Here's hoping for some shots as birds soon get ready to depart nest. But, how soon? And when . . . ?
Where's the nest? High above my head in a suburban park. Near the seaside. Nothing strange about that. Bazas appear right at home along the tropical North Queensland coast.
But it's not all juicy green mantids. Green tree frogs, not quite so well disguised, make an equally juicy target, though not quite so deliciously squishy.
All up, great diet! Meaty greens, relatively low fat. Just the thing to keep youngsters growing and tireless parents going. And that's a must. As the Baza's call has it: Eee-chew, Eee-chew.
Roughly 30 minutes later, job done and snake, which had allowed myself and friend Wes Graffin to stay within touching distance, was fully alert and capable of swift movement, sliding quickly into para grass cover when touched lightly by hand.
And a bonus near same spot later in morning, Lesser Black Whipsnake gliding over part of drying lagoon.
Nothing too much wrong with one or three others this month, starting with Bar-shouldered Dove.
Rufous-throated Honeyeater out in the open has some merit.
Elsewhere lately, finally caught up with a Latham's Snipe a month or two after the first migratory arrivals from the Northern Hemisphere.
It was mixing with a few Sharpies, which are always more obliging when it comes to hanging about for bird photographers. If only Pectorals were as obliging . . .
But they proved impervious to both his charm and his motley charms. Hard to please some birds!
Left him moping about, probably wondering what else he needs to win them over.
Bird in the park often each week for, say, about eight years. Don't stick to the road and formed tracks. Overcome fear of long grass. Take care to make friends of snakes and other threats.
Finally, stumble upon and flush sleepy owl from low in shrubby tree in untrodden area of the park. Watch where owl flies. Check camera settings are right for owl's probable further flight.
Not every burst of images of the birds coming and going brought sharp captures but auto focus worked well enough to enable me to string together a reasonable sequence of shots.
This week in Townsville Town Common, a surprising change of diet. From nest near identical to that of the silk-weaving spiders bigger prey, Raspy Cricket. Species? With 220 in Australia alone I'll stick with common name. The crickets are also silk spinners.
But mostly, in my experience, it's spiders and more spiders most of the time.
Jewels under rainforest canopy, spider and web caught in serendipitous beam of sunlight: Townsville Palmetum yesterday (10/07/24)
Here's a two-storey story from two Sulphur-crested Cockatoos after they triggered false fire alarm in Townsville's Town Common Conservation Park this week.
Birds were so busy cleaning out hollows in recently burned out dead tree the clouds of fine white ash particles issuing forth looked from a distance like smoke, as if fire was still smouldering within.
Cessation of the work and emergence of the somewhat dusty pair from the connected hollows told the true story. The birds may have previously bred in another tree hollow about 200 metres away. It also offered two hollows, but they appeared less closely connected.
But nearby neighbouring Sacred Kingfisher shows off probable Asian House Gecko, though perhaps the missing tail became part of a magpie's dried diet.
Severe thunder storm shaking Townsville overnight did no damage to thriving Pacific Baza family of four in centre of Pallarenda park. Latest...
