Hi everyone
I spotted this bird a couple of weeks ago, only because it stood up and stretched! I walk past the same area each lunchtime, keeping an eye out for it, and saw it again on Wednesday.
It blends in beautifully with the mulch and rocks under a tree. Today we went to the same place, this time with the camera. Darn, not there.
Oh well, I took some photos of a noisy miner in the tree, and wandered back towards the car.
Not 20 metres away from where I had seen it twice before, there it was.
If I hadn't known what I was looking for, I would have easily missed it. I was walking through a carpark about three metres lower down than the bird and had to look up to see it. The driver of the red car would not have been able to see it behind the concrete barrier.
The latest addition to my list - a Southern Stone Curlew (Bush Curlew). Apparently these birds are becoming quite rare, but this one is quite at home in between car parks.
Enjoy
Chris
Hi Chris,
I think these guys are less common down south than up here round Brissie.
I have seen a pair that live arounnd the Gabba and East Brisbane State School directly behind it.
They're noisy little fellas too - they sound like sirens going off.
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
I haven’t seen one in the wild around here. I only saw some at Serendip (near Melbourne), where they have a breeding program. I was also fortunate enough to get some nice photos.
I love the fact that they are more common up your way. I find them a fascinating bird to look at, with those huge eyes that stare at you. Lucky you, hope they don’t get run over by cars. Nice photos, well spotted.
M-L
Chris, congrats on the new tick; I had not heard of the name - Southern Stone Curlew, although I had heard of Bush Thick-knee and Bush Stone-curlew (the now accepted name); my Pizzey & Knight guide gives other names including Southern Stone-curlew, Weeloo and Willaroo; thanks for the prompt to research; I like these (becasue of the eyes) but have a preference for their cousin the Beach Stone-curlew (eyes and beak); I have sightings of them in 3 (NSW, Qld & NT) of the 4 states where they are found (just WA to go!)
Peter
Thanks Tim, M-L and Peter
Apparently this particular bird has lived here (Capalaba, Qld) for a long time and is often to be seen standing outside the arcade where my office is located. I just started a new job two weeks ago, which is why I happened to be in the area in the first place.
There are huge rugby fields between the buildings housing the arcade and the creek, the lower car park was mayhem with players and parents on Sunday morning when we were there to try to photograph it . The upper car park is for the pub patrons and staff. I don't think there is any danger the bird is silly enough to wander through the car parks - it certainly didn't care about all the activity going on around it.
Glad to prompt the research Peter
Chris