Alex's Big Year 2022

And a few common birds from a local park

11) Superb Fairywren - male displaying in the mangroves near Kurnell

12) Magpie-lark calling. 

13) New Holland Honeyeater - the most common honeyeater in many areas of Sydney (discounting miners of course)

14) Crested Pigeon 

15) Australian Raven - not the best shot, but quite like it because it shows their rarely seen soft downy white underfeathers. He was facing into a strong wind. Who knew ravens were really white under that satin black? 

I did a quick pass through Landing Lights as well on the way home - nothing unusual, but a couple for the records

20) Channel-billed Cuckoo - an EBC, I'll try for a better shot later in the year - but the silhoette is unmistakeable

21) House Sparrow - interestingly I didn't see one until Dec last year - so may as well tick it off now

22) Pied Stilt (the fact sheet has them as Black-winged) - the residents at the pond have bred again this year, and the juveniles are growing up :-) 

23) Chestnut Teal - male and female

24) Willie Wagtail 

Not bad for a Saturday - and always special to see a lifer in Sydney :-) 

30) Rock Dove (Feral Pigeon). Love the bokeh this lens produces on a good day - I swear I didn't manipulate that background at all LOL - its pondweed in the far background. 

31) Australian Reed-warbler - heard lot of them singing, so hung around and eventually managed to catch one peeking out of the reeds. They aren't shy about singing, but are often difficult to get a clear shot on, so I'm happy with this. 

And just for fun, a turtle - I think its a Murray River Turtle from that yellow stripe on the mouth, but his shell is so covered in weed its hard to tell! A nice green mood to this shot. 

[Edited to fix numbers, I missed 35]

I had a great trip to Far North Qld with one of my boys - not a birding trip initially, focus was on having fun with him, so we went diving, beachcombing, hired a boat to explore Dunk Island, stayed in the Cape Trib rainforest, and went for a cruise on the Daintree - all great stuff. 

But even for a non-birding trip, I was a bit disappointed in how few birds we saw - we dipped on the great cassowary hunt (we stayed in Mission Beach for a few days specifically looking for them, and just got unlucky) and the rainforest is actually insanely hard birding! There may be a lot of exotic species in there - but the dawn chorus was spookily quiet, I only saw a handful of birds, and they were invariably in the gloom of the forest, high up, far away or all of those things! Even the fabled Cairns Esplanade was underwhelming - walked it on 3 different occasions at different tide stages, and didn't see large numbers or varieties. Sometimes timing is like that.... 

So I decided to stay on by myself for an extra weekend of pure birding - and my luck turned around :-) 

But lets start with my absolutely most frustrating (but super fun) sighting - I went on a snorkelling trip with my son out to a coral cay off Cape Trib - didn't take my camera on the dive boat (a rather wet semi-rigid inflatable) - and to my surprise, the tiny little sand cay had a good number of seabirds, including a few terns I didn't recognise. And there I was with only my cellphone!  So I stalked birds for a while - leopard-crawling up to them to get as close as aI could, much to the amusement of the crew and embarrassment of my son LOL .

So for your amusement and for the comp, please find some truly appalling EBC shots from my Samsung S20!

First photo is an overview showing all 5 terns, and then a couple of detail shots showing : 

35) Black Noddy - the dark birds in this group - easy to ID as Noddys due to all black with white cap, and darker than the Common Noddy with no brown wingbar in flight. No factsheet

36) Roseate Terns - I could see several terns with red bills and black legs - far too small for Caspian, out of range for Arctic / Antarctic, super unlikely to be  hirundo ssp. of Common, leaving Roseate Tern (confirmed on ABID). They had some young with them that they were feeding, and their bills go competely red when they are doing that. No factsheet

37) Black-naped Terns - the bulk of them were Black-naped Terns - very pale birds, black nape extending through eye to point on lores, with white head, neck, undersides. 50 or more of them including a lot of young. No factsheet

38) Common Terns - the worst EBC of all I'm afraid - but full black cap extending to nape and bill with black beak is quite distinctive - also some less distinct immature birds with them. 

39) Greater Crested Terns - you can see these much bigger terns with shaggy black caps and yellow beaks in the back of the Common Tern shots - so I'll claim this now too, but expect I'll be able to post a much nicer shot as they are common near Sydney. 

