Today I went on a bit of a whirlwind trip with my borrowed Sigma lens to a few birding spots around Brisbane, including Mt Coot-tha, Mt Nebo, parts of D'aguilar National Park and Samford. There were a bounty of birds. Thought I'd share some of the results.
1) Barely got out of my car at the first stop when I noticed this Kookaburra overhead.
2) Just down the path from Kookaburra I found a pair of beautiful Pale-headed Rosellas.
3) A Grey Fantail showing off a bit. :) I see so many of these guys around about, but sometimes they do something extra funky.
4) A White-Throated Treecreeper with lunch. :)
5) I was actually watching a Brown Gerygone when I noticed a Yellow Robin sitting on a nearby branch watching me. Photos of Gerygone were less than brilliant due to it playing peekaboo in and out of a tree, but still got a nice experience.
I was heading home when I came across this really cute roadside teahouse, where there were a large number of King Parrots and Cockatoos hanging around.
6) Female King Parrot.
7&8) Cockatwo. :)
9) Male King Parrot.
Uploaded a better photo of this one.
10) A Lewin's Honeyeater? (new one to me)
What a brilliant birdy bonanza day you must have had - I would have been rapt with that! Hard to pick a favourite - I do have a soft spot for the cheeky Fantails though. We have a couple who seem to be hanging around our backyard more and more - but will he fan out his tail for me (other than side-on), no. They're great characters to watch though.
West Coast Tasmania
Yeah, I'm a ... fan... of the fantails too. :) I've noticed as well that they're not all that big on fanning their tails for just anyone. (As compared to the Rufous Fantails who seem to enjoy showing off their pretty tail feathers. I love to watch their aerial acrobatics. :)
Love the pale headed rosella pic , being a parrot person and all
Neil
When I was a kid we lived in a old fibro-board house that had a hole in one wall thanks to a penchant for playing backyard cricket. For a number of years we had a pair of pale-headeds nesting in there. But then the suburbs got urbanised and they largely disappeared from the area.
You sure got a good variety. Well done
Shorty......Canon gear
Canberra
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rawshorty/
Beautiful, windshear!
I was up at Mt Nebo myself on the weekend, but didn't take any of the birding gear.
I was out looking at plants instead, and trying to do both well can be seriously distracting.
I'll get up there again for the bird watching sometime, as there were a lot of interesting birds around. My walking friend saw a Regent Bowerbird as well as hearing a Paradise Riflebird, while I heard a Green Catbird.
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
Oh lovely. :)
It's always part of the fun (and occasionally the "fun") of birdwatching that sometimes you hear more than you see. (Whipbirds are my unicorn)
I think it was at Jollys Lookout that the forest was abuzz with the Brown Gerygones' "Which-is-it" call. Which can turn into a bit of mockery.
But then I actually found one 
, and I was happy. 
Lovely. We were doing the Jolly's lookout walk (slowly, checking out every 2nd plant
) and heard enormous numbers of whipbirds.
I actually happened to see a pair chasing each other around, but I *think* I know what you mean about unicorns. I rarely see whipbirds or catbirds, despite hearing them regularly.
By the way, what do unicorns sound like?
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
I would say it sounds like something from thr brass section... maybe a horn? :)
I mean that it's the uncatchable, elusive creature. Guess part of it is being in the right place at the right time.