All Quiet on the Home Front

All Quiet on the Home Front

 

Oddly enough, while August, with 137 species, went on to top the eight-month tally board, avian matters at Allen Road itself remained somewhat on the quiet side.   The 46 species recorded here was a whisker below the current 46.8 average; equal to Augusts in 2010 and 2009, above the 39 of 2004, the 44 of 2005 and the 45 of 2008 but below August 2012 [47], 2003 and 2001 [48 each] and the 49 species of 2011 and  2002.  August 2006, with 53 species, remains the only year in which the monthly tally exceeded the 50 mark.

Perhaps not really that odd.  It was a month in which Fay and I spread out our wings a little further and while not quite reaching the frenzied heights our halcyon birding days during the 1990s we did put in more bird outings than in the immediate past.  Our South Burnet August tally reached new records.  We ventured even further afield, Birding Beyond the Pale in the Lockyer Valley and along the Wambo Bird Trails.

All this gallivanting around the ridges had its repercussions on Allen Road.  To reach other birding destinations we had to sacrifice at least one of the two days of the weekend.  Our habit became to sneak off on Saturdays, leaving Sundays for work on and around the house and property.  Further, to enhance our chances of good birding at the intended venue we set off early, usually before sunrise and that immediately impacted on our EARLY BIRDS [part of the Allen Road tally] surveys.

Nevertheless August did manage to provide us with a few species outside the norm.  The month opened with the return of the Olive-backed Oriole Oriolus sagittatus 2 August.  Not that the bird ever really went away; with a few exceptions it was noted throughout the year, even if only rarely in some months or elsewhere in other months.

The Straw-necked Ibis Threskiornis spinicollis is an infrequent visitor to Allen Road during August.  This year it put in its solitary appearance on 10 August; the first August sighting of this species in two years and only the seventh August sighting since 2004 – three of those coming in August 2008.  It flew across the property, travelling east to west, proffering the narrowest of glimpses.

Two days later the Australian Owlet-nightjar Aegotheles cristatus called.  With a notable absence in July, this year the owlet-nightjar has called at least once every month since March. 

On 16 August the first of only two raptors to appear over Allen Road during the month, the Collared Sparrowhawk Accipiter cirrocephalus, [its third appearance of the year] seemed to be experiencing a few difficulties as it was persistently harassed by a small flock of Noisy Miners Manorina melanocephala.  It eventually beat a hasty retreat to the northwest.  A week later the Brown Falcon Falco berigora put in its first appearance in almost exactly two years, having previously graced our local skies on 7 August 2011- and that had been only its sixth ever showing at Allen Road.

Matters improved marginally towards the end of the month.  Fay saw a single Red-winged Parrot Aprosmictus erythropterus on 29 August.  The following day the Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater Acanthagenys rufogularis made its presence known for the first time since early May but the grand finale of the month had to be the Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus funereus of 30 August.

As I said at the outset, August was rather a quiet month on the birding front.

 

Allen Road in July

 

 

July was cold.  Given that this is winter it is hardly surprising but the thing about winter is that the days become shorter, the nights longer and the temperatures lower.  Marry this to the fact that I’m usually on the road to school by 0545 hours [before sunrise] and can on occasions return home at around 1745 hours [near, if not always after] sunset, it is never a month of great avian expectations.  We have not, for example, ever topped the half century [50] species in the total July tally [compare that to the 70 species recorded in January this year].

Nevertheless, for a July the tally reached a reasonably respectable 46; the best tally since the 46 of 2004- and the 46 of 2003 and 2002!

We had to wait until the end of the first week of the month to report anything out of the ordinary  for Allen Road; a Fan-tailed Cuckoo Caacomantis flabelliformis calling on the morning of 7 July.  The Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos Calyptorhynchus funereus appeared the following day.  Indeed, it seemed to arrive on an almost weekly basis thereafter, presenting good views on 13, 21 and 28 July.  On 13 July the White-faced Heron Egretta novaehollandiae put in the first of its two visits for the month; it also appeared at the edge of Denis’s small front dam [its favourite haunt in the immediate vicinity] on 28 July.

 

The recently-arrived Black Kite Milvus migrans graced Allen Road on 14 July, the same day as the Little Lorikeets Glossopsitta pusilla.

By the third week of the month matters seemed to be taking a turn for the better.  The Little Friarbird Philemon citreovulgaris suddenly called on 21 July: the Southern Boobook Ninos novaeseelandiae returned for its only performance on 23 July.  The Bush Stone-curlew Burhinus grallarius called on 29 July, with a repeat performance the following day. 

During the last week of the month we scored the Glossy Black-Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus lathami on 31 July, the same day as the magnificent Pacific Baza Aviceda subcristata!
Winter can be a quiet period along Allen Road.

