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Alex Rogers' Big Year 2019 (a slow starter!)


Alex Rogers

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50 minutes ago, Alex Rogers said:

The deja vu may have come from seeing many of these pics on a Botswana trip report I did earlier -

Nope! I don't read trip reports that often. I am now wondering if I was reading your post as it went up but got interupted by the recent shut down? Senior moments are getting all too frequent these days. It was the Tawny v Martial and the mating that struck the chord amongst others.

I shall just be content to see what else you offer from Oz and hear your views on the P900 and that riduculous viewfinder.

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Game Warden

It's great to see new people joining in with the Big Year @Alex Rogers. And, just think, next year you'll be set to start posting on Jan 1st!

 

Welcome.

 

Matt

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Alex Rogers
15 hours ago, Game Warden said:

It's great to see new people joining in with the Big Year @Alex Rogers. And, just think, next year you'll be set to start posting on Jan 1st!

 

Welcome.

 

Matt

 

Thanks for the welcome Matt - also for all your hard work on this site, an amazing resource. Yes, will treat this year as practice, and if I like it - well, I'll have a 12 hour head start on most of the members next year  :-) 

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ON Saturday I joined the Tempe Birdo's on their Saturday survey of the Tempe wetlands and nearby Cook's River shore. They have been doing this monthly for many years, and have built up a great database of our local birds. Saturday was super windy and cold (by Sydney standards) and there were not a great number of birds out along the river. I did get to photograph a new one for me: 

 

79 Golden Whistler (female). The males are much brighter, but both sexes have a glorious and distinctive call. 

 

DSCN1756_cr.jpg.6a24c4c34b6e8c715b59b93ffec7d59d.jpg

 

80) Australian Magpie. Talking of birds with glorious calls, the humble magpie also has a lovely song. Breeding season has just started in Australia - so people gonna get swooped! They are famous for attacking people in breeding season - usually no more than just a nuisance (and people wear zip-ties on their bike helmets to ward them off) but every so often someone loses an eye. This is a vedry ordinary picture for therecord, but there is one nesting on an electricity pole near home, so I'll try to get some urban nesting shots (without losing an eye)

 

DSCN1738_ed1.jpg.00abfb57e678acee2adb6a039f85693e.jpg

 

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Sunday I visited 2 sites near me - first was the Botany Bay Foreshore walk, from the Mill Stream Lookout near the airport, to Penrhyn Estuary at the container wharves. Again not a very productive walk due to the very strong winds - but the New Holland Honeyeaters and Superb Fairywrens were abundant. Got a fleeting glimpse of a bird of prey, probably a black-shouldered kite - but the waterbirds were notable by their absence. The Port authority has put a lot of work into rehabilitating the seagrass beds and mudflats in the estuary, but really the whole area is so degraded, and the water toxic. I got a couple of quite ordinary photos: 

 

81) White-faced Heron, hunting the mud-flats at Mill Stream. You can see the pinkish neck feathers emerging as breeding season approaches. 

 

DSCN1791_cr.jpg.14b1bfd5f13fc3ac3c11306cdf429296.jpg

 

82) An EBC photo of a Pied Oystercatcher. There were 2 at the Penrhyn Estuary, about 150m away 

 

DSCN1812_ed1.jpg.01c702d8641a5e653fa369aeeb920798.jpg

 

83) Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike - unfortunately he spotted me and didn't give me a chance at a profile. 

 

DSCN1815_cr.jpg.c89305e7f5922e40eb0fbac0b26379d5.jpg

 

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The second site was across Foreshore drive and into Sir Joseph Banks park - a suburban park with a little pond system that has a decent number of common local species and a few less common. I had some fun photographing the locals. 

 

84) Little Black Cormorant. One of our more common local species, they form large flocks, flying in V's up the rivers and bays. 

 

1364760136_DSCN1865_ed1LittleBlackCormorant.jpg.4279d475c1aa7a29497ba2339d882dfb.jpg

 

85) Great Cormorant - very similar, but larger, and with yellow face and white cheeks. Little Black Cormorants behind for comparison. 

