BY 2022 - Soukous (even if there are no birds, you can still enjoy the music)

[offshorebirder]

15 hours ago, Soukous said:

I originally had this down as a Pacific Golden Plover then changed my mind

 

 

Put it back down as a Golden-Plover!

 

Note the:

Brown-gold cap, pale narrow supercilium extending down neck, comparatively dainty bill, more gold feather edgings on coverts and tertials than a Grey Plover would ever show, a few dark specks on the undertail coverts, etc.

 

[Soukous]

# 276 - Sacred Kingfisher - Todiramphus sanctus

BBO, Sept

 

The most common Kingfisher in Australia.

 

 

 

 

 

# 277 - Great Knot - Calidris tenuirostris

BBO, Sept

 

 

# 278 - Great Bowerbird - Chlamydera nuchalis

BBO, Sept

 

 

 

# 279 - Australian White Ibis - Threskiornis molucca

BBO/Roebuck Bay, Sept

 

 

# 280 - White-breasted Woodswallow - Artamus leucorynchus

BBO, Sept

 

 

 

and more of them at Swan Hill

 

[Soukous]

# 281 - Brown Falcon - Falco berigora

BBO, Sept

 

 

 

# 282 - Pied Butcherbird - Cracticus nigrogularis

BBO, Sept

 

 

a quick stop on the mud flats as I was leaving brought me my last 3 from BBO.

 

# 283 - Grey-tailed Tattler - Heteroscelus brevipes

BBO, Sept

 

 

 

# 284 - Terek Sandpiper - Xenus cinereus

BBO, Sept

 

 

# 285 - Striated Heron - Butorides striatus

BBO, Sept

 

 

Edited October 18, 2022 by Soukous

[Soukous]

# 286 - Straw-necked Ibis - Threskiornis spinicollis

Broome, Sept

 

 

A brief excursion down the Indian Ocean coast, to the south of Broome was not as productive as I'd hoped, but there were a couple of good uns

 

I had no idea what this was when I first saw it, btu it behaved very much like a Gannet.

 

# 287 - Brown Booby - Sula leucogaster

Indian Ocean coast, WA. Sept

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

# 288 - Lesser Frgatebird - Fregata ariel

Indian Ocean coast, WA. Sept

 

time for an ebc. This was far away and against the light, so getting detail was difficult.

 

# 289 - Osprey - Pandion haliaetus

Indian Ocean Coast, WA. Sept

 

 

 

 

The transition from 39°C in Broome, to 10°C in Melbourne was quite a shock. It was raining at the airport when we arrived and this was a sign of things to come

 

# 290 - Willie Wagtail - Rhipidura leucophrys

Geelong, Vic. Sept

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Soukous]

# 291 - Australian Grebe - Tachybaptus novaehollandiae

Victoria, Australia. Sept

 

 

 

# 292 - Yellow-rumped Thornbill - Acanthiza chrysorrhoa

Victoria, Australia. Sept

 

 

# 293 - Grey Fantail - Rhipidura fuliginosa

Victoria, Australia. Sept

 

quite confiding birds it seems. Both the ones I saw were quite happy to linger

 

 

 

# 294 - Australian Shelduck - Tadorna tadornoides

Victoria, Australia. Sept

 

the male

 

the female

 

# 295 - White-faced Heron - Egretta novaehollandiae

Victoria, Australia. Sept

 

 

 

 

[Soukous]

9 hours ago, offshorebirder said:

 

Put it back down as a Golden-Plover!

 

Note the:

Brown-gold cap, pale narrow supercilium extending down neck, comparatively dainty bill, more gold feather edgings on coverts and tertials than a Grey Plover would ever show, a few dark specks on the undertail coverts, etc.

 

 

Thanks Nate, ID points noted. 

[Soukous]

and this is where the plans turned to custard.

 

The plan was to head north through 3 National Parks - Lake Lake Albacutya, Murray Sunset and Hattah Kulkyne - and end up in Swan Hill, where we were meeting some friends.

 

The drive to Lake Albacutya was fine, a cool but sunny day and we reached the campsite with plenty of daylight left to make dinner. But, as we were eating diner, it started to rain. Not an ideal situation when you're sleeping in swags.

We had to abandon our camp and drive into Hopetoun to find a cheap motel. It tiped it down that night and we were happy to have made the right decision.

 

I did manage a couple of birds at the Lake Albacutya camp, before we had to leave.

 

#296 - Red-rumped Parrot - Psephotus haematonotus

Lake Albacutya, Victoria, Aus. Sept

 

 

 

# 297 - Tree Martin - Hirundo nigricans

Lake Albacutya, Victoria, Aus. Sept

 

 

 

 

there was a lovely Black-shouldered Kite perched high in a dead tree, but I've already counted that from Namibia

 

 

[Soukous]

# 298 - White-browed Treecreeper - Climacteris affinis

Lake Albacutya, Victoria, Australia. Sept

 

 

 

# 299 - Mallee Ringneck - Barnardius barnardi

Lake Albacutya, Victoria, Aus. Sept

 

There are 4 regional variations of the Australian Ringneck. Sadly, the Malle Ringneck is probably the least striking of them all.

