | Double-barred Finch | Taeniopygia bichenovii | ||||||
| 99 | Red-browed Finch | Neochmia temporalis | ||||||
| 100 | Chestnut-breasted Mannikin | Lonchura castaneothorax | ||||||
