BY 2024 - Herman and Kit's 7th (!what?!) year

[Kitsafari]

284. Black-fronted Dotterel, Corroboree Billabong

 

There was a pair which was initially hidden by the boat we were on as we had stopped to watch a crocodile on the left. I had to take few quick shots before the boat moved and blocked the small birds. They are distributed all over Australia and NZ. 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

285. Red-kneed Dotterel, Corroboree Billabong

Slightly larger than the black-fronted dotterel, the attractive red-kneed dotterel doesn't really have red knees but just pinkish-red upper legs. Mainly distributed in Australia. 

 

[Kitsafari]

285. Blue-faced Honeyeater, Bicentennial Park/ Rockshelf Nightcliff

 

The best shot was of this honeyeater busily sipping on spilled tomato ketchup. Honeyeaters are a large and diverse group Meliphagidae of small and medium-sized birds that are nectar-feeding but are unrelated to sunbirds and flowerpeckers. They are found mainly in Australasia. 

The blue-faced honeyeater was aptly named. 

 

[Kitsafari]

286. Brown Honeyeater, Bicentiennial Park

 

[Kitsafari]

287. Rufous-banded Honeyeater, Lee Point/ Fogg Dam

 

[Kitsafari]

288. White-gaped Honeyeater, Bicentennial Park/ East Point

 

 

[Kitsafari]

289. Yellow-tinted Honeyeater, East Point

 

[Kitsafari]

290. White-throated Honeyeater, Lee Point/Fogg Dam

 

[xelas]

Such colourful birds from Down Under!

[michael-ibk]

Love the Blue-faced Honeyeater!

[PeterHG]

On 7/22/2024 at 7:07 PM, michael-ibk said:

Love the Blue-faced Honeyeater!

I agree! And what a collection of Honeyeaters.

[Peter Connan]

A wonderful collection of birds we don't see often here on ST.

[Kitsafari]

Thank you @xelas @michael-ibk @PeterHG @Peter Connan 

 

the blue-faced honeyeater was quite the intriguing bird!

 

 

[Kitsafari]

On the third day of our stay, we had booked Christopher Spooner for a little boat ride up the Buffalo Creek. This is a small river that flows into the sea but we were on a ride into the creek. Christopher is the only one so far to do boat rides into the creek, which meant there were no other boats except for a man fishing in one on the river that day. On the banks, you can catch the skulking chestnut rails and some kingfishers. It was a lovely day when we got into the boat - a small one just sitting us three comfortably.  Mangroves are aplenty along the river. 

 

 

 

We stopped to peek at a crocodile trap that was put up by researchers to study the ancient reptile. the boat stopped literally next to the trap, and something in there thrashed quite a fair bit, confirming that there was a crocodile in it. but we couldn't see it, so the reptile must have been a small one. There are two species in Australia - the less aggressive freshwater crocodile and the fearsome giant saltwater crocodile. 

 

 

On the bank leading into the door of the trap was a Giant Mudskipper.

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

We saw five - out of the 10 native species in the whole of Australia - kingfisher species during our trip. Four species were seen just on this creek itself and Chris did a great job cutting off the engine and steering the boat slowly towards the birds for closer shots.

 

291. Azure Kingfisher, Buffalo Creek

 

Chris reckoned we saw about 10 of them. The shimmering Azure is distributed mainly in Australia and PNG and West Papua. 

 

Edited July 26 by Kitsafari

[Kitsafari]

292. Forest Kingfisher, East Point

 

A slightly larger wood kingfisher than the azure that looks similar to collared kingfisher, which is also present in Australia although we didn't see it on this trip. The collared is slightly larger than the forest cousin and has a rufous spot above its eyes while the forest has white spots above its eyes. 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

293. Sacred Kingfisher, Buffalo Creek

 

We saw a lot of these small kingfishers on the creek - I think Christopher reckoned we saw about 30. It has a buff spot above its eyes and sometimes extend into a thin brow to the back of its eyes. Its belly ranges from white to rufous although there are some faint rufous patches on the sides on a white belly. 

 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

294. Torresian Kingfisher, East Point/ Buffalo Creek

 

Quite a large kingfisher with variable plumage that also looks like a forest or a sacred kingfisher but with greener and browner tones. We saw only one on the creek and a pair at East Point mangrove walk. These kingfishers like only mangroves and mudflats to hang out in. 

 

[Kitsafari]

295. Little Kingfisher, Buffalo Creek

 

We went through the river once and didn't get any sighting of the little kingfisher so Christopher felt we should make a second round. After the mid-point he spotted the tiny bird but as he turned the boat towards it, it sped right by us and vanished. that however  broke the bad spell and eventually we had sightings of seven individuals including one that was very accommodating, allowing us to really sit within 10m of it. Distributed only on the northern and north-eastern coastal areas of Australia as well as the PNG and Indonesian islands west of the Wallace straits. 

 

 

 

 

[Kitsafari]

296. Barking Owl, Bicentennial Park

 

The night we saw the bush thick-knee in the hotel car park, I heard the unmistakeable calls of the barking owls in the park that was just across the road. The calls are really like dogs barking, except that they came in regular rhythms. We crossed the road, and walked towards the calls. Herman did a short playcall and one owl flew towards us. We finally located in high up in the tree. I had to run back to the hotel room to collect a torch but it was still too dim (first photo).

Two nights later, we were better prepared with a torch, and this time, the owl was more obliging and perched on a slightly lower branch. I held the torch while Herman took the shot (second one below). 

The medium-sized owl is well distributed in Australia. 

 

First sighting

 

Second sighting

[Kitsafari]

297. Rufous Owl, McMinn's Lagoon/ Unidentified area

 

We saw a single owl, just waking up for the night hunt, near the car park at McMinn's Lagoon. The next day, Christopher was keen to outdo our friendly bird pal Harn, and brought us to another place(i'm not sure where but it was close to a school park i think) to show us a pair!

We knew the pair had a  nest on the huge tree they were roosting on and we thought it was just eggs, but little did we know at that time, that the chick was in the nest was ready to fledge. And it did fledge and was out with the parents a few days after we had left. such a shame!

 

  

 

 

the male was slightly smaller than the female. 

 

the female

 

[xelas]

So many kingfishers and those piercing owl's eyes ... wow!

[TonyQ]

Stunning kingfishers and Owls.

The Little Kingfisher is really beautiful 

[Peter Connan]

Wow! Wonderful!

[Zim Girl]

Love the Kingfishers and the Owls.