 

 

 

this one was in Hattah Kulkyne

 

after a night in Hopetoun, we drove on to the Murray Sunset NP.

Right from the start it was obvious there had been a lot of rain. Not only was everything very green, but there were huge pools of water everywhere.

 

The first track we tried was underwater and impassable, so we diverted and tried another. It looked better but we soon found ourselves in trouble, sliding off the narrow bit of firm track into the quicksand by the side of it.

We were well & truly bogged.

 

 

After four and a half hours, with the sun setting, we had not see another vehicle and resigned ourselves to an uncomfortable night. So we started a fire and began preparing dinner. Why not? no point being hungry as well.

Then just as the sun was disappearing I saw a set of headlights coming our way. Then another, and another. It was a group of 7 vehicles - a 4x4 club outing. After a brief discussion of tactics a couple of the vehicles were strapped together and we were pulled out.

Talk about lucky.

 

We thanked them profusely, gave them half our wine supply and began packing up. We did not plan to go far, just get ourselves out of the swamp.

We stopped on a sandy hill by the side of the road and enjoyed our dinner, before settling in for a night under a star filled sky.

Too good to be true? of course it was. At 02:30 it started raining. We packed up our swags and spent the rest of the night in the cab.

 

Next morning we stopped for breakfast in Ouyen before driving on to Hattah-Kulkyne NP.

 

Hattah-Kulkyne is much smaller than Murray-Sunset, and is supposed to be a mecca for birders. In normal times perhaps, but when we got there the lakes were swollen and one of the campsites was underwater. again we tried to make our way northwards, but kept being blocked by tracks that were either closed or under water.

 

I did get a few birds, but nowhere near the number I had hoped for.

 

# 300 - Sulphur-crested Cockatoo - Cacatua galerita

Hattah-Kulkyne NP, Victoria, Aus, Sept

 

When you first see these birds it's quite exciting; until you discover that they are as common as feral pigeons in London.

 

 

 

[Soukous]

# 301 - Grey Teal - Anas gracilis

Hattah-Kulkyne NP, Victoria, Aus. Sept

 

 

# 302 - Australian Wood Duck - Chenonetta jubata

Hattah-Kulkyne NP, Victoria, Aus. Sept

 

 

# 303 - Masked Lapwing - Vanellus miles

Hattah-Kulkyne NP, Victoria, Aus. Sept

 

 

# 304 - Noisy Miner - Manorina melanocephala

Hattah-Kulkyne NP, Victoria, Aus. Sept

 

 

 

 

# 305 - Australian Magpie - Gymnorhina tibicen

Hattah-Kulkyne NP, Victoria, Aus. Sept

 

 

[xelas]

#300 is an important milestone … or maybe just the half way of this BY?! Whichever it is my congratulations!

[Peter Connan]

Congratulations on the 300! 

 

Glad you got un-stuck. Sorry you got wet.

[PeterHG]

Good to see you back and with so many excellent shots from Australia. I understand it could have been a lot better, but still…!

[Galana]

Congratulations on the 300. and some lovely adventure stories.

 

[Soukous]

14 hours ago, Peter Connan said:

Congratulations on the 300! 

 

Glad you got un-stuck. Sorry you got wet.

 

It's all part of the adventure

[Soukous]

# 306 - Emu - Dromaius novaehollandiae

Hattah-Kulkyne NP, Victoris, Aus. Sept

 

Whereas Murray-Sunset NP had an abundance of Kangaroos, both grey & red, Hattah-Kulkyne had loads of Emus

 

 

 

Hattah-Kulkyne was also the thrid NP that we left ahead of schedule due to the rain. I have never ever left 3 parks by the same road I entered by, in the space of 3 days.

 

Unable to stay in Hattah-Kulkyne, we spent the night in a caravan park in Robinvale, on the banks of a very swollen Murray river. It was actually a very decent cabin.

 

From Robinvale, it was a leisurely drive to Swan Hill.

We'd warned our friends we'd be arriving 2 days early, but even so it would have been a bit rude to pitch up as they were finishing thei rbreakfast.

 

# 307 - White-plumed Honeyeater - Lichenostomus penicillatus

Swan Hill, Victoria. Aus. Sept

 

 

 

# 308 - Spotted (Turtle) Dove - Streptopelia chinensis

Swan Hill, Victoria. Aus. Sept

 

 

# 309 - Galah - Eolophus roseicapilla

Swan Hill, Victoria. Aus. Sept

 

 a pretty common bird in Victoria, but still pretty

 

 

# 310 - Red Wattlebird - Anthochaera canunculata

Swan Hill, Victoria. Aus. Sept

 

 

 

 

[Galana]

22 minutes ago, Soukous said:

a pretty common bird in Victoria,

I appreciate the excellent pun.

