SUNSHINE COAST RAMBLES

The break in our travels during mid year found us back on the Sunshine Coast for a while, where I visited a few of my local haunts. There were some big seas and on shore winds prevailing, so I headed up the coast to try a spot of sea-bird watching. Apart from a few Australasian Gannets and a tern or two  there wasn't much about. 

Point Arkwright

Point Perry rockscape

The sewage treatment plant at Maroochydore had a few waterbirds present, some loafing on the grass banks and others busy feeding in the nutrient rich waters.   

Chestnut Teal & Pacific Black Ducks

Black-winged Stilt

Out at the Maroochy Wetlands Sanctuary some of the local passerines were making the most of the winter sun.

Maroochy River & Mt.Coolum

Welcome Swallow

Willie Wagtail

Scarlet Honeyeaters

A visit to Parklands Forest Reserve yielded some close up views of some inquisitive members of the Malurus family and a shrike-thrush posing as a treecreeper.

Variegated Fairy-wren - male

Variegated Fairy-wren - female 

Little Shrike-Thrush

Along the north shore of the Maroochy River at Mudjimba, a far off shape on the sand banks turned into a Beach Stone-Curlew through the field scope. I had read a report of a sighting by Greg Roberts in a post he published on his excellent blogsite http://sunshinecoastbirds.blogspot.com.au/, which gave me the incentive to look for this enigmatic wader.

Maroochy River - north shore

Beach Stone-Curlew

A much better image below by Ian Montgomery at: http://www.birdway.com.au/

Cheers and Happy Birding

BACK IN QUEENSLAND

Back on the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, while we wait for repairs to our caravan which threw a wheel in our haste to get home last month. Our insurance company, as well as paying for the repairs are accommodating us for the duration. So a chance to do a bit of local bird watching had us wandering along the foreshore at Golden Beach where the opportunity to photograph a few was too hard to resist.

Little Egret

Little Pied Cormorant

Not being a wader expert I had some difficulty identifying the bird below, but after consulting my field guides and comparing my photos and movie footage with some internet examples, I'm thinking Grey-tailed Tattler. I have seen them before but only in groups with other roosting waders. This one was a loner and quite actively feeding. Any thoughts?

Grey-tailed Tattler?

Sacred Kingfisher

Willie Wagtail

We are currently residing in a small holiday house at Bli Bli not far from the local attractions of Mt  Coolum and Maroochydore and only a short walk from the Maroochy Wetlands Sanctuary where we strolled along the boardwalk to the sounds of whistlers, honeyeaters and gerygones. 

Mt Coolum

Maroochy River & Maroochydore

These Ibis were about the most conspicious birds in the wetlands, the smaller bush birds staying mostly out of camera range. We also got a glimpse of a lovely female Shining Flycatcher, a resident of the mangrove wetlands here but not always easy to find.  

White Ibis

The flycatcher photos below are courtesy of Ian Montgomery's wonderful website: http://birdway.com.au/index.htm.  To the uninitiated they seem like two different species, so pronounced is their sexual dimorphism. Besides being found along the coast of Queensland their range also includes New Guinea and Indonesia.  

Shining Flycatcher - female (photo - I.Montgomery) 

Shining Flycatcher - male (photo - I.Montgomery)

Close by to the Sanctuary is a small lake that usually has a few waterbirds on it and this day, besides the Black Ducks, Chestnut and Grey Teal were a couple of small groups of Whistling-Ducks, giving me a great opportunity to compare the two species at close range. Both are fantastic birds that always give me a thrill whenever I hear and then see a large flock flying overhead. They seem to have become a lot more prevalent on the Sunshine coast over the last decade. 

Plumed & Wandering Whistling-Ducks

Wandering Whistling-Ducks  

Wandering & Plumed Whistling-Ducks