Winter is here

With temperatures dropping into the teens this week, it seems like Brisbane's (extremely mild!) winter has arrived.

It is now the beginning of my month-long inter-semester break from university, during which I will be trying my best to do as much wildlife-watching as possible.

I'll start where my last post finished, with my evening search for Eastern Grass Owls at Kedron Brook Wetlands Reserve. I arrived just as the sun was starting to set, allowing me a small amount of time searching the reserve before returning to my Owl spot once darkness appeared. This search produced some interesting birds such as a Brahminy Kite, a Spangled Drongo, three Grey Fantails and a Great Egret.

Great Egret, Kedron Brook Wetlands Reserve

Once darkness took-over, I waited the Owl to appear. Large, dark silhouettes flying low over the grassland repeatedly morphed in Fruit Bats as the torch moved onto them, while simiarly-large-sized shadows in the sky became Australian White Ibises. After some time, with the optimum dusk period over, I decided to head home, only for a medium-sized ghostly pale object to flutter down into the grass near me. With my torch in place and ready, I waited with my heart beating rapidly for the bird to reappear. Soon enough, it did. It was a magnificent Eastern Grass Owl that flew straight for to investigate my torch, giving mind-blowing views that I shall never forget. What an extraordinary creature and an incredible privilege to see it so close. Sadly I didn't have an available hand for the camera, but I think that sometimes I spend too much trying to photograph birds and not actually enjoying watching them as I was able to do on this occasion. 

On the 26th May, I went on another non-birding trip to Gold Creek Reservoir with a friend from university. I totally forgot about bringing binoculars with me, something I quickly regretted as it became very obvious very quickly, with a fantastic number of passerines present once more. On this occasion, they included Wonga Pigeon (only my third ever), four Bar-shouldered Doves, a pair of Australian King Parrots, high numbers of Lorikeets including numerous Little and a profusion of the more common passerines, notably Yellow-faced Honeyeaters and Red-browed Finches. Most interesting was the sight of four 'Quails' that remained unidentified as they crept through the undergrowth next to the path.

I returned to the same location on the 29th, this time with my Mum (but also binoculars!). It was extremely exciting to spot a Grey Goshawk heading low over the lake, what a truly stunning bird that is. It was shortly followed by an equally-magnificent Common Emerald Dove (a first for me this year) that I flushed up from the footpath. In-between those two sightings, however, something far more exciting had happened. In the same spot as I had seen the four 'Quails' earlier in the week, one bird was crouching out in the open. Getting my binoculars onto it, it was hardly believable to discover that it was a Black-breasted Buttonquail, and in fact four of them were present. This species- endemic to eastern central and southern Queensland and north NSW- is a highly secretive and skulking bird facing a severe risk of extinction. With a declining  current breeding population of just 2500 birds, finding four of this amazing bird felt like an amazing privilege, despite once more not managing a photograph. What an amazing city Brisbane for birds!

A pair of Australian King Parrots, two Large-billed Scrubwrens, an Australian Golden Whistlers and 7 Rufous Whistlers were among the other birding highlights of a great morning.

On the 12th June, I headed to Nudgee Beach to walk my dog. I didn't expect to see many birds, with winter's arrival bringing to an end the stay of most Siberian-breeding waders in our country. Not all of the birds had left on this occasion, with a single Far Eastern Curlew and about 12 Whimbrel present. A decent selection of other birds were present, including Gull-billed, Caspian and Crested Terns, a Striated Heron, two White-bellied Sea Eagles and numerous White-headed Stilts and  Pied Oystercatchers. Seven Torresian Kingfishers were seen dashing about the mangroves, while a stunning Australian Hobby shot rapidly overhead. Despite seeing nothing of great interest, it had been another fantastic trip.

Finally, on the 15th June, a very brief look around a tiny park in Auchenflower (right next to the CBD) produced a surprise pair of Bush Stone-Curlews, and an even more surprising Pacific Baza flying overhead. The latter was a Brisbane tick, and certainly not in the place I expected to find it!

I am planning on leaving home very early tomorrow for my 'big day', whereby I shall try and find as many bird species as possible in twelve hours. This should be extremely fun!

Brisbane year total: 193, additions: 5 (Eastern Grass Owl, Lewin's Rail, Black-breasted Buttonquail, Common Emerald Dove, Pacific Baza)