June Jottings

 

 

June was never going to be a record-breaking month for birds along Allen Road.  Here, Down Under, in the austral half of the world, it’s winter but equally important – at least for birders whose profession centres on teaching- it heralds the approach of the end of the first school semester: a time for report cards; a time to burn the midnight oil; to spend weekends at school rather than out in the field watching birds. 
Throughout June, Fay and I managed a mere eleven outings along the road, gathering a tally of 41 species and not a rarity amongst them all.

Of the nocturnal stalkers, the Australian Owlet-nightjar Aegotheies cristatus put in three appearances, or rather was heard calling from quite close to the house on three separate occasions.  The Bush Stone-curlew Burhinus grallarius called on the one occasion only.

The diurnal raptors were equally slack in flying over or around the road.  The Whistling Kite Haliastur sphenurus appeared once on 15 June, soaring high above the dam.  The Wedge-tailed Eagle Aquila audax [22 June] soared even higher.

The Glossy Black-Cockatoos Calyptorhynchus lathami held up their end, a pair appeared over Scott’s property [next-door neighbour].  Their counterpart, the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus funereus , was a “heard only” bird on two occasions during the month.

The White-winged Choughs Corcorax Melanorhamphus appears to be making something of a comeback.

Overall, a disappointing month for birding BUT those report cards have been completed, signed, proverbially sealed and delivered into the loving hands of loving parents.

July could be better.

May Moments on Allen Road

I

t was always going to be rather doubtful that May would produce anything outstanding, or indeed come up with any real species diversity or abundance in numbers of any given species.  May is late autumn in the southern hemisphere and we have already experienced some rather chilly evenings.  It does not auger well for the rapidly approaching austral winter.  And birds tend to be scarcer during the colder spells.

Not that May 2013 was numerical retarded on previous Mays.  The 49 species was admittedly well below the 63 of May 2003 [the current record] but only one behind the 50 species of May 2004.  It was one better than the 48 of 2010 and two ahead of the 47 species in May 2009.  It clearly overshadowed the 30 species of May 2006 [still the lowest May on record for Allen Road].

There were, as always, the regular faces, or should that read, ”the regular feathers”?  They were there each and every day: the Laughing Kookaburra Dacelo novaeguineae and Torresian Crow Corvus orru; the Australian Magpie Cracticus tibicen and Magpie-lark Grallina cyanoleuca; the Galah Eolophus roseicapillus and Grey Butcherbird Cracticus torquatus; the Rainbow Lorikeet Trichoglossus haematodus; the Apostlebird Struthidea cinerea and Noisy Miner Manorina melanocephala; the Crested Pigeon Ocyphaps lophotes and Bar-shouldered Dove Geopelia humeralis; etc.

They were accompanied by the less frequent but nevertheless reasonably well-presented regulars: the Australian Wood Duck Chenonetta jubata; the Masked Lapwing Vanellus miles; the Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Cacatua galerita and Australian King-Parrot Alisterus scapularis; the Blue-faced Entomyzon cyanotis and Striped Honeyeaters Plectorhyncha lanceolata; the Striated Pardalote Pardalotus striatus; etc.

On the other hand, a number of species managed to put in only the one appearance throughout the entire month.  The Australian Owlet-nightjar Aegotheles cristatus [never known to outstay its welcome] called on20 May; the Bush Stone-curlew Burhinus grallarius early in the month, on 2 May; the Scaly-breasted Lorikeet Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus on 5 May; the Fan-tailed Cuckoo Cacomantis flablliformis, while in evidence all around us in the broader South Burnett, visited us only on the 24^th of the month; the Pied Butcherbird Cracticus nigrogularis, always in the shadow of its smaller cousin, the Grey Butcherbird, called only on the last day, 31^st May.

Then there was the Black Kite Milvus migrans on 5 May.  It was the first new addition to the Backyard List in a long time.  We’d walked to the “top” end of Allen Road [to its junction with the Nanango-Maidenwell Road.  I spotted the “crow” flying across; Fay corrected the call to Black Kite on seeing the distinctive forked tail.  Oddly enough, two Whistling Kites, perhaps a breeding pair, were in the same airspace at the same time and to all intents and purposes it appeared as if the Black Kite was “associating” with the Whistling Kites.

 

Photograph from www.birdway.com.au 

 

The sudden appearance of the Black Kites in and around Nanango is a tale for another place at another time.

