White eared honeyeater

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.

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.

Impromptu Visit to Brisbane Ranges

Boar gully Camp Ground

Birding at my parents bush block