Forest Kingfisher finally sits still

Finally found a Forest Kingfisher (Todiramphus macleayii) showing a bit of patience and trust at Tyto this week. Just couldn't encourage the bird to sit on a thinner branch and get into full sunlight (click top pic to enlarge).

The kingfishers are still sharing much of the saturated habitat with a lesser number of Sacreds. Earlier predictions of the Sacreds' disappearance by now have failed to hold up, because the heavy showers keep coming. As the rainfall tapers off, so will the Sacreds.

Interestingly, two Little Kingfishers continue to come and go from the creek system. Their variable presence may be explained partly by changes in conditions at some shaded pool areas. Previously open stretches of water have become overgrown, thus reducing the birds' hunting zones. 

The almost total lack of any Azure Kingfishers sightings in recent weeks may also be explained by the lack of pool water in shadow much of the day. I suspect the birds are choosing to stick to nearby heavier rainforest creek systems.

Portrait of Adoring Grey

Bit of a grab bag for Santa's night. Start with the best first on Xmas Eve, shall we? Besides which, pun lodged in my grey matter and refused to be erased. So, Black-faced Woodswallow (Artamus cinereus) strikes ageless pose in the later afternoon light. 

I'm repaying the species with kindness after one of their kind recently took against me. For unknown reason it began buzzing me when I neared its evening perch on a nearby road sign. Odd. (Years ago seagulls launched at me when marathon jogging. Something about the outline and black shorts, I think.)

Onwards and upwards. Garishly awful picture of Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus) serves to show why Tropical North Queensland is covered in mistakenly admired Tulip trees. Many weeds, sadly, look oh so attractive!

The profuse seed heads hold huge numbers of feather-light capsules in triple stacks. Lorikeets love them but are fussy about it, feasting for a day or so on some trees, ignoring others, then quitting the area.

The birds carry seeds away of course. But their feeding helps loosen and scatter huge numbers of seeds. The wind does the rest. Some days, tracks in Tyto are almost covered by the thumbnail-sized seed envelopes. No wonder the woodland is full of seedlings. 

Onwards and inwards. The Azure Kingfishers (Ceyx azureus) have flown the burrow. Must have been two or three days ago. I suspected as much yesterday when pictured bird sat and stared unconcerned at me for about half an hour.

It had turned up without calling, and without any fish in bill. Nervy at first, it settled to an occasional head bob. Encouraged, I edged closer on hands and knees, then, clumsily, on bottom, like a rower sliding forward.

If a kingfisher can be amused, this was such a bird. I inched closer till only the pool's width separated us. It never flinched. I asked after the family and got only smug silence as answer. I looked away briefly and it was gone.

Today, I returned. No sight, sound or sign of kingfishers, apart from the tidy hole in the bank. Carefully inserted leafy branch into tunnel. Nothing to feel but the tunnel's earth. And only an earthy smell on the leaves after withdrawing the branch.

Here's the curious thing. I'm not at all downcast about missing the exit of the young birds. It was always going to be a matter of luck. And thoughts of getting good pictures met the reality that professionals would use fixed cameras, motion sensors and auto flashes.

So I count myself lucky to have had about two months off and on with two glorious and secretive little birds. I learned a tiny bit more about them. And a bit more about myself.

   

Azure Kingfisher up a bit closer

'You're not going to show them yet another Azure Kingfisher picture, are you?

'They all look the same anyway. Always with a honking great fish poking out of their bills. Why don't you just run last week's picture? Safe time messing around with Gimp.

'And that's virtually the same male Shining Flycatcher picture as last time too. There's plenty more birds in the bush. Get out and capture something different, why don't you?'

That's not a real person talking, you understand. It's the little voice in my head. Little voice? Big mouth, more like. Are not all kibitzers thus?

And the reply?

Well, I could spend more time on other birds, but the Azures have a hold on me (with Shining Flycatchers a bonus). The chances of getting anything worthwhile when the youngsters (however many there may be) emerge from the nest tunnel are slim. 

But when else will I ever get any such chance again? Even though the birds are said to reuse tunnels, there's no certainty they will.

Perhaps they leave them fallow for a season or so. A sort of natural fumigation. Get rid of the stinking debris, the excreta, and, no doubt, a load of parasites.

So the cycling and sweating over now flooded tracks will go on. So too the slapping at the mozzies, the stiff standing, and the bum-numbing sitting.

Mostly forgotten today when one of the parents faced me (about 8 metres away) and the tunnel (about 3m). Didn't stay long on the old branch poking from the creek pool and didn't go to the tunnel, but seemed less concerned at my presence. Perhaps a happy sign of some acceptance once the fledglings emerge.