 

692229168_DSCN1859_ed1GreatCormorant.jpg.0b1948b8d41f47155832fabf2aff9c73.jpg

 

Another shot showing the wing markings

 

480414811_DSCN1906_ed1GreatCormorant.jpg.0c64cffe1890f13771b666001262d014.jpg

 

86) Australasian Darter - this is a female, much browner than the male

 

1521022765_DSCN1876_ed1AustraliasianDarterfemale.jpg.b05de7bfc77cf2a0f3edb363f9db6a8d.jpg

 

87) Dusky Moorhen were in abundance

 

471981887_DSCN1894_crDuskymoorhen.jpg.535cc7598e1b93777a719f3392a5760c.jpg

 

Juvenile Dusky Moorhen

 

1042447002_DSCN1902_ed1DuskyMoorhenjuv.jpg.a365b719cacb48ac89faac459811afe3.jpg

 

88) Australian White Ibis. They are rather unfairly known here as "bin-chickens" - they have adapted very well to suburbia, and are somewhat prone to getting stuck into open skip bins. I tried to get a more naturalistic shot of this bird - and here they are nesting on a little island on the pond. 

 

90737039_DSCN1886_ed1ibisonnest.jpg.b6260836bd5b496746aafb6c2a38b31c.jpg

 

Island-dwelling is a good choice - otherwise the foxes will get you .

 

DSCN1873.jpg.0c94b4c4246960f2c4ff7dafb9b9e891.jpg

 

89) Hardhead - a peculiarly-named duck - apparently not because it has a particularly bullet-proof head, but because the early naturalists found it so difficult to get the head right during taxidermy! Also known as the white-eyed duck - but only the male has that very distinctive eye. 

 

1841027699_DSCN1930_ed1Hardheadmale.jpg.d2a84949645504e56c269507f6ab398e.jpg

 

Female Hardhead

 

320725599_DSCN1932_ed1Hardheadfemale.jpg.c679da00d836ac3772f154e859c8fc84.jpg

 

90) Another ubiquitous waterbird - the Eurasian Coot. 

 

384062289_DSCN1826_crEurasianCoot.jpg.599d6066c397000a7a6938ddd4bc1f41.jpg

 

91) Rather more special is the Black Swan

 

2055123357_DSCN1929_ed1BlackSwan.jpg.de64d2ae8ebf6d96520df8c3cd0864e5.jpg

 

92) Willie Wagtail - our biggest fantail, and super-common backyard bird in Australia. 

 

608352003_DSCN1938_ed1WillieWagtail.jpg.6d090a583824a63b0ec0a51be3633991.jpg

 

They are harder to photograph than you'd think, for such a visible bird - constantly on the move, hunting small insects 

 

399885275_DSCN1957_ed1WillieWagtailhunting.jpg.5eb946ccc21664a8a16c12ee15c9932e.jpg

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Now this one I'm not going to claim - because a) I don't know what it is, and b) I suspect it is a feral hybrid. The yellow beak is unusual - and in combination with faint iridescent green on the head (not clearly visible here) I think there is Mallard in there somewhere, maybe Mallard/Chestnut Teal  or Mallard/Pacific Black Duck. Anybody with knowledge of Australian ducks can help out with ID? Photo taken yesterday at Sir Joseph Banks Park, Botany, NSW, in company with Hardheads, Pacific Black Ducks, Chestnut Teal

 

 DSCN1828.jpg.13789b09719529812313c65b0f0bd822.jpg

Edited by Alex Rogers
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Nice additions.

I think you will need to adjust your EBC standards- no way does you Oystercatcher qualify! :D

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24 minutes ago, TonyQ said:

I think you will need to adjust your EBC standards- no way does you Oystercatcher qualify! :D

I agree. Way too easy. I would suggest the White Ibis (dec'd) much more in line with criteria.

Definitely a lot of Mallard in that hybrid but I don't know enough about Antipodean birds to offer further help.

 

Nice additions to your count.

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1 hour ago, TonyQ said:

I think you will need to adjust your EBC standards- no way does you Oystercatcher qualify! :D

 

Not even close, and I thought I had the criteria for an EBC more or less clear, but that was before @Galana´s Freckled Nightjar...

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Dave Williams

Keep them coming, I'm afraid they are all new to me so it's a learning curve and I can't help on the ID.

