grey strike thrush

Groundcover is Returning At The Property

June 11, 2016 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Yesterday, I went up to the property again. Mum and dad had to meet someone so I took advantage of the lift to properly check out the changes. Apparently it is a lot easier to look for fungi when it isn’t incredibly windy?

I’ll talk about the fungi in a future post as there were a LOT of photos.

This photo was taken to compare with the photos of the burned cars I shared in the first post. There is one main difference. There is a lot of greenery on the grown! Two weeks and decent rains can make a difference.

This is to contrast with the green fields in the background.

The sundew is coming up really nicely, accompanied by grass.

I tried to experiment with little dew drops on the sundew. Alas, it was incredibly muddy so I kept on sinking into the ground.

This is a little dip where there are a lot of quartz around. I’m not sure what the proper explanation is for it. Regardless, there is NEVER water in it. Yesterday, it was full. Was a great area for fungi too.

Plants:

I didn’t notice any orchids on this trip but I did notice other plants growing from the ground. Not sure what they are or if they are relevant.

The above photo I took because it reminded me of the monster from “Little Shop of Horrors.” I showed Seth the photo and he saw the similarity. YES! It means I’m only slightly weird.

Birds:

Great day for birds to, in many respects it reminded me of what it was like before the fires.

Grey fantail chasing a varied sitella. Haven’t seen a sitella here for ages!

Young grey strike thrush. Two hanging around as we were walking back to the car.

Wedge tailed eagle! It was sitting on a tree and then it flied off. I swore in front of my parents because I didn’t expect to see a wedgie that close. A friend since told me it’s common to find them near farming areas, as they get easy feed with the dead lambs.

I also heard a whistling kite and kookaburras. It definitely sounded like the birdlife was back.

Creative:

Mum had an interesting comment recently. She said a lot of these photos weren’t my style, that I’ve been trying to emulate someone elses style. She is true, to a degree. I’ve been pursuing citizen science projects and my number #1 priority has been getting all the diagnostic features I can. This really limits creativity when you are pressed for time or when the animal is at risk of moving.
Or when it is really muddy.
These are a couple of experimental shots. I may explore properly next time, if we have longer.

I’m hoping to get more scientific in future trips. Look into ethical surveying techniques, like tiles for reptiles and and wildlife cameras. Just need to do my research and wait until the clean up has finished.

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.

Birding at my parents bush block

December 19, 2014 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

My parents own a bushblock about 20 minutes away from Ballarat. It is a place I’ve loved and loathed. I used to hate going there as a kid, preferring the solitude of the family home once all four of my siblings were there. The property could be fun but not when siblings invited all of their irritating friends.

I’m more appreciative of it now, I love the particular type of bush it is. You can get awesome fungi if the winter is cold enough! Last winter, I was craving a trip to the bush. My family were going to the bush block. I asked if I could go with them and do some sneaky birding.

As usual, I struggled to bird because my nephew was there. I swear he knows when I really want to be by myself and chooses that moment to be clingy, ignoring my pleas to be quite. He knows how to be quite but just chooses not to, even when he’s said he wants to go birding.

I walked around and took photos of everything that moved. This is a Buff rumped thornbill.

Random bird nest.

This is an immature grey strike thrush. I’ve recently learned that strike thrushes can have different calls depending on the region. No wonder I got confused at Toolangi!

There was a scarlet robin hanging around a huge tree on the neighbouring property. Next winter, I need to return to Ocean Grove Nature Reserve to check out the robins.

I was walking along the side that borders a neighbours farm when I saw what I thought was a clump of sticks high up in the tree. Initially, I thought it was a nest. Turned out it was a koala! It looks a bit different to other koalas that I’ve seen, like the nose is too big. I ended up getting my family to come and see it. Nice to know that the native animals love our little sanctuary.

White eared honeyeater. Awesome to see something different.

I really want to return to the Ballarat region, and other parts of central Victoria, to bird. I love seeing the difference in various types of bush and forest. This trip was a bit of a bummer but any birding was incidental.

Buckley Falls With Glenn

October 25, 2014 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Glenn hours at work have changed. By the time it gets to his weekend, he’s exhausted. Last Monday, I told him he should come with me to Buckley Falls. I had visited there the week before and noticed that there were a lot of fairy wrens there.

