221) Seeking snipes

Latham's Snipe

Here's a collection of photos from around the local 'hood.'  

We found snipe without even looking for them, how lucky is that?!  A complete surprise to us, we saw this guy completely in the open, foraging in the mud.  At first we thought, sandpiper?  But closer inspection revealed his large, dark, eye, set far back on his head--classic snipe.  Their intricate plumage is superb camouflage in mud and sticks. Cool! Since we felt lucky, the next day we went seeking another snipe--the 'Painted Snipe.'  We dipped on them, but were fortunate to spot eight more Latham's Snipe at at nearby wetland--what's going on?

White-browed scrubwren

Though he looks a bit severe with those eyebrows, these little birds have a companionable, scolding twitter and flit about low in the canopy with attitude

Buff-banded Rail

Tawny Grassbird

Reed Warbler

This bird was a 'driving-along-at-80k-stop-the-car' bird.  Something about his profile caught our attention.  These little rails are usually shy and secretive, but it was early morning and he woke up to find himself hungry and in need of getting out and about even though he was in a park in suburbia along a busy road.






























Tawny Grassbirds are more often heard than seen, as are Reed Warblers.  As you would expect from their names, Tawny Grassbirds hang out in dense stands of tall grass, and Reed Warblers hang out in reeds in which they are usually infuriatingly impossible to see. These birds were extremely cooperative, maybe they were out for some fresh air and a change of scenery before roosting for the night. 

Glossy Ibis

In the right light (like here) the iridescent plumage of these birds is stunning.  In the wrong light, they look like a black curlew.  They're not nearly as numerous as their trash-loving white ibis cousins.  These guys stick to the obscure wetlands.

Yellow-billed Spoonbill

These guys motor along sweeping the water with their bills.  I thought they were filter-feeders, so was surprised to learn that in the inside of their bills, the 'spoon' has vibration detectors with which they find their prey.  They they scoop it up to let slide down their throat.  They eat aquatic insects and larvae. (www.birdsinbackyards.net)

White-faced Heron

Spectacled Monarc

White-faced ibis are sometimes the wallflowers, they are not real conspicuous or showy birds.











We're happy to see the monarchs when they migrate back at the beginning of summer.

Water Dragon

Catching some 'rays.

We also like to see the Drongos back for the summer. Apparently our (eastern AU) Drongos migrate to New Guinea for the winter,whereas Northern Drongos go to Indonesia (www.birdsinbackyards.net).  Here, apparently the phrase 'don't be a drongo' is slang for 'don't be a dope.'  Maybe it's just because the drongos look a little crazed with that blood-red eye, but they seem pretty smart to us.  They're always alert and on-the-ball.

Sharp-tailed Sandpipers

Finally, we're trying our hand at identifying shorebirds (it's a real bonus to be able to look at the freeze-frames in Dirk's photos!).  We're asking Santa for a scope for Christmas so we can look more closely at them.  Since most shorebirds come to Australia after their breeding season in the northern hemisphere, we get the extra challenge of trying to identify them in their non-breeding plumage. These were surprising to find, as this wetland is a bit inland and we think of sandpipers as being coast-loving birds.

Great Egret

Whistling kite

Great egrets are very tall and stately and have a characteristic 'kink' in their neck rather than a smooth bend like the other egrets.

















We like the Whistling Kites for being easy-to-identify birds-of-prey.  They tend to 'whistle' alot--a sound we always associate with Kakadu and the Northern Territory where they are numerous--and as they fly overhead, the contrasting colors in their wing feathers spell out a 'W'. This one has an eel it grabbed from another bird down in the wetland.

Grey Butcherbird

Oddly enough (to us), grey butcherbirds seem uncommon down here on the Gold Coast, but more common just an hour north in the Brisbane area (they hang out on the UQ campus.  This guy was busily catching bugs paying us no-never-mind.  On the other hand, the Pied Butcherbirds are one of our backyard birds.  They are the early risers, beckoning me out of bed to hear their beautiful and haunting welcome to the morning.  They also sing from under the eaves of the deck during rainstorms, seeming to practice their calls so they don't get bored waiting out the storms.

OZ has an odd attitude about fireworks - pretty much an all-purpose event - start of the semester, end of the semester, first day of the month, last day of the month, Canada-Day (huh?). This is the start of the semester from my office window.