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!

To South Ballina via Pimlico (August 2020)

Generally a productive journey for bird photos, but always for the scenery and serentiy of the south side of the Richmond River. Usually I would drive to Wardell through Alstonville and Meerschumvale, but this day I went via Pimlico, and Wardell. Lovely clear blue sky with the very occasional puff of cloud and rather unusually, very still with little wind.

This first photo was on fallow Pimlico fields and captures the grandeur of the large white-necked heron. Not quite showing off the subtle richness of the wing feathers as the light was not quite right, but happy to get close enough for the upright pose as they tend to be very skittish in the open.

The next two photos show the sacred kingfisher on a power line rather than a rock or tree branch. Also around Pimlico on the roadside offering a clear view of the river bank. The light this late morning shows a much richer and darker blue in the plummage than I generally see in the Shaws Bay birds and was almost thinking it might have been a forest kingfisher. The headbands of feathers are the giveaway. The iridesence and luminence of the plummage is really shown off in this light and stands out even against the blue sky background. Nice poses checking me out and then just back to scanning the river and bank - far more interesting😊.

This photo of a young nankeen kestrel I decided to include to show off that these are not big birds. Here the features of the arm of the power pole provide an excellent context to guage the size. A commanding position to "prey"!

The remainder of this post were taken along the South Ballina drive. A few excellent poses and settings for a laughing kookaburra and one of a pelican offering a sense of the stillness of the day and part of the panorama that the kookaburra was enjoying along the river. Our wonderful clear bluie skies are to be cherished ... they seldom offer anything other than a wondeful canvas!

The next three show a small part of a much larger flock of little corellas enjoying a riverside garden environment. The first photo shows an unusally co-operative and quiet group enjoying a bird bath. The second and thrid photo show a disrupter arriving (a much mroe common sight with these characters!) I love the way the vertical landing is captured, but even more the beautiful pastel yellow tinge of their underwings.

Here I have included a rare photo for me of a quail. I think it may be a brown quail but the glimpse is not all that clear and I am going more by the shape for the "quail". The rock the other side of the tree offers a sense of how easily they can camouflage in plain sight - thank goodness for movement!

The remaining photos of this post were taken at  various points at the south wall car park area right at the eastern end of the drive. A fantastic shot of a willy wagtail in full song; the next three taking short rests on a branch are as labelled, and further examples of beautiful bush song birds.

White-cheeked honeyeater

Little  wattlebird

Rainbow bee-eater

Finishing the set are some "water" birds, perhaps sea birds is an even finer description. Each is labelled and the first two taken during a brief clouding over that happened while I was walking out to the end of the wall and back. Nature offers some unexpected (to me) contrasts to be alert to.

Crested tern alone on the receding tide.

Australasian gannet hunting

Osprey searching