Dragonfly beats bee-eaters

Dragonfly with a sweet tooth? Maybe not so sweet. 

It made short work of honeybee - sting and all - in Tyto today.

But Rainbow Bee-eaters unlikely to resent the catch.

Seldom see them buzzing after honeybees.   
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Kingfisher quick to zoom off

Blustery easterlies (stirring up avian memories of Yasi?) depressing bird numbers in Tyto, though Forest Kingfishers (Todiramphus macleayii) an exception.

Almost impossible to sneak up on them, the least trusting of kingfishers. Above bird alighted briefly on cyclone-damaged pandanus before spotting me on track and zooming off.
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Wandering companionably around Tyto

Wandering Whistling-Ducks (Dendrocygna arcuata) breeding attractively in Tyto.

Just one of the species Barbara of Wildwings and Swampythings admired when we met by chance for an interesting and chatty circuit around the main lagoon this week.


Highlight was her sighting of a Little Bittern, tucked away in distant tall grass on the edge of a scleria island. Too obscured and far off for worthwhile picture.

Also chanced upon a bounding Bandicoot, but came up short on White-browed Crakes, though did hear one or two. Recent sighting above.    


AND: Coming up this way? Ignore the closed signs at info centre and gate. Shire worried about liability if visitors tumble over four or five trees still across two side tracks, or get pounced upon by snakes in ankle-high grass!
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Crocodile sticks to shallows

'More and better another day.' I hoped!  So here's another look at my Macknade wetland 'friend'.

It's a little better. But Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) still too far away - and today wouldn't get out of the shallows. We'll keep trying ...

Meantime, two Intermediate Egrets (Ardea intermedia) scratched up from a recent Tyto walk. 

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Sunning croc not up to smiling

No super smile at Macknade wetland near Ingham today but at least this Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) stayed sunning long enough for a few pictures.

First sighted and spooked the 2.5-3m croc after being distracted by a Brown Goshawk harassed by Willie Wagtails and Spangled Drongos.

Went back two hours later and found croc content to sit still so long as I stayed in the car, on a sugar cane track 25 metres across the water. More and better another day, I hope!  
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Wanderering ducks stay as croc whistles away

Wandering Whistling-Ducks (Dendrocygna arcuata) amid blue and pink waterlilies at Macknade wetland near Ingham today.

Love to show the 2.5m crocodile sunning with yellow-toothed open grin at edge of same billabong, but it proved faster than the ducks.

So here's a slower reptile, a large monitor on point duty, from a recent outing.

In Tyto, Intermediate Egrets (Ardea intermedia) have returned in modest numbers.
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Helpful handful of honeyeaters

Bird counts in Tyto showing a slow rise, with a handful of honeyeater species helping boost numbers. Hard to miss noisy groups of Yellow Honeyeaters (Lichenostomus flavus).

Also found in small bands at times and good guides to pythons, White-gaped Honeyeater (Lichenostomus unicolor).

Building up after almost vanishing from the wetlands after Yasi, Brown Honeyeater (Lichmera indistincta).
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Wallaby's wetlands wander wonder

Big male Agile Wallaby sploshed up below the hide in Tyto today and started tucking into tasty para grass. Nothing odd in that. But ...

It then purposefully walked into deep water, swam a narrow channel, and clambered noisily and vanished into an island of inedible, water-bound scleria. Wallabies take to water if threatened, but this unalarmed animal chose to be on an island offering no food or dry land. A mystery after seven years of watching wallabies in the wetlands.
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Flushed Nightjar triggers reddy theme

Serious case of red-eye from Large-tailed Nightjar (Caprimulgus macrurus) flushed - and fill-flashed - in dark patch of rainforest the other day. The eyes glow red even in weak torchlight.

Not so Red-backed Fairy-wren (Malurus melanocephalus). Male moving toward full colour in Tyto today.

Red-browed Finch (Neochmia temporalis) in Tyto, showing why birds were previously called firetails.

Finally, more subdued shades of male Rufous Whistler (Pachycephala rufiventris).

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Sunbird feeds into scheme of things

Few Olive-backed Sunbirds (Nectarinia jugularis) seen about the wetlands lately so lucky getting close to this female today.

But, then, her mind was more on pollen and nectar than nosy photographers.    

So, too, this young Dusky Honeyeater (Myzomela obscura), looking at first impression rather like a Scarlet or Red-headed Honeyeater juvenile.

And this Willie Wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys) also didn't mind me getting close, very close, knowing I'd no designs on a dragonfly dinner. 
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