Golden glow on a good week

Golden Bowerbird (Amblyornis newtonianus) in all his glory this week near Paluma Dam.

Plus, first record in area for Eastern Spinebill (Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris).

And today in Tyto,  Red-backed Buttonquail (Turnix maculosus) makes seasonal return. Life's good!

Pitta pictures not so flash

Caught up with Noisy Pitta (Pitta versicolor) at Jourama Falls twice this week only to be caught out with too much flash when bird left the dark forest floor.

And it just would not look down at me (maybe looking down on me?).  

Why can't they simply walk up the road into shot like helpful Southern Cassowary (Casuarius casuarius) near Wallaman Falls a while back?

Or link up with me by posing at Taylors Beach, like this Spangled Drongo (Dicrurus bracteatus)?

They're a well-red lot in the wild

Went for some flight reading at Lucinda today.

Paged the Ospreys but only J Livingstone Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae) showed up.

More low-brow than high, Red-browed Finch (Neochmia temporalis) makes a show falling on seeders.

Crimson Finch (Neochmia phaeton) sits in at Tyto as a scarlet letter, in spite of lacking hawthorn.

Though surely Helmeted Friarbird (Philemon buceroides) could only come from a forester's African Tulip Queen?

Warming up for White-browed Crakes

Lagoon levels dropping as it warms up, so plenty of activity from White-browed Crakes (Amaurornis cinerea) feeding at water's edge.

Or thinking about a flight to another feeding place.

Or - immature bird earlier days - messing about amid the guava leaves.

Hello, young Yellow-spotted spotted

Came upon new-fledged Yellow-spotted Honeyeater (Meliphaga notata) near Jourama Falls today.

Both parents busy ferrying food for their youngster. No luck in getting direct feeding picture, and quickly lost contact when little one fluttered off down the creek.

Also busy at Jourama, Pied Monarch (Arses kaupi). Top image from today, other from earlier visit. 

Chased after a Rufous Fantail (Rhipidura rufifrons) but missed picture and must make do with above taken on a Broadwater track a while back. 
   

Cuckoos pose parental puzzle

Cuckoos puzzle me. Their parasitic habits seem to offer freedom from parental labours, yet over recent years I've seen three Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo (Chalcites basalis) pairs feeding immatures of their own species - perhaps indeed their own young. Just as baffling, how did the species first come to pop eggs into the tiny hidden domed nests of Red-backed Fairy-wrens? After the first, imprinting would explain continued laying: the cuckoos recognise fairy-wren nests are theirs. But the first ... ?

And Little Bronze-Cuckoo (Chalcites minutillus) can on a rare day be seen in what might be family groups of three or four, though the young appear more often to be begging than receiving food. 

Not seen anything similar with Brush Cuckoos (Cacomantis variolosus). Perhaps others have?
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Flights and flight of fancy

Flighty things, birds. Great Crested Tern (Thalasseus bergii) at Dungeness today.

Silver Gull (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae) at Dungeness.

Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus) taking off at Tyto.

Little Black Cormorant (Phalacrocorax sulcirostris) at Tyto.

And one for fun, Pied Oystercatchers (Haematopus longirostris) at Lucinda, with flighty fellow out of line.
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Snakes soaking up the sunshine

Warming up, and the snakes are soaking up the heat. Came upon small (under 3m) Amethystine Python beside Broadwater Forest Park track yesterday in vulnerable state of semi-blindness before slough swaps old for new lens covers.

Good news for unwary rat (ID?) feeding nearby on same track; python probably not interested in pursuing prey, even rats taking odd daytime risks.

Theme continued in Tyto today. Pythons above thinking seriously about mating. Very possibly same pair (3m+ and 4m+) that mated for about a week last year in pandanus just 200 metres from today's location. Meanwhile a Bandicoot snuffled safely through underbrush nearby.

It had little to fear from Brown Snake sunning close by, but even a one-metre Brown commands my respect. No closeups here!
Click pix to enlarge