Dragonflies Australia

Continuing on from Biami Yumba park, we walked through this area fairly thoroughly.  Leaden Flycatcher was a good bird for the area, probably only my fourth or fifth record.  Scarlet Honeyeaters were everywhere, in far greater numbers than I have ever seen before.  A begging fledgeling indicated possible breeding in the area.  A cruising Brahminy Kite was a welcome sight, and a Darter sunning itself on an island in the river was the first I've seen for a while in the area.  Sadly, the Pony Club has decided once again to slash the long grass and weeds in their gully without taking steps to replace the vegetation with natives.  No doubt as last time numbers of small birds in the area will suffer greatly.  Rainbow Bee-eaters are back in number (and have been for some time I am told), making this a very early return to the area for them.

Survey time: 8:00am-9:30am

There were a lot of interesting things going on in this remnant vegetation strip today.  There were a lot of Little Lorikeets flying around, feeding in the flowering gums, and generally being visible, which is unusual for the area.  Two cuckoo species were heard calling, Fan-tailed Cuckoo and Shining Bronze-Cuckoo.  The Fan-tailed Cuckoo is a bird I've only heard a small number of times in the area, and the I've never recorded the Shining Bronze-Cuckoo at this site before, and only a handful of times in the area too.  Sacred Kingfishers have made a return to the area, and already appear to be staking out territories.  The Scarlet Honeyeaters contine to feed their young and be very vocal and approachable, and nearby the Striated Pardalotes appear to be nesting, though no definite clues yet.

Survey 8:15-9:30

I ducked along the river for an evening survey this afternoon, with great results.  I was able to find breeding-plumaged males of all three Fairy-Wren species found in the area, as well as great looks at the recently returned Sacred Kingfishers.  The Rainbow Bee-eaters are probably breeding in the Pony Club, though I will have to find some burrows to confirm this.  The highlight was 4 White-winged Trillers, 3 males and 1 female.  This is only my third record for the area, and first for this site, so its very exciting.

Survey 4:30pm-4:45pm