 

 

April Report

On a number of occasions throughout the month it appeared to be a real struggle to survive April – in birding terms.  Much of our monitoring was restricted to the weekends but with several major projects in hand [e.g. completing the new pigeon loft; lining the inside of the garage to prepare for a brewing area] at times the tallies became quite meagre [only two species recorded on 26 April].  Nevertheless we managed 19 surveys which produced a tally of 53 species; our lowest average [2.78] species-per-survey score since 2008 when we finished April with an average of 1.60 species per survey [45 species over 28 surveys].

 

It was our third lowest species-per-survey average since Allen Road records began in 2002 [2007 came in at 2.63, 50 species over 19 surveys].

There were nevertheless some notable highlights, not the least of which being the sudden and unexpected return of the Olive-backed Oriole Oriolus sagittatus

which we thought had made its swansong appearance in the area back on 22 February 2013.  It surprised with a brief vocal entrance on 6 April at the Nanango Fauna Sanctuary, followed by four whirlwind encores at Allen Road on 21, 25, 27 and 28 of the month.

The Australian Owlet-nightjar Aegotheles cristatus, which had first reappeared on 16 March [following an absence since 16 September 2012] called on three occasions during April; 21, 25 and 28.  The Southern Boobook Ninox boobook called on 4 and 27 April.

 

The Pacific Baza Aviceda subcristata put in two consecutive appearances; 13 and 14 April.  On 25 April we were graced by a Whistling Kite Haliastur sphenurus and a Collared Sparrowhawk Accipiter cirrocephalus; the latter returned on 28 April.

 

A pair of our “Backyard Darlings”, the Glossy Black-Cockatoos Calyptorhynchus lathami, was noted flying east to west across our property on 8 April.  The Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus funereus called towards the end of the month [28^th].

Six Little Lorikeets Glossopsitta pusilla, their first visit since 24 March, flew over on 4 April.  The following day we noted a trio of Red-rumped Parrots Psephotus haematonotus at the Andrews Road end of Allen Road.

A Fan-tailed Cuckoo Cacomantis flabelliformis was prominent on 21 April; a week later [28^th] the Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater called for the first time since 23 January.  The Grey Fantail Rhipidura albiscapa on 25 April was its first appearance here since July 2012!

Yes, April may have felt slow but there was quality in the species that put in an appearance.  May is an entirely new month.

 

PALE RIDERS – AVIAN STYLE

                                        Allen Road.  Look for the circular dam surrounded by woodland.

Well, it has been a long weekend!  For those unfamiliar with this between-wars expression it refers to the long break between the two World Wars; in this case I note with some horror that my last blog was on 4 April 2012- a year ago!  I did hint at the possibility in a couple of past blogs.  Pressure of work since Education Queensland took on board the Australian Curriculum; 10- to 12-hour days are not as uncommon as some may believe.  Squeezing the proverbial quart into a pint pot.  Not bad for a bunch of nerds who only work 9 to 3, get ten weeks a year paid holidays and do little more but throw out prepared worksheets for their students to complete while “Sir” sits back to read the sporting pages of the local rag!

Still, that’s education, this is birds.  If I wanted to talk education I’d start a more appropriate blog.

Not that readers have missed much during the interim.  April 2012 saw a monthly tally of 44 species for Allen Road with only the trio of night visitors [Tawny Frogmouth Podargus strigoides, White-throated Nightjar Eurostopodus mystacalis and Australian Owlet-Nightjar Aegotheles cristatus] being worth the mention.

Neither May [32 species], June [36 species] nor July [38 species] fared much better, although the Owlet-nightjar turned up again in the first two of those months and the diurnal Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus funereus in May along with the crepuscular Bush Stone-curlew Burhinus grallarius [July] did cause a momentary flutter of the heart.

It took until September to break the half century mark and until December to spill over the 50 mark [63].   August [47 species] brought forth some avian beauties: the Pacific Baza Aviceda subcristata, a Brown Goshawk Accipiter fasciatus and one of the locally iconic Wedge-tailed Eagle Aquila audax.  Both the Bush Stone-curlew and Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo put in another appearance.   The Olive-backed Oriole Oriolus sagittatus became the first of the summer migrants to announce that warmer days were upon us.

Among a few other notable worthies, September 2012 produced only the sixth Eastern Barn Owl Tyto delicatula for Allen Road [although up until recently it was considered no more than a subspecies of Tyto alba].  The second [and third] of the summer heralds, the Channel-billed Cuckoo and Eastern Koel Eudynamys orientalis appeared.  The Little Bronze-Cuckoo Chrysococcyx minutillus was present on three consecutive days, something it had not done since November 2007.

