Showing posts with label Olive-backed Oriole. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Olive-backed Oriole. Show all posts

Thursday, November 1, 2012

CAPERTEE REVISITED



We had the chance to revisit the Capertee Valley a couple of weeks ago due to the circumstances of our interrupted travels earlier in the year. It was a great opportunity to look for the Regent Honeyeater again after our previous caper back in late January as described in this post:  http://qldbirder.blogspot.com.au/2012/05/capertee-capers.html

Unbelievably we found some on our first afternoon, after setting up camp at Glen Davis and driving out to a location where we were told one had been seen that morning. I spotted a female first, getting pretty excited and also relieved knowing they were really there!


Regent Honeyeater - female


After a while of watching this mega-rarity moving around in the treetops I mentioned to Clare "even if I don't see a male I am absolutely rapt", then she just happened to glimpse one and before long we had great bino views of the bird with its striking black and yellow plumage. Needless to say we were both impressed and sat quietly for over an hour watching them feeding on the mistletoe and insects in the casuarinas and chasing other honeyeater species.    


Regent  Honeyeater - male


Male feeding in mistletoe

To top it off, when I went back the next morning to have a better look at some of the other breeding birds present, I bumped into a couple of members of the Regent Honeyeater Recovery team who had been surveying the local population. They mentioned a pair were nesting nearby and after scanning the trees for a while I was able to locate the nest with two fledglings, being attended by the said pair. I watched, fascinated and privileged to be able to glimpse a view into the lives of these critically endangered birds, less than 1000 estimated to be left in the wild:


Male at nest

Most of the images taken here were at the extent of my camera lens magnification and we were careful not to disturb the birds at any time.
All in all a memorable couple of days and up there with the best of my many birdwatching experiences!
  

Striped Honeyeater and nest

Olive-backed Oriole with nesting material 

Restless Flycatcher at nest




Tuesday, December 20, 2011

PIPERS, PARROTS AND PIGEONS.



This robin is one of my favourite birds and we have one that inhabits the scrub in our backyard.
I call it the piper at the gates of dawn*, being the first one to start off the morning chorus.
It's also usually the last bird to call in the evening.     

Eastern Yellow Robin

Some fresh seed in the feeder brought in a couple of unusual visitors, a pair of King Parrots, which I've only seen fly over our place occasionally. These two weren't shy and I assume they may have utilized some other feeders in the neighbourhood. 

Australian King Parrots - males.



Another bird to drop in for the first time a few days later was this large pigeon. The news must be getting around that there's a free feed at the our place!

White-headed Pigeon

These are normally a shy, rain-forest dwelling, fruit eating species and it may be the case that these birds have also become more confiding around human habitation, especially with the destruction of their natural habitat and their reliance on the introduced Camphor Laurel tree.



This cousin of the above mentioned bird was spotted by Clare sitting on the roof of our van out front.
A beautiful, pure white racing (or feral) pigeon that on closer inspection was bleeding from wounds in it's breast and rump. Maybe a raptor attack? We have three species of Goshawks on our backyard list.A distinct possibility! But most probably a Peregrine Falcon, the bane of pigeon fanciers worldwide.   


This was one lucky bird and in an attempted rescue operation it flew off when I tried to throw a towel over it. It took off strongly and disappeared into the distance hopefully to survive another day. 



The culprit may have been one of these magnificent killers, a Brown Goshawk. This one I saw recently at the Cooroy wetlands scaring the wits out of the nearby feathered inhabitants.

Brown Goshawk - female.

This bird was also spotted at the wetlands, singing for all its worth and obviously not too worried about killer raptors!

Olive-backed Oriole