So ya, I kicked myself for days for not wrapping my camera up and taking it - but I would definitely have kicked myself more if I'd drowned it that early in my trip! So I'm going to just count myself lucky to have seen these cool birds. None lifers ,but I haven't seen Noddies, Black-naped and Roseate terns since a 2003 trip to Heron Island, so they were pretty special :-) 

OK - finally finished the editing of my Qld batch, with various disasters and delays while learning Lightsource. Eventually went back to my usual editing suite, and will try Lightsource again on a somewhat smaller batch. 

We moved around a bit, so I'll group by theme. 

First up - Cairns Esplanade - visited it 4 times over the trip, at high tide, medium and low tides, morning and evening, and never really saw a lot of shorebirds - bit of a disappointment really, as I'd thought it would be teeming with birds. Still, got a few, including a couple of new ones for me. And its really beautiful in the right light :-) 

40) Bar-tailed Godwits - the most noticeable of the shorebirds. I searched them carefully for Black-tailed, but no joy. I do like godwits :-) 

41) Grey-tailed Tattler - he was quite shy and kept hiding behind the Godwits - he knew perfectly well I was trying to get his picture!

42) Whimbrel - a nice sighting, haven't seen one for a while. Similar to Curlew, but smaller, with shorter beak than the Curlew, and distinctive white wedge on its back when it flies

43) Eastern Curlew - what an amazing beak! 

44) Varied Honeyeater - a bit of a Cairns Esplanade speciality - this rather muddled looking honeyeater is resrticted to FNQ coast and most people see their first on the Esplanade. No factsheet

45) Great Knot was a lifer - took me a while to work him out, and eventually needed some help - looks so similar to other birds, and I kept second guessing myself. Size really helps if you have other birds you know to compare to. No factsheet - thats knot great. 

Cairns Botanical Gardens was pretty good - some lovely birds, althought it was chucking with rain and the light was awful. 

46) Pale-vented Bush Hen - stalked this guy in the deep gloom for a long time, eventually smiped him through a tiny gap in the bushes, and paid a mega mosquito-tax. Very please with this lifer though, they are not easy to see at all - so I'll take the high-ISO EBC. No factsheet

47) Red-tailed Black Cockatoo - the male eating the fruit was on the Esplanade, the BIF I got a little later in the trip. I love the YT Black Cockatoos we have in Sydney, but the Reds are even more spectacular!

48) Peaceful Dove - lots of these beautiful tiny doves in Cairns - simply gorgeous. 

49) Little Kingfisher - another one shot in the rain and the gloom, but very happy to see this exquisite little bird at all - not common. No factsheet

50) Nutmeg Mannikin - haven't seen these for a while, and almost overlooked them as being sparrows! A rather more handsome bird...

Next stop was a couple of days at Mission Beach, hoping to see cassowaries. They were there, and about - I was following a FB page which showed sightings all over the place - but we were never quite in the right place at the right time. Ah well. We had a fab time boating out to Dunk Island, hiking to the top, exploring the beaches, and swimming. And my habit of waking at dawn was repaid when the volcanic ash from Tonga treated us to one of the most extraordinary sunrises I've ever seen. And I did find some good birds :-) 

54) Australasian Figbird - even these were exciting - so much yellower than our Sydney version, very striking

55) White-breasted Woodswallows were the common woodswallow up there, and there were a lot about. Very smart looking swallows. 

56) Bush Stone-curlews - these were really common, wandering into the hotel grounds, strolling the streets, and taking over the school grounds, which were still closed for holidays. Didn't get any great shots for some reason, but quite like these juveniles kicking back in the COLA (covered outdoor living area) at the local primary school. Don't you love the way their knees work? 

57) Olive-backed Sunbird - absolutely my bird of Mission Beach! I normally wouldn't approach an occupied nest so closely - but this pair had built their nest hanging off the local pub eaves right over the pavement. So I could sit there with a beer and photograph them coming and going - best "hide" ever! I'm so happy with these shots - one or two for my portfolio there. Isn't the nest itself beautiful? No factsheet (!?)

