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white naped honeyeater

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.

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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. 

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

Filed Under: Brisbane Ranges Tagged With: Anakie gorge, eastern yellow robin, grey strike thrush, laughing kookaburra, white naped honeyeater, yellow tufted honeyeater

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.

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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A different angle.

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

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

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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.

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A scenic, but otherwise useless, sign.

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

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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.

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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.

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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?

Filed Under: Brisbane Ranges Tagged With: eastern spinebill, eastern yellow robin, golden whistler, scarlet robin, White browed scrubwren, white naped honeyeater, white throated treecreeper, Yellow faced honeyeater, yellow tufted honeyeater

Exploring the property with Mr Sethy

June 1, 2015 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

Yesterday, Mr Sethy and I went to my parents bush block with, well, my parents. I was initially thinking of taking the little dude to Eastern Beach, or even trying to get him down to Point Addis. Then mum said that they were planning to go to the property.

I instantly asked if I could go. I had gone there last year with my family and it had proven itself to be a pretty good place for birding. I wanted to explore it in depth looking for birds with Seth, and also looking for fungi and bones.

Birds

Sethy was very excited about adding a couple of lifers to his list, and the property certainly didn’t disappoint. We went to one of the back corners and the birds all showed up.

First, there was this white naped honeyeater. It would be awesome to visit here more frequently and monitor the various types of honeyeaters that call the property home. Alas, I don’t think that is possible.

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He was pretty stoked to see this scarlet robin though. I’ve learned how to tell the female robins apart – the flame has red that goes all the way up to the chin. Seth was pretty excited to see this. I’ve seen and photographed it several times – and always love it! – but Sethy doesn’t often get to go to as many places as I do. We got extended views of several male and females.

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I got a photo of what I’m presuming is a grey strike thrush. The picture turned out blurry, as the bird was moving pretty quickly, but the bird was eating a moth 🙂

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Got a really beautiful, clear photo of a male golden whistler. Seth had seen the female in the boardwalk near balyang, but nothing compares to the bright colours of the male. Methinks I’ve passed on a whistler obsession to the little dude.

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He also saw his first white throated treecreeper! I’ve been seeing this guys a lot lately, but I loved showing Sethy their behaviour. We also got to see the little red dot on their cheek, which I’d only learned about three days prior on my birthday.

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This little guy is a varied sitella. Another lifer for Sethy and only the second time I had seen one! I struggled with the ID initially and had to ask for help. Fortunately the people on the facebook group were super helpful.

I was told to watch out for their distinctive way of feeding, which is apparently by spirally down a tree. They are also meant to hang out in groups, which is curious as I’ve only ever seen the two by themselves. It could just be because I take so long to find and identify the birds. I need to get better at ID’ing them quicker so I can watch for their behaviour.

Not sure I am fond of them yet but hey, I love learning.

Fungi

The fungi was a definitely highlight, although nothing will ever match that one brilliant year we had their. I have no idea what we found. As such, there will be no commentary ;P

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Other

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Sethy discovered this large mosquito, which we eventually learned we everywhere. Later, he found one caught in some sundew.

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He also discovered what he called a bush cockroach and asked me to get photos of it. Darn his love of science.

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A spider in the door. I hate spiders

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We stopped off at a picnic area near a creek in steigletz while driving back and found these wallaby bones. It was fun trying to figure out what they were from.

We did also find bits of bones, which we decided must have been from the sheep that live in the opposite paddock. I didn’t think mum would approve of any more bones 😉

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~

Sethy had fun. He’s becoming quite the nerd that is fascinated by everything. At the start he was awesome too, uncharacteristically quiet. I didn’t get to suss out the whole property, as one of the neighbours was cutting down trees and scaring away the birds.

We did find a complete rabbit skull though. We were able to definitively ID it from the book. Sethy has also watched some of the interviews of Jakes Bones and has decided he wants a similar collection. My work here is done 🙂

Filed Under: The Property Tagged With: golden whistler, scarlet robin, varied sitella, white naped honeyeater, white throated treecreeper

Returning to Kennett River

February 4, 2014 by Jade Craven Leave a Comment

These photos are from 7/1/2014. This has been sitting as a draft for a while, as I had nothing really substantial to say. I still don’t. I made more progress with ID’ing and we had a huge day, which included glowworms. I would love to explore Kennett River in depth. [Read more…] about Returning to Kennett River

Filed Under: Apollo Bay Tagged With: brown thornbill, kennett river, red wattlebird, white naped honeyeater

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