Brisbane Ranges

Visiting Anakie Gorge After Restrictions Had Eased

May 30, 2020 by Jade Craven

I got a phone called from mum asking me if I wanted to check out Anakie Gorge. The restrictions had recently eased and we had all been going a bit stir crazy.

It seemed that many others had a similar feeling. The car park was busier than I had ever seen it. Fortunately people were respecting social distancing. We didn’t manage to walk more than 1km as Seth got distracted by all the rocks nearby.

Definitely would love to do some of the hikes in the area and look for evidence of mining. I love the geology of the region.

Honeyeaters Galore at Anakie Gorge

September 1, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Yesterday I visited Anakie Gorge with my parents and the little dude. Both mum and Sethy had celebrated a birthday in the previous week and this was their celebratory adventure. Mum loves the area and we used to go there heaps growing up.

We ended up walking from the gorge to the Stony Creek picnic area. It is fantastic, especially for kids that love rocks. I’ve done a separate post about the walk. You can read it here.

What I really loved however was the birdlife. I hadn’t really fallen for the Brisbane Ranges until this past visit. I was intrigued, definitely, but it was just another place. Woodland birds didn’t interest me. I have now visited enough times to find consistent patterns and I must say, I was intrigued.

One of the first things we noticed as soon as we got there was these two kookaburras sitting in the tree. They quickly started laughing. I was disappointed that we didn’t see them pooping as Seth and I both learned that kookaburras always poo when they laugh. There was a third further on.

We also saw a couple of eastern yellow robins at the start of the track, which was lovely. No scarlet robins, like we’ve seen at other locations. I was hoping to get a flame today but I may have to wait until next year for that.

We were still in the picnic area when I saw this bird and tried hard to get a photo. I was so hopeful it was a crested shrike tit, as a large sign in the area had one pictured. I double checked just in case and alas, just a golden whistler. It wasn’t all for naught though – Sethy managed to pick up TWO more lifers on this day!

We were very fortunate to see this yellow faced honeyeater. I’ve been trying to boost Sethys honeyeater numbers but it is hard, as all the fun ones seem to be at places that are hard to get to via public transport. We didn’t get good lucks but he was happy.

He was more happy though to see the yellow tufted honeyeaters. There was so many around and their call is quite distinctive. Their markings are so beautiful. If you want guaranteed photos, just wait around at the Stony Creek Picnic Ground.

The picnic ground made it so easy to just see them up close. We could see them feeding, interacting and just hanging out.

Look at the yellow marking near his ear? It has now made me determined to see all of the subspecies.

I believe this one was eating at the time. There was a number of wattlebirds around chasing them off, which made it hard to get photographs.

There was a solid number of white naped honeyeaters around. They were so small when flying that I did wonder if they were a finch. It was only when I looked closely that I realized they were a honeyeater. I still think they are rather boring.

This bird really pissed me off. I can never remember the call so I would follow it and follow it to no avail. It would fly off, hiding deeper in the bushes. Then I finally found it and realized it was *this.* Butthead.

I’ve since learned these are spitfires. Sethy was pretty stoked to see them.

I’ve learned that I probably will have some difficulty combining birdwatching and walking. After doing reading, I’m very intrigued at what other birds and animals I can find in the area. I’m not sure just how much I will be exploring this area but I must say. I’m starting to get hooked.

Plants At The Brisbane Ranges

August 12, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

For the most part, I don’t know the names of any of these plants. I know roughly the groups of some of them. (greenhood orchids, fungi. etc.) Carolyn did point out stuff to me but it is a new area with unfamiliar flora. Which is awesome, as I suspect I can really fall in love with this place. I don’t know how I’m going to have time to get to know it better I haven’t fallen in love with the ranges yet. I’m not sure if I will, but Anakie in particular is lovely.

Impromptu Visit to Brisbane Ranges

August 11, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

I’m going to the Gold Coast in two days for work. It’ll be two days of travel, two days at a conference with maybe 1-3 hours of sneaky birding. As usual, I’ve been feeling pretty anxious about it. At least I was on the weekend. I couldn’t slow my heart beat nor get much down.

Fortunately, the fabulous Carolyn offered to take me adventuring for the day. I would have planned to go somewhere myself but the weather forecast was meant to be bad. I thought it would be handy to have a car there just in case it suddenly poured down.

We were lucky. We had great weather. We went to the Brisbane Ranges. It was a rough day in terms of anxiety management but ultimately, very therapeutic.

Our first stop was a walk along orchid and tea tree tracks. I think. The birding was more difficult then I’m used to but it was still pretty awesome

Scarlet Robin. There were a number of these floating about which gave me a chance to practice my sphotography. I was so hoping to see a flame. Alas, I missed. I’m not sure if I’ve missed my chance to see them – or double banded plovers elsewhere – but I’ll try when I get back.

Grey Strike Thrush. The call may have confused me – again!

The above is a white eared honeyeater. I’ve seen them before, it was nice to see them again. I don’t know why I like them more then the white naped honeyeater. Perhaps the red eye annoys me? They were pretty tricky to photograph, they flew very quickly

Blurry wedge tailed eagle. I don’t see them that often and it was flying very low. I was so stabby that the camera wouldn’t focus in time.

Eastern Spinebill. These guys were here in pretty decent numbers. Further away then the ones at the botanic gardens. It was interesting, seeing as I know nothing about their behaviour and what type of habitat they like. I didn’t think the ranges was wet enough. But the plants they liked at the botanical gardens were more for the food they provided.

I love the accidental learning. I so have to learn more about photographing these guys.

I was playing around with creative auto (to get nice backgrounds) when this guy flew off. I think the setting could be useful in rushed situations. Hoping to experiment with it more.

Brown thornbill? A couple of types were seen here, I’m just in no rush to ID them.

