Knot what it seems

Wood flowers are rare, but how much rarer would a wood frog be? Litoria stumpus maybe. Then again, perhaps an echo of the Elephant Man on old trunk at Jourama Falls? 

Scruffy Snipe does a runner

Latham's Snipe (Gallinago hardwickii) usually quick to fly when flushed but this week's bird mostly wanted to run and hide.

Because it's missing lot of outer plumage: infection or moult?

But at least there's enough scruffy tail to confirm identity as Latham's.    

Eagle's dead duck comes with strings . . .

White-bellied Sea-Eagle (Haliaeetus leucogaster) crosses sky the other day trailing a dead duck and long string of creeper. Catch looks less than fresh, a problem because ducks may dabble in death as ponds shrink and oxygen-depleted water carries toxic blooms and nasties such as botulism in the mud. Even the strongest of scavenger stomachs succumbs to Clostridia botulinum.

So, fresh is best, as Silver Gulls (Chroicocephalus novaehollandiae) at Dungeness boat ramp today will attest. Unsuccessful fisherman rewarded waiting locals with leftover bait fish. 

Striated Heron (Butorides striata) misses out against gulls (but dined well with later boldness at the fisherman's feet).       

Young king Koel is a whingey little soul

But this immature Eastern Koel (Eudynamys scolopaceus) finally stopped freeloading this week and took to feeding itself.

High ISO Azure is so quiet - how so?

Azure Kingfisher (Ceyx azureus) at Jourama Falls today. Image so-so, but much quieter than would usually be expected, given ISO of 3200 (f8 1/500 Canon 7D 300L f4+1.4x). High ISO means noise. But tip doing rounds has it that Canon auto ISO produces less noise than same ISO manually selected.

Here's the unaltered full frame

Full frame denoised, sharpened and overcurved

Cropped, denoised lightly and sharpened

Cropped, more denoised and sharpened

And second look at quiet (for ISO 3200) Azure. Seems a good tip.  

Noisy Pitta and noisy others

Lots of noise from the bush, too much noise in pictures ... Noisy Pitta (Pitta versicolor) near Jourama Falls

Green Catbird (Ailuroedus crassirostris) near Wallaman Falls

Tooth-billed Catbird (Scenopoeetes dentirostris) near Birthday Creek Falls

Pale-vented Bush-hen (Amaurornis moluccana) near fallen forest, Ingham.

Stepping out in style

Comb-crested Jacana (Irediparra gallinacea) shows aquatic bounce in Tyto. 

Spotless Crake (Porzana tabuensis) poises about the next step. 

And Purple Swamphen (Porphyrio porphyrio) pauses from strutting its stuff.

Birdwings and bird wings

Lucky to come across pair of Cairns Birdwing (Ornithoptera priamus) on the job in patch of relict rainforest near Ingham at the weekend. Female above male. They fluttered off together a few minutes later.

More distant view of Topknot Pigeon (Lopholaimus antarcticus) flapping and feeding on figs at Jourama Falls the other day. 

And female Satin Flycatcher (Myiagra cyanoleuca) reacts to flash after landing close to camera along rainforest creek. 

But, as with most birds, doesn't turn a feather at second exposure.  

Triller down from tree tops

White-winged Triller (Lalage sueurii) comes down from the tree tops to chase breakfast in Tyto. More males of the species than usual this season but females have not been as prominent.

Certainly not so common as Tawny Grassbird (Megalurus timoriensis). Bladey grass has invaded many former shaded areas since Cyclone Yasi and grassbirds are everywhere in noisy numbers.

As always, so too Rufous Whistler (Pachycephala rufiventris). This juvenile one of several throughout the wetlands lately.

Life's not just for the birds - but then ...

Some say life's for the birds, but there's more to it than that ...

There's the North Queensland Day Moth (Alcides metaurus) for one. Though not such a common sight as the name might imply.

And the Northern Double Drummer Cicada (Thopha sessiliba) for another. Though more often heard than seen - on a hat after being picked up along a track.

And the White-lipped Treefrog (Litoria infrafrenata) for one more. Though this one doesn't frequent my shower, unlike a larger cousin.

But the birds do keep coming. Three little ones lately: Bush Thick-knee (Burhinus grallarius) youngsters, hugging the ground and playing dead even if picked up. Life and death for the birds ...