Hi all, I had a busy couple of days this weekend, with a whirlwind visit to the Lockyer Valley, plus a Southport Pelagic to try and wrap up some winter species.
Lockyer Valley was a great morning. Andrew Stafford and I started at Highfields to get him the Powerful Owl (which I already had in my backyard earlier in the year!). Fortunately, armed with Rod's great directions, we found one high up in an acacia over the lantana by the creek. We couldn't see it coming down the hill, so thought we'd missed it until we started heading back to the car. At that point it stood out against the sky as a massive black silhouette. We also had an Owlet Nightjar calling, plus a pair of Crested Shrike-tits were a highlight. Musk and Little Lorikeets were common and vocal in the surrounding forest.
A quick visit to the Helidon Spa netted a slight surprise for me. There were a pair of Mallards at the ponds, one of which was a wild-type male, complete with green head, yellow bill, and curly tail. I've agonised over where/how I would go about finding one of these for the year, but I think this bird was within the bounds of what I'd be willing to add to the list.
From there we headed out to Lake Apex, which was extremely disappointing. Not sure if the management practices are deliberately making the area poor for birds, but the lake is a shadow of its former glory. Next we hit up some bush birding sites in the area, but added nothing of substance to the day's list, except Jacky Winters at the closest distance to Brisbane either of us had seen them.
At Lake Clarendon we tried once again for Blue-winged Kookaburra, and once again failed. These birds are rapidly becoming a bit of a bogey for me, so I'd love to hear about sightings people have as I may even nip out on short notice to grab one for the year. Clarendon did produce a pair of Black Falcons, a pair of Brown Falcons, and a pair of Black Kites. Only the Black Falcons were new for the year, but it was great to finally have some good raptors in the Lockyer after a slow start to the year.
With our Lockyer trip over, I had one final place to check for the day. I ducked out to Daisy Hill to once again check the Square-tailed Kite nest for activity. Fortunately for me, the pair were finally in attendance, and I managed to tick these amazing raptors for the year! Also in attendance were about 200 Musk Lorikeets roosting for the evening!
Regards,
Chris
Lockyer Valley Visit
For those doing a Big Year, or similar, report your progress here.
Moderator: Mick Atzeni
Jump to
- Lists on the go
- ↳ Talking about birds ...
- ↳ Challenge 2016
- ↳ Challenge 2015
- ↳ The Challenge 2014
- ↳ The Challenge 2013
- ↳ Notifiable Species
- ↳ Spring Within 2014
- ↳ Spring Beyond 2014
- Solo and Group Challenges
- ↳ The Challenge - 2012
- ↳ The Challenge - 2011
- ↳ The Challenge - 2010
- ↳ The Challenge - 2009
- ↳ The Challenge - 2008
- ↳ The Challenge - 2007
- ↳ '250 in 2006' Challenge
- ↳ Solo efforts
- Other local critters, etc
- ↳ Mammals, Reptiles, Amphibians & Bugs
- ↳ Plants, fungi, etc
- Autumn Sightings
- ↳ Autumn Within 2014
- ↳ Autumn Beyond 2014
- ↳ Autumn Within - 2013
- ↳ Autumn Beyond - 2013
- ↳ Autumn Within - 2012
- ↳ Autumn Beyond - 2012
- ↳ Autumn Within - 2011
- ↳ Autumn Beyond - 2011
- ↳ Autumn Within - 2010
- ↳ Autumn Beyond - 2010
- ↳ Autumn Within - 2009
- ↳ Autumn Beyond - 2009
- ↳ Autumn Within - 2008
- ↳ Autumn Beyond - 2008
- ↳ Autumn Within (local) - 2007
- ↳ Autumn Beyond (Non-local) - 2007
- Summer Sightings
- ↳ Summer Within - 2013-14
- ↳ Summer Beyond - 2013-14
- ↳ Summer Within 2012-13
- ↳ Summer Beyond 2012-13
- ↳ Summer Within - 2011-12
- ↳ Summer Beyond - 2011-12
- ↳ Summer Within 2010-11
- ↳ Summer Beyond 2010-11
- ↳ Summer Within 2009-10
- ↳ Summer Beyond 2009-10
- ↳ Summer Within - 2008-09
- ↳ Summer Beyond - 2008-09
- ↳ Summer Within - 2007-08
- ↳ Summer Beyond - 2007-08
- Coming Events
- ↳ Special Events
- ↳ Outings
- Spring Sightings
- ↳ Spring Within - 2012
- ↳ Spring Beyond - 2012
- ↳ Spring Within - 2011
- ↳ Spring Beyond - 2011
- ↳ Spring Within - 2010
- ↳ Spring Beyond - 2010
- ↳ Spring Within - 2009
- ↳ Spring Beyond - 2009
- ↳ Spring Within - 2008
- ↳ Spring Beyond - 2008
- ↳ Spring Beyond (non-local) - 2007
- ↳ Spring Within (local) - 2007
- ↳ Spring Within - 2013
- ↳ Spring Beyond - 2013
- Sightings
- ↳ Rare/Unusual Bird Reports
- ↳ Bird notes
- ↳ They're back!
- ↳ Going, going, gone ...
- ↳ My Patch - Monthly records
- ↳ Summer target: 250 species BEYOND club survey area
- ↳ Monthly Target: 200 species WITHIN club survey area
- ↳ Council Bushland & Recreational Parks
- Winter Sightings
- ↳ Winter Within - 2012
- ↳ Winter Beyond - 2012
- ↳ Winter Within - 2011
- ↳ Winter Beyond - 2011
- ↳ Winter Within - 2010
- ↳ Winter Beyond - 2010
- ↳ Winter Within - 2009
- ↳ Winter Beyond - 2009
- ↳ Winter Within - 2013
- ↳ Winter Within - 2008
- ↳ Winter Beyond - 2013
- ↳ Winter Beyond - 2008
- ↳ Winter Within - 2007
- ↳ Winter Beyond - 2007
- ↳ Winter Within 2014
- ↳ Winter Beyond 2014
- Surveys
- ↳ Common Blackbirds
- ↳ Glossy Black-Cockatoos
- ↳ Grey-crowned Babblers
- ↳ Black-breasted Button-quails
- ↳ Powerful Owls
- ↳ Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos
- ↳ Cattle Egrets
- Info Resources
- ↳ Articles and websites of interest
- Comments, Feedback and Requests
- ↳ Questions and Comments
- ↳ Requests for data