Elsewhere today, a very rare sight in Tyto of more than 100 White-throated Needletails hawking low over the main lagoon and higher over the grasslands, and a male Little Bittern taking a typical 20-25 metre flight up from, across, and back down into the Scleria.

Who gives a fig for colour?

Green, Yellow, Banana. All colourful names. But no more for the male Australasian Figbird (Sphecotheres vielloti), above thinking about swallowing another of the dry, tasteless (to us humans) fruits it loves - and few other birds show great fondness for.

Figbirds came in two races, S. vielloti and S. flaviventris, till the split was ended with a revised list (Christidis & Boles) early this year. The male birds will continue to show big differences: northern yellows grading through to southern greens.

Closely related to figbirds (usually on the same page in field guides), the Olive-backed Orioles (Oriolus sagittatus) are less obvious and seldom so brightly plumaged as the above juvenile bird. Much of the contrasting colour on the back will disappear with adult plumage.

So much for colour. What about sounds? I've often been struck by what appears in honeyeaters to be more curiosity about strange noises than other birds show. This White-gaped Honeyeater today seemed to react to the Canon's clattering shutter.

I'd been standing in long grass chasing Tawny Grassbirds when the White-gaped darted in and struck several 'listening' poses as the camera clacked away. Honeyeaters are also among the few birds ever to react at my otherwise ineffectual 'pishing'.

While on the subject of theories, limited searches of possible Little Bittern daytime hideouts have revealed absolutely nothing resembling the apparently shaped space found last month at the base of a small tree springing from Scleria (Razor Grass). Guess it was just a natural artifact.

Finally, the issue of huge fish and small Azure Kingfishers nestlings. First readings suggest the birds simply truck the fish in. If the fish is eaten, fine. If not, it can sit and rot in the darkness. Along with bones, other unwanted morsels, excreta, and anything that may have crawled in.

Can't wait till nestlings have fledged and I get a chance to sniff the delicate odour of Azure domestica! :-(

Young ones out and about

Plenty of young birds about the wetlands and more to come as serial nesters such as Willie Wagtails and Crimson Finches keep at it. White-gaped Honeyeater (Lichenostomus unicolor) juvenile popped up unexpectedly yesterday.

Bit of a surprise since the species' (aka River Honeyeater) numbers in Tyto dropped away as the creeks dried up. However, one or two birds have shown up in plantings by the carpark. They may have nested in a home garden.

No way of knowing where or what nest this Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx basalis) sprang from. The young bird was sitting solo on a footbridge handrail. Lack of colour on back and no dark stripe through eye makes ID a tad dodgy. But the plainness of young Horsfield's can be a telling point.

No problems with ID-ing juvenile Brown Honeyeater (Lichmera indistincta). Browns and Yellow Honeyeaters dominate the woodlands. The yellow gape at the base of the bill tells of the bird's immaturity. The typical long honeyeater tongue is a bonus.

This oddly coloured Grey Whistler (Pachycephala simplex) arrived at the rainforest pool today in company with two others. But they didn't seem to be getting along. The small rufous 'ear patch' may perhaps mark the bird as a juvenile. I can't recall seeing anything similar and the guide books haven't helped.

Also at the rainforest pool today, a brief flurry of action after a long period of nothing larger than mozzies in the air. Silvereyes, White-browed Robins, Shining Flycatchers, Large-billed Gerygones, Little Shrike-Thrushes and Brush Cuckoos showed up noisily. Five minutes later, all quiet.

In back of it all, an Azure Kingfisher sat carrying a huge fish (about twice the size of that in previous post). But the bird would not cross to the nest burrow. So I quit my 'hiding' place. The question is: how do the nestlings cope with a (relatively) gigantic fish? I have no idea, so I'll chase it up.

So near and yet still too far

So close, but not quite! It's been one of those weeks. Plenty of action and colour, let down at the final stage by inability to get the killer picture.

Thought I had a sharp shot of this Azure Kingfisher carrying a fish for its nestlings (burrowlings?) yesterday, only to find shaky tripod and high ISO rendered the bird blurred and looking as if I'd gone mad with the saturation slider. On the plus side, the bird went almost straight to the burrow. The minus side? An hour's wait and no more action.

Today, this male Red-backed Fairy Wren carrying a red enticement for females danced here and there on the Scleria. Just wouldn't stay still and unobscured long enough for anything better than this hasty effort - and many others even less successful.

Good pose from a distant White-browed Robin in the shade. This typical robin angled hold on a vertical trunk is seldom seen in Tyto, possibly because White-broweds behave and forage more like flycatchers or fantails most of the time. This bird was taking a short break from nest-sitting.

Finally, this Tawny Grassbird the other day led me a circular dance through long grass and under low trees. Round and round we went, the bird singing heartily and me muttering mightily. It might look a draw, but I think the singer more or less won the day.