July jaunts

Sometimes exploring "new" places that have always been there (just unexplored by you) and revisiting regular locations offer unexpected delights - always have that camera handy 😁.

Between Link Avenue and the Coast Road there is quite the expanse of bushland that you just always seem to "drive past" and not give a second thought to. Probably because there are no obvious entry places or designated parking bays. Lately I had been noticing it more, so yesterday was the day of my first relatively brief explore ... I shall be back for a more extensive wander around Allawah Bushland Reserve for sure (god willing, of course!).

Loads of birdsong on my wander, but I was not trudging too carefully as I was not sure where I was heading along various paths. However, a couple of photos below provide some indication that more patience and a less intrusive presence by yours truley would likely be very fruitful.

Bar-shouldered dove

Lewin's honeyeater

On the way home I decided to brave the wind and head over to the wall for a walk. Alas, just as I reached the wall at the Marine Rescue tower to begin, a rain squall arrived and that was that ... but not before the brahmini kite soared overhead into the teeth of the sou' easter.

A reminder ( I have not provided one for a while now) that clicking on a photo will open all the photos of the post in a larger view window and they often look much better in that view.

This morning, after a regular coffee gathering, I decided to brave the wind again and head over to the wall for a walk that eluded me yesterday. Same starting point, but the action this  morning was on the Shaws Bay side.

First time I have sighted an azure kingfisher at this location so this alone made the decision worth while! Even better it was a very co-operative poser and the rich palette it presents is very clear in the plumage. Easily my best shots of this delightful character in the kingfisher family 😁.

And just before heading back to the car park, along came this silver gull gliding quite low into the strong sou' easter. While its position is quite high in the frame, it is nice and clear and floats wonderfully above the cotton wool cloud bank on the horizon.

Lakeside Bungalow Day 1 (Feb)

That is the view at the back (east) of the Lakeside bungalow, across the vineyard. This invites you when you pull up in the car park.

Just have to be careful ... never know what might be out and about 😟 even though you are just drawn to explore, you need to watch where you tread!

Then you get to the front and an entirely different view entices you to explore, alas you have to unpack!

OK, might as well enjoy a snack before we explore. 😁 then we will get to more birds which really is the point of the blog (but it is good to indulge along the way!)

While exploring along the bank of the creek this pale-headed rosella was very intent on enjoying the seeds so allowed me a few angles to capture the wonderful pastel hues of the undercarriage. Even among the heavy camouflage of the leaves that splendid & riotous palette of nature is clear to savour. A lovely treat to begin this stay.

Further along a grey butcherbird was spotted searching the eucalypt forest for morsels that might move within sight. Just after that a pair of pale-headed rosellas alighted briefly for a chatter before disappearing into the late afternoon forest.

Much more sedate and relaxed on an exposed dead branch was this handsome pair of bar-shouldered doves, resplendent in their grey, brown and bronze plummage.

Once back at the bungalow by the pond, this final trio of birds was spotted before we settled in for our first evening in the peace and quiet of the Mt. Barney bush. An australasian figbird perching proudly, the resident peacock wandering it's domain as dusk settled and the resident drake roosting on a rock overseeing it's pond.

Day I at The Croft

In the aftermath of the terrible recent flood event we decided to take a few days away at The Croft, just north of Murwillumbah. Covid continues to stifle desires to head further afield so some shorter more local stays are what we will aim for. This was the first of these. It is also a B&B we highly recommend to anyone wishing to enjoy a wonderfully peaceful setting with excellent facilities and gracious hosts. Our parting sense was that our stay was too short, so we definately left feeling like we had enjoyed our stay! Here is a taste of the setting from our verandah out over the pool ... 

At the rear of the accommodation there was a south facing balcony sheltered well by a stand of Himalayan magnolias. These and their seedpods you will see featured often in the posts of this visit - a variety of birds clearly enjoy the seeds that reminded us of pomegranate seeds without the fleshy covering 😊.

My first bird encounter was late in the afternoon of our arrival. A treat to be able to get quite close to a couple of young eastern rosellas ... one grazing in the dappled light under the trees for seeds and other delights; the other basking and being "lookout" in the foliage enjoying stronger sunlight. Even so young, their plummage is both striking and showing off such a range of colours. Further encounters lie ahead!

The other familiar chirping to be heard was this willy wagtail I caught alighting on a stake adjacent to some flourishing pineapples.

 

Next morning I wandered around the mown grounds just to see what I might find. What a treat I was afforded! This young spangled drongo was very keen to be seen and photographed ... as you see in the set (of five) below, the distinctive forked tail is evident, the brown circle around the eyeball which has not yet become a more mature red colour, the black plummage in certain light has a clear teal tinge on the wing feathers and the speckled breast. Even the "whiskers" are nice and clear in one of the photos. A real privilege when birds are this comfortable in our presence and eager to be observing our activity without alarm 😊. Enjoy!

At the top of the garden the raucous and distinctive calls of the sulphur-crested cockatoo and a pair of little corellas was heard. The next two photos show a cockatoo perched high up in the ubiquitous eucalypt with the yellow crown clearly on display, then a little while later the same bird taking flight from the pine next to the eucalypt - the pastel yellow tinges of the underwings in flight on full display.

On slightly lower perches in that same pine tree was a pair of little corellas and the second photo below catches the top bird taking flight, the wing position looking like it might be trying to swoop and collect up the lower bird and carry it away ... silly I know, but the wrap of the wings is very enveloping!