And check that sunrise.... what a gorgeous place. Nothing like offshore islands to add some interest (and a volcanic eruption helps a bit)

Note - I'm going to stop saying "no factsheet" - so many of these birds don't have factsheets, QLD seems a bit neglected. I'll post if they have them, and not if they dont

And then it was off to the rainforest at Cape Tribulation. Jack and I had a fabulous time there - stayed in a lovely airbnb that used to be an exotic fruit orchard carved out of the rainforest, and we dived, went for rainforest tours, swam in river waterholes and soaked up the amazingly different environment. But let me tell you - rainforests might be home to all sorts of exotic birds, but don't indulge in the fantasies of picking off boatbills and pied monarchs by the dozen - the birds are scarce, shy, and very hard to see let alone photograph in the stygian gloom! As an exampe - we went on an amazing guided tour of one of the last patches of Gondwana rainforest run by the owner, a passionate ecologist who knew every creature and plant in his domain, how they all interacted, and told us endless stories for 5 hours of exploring. It was one of the best wildlife experiences I've ever had. But in 5 hours in the deep rainforest we heard 6 birds, saw 3 and there was only one possible photo opportunity! So go for the beauty and strange wonderfulness of the rainforest - not so much expecting to shoot lots of birds :-) 

That said, I did get a few photos...

63) Black Butcherbird - the most visible of the rainforest birds by far, and audible too! Very vocal, with a wide range of calls - I had trheir song on my app, but they had a huge range of other calls that sounded like pigeons, or songbirds, or crows -  and I'd stalk them patiently to find - yet another Black Butcherbird! But I was grateful to see any birds, and I like butcherbirds - this was a new one for me and completes my set of AU butcherbirds :-) And the juvenile is different enough that they fooled me several times into thinking I'd found a new bird! Not great photos, the only time I caught them in the open it was raining!

64) Pale-yellow Robin - the one forest bird I did photograph on my 5-hour walk! This photo is a better one from later in Atherton, as my Daintree one was a grainy high ISO horror. A new bird for me, but quite confiding like its Eastern Yellow cousin (and unlike nearly all the other rainforest birds!)

65) Striated Heron - photographed on a Daintree River cruise - always like seeing these. 

66) Australian Brush-turkey - these were common in Cairns and the Daintree

67) Orange-footed Scrubfowl - cousin to the brush-turkey, and one of the silliest birds I know - I'm quite fond of them :-) 

68) White-bellied Sea-eagle. Also on the Daintree river, a cool sighting - we were watching a colony of Spectacled Flying Foxes, and then the Eagle cruised over the rainforest, scared a flying fox into taking to the air, and then chased it down into the trees and caught it. Amazing! The real action was too far away and in the trees, but I got a reasonable BIF shot of this young bird. 

Doves and pigeons - it was so cool to see so many different doves and pigeons. I'd hoped to see more fruit doves, but they are hard to photograph, normally at the tops of trees, and quite shy. But I did see a good few of these pretty birds, as well as the the Imperial-pigeon and Peaceful Dove already shown: 

74) Wompoo Fruit Dove - a lifer, and so exciting, I tried so hard so many times and never caught them. Finally caught one at Cape Trib Cape Trib, pretty poor as it was at the top of a huge tree and I missed focus, but gives some idea of the incredible colours. Hopefully I'll see them again 

75) Bar-shouldered Dove, cousin to the little peaceful, and another beautiful dove. very common up north but quite unusual in Sydney

76) Brown Cuckoo-dove - another quite unusual bird in Sydney that I saw a few times in Qld. Always in the forest shade, but I eventually got a shot

77) Brown-capped (Pacific) Emerald Dove - another shy dove that I was very happy to eventually capture in the dark rainforest - this one seems to have lost some head feathers (is it a thing in Qld?!) and doesn't have a brown cap! Super high ISO, but shows some of the amazing colours

78) Squatter Pigeon - very exciting, another lifer, and totally unexpected as I had thought it was a desert bird. I took a wrong turning on the way to Atherton, and found them on the dirt road - so doubly fortuitous. 

So eventually Jack had to go back to his mother - and at the last minute, I decided to stay on and have a long weekend of proper birding by myself. So I got Jack on the plane (he is a seasoned solo traveller) and got on the phone. Yes, the Kingfisher Park at Julatten did have accommodation! So back in the hire car, and back north to Julatten for 2 days. Very exciting - I had to cancel my trip to Julatten twice, so even a quick weekend stop was going to be pretty exciting. Of course, it was raining heavily, and forecast to do so all weekend.... But - these challenges are sent to us to be overcome :-) The birds here WERE amazing - but like all rainforest environments - dark, mosquito-ridden and often really challenging photography!

83) Chestnut-breasted Mannikin - a poor shot, but I never got a better one - my first night, almost full dark, and enjoying a beer on the balconey and watching the birds come in to the feeder.  

84) Dollarbird in the pre-dawn, a long way off. Never got close to one. 

