Magpie Lark whistles down upon Kite

Whistling Kite finds Magpie Lark whistling down the other day and clearly wishing it elsewhere.

Action came over Rowes Bay Golf Course, close to water hazard residence adopted by two-metre Saltwater Crocodile.

Which has thus far failed to greet me with toothy grin. We live in hope. But keep a safe distance.

Also living in hope, fluttering for prey over nearby salvinia-laden hazard, another Magpie Lark.

And steering clear of the croc's pool, Magpie Goose poses as prettily as the species can manage. 

Raven gulls slow Sea-Eagle and chicken Swamp Harrier

Quickfire chain of conflicts beside and above earth dam wall, Town Common Conservation Park, Townsville, today.  Youngish White-bellied Sea-Eagle disputed possession of Tilapia with Swamp Harrier.

Fish left behind as birds squabbled across the sky. Australian Raven saw chance, flew down and off with the fish.

Magpie Lark took over from sea-eagle and launched attack on intruding harrier, driving it away.

Sea-eagle returned for fish. Too late. The fish had flown!

Black and white - and read and reread

Suffering from info overload? Just want things in black and white? Simple and easy, right? Well, yes and no. Recent portrait of Australian Raven comes full of subtle detail.

Nothing too subtle about early morning Spangled Drongo. Not much detail either. But while stark image is enough to identify Drongo beyond doubt, the Raven isn't so easy. Is the bill really bigger than a Torresian Crow's? Are those throat hackles longer? Can you see naked skin strip?

Much safe ground with Magpie Lark. Black face and throat identify bird as male (white face and throat for females). Easy to remember? Forget the difference for a few months and it's back to the reference books to make sure.

Is that barring on Varied Triller's breast? Yes, but it's too fine to be a female. Pity we can't see rufous underbelly. Black and white (and soft lilac-grey rump) don't tell enough of the story.

Add a touch more colour. Two Sulphur-crested Cockatoos fascinated yet again by old hollow hulk in the Town Common today. ID easy. But how to tell male from female? Catch birds and stare into their eyes. Their irises tell the story. Can't escape the need for more and more info, can we? 

Macleay's Honeyeater going bananas

Up close with a Macleay's Honeyeater (Xanthotis macleayanus) today in Tyto. Three birds (sorry, Snail, only got this one) and a pair of White-gapeds were picking at bananas in a pig trap.

Two other closeup holdovers: Black-fronted Dotterell, and Magpie Lark.

Honeyeater sees, seizes sawfly

Yellow Honeyeater (Lichenostomus flavus) nabs a Paperbark Sawfly (Lophyrotoma zonalis) outside the Tyto hide today (click pic to enlarge). Don't often capture honeyeaters in such an insectivorous moment, but no surprise about the prey, considering the hide is ringed by three Melaleucas.

One honeyeater feeding leads to another. White-gaped Honeyeater (Lichenostomus unicolor) comes up with a bill full of wild passionfruit flesh. Plenty of birds and insects are drawn to the passionfruit flowers. Can't recall seeing birds previously showing fondness for the flesh. The dwarf fruit has a thin, soft skin, and is full of smallish black seeds.

Also with thin, soft skin - and not long for this world - was an unidentified caterpillar, plucked from a part-flooded grass track today by this immature female Magpie Lark (Grallina cyanoleuca). Young Magpie Larks can be quite trusting. For several minutes I trailed close behind as this bird grabbed small morsels. Didn't do so well in encouraging it to stand still and eat slowly! 

Elsewhere in the wetlands today (and two days back), came upon three Black Bitterns, two at one end of the lagoon system, the other at a favourite (for the bird) shaded spot by a culvert outflow. All three, as previously, headed for distant trees and vanished into them.

As did a Collared Sparrowhawk, disturbed in its flight across a corner of the lagoon by a Masked Lapwing, which thereby put paid to any hopes I had of getting the small raptor in flight. The bird has been a presence more felt than seen for about three weeks. It's almost got me shouting: 'Come on out! I know you're in there.' But I'm sure it knows a bluff when it hears one!

Finally, after so much feeding, a Bar-shouldered Dove (Geopelia humeralis) poses perfectly as an end piece to the post!  

Wings on the headstones

Female Magpie Lark (Grallina cycanoleuca) brings vibrant life to old headstones at the Ingham Historic Cemetery. Chanced upon the bird's mud bowl nest and two near fledglings in a poinsettia as I cycled by the other day. 

The parents gave the game away with their alarm calls and half-hearted swooping at me. Too dark within the tree for worthwhile shots of the youngsters after they left the nest. But the noisy posing of the female offered dramatic possibilities. 

Unfortunately, she wouldn't let me close enough and wouldn't stay still long enough for any first-rate pictures. And the male was content to let his mate do most of the squawking!