A MORNING AT EWAN MADDOCK

Back in June I joined my local birding-watching group for their monthly outing, this time to Ewen Maddock dam at Landsborough. It was a crisp start but warmed up by mid morning, a lovely day.

At bird call after the walk we had totted up over 60 species, in a couple of hours.

Having lived nearby for quite a few years this is one of my favourite places and with a bird list of over 160 species it's great place to visit and one that comes up with the occasional rarity, such as Oriental Cuckoo, Baillon's Crake, Musk Duck and Australasian Shoveler.  

Sunshine Coast Bird Observers Group

I only managed to get a few average shots of some of the more co-operative birds such as this pair loafing on one of the ponds near the causeway.

Pacific Black Ducks

The moorhen was one of a small group pottering around on the Salvinia weed that infests some parts of the lake.

Dusky Moorhen

 A pair of Forest Kingfishers were busy hunting around the edges of the water and one sat still long enough for a picture, albeit at the furthest reach of my cameras focal range.

Forest Kingfisher

This bigger hunter was also watching for prey over the water, acting like a real kingfisher!

Laughing Kookaburra

I was also able recently to visit Maroochy Wetlands Sanctuary and did the shorter wheelchair access walk. There were at least three male Golden Whistlers trying to outdo each other with their vocal prowess.

Golden Whistler

 And Scarlet Honeyeaters abounded, chasing each other through the tangled undergrowth.

Scarlet Honeyeater

Meanwhile back at home I have been hearing the call of a Noisy Pitta frequently over the last few weeks.

This is the first time in my three years here in Kureelpa I have heard this bird and getting to see it has proved impossible so far. It only calls a couple of times on dawn or dusk and it only responded once to my use of playback. I am assuming it may be roosting overnight in our backyard and heading to more suitable habitat to feed during the day. Seeing as I'll probably never get a photo of this elusive dweller of the rainforest I have posted a picture from Ian Montgomery's fantastic site http://www.birdway.com.au

Noisy Pitta

OUT AND ABOUT

It was back to work for Clare and myself after our recent holiday so I haven't had much of a chance to do any birding. I had a few pictures from before our trip that I had meant to post but never got around to it

.

While picnicking at Noosaville with some rellies recently I snapped some photos of the local denizens of the park. The heron had been hanging around our table hoping for scraps.

White-faced Heron

 The  ever present lorikeets although unusually quiet, brightened up an otherwise dull and overcast day.

Rainbow Lorikeets

Meanwhile closer to home and while walking the dog, camera in hand, I got close enough for a shot of a pardalote that was doing its best to be as inconspicuious as possible.

Striated Pardalote.

The immature cuckoo-shrike a little further down the road was much more obliging!

Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrike

As I walked back and reached our front yard I saw an unusual flower that I hadn't noticed before. I'm not much of  a gardener but I'm guessing it is an orchid of some description.

Relaxing on the back verandah with a cuppa afterwards I watched this lone lorikeet tucking into some fresh seed in the feeder.

Scaly-breasted Lorikeet

Followed by a visit to the birdbath by a Rufous Fantail that comes in most days for a dip. Getting a decent shot of it is another matter as it only has a quick splash then disappears. It is quite shy compared to it's less colourful counterpart, the Grey Fantail.

Rufous Fantail.

I was just about to head inside with the daylight fading when a pair of black cockatoos flew in nearby for a bit of a stickybeak. One posed nicely for me before they both took off for parts unknown.

Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo. 

CRUISING THE SOUTH PACIFIC

My wife Clare and I have recently returned from our first ever cruise. I thought I would post a few pictures of the trip on my blog even though our bird/nature watching activities were fairly limited.

We left Brisbane on Saturday evening for the two day journey to Noumea, with perfect weather and a two meter swell once we reached the open sea.

Brisbane City skyline from our balcony.

Just on dusk we passed Caloundra and saw the familiar shapes of the Glasshouse Mountains in the distance.

The next morning I was able to get some photos and video of a large sea-bird following in the wake of the ship. After observing it for a couple of hours, quartering the swell about 200 meters away I was able to identify it as a Wandering Albatross. It was an immature bird (they take 8 years or so to reach full adult plumage) and my first ever albatross, or any really pelagic species for that matter. Yippee!
 

Wandering Albatross

Later that day a Booby species I had never seen before buzzed the ship a few times before continuing on its way.

Masked  Booby

Our ship docked in Noumea, capital of New Caledonia late on Monday afternoon so we didn't have a lot of time for exploring. 

Pacific Dawn

Noumea harbour

One of the more exotic birds we saw in our walk around the town were the Red-vented Bulbuls, an introduced species only found around Noumea and environs, and also my first ever bird from this family. 

Red-vented Bulbul - front view.

Red-vented Bulbul - rear view.

Another introduced bird was a small flock of waxbills which I first mistook for juvenile Red-browed Finches.

Common Waxbill

The next day we reached Lifou one of the Loyalty Islands and part of New Caledonia. 

As we approached we noticed the spectacular limestone cliffs and stunning blue waters of the bay. 

Cliffs of Lifou

We were dis-embarked on the ships tenders and had a few hours to explore this jewel of an island. The birdlife wasn't prolific but I did manage a couple of new species including a Red-bellied Fruit Dove
and lots of low flying Glossy Swiftlets.

Baie de Santal

We overnighted again, this time to Port Vila, the capital of Vanuatu. We had pre-booked a kayak tour on one of the tidal rivers on the east coast of the island (Efate) through Vanuatu Eco-Tours (highly recommended!)

Clare

We had a couple of blissful hours paddling the pristine waterways and enjoying the scenery with our guide Pascal and one other couple. One of the highlights of our holiday!

After lunch in town and running the gauntlet of shops and market stalls we arrived back portside tired but happy after a great day out.

Our journey home was a three night haul back with more great weather and relatively calm seas.
And also a chance to view three Red-footed Boobies feeding on flying fish right below our cabin balcony and amazing us with their aerial acrobatics.

Our never ending wake.

Red-footed Booby

This cruise was actually in celebration of our 25th Wedding Anniversary and something we have been wanting to do for many years and finally had the chance. Would we do it again? Maybe! We would definitely like to explore more of these two countries and see the Kagu, which we missed due to our restricted timetable.

The last Pacific sunset before our return.