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Striated Heron portraits
The following photos of an adult Striated Heron were captured on the Brunswick River at Brunswick Heads in northern NSW. The late afternoon winter light was falling directly on the subject however...
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Splendid Fairy-wren portraits
There are four races of Splendid Fairy-wrens and while the nominate race splendens is found in SW WA the other three are found in arid country. While camped at Hell Hole Gorge National Park a family of...
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Redthroat
Redthroats are a typical LBJ (little brown job), rather plain and shy ground foraging birds that tend to duck for cover when disturbed. They are found across a large area of arid (1) Australia in a...
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Banded Lapwings
By an earthen stock water dam beside the Adavale-Blackall Rd in an open area with a carpet of short vegetation we found a pair of Banded Lapwings. Using the vehicle and van as cover the following...
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Brolgas
Driving north on the Adavale-Blackall Rd we came upon a pair of Brolgas feeding in lush grass beside the road. We managed to pull up without flushing the pair and using the car as cover a few photos...
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Spotted Bowerbird
While camped in Idalia National Park in outback Queensland at Monks Tank – an earthen water storage dam – we found a Spotted Bowerbird bower. The bower location was well concealed however with the...
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Australian Pratincole
Australian Pratincoles are shorebirds/waders that can often be found beside remote roads on inland plains where some water is present. They seem to like roadsides where they will flush ahead of an...
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Spotted Harrier
Driving north on the Thompson Development Road towards Longreach across a Mitchell Grass plain we came upon a Spotted Harrier. The bird was hunting low along the boundary between the green roadside...
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Bourke’s Parrot
Our first encounter with Bourke’s Parrots on this trip was at Oma Waterhole on the Barcoo River south of Isisford. Here, when logging the Bourke’s on a Birdata survey for our camp area I found the...
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Spinifex Pigeon
We encountered Spinifex Pigeons at the eastern extremity of their range in Hell Hole, Lochern and Welford National Parks in outback Queensland. They were found in pairs or small flocks of up to 20...
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Emu portraits
The Emu, Australia’s largest bird, needs no introduction as it is widespread across the Australian mainland (the sub species once found in Tasmania is now extinct) and is very familiar to most...
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Brown Treecreeper
On our recent visit to six National Parks in south west outback Queensland we had Brown Treecreepers for company at all of our camp sites on rivers and billabongs. Often the camp sites were surrounded...
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Immature White-bellied Sea-Eagle
While monitoring small terns (Fairy and Little), beach nesting birds and breeding Australian Pelicans by boat on the Gippsland Lakes near Crescent Island in late September we came upon an immature...
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White-throated Treecreeper using next box
White-throated Treecreepers (WtT) build a cup shaped nest from bark, fur and grass in tree hollows. The Pizzey and Knight guide states they sometimes nest in building cavities and mine shafts. That...
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Black-faced Cormorant
Australia has five species of Cormorant including Great, Little Black, Pied, Little Pied and Black-faced – all five species can be found on the Gippsland Lakes. Four of the five species have a wide...
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Flagged shorebird records made – including the first flagged Hooded Plover on...
On our regular boat run from Lakes Entrance to Ocean Grange (south of Paynesville) on Tuesday 24 January 2023 to monitor breeding beach nesting birds, (Note 1), we managed to capture seventeen flagged...
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Little Grassbirds
The following description of Little Grassbirds is borrowed – with modification by me – from Michael Morcombe’s excellent field guide. His description describes my experience with Little Grassbirds very...
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Southern Scrub-Robin
The Southern Scrub-Robin (Drymodes brunneopygia) is a ground dwelling robin found, as the name suggests, in dense and mostly semi-arid scrub habitats. They are uncommon sedentary birds which can be...
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Mallee Emu-wren
Mallee Emu-wrens (Stipiturus mallee) were once found in the Murray Mallee both in Victoria and South Australia however wildfire in the SA mallee in recent years has wiped out the SA populations – the...
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Chestnut Quail-Thrush
All species of Quail-Thrush (1) are ground dwelling and share similar behaviour and general habitat preferences. They can be sedentary and nomadic and are usually uncommon so finding Quail-Thrush is...
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Australian Owlet-nightjar
The Australian Owlet-nightjar, being nocturnal and having large eyes for night vision, does look owl-like. However they are not related to owls at all and instead are more closely related to the swift...
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Gilbert’s Whistlers
The Gilbert’s Whistler can be sedentary or locally nomadic. They are somewhat uncommon and can be hard to find, though from my experience their call – which is often made in response to our presence –...
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Honeyeaters found at Gluepot
While at Gluepot in August 2022 we found six species of Honeyeater, including Spiny-cheeked, Yellow-plumed, White-fronted, Brown-headed, White-eared and Striped in that order of abundance. The best way...
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Mulga Parrots
We found this quiet and unobtrusive parrot in male-female pairs in many locations across the Gluepot reserve when we were there in August 2023. A pair quietly feeding in a species of saltbush (possibly...
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Baillon’s Crakes at Byron Wetlands
Of the three Porzana crakes found in Australia, Baillon’s (Porzana pusilla) is the smallest and least reported. Baillon’s are reported in Birdata nearly half as frequently as the Spotted (P fluminea)...
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