In recent times it has slowed down a little thankfully, and this has afforded me the opportunity to do some birding.
During my mid-semester break, I was lucky enough to spend a couple of days in Melbourne on the 3rd and 4th April. The main purpose of the trip was to catch up with a friend and to spend some time with my family, but of course birding must always occur. A very brief walk around one of my favourite city birding locations, the Royal Botanical Gardens, produced the usual assortment of Melbourne birds, namely Australia year-ticks in the forms of Red Wattlebird, Little Raven, Common Blackbird and the magnificent Nankeen Night-Heron, of which I was immensely pleased to find five. Other birds seen here included Bell Miner, White-browed Scrubwren and Little Wattlebird, along with a fine selection of waterfowl such as Chestnut and Grey Teal and Australian Swamphens. Having read about a very exciting spectacle that occurs at St Kilda Pier each night, that was where I spent my evening. I was shocked at the size of the crowd gathered- at least a hundred people were crowded onto a small platform by the waterside. I was extremely glad that this did not put the birds off, as at least eighteen Little Penguins came to shore!
Little Penguins behind a pair of Black Swans at St Kilda Pier in Melbourne. Breathtaking does not even begin to describe the sight of such magnificent creatures right in the middle of the city, and in combination with a stunning sunset it created a truly beautiful evening.
As I have previously only seen Little Penguins in New Zealand, this was a fantastic Australia life tick for me.
After a brilliant time in Melbourne, it was sadly time to head back north for university. It was two-and-a-half weeks before I finally got the chance for another trip out, this time to Simpson's Falls in Brisbane's Mount Coot-tha Forest. I had an absolutely fantastic stroll through the forest, and I decided to return for another trip the next day. Some fantastic birds were seen over the two visits, the highlight of which was finding two Rose Robins (sadly both females, so lacking the resplendent bright-pink plumage), which was a life tick for me. A Peregrine Falcon that soared far overhead was almost as fantastic, despite being absurdly distant I was immensely satisfied to find this bird in the Brisbane area for the first time. Other birds seen included a magnificently close Fan-tailed Cuckoo, six Topknot and one White-headed Pigeon, eight stunning Pale-headed Rosellas, two Australian King Parrots, a Little Lorikeet, both Grey and Little Shrikethrushes and Rufous and Australian Golden Whistlers. Honeyeaters were present in abundance, with numerous Scarlet, White-throated, Lewin's and Yellow-faced seen on both visits. Striated Pardalote, Eastern Whipbird and both Rufous and Grey Fantails were among the other birds seen. What an awesome place. And what a remarkably scenic place.
Simpson's Falls looking good
On the 25th I was also lucky enough to have some free time and decided to spend it visiting Black Duck Hole in the Brisbane suburb of Murrumba Downs. I had one main aim here, and I was fortunate enough to achieve it fairly quickly:
Two of seven Cotton Pygmy Geese at Black Duck Hole. This stunning creature is the smallest duck on earth, at less than 30cm in length. It is a predominantly Asian species, with a small extension into northern Australia. It is a rare bird as far south as Brisbane, though Black Duck Hole appears a regular haunt. What an awesome bird and a fantastic lifer!
Numerous other birds were present, not least three of these guys:
Plumed Whistling Ducks in the middle, with two Dusky Moorhens on the left and two Grey Teals and a Pacific Black Duck on the right. This was my second Brisbane tick of the day, and another brilliant bird to see.
Black Swans are not birds I see regularly around Brisbane, so it was fantastic to see six here, including three cygnets.
Other birds present included vast numbers of the regular waterfowl species (it was great to find loads of Australian Swamphens), eight Royal Spoonbills, a Whistling Kite and a extraordinarily feral Muscovy Duck. I was immensely impressed by this reserve and I will definitely be back!
Meanwhile, I have also been doing as much birding as possible around the UQ campus. The lakes have unsurprisingly been the highlight, and I have been spending a lot of time with the two resident Helmeted Guineafowls. They have been bringing back great memories of Africa. Besides them, the only real bird of note seen at the lakes was a Striated Heron, among high numbers of the regular ducks, cormorants and herons and several fantastic Australian Pelicans. Another source of great joy has been my regular encounters with Tawny Frogmouths, both at UQ and at home in Windsor, they have been almost nightly!
An horrifically blurry photograph, but seeing these beasts almost every night has been absolutely immense.
Brisbane year total: 180, additions: 6 (Long-billed Corella, Rose Robin, Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Peregrine Falcon, Cotton Pygmy Goose, Plumed Whistling Duck)