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Went for a walk at Eastlakes golf course today - in between dodging irate golfers I saw a few birds I haven't seen for a while. Manged to get some photos of a couple of more common ones: 

 

New Holland Honeyeater - previously posted, but I like this shot with the insect

 

947141992_HoneyeaterNewHollandDSCN2195.JPG.30f1ee454d445b14b34c64249553522d.JPG

 

93) Masked Lapwing. Possibly the most typical golf-course bird, they love mown lawns near water :-) 

 

379843675_LapwingMaskedDSCN2185_cr.jpg.44115564da009a34cc7eb416247e7253.jpg

 

94) Magpie lark - another super common backyard bird here, but I haven't managed to get a decent photo yet. I quite like this composition (pity about the casuarina "leaf") 

 

1831593285_MagpieLarkDSCN2138_cr.jpg.d910788d92df3280bf0323aa78a06ce6.jpg

 

95) Australasian Swamphen Porphyrio melanotus (used to be known as Purple Swamphen - Porphyrio porphyrio - but I believe is now elevated to a separate species) - my favourite of the common pond / waterbirds - got a bit of character with that dinosaur shield, and cool colours too. 

 

1699637451_SwamphenDSCN2178_cr.jpg.a54361a602a41117991ecb0072836483.jpg

 

96) Black-fronted Dotterel. Not the best shot, but a new bird for me so I was pleased to get any photo. He didn't hang around for a better shot, I'll have to be a bit more surreptitious. Lovely little bird. 

 

1593638753_Dotterelblack-frontedDSCN2190_ed1.JPG.9182b349858e330e1a4821344e7a7960.JPG

 

A nice day out. 

Edited by Alex Rogers
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As you say 'a nice day out'.

Your Dotterell will be very confusing to northern hemisphere BY folks. Almost a dead ringer for the Ringed Plovers we get and not at all like 'our' Dotterell.

Cute little bird!

 

Your first century looks very close.

Edited by Galana
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21 hours ago, Galana said:

Your Dotterell will be very confusing to northern hemisphere BY folks. Almost a dead ringer for the Ringed Plovers we get and not at all like 'our' Dotterell.

Cute little bird!

 

Yes, we have Common Ringed Plover too (Charadrius hiaticula) with very similar markings, I had to look him up afterwards with photos in hand, otherwise would never have been sure which one he was. The red-ringed eye and red beak is distinctive. Just to make things more confusing, the Black-fronted Dotterel is also known as the Black-fronted Plover ... I agree, he looks like a plover to me. 

 

 

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A belated welcome from me as well, Alex! Very glad to have you aboard. Your Botswana photos were a nice memory for me of my own Bots trip earlier this year (maybe the reason for @Galana´s Deja vu?), and I love the colourful birds you are having Down Under - beautiful. Many really great shots, like the Swamphen. Looking forward to seeing much more!

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And another glorious late winter day, 22 degrees and the birds think it is spring. I took an early morning walk through Centennial Park, a lovely inner city park in Sydney with some very productive ponds and woods. 

 

97) Pied Cormorant. Shortly after taking this I discovered the poor guy had a broken wing (you can see the left tip hanging low), and was unable to fly - I contacted the Rangers, and hopefully they could get him to Wildlife Rescue. 

 

1728461019_CormorantPiedDSCN2245_cr.jpg.643e58802cdecb9f235509b30f489327.jpg

 

98) Little Corella - Cacatua sanguinea means "blood-stained cockatoo" which I think it very dramatic for a few pink feathers, right? Strictly vegetarian, our corellas, promise. Also very playful birds, you'll see them sliding down tin roofs just for fun. 

 

1712241970_CorellalittleDSCN2216_cr.jpg.24507970ecd1b5920d83e87f4ee73563.jpg

 

Bonus mammal (#notabird) - Grey-headed Flying Fox (Pteropus poliocephalus)

 

1439475693_FlyingFoxDSCN2322_cr.jpg.dafcb87088137e57068cc7c86a5250de.jpg

 

1224618334_FlyingFoxDSCN2332_cr.jpg.7a670fb73b4b9de52772365f3b2d513d.jpg

 

There is a huge colony in a paperbark forest there - when I got to the park at dawn, they were returning from a night out on the town (at least some of them partying in my palm trees) - all squabbles and carrying on, as 5000 or so of these amazing creatures tried to find the prime hanging spot for a good night sleep at the top of the trees. 