85) Leaden Flycatcher - quite like this shot of the male singing

86) Mistletoebird - caught this tiny bird at the top of a huge tree, so I'm pleased to have any shot at all. 

87) Red-browed Finch - they were breeding in the garden, and I quite like this close-up study

93) Silvereye - common where I live, but I quite like this closeup shot. You can see it is tiny white feathers making up the eye ring :-) Shame about the stick!

94) Saw a lot of Helmeted Friarbirds - never really got a good shot, so this will do. 

95) Rainbow Lorikeet - in the forest rather than shrieking in my window at 4:30am!

96) Scaly-breasted Lorikeet, looking rather gorgeous in the flowering tree :-) 

Kept a very close eye out for Double-eyed Fig Parrots, and think I saw some fly over, but not good enough to claim a sighting, let alone photograph. 

97) Whistling Kite - EBC roadside shot - hope to improve over the year

98) Black Kite - did better with these, a credible BIF shot as well as a rather nice perched shot. 

99) Nankeen Kestrel - and MUCH better with this guy. Caught in low sunlight under massive rainclouds, I got a nice portrait, then had fun watching the Willie Wagtails giving him hell. I love the look of resignation on his face (my anthropomorphosis, sorry) in the second shot. Seconds later, one of the Wagtails yanked his tail really hard, and successfully chased him off. 

Ok - how about some honeyeaters? Apart from the Varied already posted, saw a good number, and got some nice shots :-) 

101) Blue-faced Honeyeater - one of my favourites, they are SO striking! 

102) Brown Honeyeater - tiny and elegant by comparison, a more subtle taste in honey :-) 

103) Brown-backed Honeyeater - a new one for me, with a subtle colouration and pink beak. I like this shot in the pouring rain :-) 

104) Dusky Honeyeater - a plain brown honeyeater, but very smart with a gorgeous long bill. I dressed him up with some flowers 

105) Graceful Honeyeater. One of 3 very similar birds all potentially found in the same area (Lewins, Yellow-Spotted and Graceful). In fact, I was sure this was a Yellow-spotted when I was photographing it, as I'd been hearing their distinctive calls all trip, and finally got one on the open. But on reviewing it carefully, it is a Graceful (for ID, it has a longer more curved bill, and the yellow gape goes into a much paler less distinct feather line, whereas the Yellow-spotted has a much more prominent gape extension that is the same yellow as the gape). So I still havent seen the Yellow-spotted although heard it often! I'll take the Graceful lifer though :-) 

106) Macleay's Honeyeater - an endemic to the region, and a very unusually marked and rather beautiful honeyeater :-) Saw lots of them but generally quite shy, and often in the dark. A lifer

107) White-throated Honeyeater - another one that needs careful attention to separate it from its melithreptus cousins (White-naped, Black-chinned) - this photo shows the distinguishing white eyeliner and white throuat all the way to the bottom of the beak. Tiny, busy, beautiful honeyeaters, I was lucky to find a perch that let me see them working through the higher tree foliage. A lifer. 

108) Yellow Honeyeater - not much in the way of markings, but a gorgeous yellow wash overall - super pretty bird. 

I remember 2-3 years ago being so frustrated that I couldn't distinguish honeyeaters and thought I never would be able to - its fun feeling your knowledge grow (even if I still get tripped up quite a bit :-) And so cool to see so many new honeyeaters for my little collection!

And I was done. Drove back from Atherton to Cairns, and decided to plan in a stop at Kuranda for one more chance at that elusive cassowary! I thought a suitable place might be the Black MountainRoad at the entrance to the Kuranda National Park, so I parked near the Cassowary House lodge (you would, right?) and with 45 minutes to go, set off up the road on foot. 

Typical rainforest - not a damn bird in sight, and precious few calling - but very beautiful :-) With 15 minutes to go, I decided I'd give it 5 more before turning back to the car - and quite whimsically, just visualised a big beautiful cassowary stepping out of the forest onto the road and looking at me. 3 minutes later, it did. 

114) Southern Cassowary. You can imagine my heartrate lol - but somehow I managed a couple of credible shots - and then I followed it back into the rainforest, and while keeping trees between us, managed to get close enough for some phone video for my kids - with rather shaky hands. It was totally unconcerned about me, and ignored me for 10 minutes while I watched it forage, before stepping back into the deep forest and disappearing like a dream. Best Bird Ever. I really felt like the universe had shared an amazing gift with me. 

And that is that from FNQ. A pretty good trip for something that wasn't (just) a birding trip lol