Archive for category Kingfishers, Rollers, Hornbills and Allies

New Nikon Monarchs and some Esplanade Fun

Dec 17

Well well, what a week. On Monday I got my brand new pair of Nikon Monarch 8×42 binoculars, so I have been neglecting the camera a little while I marvel at the amazing clarity and brightness of these binoculars. More accurately, I have been marveling at the beauty of many birds that until now, I have been unable to observe in the manner that their beauty deserves. I have been out on the Cairns Esplanade for at least two hours every day so far this week. I managed to scoop these up brand new on Ebay for an amazing $320 AUD delivered (from the US). When the dollar reached 0.92 US cents I just had to.

Not surprisingly, my species list for the Esplanade is larger on average since I got the new peepers. Some of the bird’s that really surprised me with their beauty when viewed properly were the Red-Capped Plover (Charadrius ruficpillus), the Common Greenshank (Tringa nebularia) and the Forest Kingfisher (Todiramphus macleayii). Of course all birds have their charms and many are obviously brilliant, but these three really took me by surprise. In fact, these birds prompted me to go through the arduous process of unpacking my backpack and fetching my camera.

For some reason, there appeared to be an abundance of these in the mangroves at the northern end of the Esplanade today. I managed to get quite close to these two males perched towards the edge of the mangroves. While observing the male perched lower in the photo he started calling, which truly unlocked the mystery of a call that had lead me into the mangroves on more than a few occasions. Judging by the number of replies this bird was getting, this species is doing very well here.

This is a photo of the closest Common Greenshank I could find to the shore. It is such a notably graceful bird in the field. I think that is probably the best way to identify them if you are ever out watching waders!

Finally, here is the Red-capped Plover. This particular bird has nothing on a bird I saw Tuesday as far as the brightness of the crown colouring. Still, you can see why they have really engaged me recently.

Although you can’t really tell from a photo, this little plover is the same size as a Red-necked Stint. A truly tiny wader.

Okey doke, a break for me from the PC!

Tags: Australia, birding, birds, Cairns, Esplanade, waders

A brief look at the Knob

Nov 28

Posted by Sebastian | No Comments

My partner and I made an impromptu visit to the Yorkeys Knob Golf Club lagoon this evening just to see what was around. I spotted two Bush Stone-Curlews (Burhinus grallarius) on arrival in the field across from the course.

Another species present I haven’t seen on the lagoon before is the Australasian Grebe (Tachybaptus novaehollandiae). There was one pair present, and as the light was patchy at best, here is a crop of the best shot I got.

Species also spotted that really caught our eye were a single Darter (Anhinga melanogaster), one Nankeen Night Heron (Nycticorax caledonicus), four Green Pygmy-Geese (Nettapus pulchellus), a number of Rainbow Bee-eaters (Merops ornatus) and approximately twelve Welcome Swallows (Hirundo neoxena) that were working the surface of water with incredible speed and zest. The strangest sighting was a lone Helmeted Guineafowl (Numida meleagris) that engaged us with a long calling display from a log on the island. Special thanks to Mark Young for his help with the ID of this feral species (although I doubt this bird was part of a feral population). The photos and videos I got of it were sketchy so I think I will leave them out!

A Happy ‘Nade Day

Nov 27

Posted by Sebastian | 4 Comments

Some days just come with a birding omen. I was awaken today by the booming calls of some Pied Imperial Pigeons (Ducula bicolor) in the Bleeding Heart Tree outside our bedroom window. While common bordering on abundant, it is not often that this species presents you with a nice clear profile to photograph. So, naturally, off I went full pelt down the stairs in my underwear.

I think it was worth it.

After work I decided to take a brief (3 hour) walk along the Esplanade and mangroves. Once again, I was greatly rewarded. I managed to sight many shorebirds including the Lesser Sand Plover (Charadrius mongolus), Greater Sand Plover (Charadrius leschenaultii), Whimbrel (Numenius Phaeopus), Eastern Curlew (Numenius madagascariensis), Little Curlew (Numenius minutus), Pied Oystercatcher (Haematopus longirostris) and by far the most exciting, a single Beach-stone Curlew (Esacus neglectus). Many more shorebirds were sighted but at the moments I haven’t finished going through the images and those are the ones that came to mind! Here are some shots.

Lesser Sand Plover

A Greater Sand Plover. It’s amazing that when taking this I failed to notice the 200 or so crabs in the image.

Pied Oystercatcher

Grey-tailed Tattler (Heteroscelus brevipes)

Beach-Stone Curlew

I took countless photos of this bird. I had actually left the mangrove edge to head south down the Esplanade when I realised I had forgotten my sunglasses, only to return to find this treasure! It made my week! It wasn’t all waders/shorebirds today though. I managed to sight a single Gould’s Bronze Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx russatus), a White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike (Coracina papuenis), a couple of Mangrove Robins (Eopsaltria pulverulenta) and got some cracking shots of the White-breasted Woodswallow (Artamus leucorynchus).

Mangrove Robin