 

Not going to count this one either, as I already have Australian Ibis - but I couldn't resist posting a shot of chicks. On an island far away, so quality is poor - but everyone likes chicks, right? 

 

849476361_ibisnestDSCN2263_cr.jpg.cc862b9a87df5f13661072e75abf4d03.jpg

 

978013188_ibisfeedchickDSCN2257_cr.jpg.9034ceb8fb4f1fcc10d7a0528fcdeb74.jpg

 

99) OK, getting close - here is a rather busy photo of a very busy bird - the Noisy Miner. They are an unbelievably aggressive honeyeater, and will regularly and successfully chase off far bigger birds, individually or in gangs. Unfortunately they have replaced a lot of urban backyard birds, and dominate our parks, gardens and open eucalyptus forests. Some forest managers are choosing to eradicate them completely to let the smaller birds back in. Still, they are cheeky, charismatic birds, and I quite like them. 

 

2087293430_MinerNoisyDSCN2391_cr.jpg.bd29f7668410721919b1e335767fcd45.jpg

 

304732570_MinerNoisyBIFDSCN2393_cr.jpg.e1566c7cc2f85286bf9b01df9fecec53.jpg

 

And ... 100! Fanfare please for the popular king of the Australian birds - the Laughing Kookaburra

 

 

1883694746_KookaburraLaughingDSCN2452_cr.jpg.eb6aa31443ce2ca26eb92a3856f9c4d1.jpg

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101) Pink-eared duck.. Very exciting, never seen them before and specifically went to this park to see them  Sorry about the quality of the shots, but these birds were a long way away, and would not pose nicely like regular ducks. They are peculiar ducks, in that they are filter feeders - they suck water through the front of the bill, then expel it through the sides, where fine grooves filter out the tiny organisms that they eat. They have a peculiar habit of chasing each others tails around and around and around and around - I guess this might cause some kind of vortex and suck up organisms from deeper water? Interesting, but damned if I could get a clean shot of them, they circled for 20 minutes until I got dizzy and had to leave. 

 

1581619916_Pink-earedDuckDSCN2282_cr.jpg.b475165d46661d677dec6689a1ddf107.jpg

 

102) The Royal Spoonbill was more obliging in giving me various poses

 

94698475_SpoonbillRoyalDSCN2348_cr.jpg.4953692282f76eeaebb3857b464a81b5.jpg

 

162347154_SpoonbillroyalDSCN2350_cr.jpg.42cda8a2fae93fac63b8c7010b72581a.jpg

 

 

556085299_SpoonbillRoyalDSCN2347_cr.jpg.0311cf0f32219a9a0fa3282565aaf503.jpg

 

and (#notabird) here is a bonus for those who are kind enough to look through to the end - an Eastern Water Dragon

1140982107_MonitorWaterDSCN2411.JPG.9b578a8fcd40782e1bf571ef6a4921e7.JPG

 

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Congrats on the 100th and achieving it in such a short time! you've shown you are never too late to the BY thread!

 

and a belated warm welcome to the BY mania. Love that red-browed finch! we spent 5 days in Perth/Fremantle, but we couldn't believe our bad luck in not seeing a single galah, common bird it may be!

 

Look forward to your next 100 birds.  

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Thanks kitsafari :-) I think the next 100 may be harder - but 200 is one BY goal for 2019, so I'm going to try :-) Another is to improve the quality of the shots (why I'm participating) which will add a difficulty level - but I feel it is already helping. It is good fun - and much more fun in having a few other people looking at them too, so thank you all for your views and comments. 

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Congratulations on your first Century. It is often the hardest so you never know.

Curious bird the Miner. It almost looks to be binocular. Is it?

You are building up a great selection of Aussie birds.

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Dave Williams

100 up...and what better bird as you rightly said! keep them coming.

 

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Well done on reaching 100, and with a great bird!

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Peter Connan

Congratulations.

 

Some really nice shots in these last few batches!

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Congratulations on reaching 100 and what a fitting bird!

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