Now, in a lovely garden with loads of flowering plants the buzz of insects and fragrance of the flowers is a draw in the early morning. So while not strictly birds, literary license demands a wide interpretation for context because as well as seeds, the insects are also fodder for some birds ... and they also have wings 😏 so I have chosen a few to include below for your enjoyment. I am proud of being able to capture these insects in flight so clearly, and against their foliage they look really spectacular.

First a couple of busy bees hovering in selection of their next blossom.

Next a more complex composition featuring a magnolia flower ... my focus was on the bee's knees with the collected pollen but see how you go noticing any other creatures that happened to make an appearance ... sometimes you don't see what is there until you are reviewing the picture and realise how lucky you have been!! (Remember, if you click on a photo you will see a larger version of it).

This next one is pushing that license to an extreme, but it did look so magnificent in among the frangipani I just had to include this bird of paradise (flower) ... colour and light are wonderful companions ...

Keeping with the insect wings, the delicate and fragile features of the dragonfly having a brief rest from it's flightpath is shown here. The finery of nature in all her glory!

And even this fly seems to be conscious of COVID sanitation requirements ... here it is rubbing its front legs together while showing off quite the range of shiny colours while resting on the pool fence 😊.

Yes, yes, just a reminder as this post ends that there were other birds around too - here a fine bar-shouldered dove specimen sits atop a fence beside the chook pen after taking advantage of some grain on the ground beside the tank.

Wet Wooli I

We took up the offer of a few days stay in Wooli ... the first vacant days on the booking calendar. It rained for the three days we were there, BUT it cleared a few times allowing some walks, AND it cleared on the day of our departure 😁. So the next several posts share glimpses of the many birds we sighted. Just goes to show, the weather is not a deterrent to them ... life goes on!

Of course, first we had to drive to Wooli. We stopped on the way for a morning cuppa at the Point in Ballina (a favourite of my wife, and it is a wonderful setting beside the river). On the way back to the car I noticed some willy wagtails flitting in and out of a bush near the small boat harbour. Wandering closer for a look I noticed one on a nest - such a wonderfully precise architecture and engineering feat is the delicately woven cup ... and the bird was keeping a very close eye on me too - I love the white eyeliners glaring at me 😀. Seemed like a good omen for our few days!

As we settle and unpack, the banksia at the side of our house and the bird of paradise in the front yard were alive with the melodious feeding tunes of the brown honeyeater. This next set of four photos highlights, by virtue of the respective flowers, how tiny these birds are, belying the rich sound of their melodies. The second two on the bird of paradise flower also highlight just how wet it was, and a close inspection should may also reveal a strand of spiderweb.

An important point to emphasise in this initial post is it was wet! So we arrive, we unpack and we have to relax and enjoy our location - not too tough! As well as the outlook photographed above, there is vacant land and scrub on our north side and over the dune at the back is the beach ... not too shabby. So the photos below were all taken from relaxing and enjoying our surroundings in the house - the next post will show off our first walk with a small break in the weather.

First up, sitting in the sunroom looking across the front patio I noticed a buff-banded rail having a peek over the lower rail of the fence (just what you would expect of a rail 😜) and as it wandered down the side of the house, letting us know it was aware of our presence - quite a "cheep, cheep"?! Whatever, it was a treat.

Needless to let the reader know, the creatures below are not birds, but boy when they bounded in and later on, bounded away, they were "" - the length of their bounds was quite something to behold. Here, despite being drenched, they look quite relaxed and very much at ease blending into the long grasses on the "reserve" next door. How could you not stop and savour this delight?

And then another buff-banded rail, a younger one (missing the buff-band on the breast) ... perhaps it was responding to the earlier call of the adult featured above?

Not to be left out, the (well, "a") brown honeyeater perched again upon the bird of paradise and gazed north for me ... and this was just our first (very wet afternoon!) ...

This pair of plovers (masked lapwings) were a constant during our visit with one settled on the nest and the other keeping guard and providing periodic sustenance.

As vocal and insistent as the brown honeyeaters were in the banksia, there was considerable bickering and competition for the nectar from the little wattlebirds. The pair of youngsters constantly reminding the adults where they were for feeding, and practising themselves!

A very different and much more gentle "cooing" was heard out the back and there on a branch was a bar-shouldered dove. I enjoyed reviewing this photo because if offers a full frontal palette and shows a longer tail than my previous views afforded ... there the focus has been on the back, neck and wings and the much more bronze colourings and the tail has not appeared so elongated. All about perspective!

Once again from the vantage of the sunroom, a movement over by the fence indicated the arrival of a brown quail! A quick snap before it disappeared down the side ... a sneak down the hall and out a bedroom window ... how fortunate ... a pair! What wonderful small dumpy forms they have. Deb was watching too and wondered out loud "if they fly"? On cue, they took flight and scudded just above the grass right across the field shown above with the grazing kangaroos, dropping out of sight just before the tree line. Question answered 👍.

And a couple more little wattlebirds - because they were prolific and their sleek form is a joy to behold as they search and reach for nectar and exercise their lungs.

I included this next photo because I love the rainbow bee-eater and it is a treat for me if I capture a pair. This also shows of the forbidding sky on this afternoon and thus the normal lustre of these birds is still evident, though much muted. Of further interest is the moth (or butterfly) that the one on the left has caught.  Just after this was snapped, the one on the right seized the moth and took flight ... I liked to think of the moment as one of sharing 😀.

And finally as things cleared a little for a very brief period a grey shrike thrush made an appearance on the very wet ground over the road. Many worms and other creatures forced to the surface by the water to feast on.

Quite the afternoon on arrival ... looking forward to going for a wander!