Long story, but Glenn has been trying to get the elusive shot of a fairy wren. They move so quickly that it is hard to get a clear shot. I was sitting there being taunted by the other birds that were hiding on me so I decided to call Glenn.

“They are teasing me. Oh, how they vex me! By the way, you should come here. Reed warblers too, if you can find the ****ers”. I’ll be writing about that trip shortly.

He was hesitant about going but was feeling better by the afternoon. We caught the taxi there and he was immediately gripped. He didn’t know where to go. Wrens everywhere! I haven’t gone through the photos yet because, well, he takes so many photos and it should be his job.

I did hear this little guy with a beautiful call though. I wasn’t sure if it was a bird I had seen before. I got home and youtubed the sound. Yep, definitely a grey strike thrush. I saw another one of them near Fyansford. I know they are generic but I don’t find them much around home.

We walked closer to the falls. Glenn got distracted by a great egret and a heron. He sat down on the rocks for about half an hour to get photos. It was difficult as people kept on walking past and scaring it away. An older man even walked past Glenn to get closer to the bird. Which is fair enough, but I felt for Glenn. He got some interesting photos. A friend in a FB bird group got brilliant photos of one eating an eel though – and his camera isn’t even a DSLR! We really need to investigate the lens situation.

Another FB friend observed a night heron there. Even though it’s a taxi ride away, I’m thinking I have to visit here more and suss out the birdlife. I’ll have to budget for taxis.

We got to Fyansford and saw some interesting birds overhead. Well, I did. I assumed they were just straw necked ibises, as they were pretty far away. Once I got home I realized that they were pelicans! I should have told Glenn and gotten some photos with the zoom lens of doom. Oh well.

I noticed this nest that looked like it belonged to a crow. Couldn’t get any better photos, but was an interesting find.

Sacred Kingfisher

Glenn was on a bridge. I was about to cross it when I heard a call that sounded different. I walked slowly so as not to scare the bird away. I was standing Glenn and looking at the bird that had the interesting call.

“Oh Glenn. I’ve been looking for a kingfisher for ages. You’re my good luck charm.”

He was snapping away a lot of photos while asking further questions about kingfishers – ones that I were unable to answer. I’ve only been back into birding for a year!

We got some interesting and clear shots. Well, Glenn did. I was too busy rambling about how happy I was and how life now made sense.

Birdwatching can trigger my anxiety but often, the payoff can be so worth it. This day was worth the times I’ve been stuck on a train crying because I wasn’t coping. It was worth the migraines and self doubt, and feeling so depressed because I can’t even leave the house to bird. It was so beautiful. People had mentioned seeing them along there but I didn’t think I’d be so lucky.

The sucky-eater

I saw flashes of yellow in a tree so snapped away, hoping that it would prove to be a stupid shrike tit. I ended up submitting these photos to a bird identification site. One of the photos was definitely a white plumed honey eater, a bird that I had seen on multiple occasions. I couldn’t figure out what the bird below was though. Maybe that shrike tit?

After lots of back and forth, I realized that this was the HONEYEATERS BUTT. It looks like a beak and head but no. You can clearly see the leg.

I felt like an idiot but hey, I learned a lot!

We ended up catching a taxi back from Fyansford. Glenn was boring and didn’t want to explore further. We were walking towards the hotel when I saw a bird of prey. I grabbed the camera off him – he wouldn’t have had time to find it. I had seconds to get a photo that would capture enough detail. And it worked! It wasn’t perfectly clear, but was clear enough for me to learn that the bird was a black kite.

Definitely want to return to Fyansford and explore the common. I want that area to be as familiar as Balyang Sanctuary is. It may be difficult if I end up moving before the end of the year. I don’t want to move from this area, the wildlife is magnificent. My nephew and I were walking back from Balyang and saw two different species of possum. In suburban Geelong! That would never have happened in Corio.

Glenn and I are are getting increasingly frustrated with the Sigma lens. I’ve been looking at the quality of the photos from other people in the photography group. They tend to have lenses that cost 8-20k. I’m thinking that we stick to this one until we increase our technical understanding and then get a 400m Canon. Not the best option, but is affordable and meant to have much sharper photos. I worry that I’ve led Glenn astray with the sigma purchase but we have gotten some fantastic shots with it. I guess it’s a testament to how much we’ve improved.