#Superb Parrot – Numurkah Showgrounds. A difficult name to live up to but this Lifer is doing a good job. The least likely and last site searched today and I had given up and headed for the car. Drove back to find BH focused on a nearby treetop and gesticulating wildly. Not fussed at all at the close human attention, or even the annoying presence of the Noisy Miners, but peed off pronto when a Magpie swept in missile like and nearly took its gorgeous head off.
PS Basically only found in this part of Vic and a walk up start for next year’s calendar.
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Some of BH’s pics from Darwin on the weekend. In Kakadu for a week and a bit for what can only be described as a birder’s bucket list tour.
#Black Kite-Lee Point. These raptors absolutely dominate the Lee Point beach and surrounds.
#Little Bronze Cuckoo-Buffalo Creek
#Spangled Drongo-Lee Point. Hands down, the best bird name going, bar none!
#Straited Heron-Buffalo Creek
#Arafura Fantail-Lee Point
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I assume the rainbow pitta is the holy grail bird ?
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Never heard of it but when I just read your post to BH she forced out a YES through gritted teeth and said it was her main target at Lee Point. One more chance on Sunday at the end of our Northern Loop.
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Some of BH’s pics from in and around Jabiru.
#Blue-winged Kookaburra
#Green Oriole
#Dusky Myzomela
#Red-winged Parrot
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Great pics!!!
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More BH pics of Kakadu birds
#Royal Spoonbill-Yellow Water, Kakadu. Not sure what Spoonbills taste like but clearly they don’t appeal to Salt Water Crocs.
#Red Tailed Black Cockatoo, Anbinik.
#Jabiru standing sentinel, Katherine.
#Pied Heron, Yellow Water
#Great Bowerbird, Nitmilik.
#Forest Kingfisher, Nitmilik
#Silver-crowned Friarbird, Nitmilik
#Red-backed Fairywren, Edith Falls.
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Didn’t know whether to put it in here or the Old Fish and Chippery post. At local footy finals in Colac.
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A gannet at Portland expressing its disapproval of being photographed.
Picture by outstanding local shutterbug, Darin Roos.
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#Red-backed Kingfisher - Mount Korong. Curious one this. The Red Back Kingfisher has been the Melbourne celebrity bird of the month after one suddenly appeared in the Studley Park region a fortnight ago, the theory being it was blown South by storm weather, and it’s very rare for it to be seen so South. Anyway, it attracted the Birder Paparazzi, of course, but BH told me she wasn’t comfortable joining the birder crowd. So it was a bit of a coup to spot one at Mount Korong on a day trip out of Bendigo, our Grandparenting second home, a few days ago. And BH was the only birder there at the time, a few did turn up later. Beautiful bird with a raucous call to it too. Perched on a tree next to a walled red mound riddled with bird holes, on lookout, BH suspected, while its partner sat on the nest buried in a burrow.
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You bubble-bellied booby!
Apologies Dr Zachary Smith….
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If anybody is in town and wants to try for Powerful Owl, one has been resident at Fark Carlton Gardens since May (red pins are recorded sightings in last 30 days).
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Ok, on the topic of Powerful Owl, I have a recent story to share…
In May last year, whilst driving on the Hume Freeway north of Wangaratta, I spotted a road-killed bird on the side of the road. It looked exceptionally large and fresh and something intuitively told me to pull-over and further inspect (yes it is normal for me to stop and inspect dead fauna on the road- much to my wife’s frustration).
It turned out to be a magnificent adult Powerful Owl which had sadly been struck flying across the road - probably early that morning pre-dawn. Incredibly unlucky given their relative scarcity in the landscape.
Although devastating to lose these magnificent animals to road collisions, I am glad that we made the decision to salvage the specimen and subsequently was able through work to get it mounted under a wildlife taxidermist permit.
The restored Owl will now live on in the foyer of our Wodonga State Government office on display as an engagement and educational feature. A tissue sample was also collected and submitted to the Museum of Victoria to contribute to genetic and scientific analysis and understanding of the species longer term.
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Great shots, well done.
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Great outcome from a sad event. Well done.
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Great preservation work. Well done
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#Channel-billed Cuckoo - Princess Highway, Berwick. Lifer. Pretty rare to see this Badboy(BH’s nickname for this heavy beaked bruiser) in Vic, but spotted more regularly in Northern States. According to the local spotters it has visited this particular fig tree on the verge of the Princess Highway in Berwick for 11 straight years. Turned up a week ago and a handful of birders were on site when we arrived this afternoon. The figs aren’t quite ripe enough for its taste just yet, but when they are it will strip the tree bare and POQ till next year.
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