Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Good times for Cormorants

Pouring down, minor flooding here and  there, more rain coming, so good time to feature water-loving Little Black Cormorant (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris), on the rocks at Jourama Fallls ...




... and sticking to a Tyto branch.
Click pix to enlarge  

Saturday, February 25, 2012

Chewing on insect problems

Insects move more slowly than birds. So pictures should be a snap. If they weren’t so small. Or so long and thin. Or so hard to see. Or so hard to identify. In the meantime ...


Mantis, and same chewing moth.

Stick insect.

Beetle or bug.         
Click pix to enlarge  

Thursday, February 23, 2012

Male quail sticks to trail


They usually ... um ... er ... quail when seeing me coming but this male Brown Quail (Coturnix ypsilophora) in Tyto today quietly went about his business for quite a while before quitting the track.  
Click pix to enlarge 

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Tidying up with four from Tyto

Bird numbers down everywhere so time to tidy up the Tyto holdovers, starting with Red-browed Finch (Neochmia temporalis), on guinea grass stalk – since whipper-snipped - near the lookout.

Rarer sight, White-throated Gerygone (Gerygone albogularis) sitting still in a paperbark near hide.

More common, Rufous-throated Honeyeater (Conopophila rufogularis), also in paperbark near hide.

To finish off, Chestnut-breasted Mannikin (Lonchura castaneothorax) pauses during feeding.
Click pix to enlarge  

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Minor scuffle and feather ruffle

Minor scuffle and a few ruffled feathers today outside my caravan. Not a lot of love among birders for the Common Myna (Sturnus tristis). But it’s a bit late to send them back to India and Afghanistan after 130 years of being invited to tag along with our urban sprawl and copious waste. Besides what other species picks up huge amounts of litter and tucks it away in nests?
Click pix to enlarge  

Monday, February 13, 2012

Dragonfly with passenger?

One or two more dragonflies whizzing about lately but not many seen carrying passengers, as above (Neurothemis stigmatizans) appears to have on right forewing. A mite?

No visible stowaway aboard this Tyto regular (Ictinogomphus australis).
Click pix to enlarge  

Friday, February 10, 2012

Nightjar sits tight, Skink gets tyred

Seldom come across Large-tailed Nightjar (Caprimulgus macrurus) sitting around so openly as above (on very low branch), at Jourama Falls this week. More often, they sit unseen on the ground by day, and ‘chop chop’ through summer nights.

Recent rain means Riverview Creek at Jourama is running high, but the rusty Camry has given way to a bit more Toyo (T. troopy) grunt and clearance. 

And, happy link between road and nature, Striped Skink (poss. Ctenotus Spaldingi) checks out an old wheel that floated into Tyto on floodwaters last year (NB: editorial restraint on puns).
Click pix to enlarge  

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Starling savours cheese extract

Metallic Starling (Aplornis tallicame) about to swallow caterpillar extracted from Cheese Tree leaf.

Many of the trees have lost all foliage. Others seem likely to, yet some remain almost unscathed.
Click pix to enlarge  

Friday, February 3, 2012

Owl reveals feel for steel

Young Barking Owl (Ninox connivens) paying a few return visits to the caravan park on recent nights – made more notable for the absence of possum dance comps on our roofs.

Though seen once on the road, bird seems to have developed a liking for steel underfoot, certainly safer than asphalt.
Click pix to enlarge  

Head up for dragonfly, head off for fish head . . .

One moment it's dragonfly trying to dance on White-bellied Sea-Eagle's head, the next it's all go for fisher's discarded fis...