Shocked to see you dispel the sunny image of Australia that I have carried in my mind for years.

[TonyQ]

Despite the difficulties you have taken some superb photos in this section. (And some blue skies!) I have really enjoyed seeing them 

Well done on reaching 300

[Soukous]

# 311 - Rainbow Lorikeet - Trichoglossus haematodus

Swan Hill, Victoria, Aus. Sept

 

one of the few Lorikeets & Parrots I managed to capture. They fly so fast and head straight for the topmost branches of trees, even then they don't often sit on the outside, usually hidden in the foliage. So frustrating as they are wonderfully colourful birds.

 

 

 

# 312 - Little Black Cormorant - Phalocrorax sulcirostris

Swan Hill, Victoria, Aus. Sept

 

 

# 313 - Blue-faced Honeyeater - Entomyzon cyanotis

Swan Hill, Victoria, Aus. Sept

 

They are pretty birds but unfortunately I only managed to catch juveniles which do not have the blue face patch

 

 

 

From Swan Hill it was a few hours drive back down to Winchelsea and a very cold farmhouse. By the time we got there a tickling cough had become something ( don't ask me what 'cos I don't know ) much worse and the combination of 10 degrees outside and a cold farmhouse had me shivering uncontrollably. Sitting in front of the wood burner was about as much as I could manage for a couple of days. Nights were spent shivering and sweating; like malaria without the nutty dreams. Consequently, my last week in Australia was pretty much a washout.

 

Apart from a few brief excursions into the garden or around the farm, I was confined to barracks.

 

Luckily the garden birdlife can be good.

 

# 314 - Red-browed Finch - Neochmia temporalis

Winchelsea, Victoria, Aus. Sept

 

 

 

# 315 - Pied Currawong - Strepera graculina

Winchelsea, Victoria, Aus. Sept

 

 

# 316 - Crimson Rosella - Platycercus elegans

Winchelsea, Victoria, Aus. Sept

 

 

There were also a lot of Musk Lorikeets feeding high in the trees, but they wouldn't play ball.

 

# 317 - Grey Shrike-thrush - Colluricincla harmonica

Winchelsea, Victoria, Aus. Sept

 

 

 

# 318 - New Holland Honeyeater - Phylidonyris novaehollandiae

Winchelsea, Victoria, Aus. Oct

 

 

 

# 319 - Nankeen Kestrel - Falco cenchroides

Winchelsea, Victoria, Aus. Oct

 

 

 

# 320 - Superb Fairy-wren - Malurus cyaneus

Winchelsea, Victoria, Aus. Oct

 

the female, a very pretty bird in her own right

 

 

 

but completely outshone by the male

 

 

 

 

 and that's it. My tally of photographed species was just 80, at least 50 less than I'd anticipated. A good reason to go back again.

 

[pedro maia]

Sorry to hear about your troubles, I hope everything gets to normal soon.

 

Congrats on #300, some very good looking birds from Australia.

[Kitsafari]

Still a good haul of excellent images - just love that fairywen - from Australia under challenging conditions. I hope the trip to down under means you are well on your way to a full recovery and I hope that illness during the last days in australia was nothing but a nasty flu bug. 

 

 

[Galana]

Another sample of what Down under can produce even under adverse conditions. A true birder. It conjures up a vision of some old bloke parked in his invalid chair on the lawn wrapped up against adverse weather with camera in fingerless gloved hands whilst his Nurse brings the Phyllosan (or other Tonic).

Stay safe.

[TonyQ]

@SoukousYou did have poor luck with your health.

But you did see and photograph some beautiful birds. The photos at the end (when you were ill )are really superb. We really must get to Australia some time!

 

 

 

Edited October 20, 2022 by TonyQ

[TonyQ]

1 hour ago, Galana said:

 A true birder. It conjures up a vision of some old bloke parked in his invalid chair on the lawn wrapped up against adverse weather with camera in fingerless gloved hands whilst his Nurse brings the Phyllosan (or other Tonic).

Stay safe.

Is this a self portrait? 

[Galana]

1 hour ago, TonyQ said:

Is this a self portrait? 

The ghost of Christmas yet to come.

[Soukous]

A correction, # 271 is in fact a Bar-shouldered Dove, not a Peaceful Dove as I had listed it.

 

Therefore

 

# 321 - Peaceful Dove - Geopelia placida

BBO, Aus. Sept.

 

 

I know, it's not as sharp as it should be, but I only had 1 lens and it was just too close.

Edited October 23, 2022 by Soukous