Another robin, or probably the same one I’ve photographed earlier.

This is quite likely a lifer. Carolyn did say she saw a grey headed (or grey?) honeyeater but I couldn’t see quick enough. I’m not even annoyed I couldn’t see it, I only get annoyed later when I missed the potential flame robin. Even then, I was just cranky at the camera.< img class=" aligncenter" src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/422/20423457246_6b4aa3a709_z.jpg" alt="IMG_7406" width="640" height="427" />

Treecreeper. I could photograph these guys all day.

Not sure what this is. Probably something common. Maybe a pardalote?

Boar gully Camp Ground

We didn’t have much luck with birds in this area. I took photos of all the signs so I’d remember to read up on it when I got home. I did notice it was the start/end of the Burchell track. I’d given up any hopes of walking it because it isn’t really accessible and involves more hills then other walks I’m interested in. However, I may be able to pay friends for a lift there. I’d need to improve fitness and figure out how to work around my selective eating. I’d given up most thoughts about multi day hiking with all the stress of the past year. I’m pretty excited about all the potential nature adventures I can go on. So many, so little time!

It was a really good trip. It definitely lessened the anxiety. I’m finding I’m feel better in general now I’ve moved.

Exploring the Brisbane Ranges in Winter

July 5, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

This trip took place on the 26th of June

I woke to the sound of my phone buzzing. It was a text message. It may have been around 11am.

“Want to go birding around the Brisbane Ranges today?”

You bet I did! I was exhausted and burnt out. Barely up to being social. But I have some sort of spiritual experience when birding. It calms and refreshes me. It makes me feel excited about life again. It reminds me of why I push myself through so much, even though I’ll probably never fully recover from anxiety.

I LOVE the Brisbane Ranges area. We explored it a little bit as a kid. My parents, or my grandparents, would take us out there for adventuring. I was interested at how the terrain was different and how many rocks there were. I wasn’t interested in birds or flora at the time, which is disappointing. Past Jade could have learnt a lot!

I haven’t been able to get there as an adult. It’s one of those places that is difficult to get to without public transport. I’m very much intrigued and would love to explore it properly.

Lower Stony Creek Reservoir

I’ve struggled to find much information about this area. Maybe I’m confused with the Stony Creek Picnic Area? I know we started at a picnic area and walked down the lower reservoir.

Animal poop we found – suspect rabbit? Still interested in learning more about animal droppings 🙂

There was a yellow robin there. I don’t understand what type of environment they love as I’ve found them in a couple of different types of forest. As always, it was rather photogenic.

A very unique type of fungi. The stalk thingy looks different to other types that I’ve seen. I definitely need to educate myself more about fungi. Carolyn was saying that someone she knows uses a dental mirror to look underneath the fungi. That is a great idea and something I may think about doing.

Yellow Tufted Honeyeater!

I did see one in the past at Chiltern…. just before I killed the camera. I was so upset as this is such a beautiful bird and I really wanted photos. This photo is mediocre but it was awesome to see one again. I really want to study this bird more and get much better photos. I also want to see the helmeted honeyeater subspecies.

Golden Whistler. It may be a generic bird and it is one that I am seeing more and more often, even close to home. It was fun to get some photos of it doing something different instead of just posing like it normally does.

Burchell Trail. I took a photo of this sign to remind me of my previous love of hiking and how I’d love to do this walk one day.

More poop. Suspected wallaby or kangaroo.

Lower Stony Creek

This area, in particular the dam, is very significant to the history of Geelong. Well, the water supply. It may be boring to some but I thought it was interesting and so, as usual, took a photo.

You can get more information about the history of it at Barwon Blogger.

This map is blurry and may not be useful to anyone. I added it, as I always do, to add context. The following couple of photos are intended to show what the reservoir looks like when there is no water in it. Glenn could have gotten some really awesome photos there.

Yellow faced honeyeater. After much thinking, I’ve decided that these birds are awesome. (I either love, or hate, honeyeaters. Don’t ask.)

A different angle.

Eastern spinebill. Took forever for me to see my first one but now they are popping up all the time. Definitely worth researching 🙂

White naped honeyeater. This is one of the species that I don’t like, although there is no logical reason. Possibly because it is so difficult to photograph with very little reward 😉

White browed scrubwren. Definitely want to research subspecies and behaviour as they are awesome.

More fungi. There was much more fungi there that I didn’t photograph. It is so interesting, I wouldn’t have thought that such a dry area would have had fungi!

Steigletz

It was so fascinating going to Steigletz. We went through the township, including going past the church. I’d definitely love to return to the area and learn more about it. I don’t think it’s feasible anytime soon but man, it is beautiful.

A scenic, but otherwise useless, sign.

Unsure, but suspected grey strike thrush. Or female golden whistler. Normally I use the wings to tell them apart.

Scarlet robin. We saw two, a female and male, in different areas here. There was also a large number of crimson rosellas but they were fairly skittish.

White throated treecreeper. We heard a number of them around that day. I haven’t found a consistent type of environment they like but it was always awesome seeing them.

More fungi!

Loved this trip. Am so very grateful that Carolyn asks me on these adventures, even if it means going out of her way. I love learned about new areas and she has been a fantastic mentor. So much knowledge about the various parts of nature! She also understands my social limitations and it makes it so much easier for me.

I can be an agoraphobic people hater but still get lonely.

Anyway! Brisbane Ranges is really interesting. It’s amazing how you can have so many different environments in such a small area. Visiting here helped place a lot of the other areas in context and gave me something to compare other places to. I’ve been focusing on areas close to the ocean – mostly because they are serviced by public transport.

The natural world is so diverse and I’m so fortunate to be able to experience it as much as I have lately – despite my many limitations. I love birding.

Change of tone from yesterday, hey?