That’s right, only shortly after opening, this blog has moved. You can now find the blog at:

http://www.northqldbirder.com/

Please feel free to shoot me an email through the contact page on the new site with your opinions!

Finally some beautiful weather! Unfortunately, I was unable to capitalise on it as much as I would like, due largely to factors beyond my control. I did get out for a few hours on both Saturday and Sunday, unfortunately however on both Saturday and Sunday the time alotted was in the middle of the day. Saturday involved little more than a lazy stroll along the Cairns Esplanade, but it did produce a couple of nice surprises.

The first was a Brown Honeyeater (Lichmera indistincta), who had apparently struck nesting gold in the eye of a fig tree near the library. It so excitedly pulled the spider webbing out of the eye that a few times this little honeyeater even got itself tangled.

The second was a dried out Bird’s Nest Fern which contained the nest of a White-breasted Woodswallow (Artamus leucorynchus), the screeching near-fledging chick drew my attention. Here are a couple of shots. After 15 minutes of standing and watching the nest, I noticed a crowd of spectators had swarmed around me.

Some other interesting species seen included a lone female Mistletoebird (Dicaeum hirundinaceum), several Varied Honeyeaters (Lichenostomus versicolor) and three nesting Pied Imperial-Pigeons (Ducula bicolor).

Now today! Today, although scorching hot was much more interesting. Apart from getting some good photos, I managed to see a few species I had never seen before. This is always a thrill, although having only recently moved to Cairns from NSW, it is starting to lose a bit of its magic! The trip today was to Yorkeys Knob Golf Course lagoon.

The best shot of the day must be this one of a female Yellow-bellied Sunbird (Nectarinia jugularis). I spent 15 minutes being baked standing near this shrub trying to get this shot. This little lady was very accepting of my presence.

The best sighting of the day, albeit somewhat expected, was of two pairs of Green Pygmy-geese (Nettapus pulchellus). These birds seemed to like to stay and feed right at the edge of a large mass of green weed that was in the centre of the lagoon, so as the day went on, and the wind pushed the weed closer to the edge, I managed to get some decent shots.

I also managed to get some decent shots of some Welcome Swallows (Hirundo neoxema), a couple of Helmeted Friarbirds (Philemon buceroides), some Rainbow Bee-eaters (Merops ornatus) and a Dusky Honeyeater (Myzomela obscura). I won’t put all these images up of course!

Many, many more photos were taken, including of a fair few more species but these were the most interesting of the lot for me.

About a week ago (7/11), I dragged myself out of bed and went to investigate a Metallic Starling (Aplonis metallica) nesting colony near the Raintrees Shopping Centre in Cairns. To grasp the concept of colonial breeding you need only step within 200m of a nesting colony of this species. They are noisy, boisterous and always busy. From my time following these red-eyed starlings around Cairns I can say with confidence, that except in the case of a juvenile, it is rare to catch one of these birds standing still. Following is the video I caught of them. If you look closely on the second cut, you can actually see two birds weaving a nest on the end of the limb. It appears that the initial weaving is actually done with bark stripped from the limb itself. Clever way to make sure the nests stay firmly fixed!
Apologies for the delay in posting this video, uploading it in HD while keeping it smooth has proved a nightmare. In the end I uploaded it to Vimeo instead of YouTube and it worked. Here it is!

Well, you know the wet season is fast approaching when the good days are overcast days. Rain was the name of the game today, so I decided my role must surely be in front of the TV watching a good movie. Of course, things didn’t work out that way. Our bedroom window balcony happens to be in the canopy of a couple of Freshwater Mangrove (Barringtonia acutangula) trees that the local birds are quite fond of. I found myself creeping out of the balcony doors with the camera nearly every 10 minutes! This viewing of Three Kings has left me feeling that Iraq has a healthy population of Figbirds (Sphecotheres viridis), Dusky Honeyeaters (Myzomela obscura), Helmeted Friarbirds (Philemon buceroides) and Yellow-bellied Sunbirds (Nectarinia jugularis). Luck being what it is however, the only good photos I managed to snap were of a Helmeted Friarbird which was preening itself nearby and a female Figbird which came with its partner to feed on the fruit of a Solitaire Palm (Ptychosperma elegans) in the back courtyard.

On the drive home from work today I noticed a Spangled Drongo (Dicrurus bracteatus) spiraling and flying extravagantly high above a gum tree on the side of the road. These absolutely unique Australian birds are a true delight to watch, seemingly always ready to put on an impressive aerial display right when you lock your peepers on them. I decided I was going to head out and get a photo of one of these Cairns jewels. It is a horrible day for photos, very overcast with glare a major problem. Just the same, after no more than 30 minutes searching I came across a pair darting amongst the trees. Another 15 minutes following these birds and I managed to get a few half decent photos! Here are two of the better ones…

While chasing these buggers, I snapped some shots of an as yet unidentified skink and a Rhinoceros Beetle being devoured by some Green Ants.

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Yesterday while out an about in the morning I noticed some noises in a tree in our green waste area. A closer look revealed a pair of Black Butcherbirds (Cracticus quoyi) ripping apart some Common Myna (Acridotheres tristis) feldglings. I managed to get some decent footage too!

The actual point of my expedition yesterday morning was to get some good photos and videos of the local Metallic Starling (Aplonis metallica) colony, which I did, but Youtube seems intent on frustrating me by making the video choppy after processing. So to compensate, here is a short video of an Orange-footed Scrubfowl (Megapodius reinwardt) digging about in the scrub near the beach out at Yorkey’s Knob that I shot yesterday afternoon.

This was the first time I had been to Yorkeys with the specific intent of shooting some birds. The trip was arranged under the guise of visiting friends, but unluckily heavy cloud cover late in the day stopped the trip from reaching its full potential! Here are some of the clean shots I managed to get.

A few days ago on Tuesday we were driving along a busy Cairns street when I spotted a White-breasted Woodswallow (Artamus leucorynchus) nesting in the fork of a tree by the side of the road.

While photographing this little Woodswallow, my girlfriend notified me of the presence of another nest hovering about 50cm above my head. On a limb from the same tree dangling above my head was an Australasian Figbird (Sphecotheres viridis) nest. Both the male and female were incubating at once.
To give you an idea of just how spindly this limb was and how ill-supported the nest seemed, I included a shot taken at a wider angle.

I also got video of both these birds which you can view on my Youtube channel. The link is also on the right hand sidebar.

Just thought I would post a quick hello to everyone — present or absent! I moved to Cairns about a year ago and I am a slightly obsessive bird nut. I just forked out for a brand new not too bad but not too great camera, and I needed an outlet for my adventure. So here it is. Birding Cairns!

If you are wondering, the bird in the header is of a nesting White-breasted Woodswallow (Artamus leucorynchus) I photographed a few days ago (03/11) on one of the busiest streets in Cairns.