Monday, March 31, 2014

227) Transitioning

Brown Thornbill

Comb-crested Jacana
We are transitioning between living on the Gold Coast and Brisbane, so of course we need to say 'hello' to new birds in new places, and 'good-bye' to some of our friends in places we are leaving behind.  We left the packing and research pressures behind for a short time last weekend and went for a walk up at 'The Gap.'  Only 20 minutes or so from our new home, it was a place we'd been wanting to go to, but was prohibitively far when we lived on the Gold Coast.  We were proud of ourselves for identifying one of the tricky LBBs, a Brown Thornbill, even before Dirk took the great confirmatory ID picture.
Spotless Crake

Red-browed Finch
The comb-crested Jacanas are superbly skilled at 'walking on water'--with those big gangly feet, they can spread their weight across the lily pads as they run around looking for aquatic insects.
Lace Monitor

Dirk has become highly skilled at spotting secretive crakes.  We were chuffed to be (as far as we can tell) the first eBirders to document a Spotless Crake at this locale.














These little finches are firetails, too. 




















This big Lace Monitor was lumbering across the grassy picnic area at Bellbird Grove (where there were no Bellbirds or even Bell Miners).  He was being chased by a Bush Turkey, who perhaps was concerned about the lizard eating turkey eggs for breakfast.  The male turkey scratches together an admirably large compost pile in which the female lays her eggs.  He monitors the temperature over time with his beak, adding or subtracting more debris as needed to maintain just the right warmth level.  When the eggs have incubated long enough, the chicks pop out of the pile, ready to face the world on their own.  What a fantastical place this is!


Purple Swamphen


Dirk knows how much I love the Purple swamphens.  Even though they're quite common, he humored me and took a nice picture, even including this bird's flicky white tail.  Part of the reason I like them so much is their glorious purple colour, and the fact that their scientific name is Latin for 'Purple purple' (Porphyrio porphyrio).  Despite appearances, though, they can be quite aggressive.  I took it upon myself to yell at one the other day that was blithely trying to stand on his former buddy's head and force him under the water.  WTF?!









Magpie Goose
Another superb 'spotting' by Dirk, we were thrilled to find that our Magpie Goose friends  are raising a family at our little local wetland down on the Gold Coast.  But it's bittersweet that we're leaving the wetland behind and won't be able to keep an eye on our bird friends there anymore.  The Magpie Geese are superb parents, and kept a close eye on Dirk as he worked at getting photos.  Luckily he has a big lens so didn't need to disturb them.  The wetland is tiny, and so are the chicks, so we wanted to make sure they had enough space not to get worried. (Update - two weeks later there were only 2 chicks.)
Magpie Goose
The one submerged rock in the place is a popular hangout for many of the resident birds there (ducks and cormorants and dusky moorhens and Magpie geese!).
Superb Fairy-wren (female)
Here's another lady we'll miss seeing at our wetland, one of our buddies, the cheeky fairy-wrens.  With her chestnut-shaded mask, we think she's a real beauty.

Black-breasted Button-quail
We made one last try at Inskip Point to find the Black-breasted Button Quail which has eluded us a number of times. Nancy first located one and later we were able to watch 2 females scratching their characteristic platelets deep in a thicket. No clear photo ops here!
Yellow Wagtail
Lastly, Ebird-Eremea listed an area rarity at a Brisbane wetland. The Yellow Wagtail is found worldwide but seen quite rarely in OZ. This fellow has been seen at this site for about a week so we headed over to see him. He is largely a N hemisphere bird so he is a little out of his normal range. There there seemed to be plenty to eat and the rows of birders (literally) couldn't crowd him.