October 2012 was the month of the cuckoos. The Little Bronze and the Channel-billed had already been here a month but now it was the turn of the Black-eared Cuckoo Chrysococcyx osculans, Horsfield’s Bronze-Cuckoo Chrysococcyx basalis and Shining Bronze-Cuckoo Chrysococcyx lucidus to have us draw in breath.  The first appearance of the Ground Cuckoo-shrike Coracina maxima since September 2011 was a pleasant bonus- outstripped only by the Australian Hobby Falco longipennis, last seen here in June 2006!

November and December were somewhat truncated months while Fay and I gallivanted and birded our way across Goa in India.  Nevertheless before our departure in late November we managed to add Fan-tailed Cuckoo Cacomantis flabelliformis and Brush Cuckoo Cacomantis variolosus to the growing Cuculid list.  The raptor list was further graced by the Collared Sparrowhawk Accipiter cirrocephalus and Grey Goshawk Accipiter novaehollandiae.

And so 2012 came to an end.  For those interested in such matters, the final Year List for Allen Road was 96 species, our fifth best year [with 2006, at 110 species, still reigning supreme].

January 2013 opened with the axiomatic bang in more ways than one.  To begin with the monthly tally reached 70 species, our highest ever January count in 12 years of monitoring; it surpassed the previous record [January 2007] by three. 

Both the Wonga Pigeon and Yellow-rumped Thornbill put in their first appearance since December 2010.  As if having the Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo fly by on 10 January wasn’t exciting enough, the bird re-appeared on the 20^th.  But wait, there was more; the Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo also put in a duet of appearances during the month.  And still more, the darlings of our Backyard List, the Glossy Black-Cockatoo, were here on the 6^th and 7^th of January.  Little surprising therefore that in January we felt that our Calyptorhynchid cup runneth over.

Towards the end of the month we had our Allen Road megatick! 

 Photograph taken by tytotony.blogspot.com

We weren’t even seriously birding, simply enjoying a cup of tea on the east verandah overlooking The Doughnut and observing a small troupe of Apostlebirds Struthidea cinerea frolicking about in the Middle Compound.  There is no doubt some perfectly sound scientific explanation as to what the birds were actually engaged in [birds don’t have a sense of humour, nor do they “play”] but one of them grabbed a small length of yellow tape in its beak and somersaulted over itself.  It repeated this unusual behaviour a number of times.

Fay was the first to notice the strange birds among the weeds, towards the front of The Doughnut.  She immediately drew my attention to it and after a moment’s hesitation – we’d last seen it back in January 1995 at Noela Marr’s and Cyril Hembrow’s Kin Kin property- identified them as Pale-vented Bush-hen; an adult with a juvenile.  It was the first ever record of the species for Allen Road and new ticks no longer flow as they did in the early years.

Almost in the same breath, the pair raced off east towards the Middle Compound; one immediately passed through the mesh wire, the second bounced off the fence before succeeding on its second attempt.  In the blink of an eye they disappeared in the long grass, never to be seen again.

That was, remains, a hard act to follow.

Nor did February manage to rival its predecessor; a more humble tally of 60 species.  March continued the downward trend, reaching only 58 species,  As I pen these few words together, the current month’s tally [at 16 April] stands at 47 species but that does include a magnificent flyover by a pair of Glossy Black-Cockatoos a week ago.

 

 

 

 

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A Matter of Grey

Grey Goshawk in flight

Photo by Russell Jenkins, available at the Australian Bird Images Database: http://www.aviceda.org/abid/index.php

Seeing one Grey Goshawk Accipiter novaehollandiae in a week [http://www.birdingsouthburnett.blogspot.com.au/] is joy enough for the soul of most Queensland birders but to see three over the same weekend – and two of those as a pair- is rapture beyond reckoning!  All the more as at the time we were not birding, simply enjoying a respite from a number of household and backyard chores that needed doing before the sun became too fierce to work in.   We were sitting on the front verandah with a cuppa each.

It was the Noisy Miners Manorina melanocephala that first attracted our attention.  The species has a number of alarm calls, one distinctly warning of the approach of a raptor.  It becomes almost second nature to look up when the Miners alert you to the presence of some danger.

Fay spotted them first, pair of Grey Goshawks just beyond the roofline of our neighbour’s house.  They dipped below our line of vision, reappeared momentarily as they flew towards the wooded area between our two properties, vanished from view again and then suddenly burst out into the open sky.

It was the briefest of glimpses.  Rare views of any delightful bird are never long enough to satisfy the inner being of a birder but it was long enough to note the deeply veed wings as the pair cavorted around each other, dropped from view and reappeared, still in gracefully slow motion before going on their way beyond our line of sight.

We didn’t even have the binoculars at hand but then the pair had been close enough to fully appreciate with the naked eye.

It remains the gem of the 35 backyard species, including the Australian Owlet-nightjar Aegotheles cristatus of the evening, recorded that day.