White-cheeked Honeyeater

The other day I watched this White-cheeked Honeyeater (Phylidonyris nigra) as it fluttered around flowers on a bush. The flowers were looking past their prime but there were numbers of insects around them and the bird appeared to be catching them. It was fast! By the time I had the camera up it was off somewhere else. The only time it sat still was when it rested deep in among the branches where it was quite dark. White-cheeked Honeyeaters differ from New Holland Honeyeaters in their dark brown eye and large white cheek patch.

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Inskip Point doesn't disappoint.

Yesterday afternoon I went out to Inskip Point in the late afternoon. A walk through the bush track leading out to the Point is always interesting and this time I got good clear views and photos of White-cheeked Honeyeaters. I find photos interesting because they freeze the bird in poses often very different from the stiff side views found in most birding books. These photos show the white cheeks quite differently from anything in my books.
We had been told that other birders had seen a Kelp Gull here a few days ago. This is a very rare vagrant up here and we hoped that maybe it had stayed around for a few days. We were lucky! I was intent on a large flock of little shorebirds that kept flying in and roosting in the car tracks out on the point but fortunately 'Neil' from Out and About in Cooloola wandered a bit further on and then beckoned to me to come quickly. The gull was sitting quietly at the edge of the sea - and what was even better it let us walk quite close to get some good photos. It only flew off when a couple of people with a dog running loose came walking along between us and the bird!
The Tern count we did as the sun set and darkness came down was not nearly so interesting. Last time we were out here (2 and a half weeks ago) we counted a little less than 7,000 terns. This time there were less than 2,000. Where had they gone and why?
The sky is always beautiful looking out across the water and this evening it was particularly spectacular as we watched very dark storm clouds moving from east to west some distance south from us.

Ground Parrots

Season's Greetings to all who read this blog! The photo on the top of this post is a Christmas Bell (Blandfordia grandifloria) which I thought was rather appropriate for right now. I photographed it yesterday afternoon on an afternoon trip into the Great Sandy National Park with Kelvin and Amelia and their family. We were going out to try to see and hear the Ground Parrots (Pezoporus wallicus). This is a very special bird and certainly not one you see very often. First you must know the right habitat – then I think you have to have a good amount of luck! Of course it helps to have good friends who know the area well and have often seen the parrots.
We set off in the late afternoon with plenty of time to look around the area. It is a little late in the season for there to be a lot of wildflowers out but we did see a few of the yellow form of the Christmas Bells. We also saw some of these tiny grevillia flowers (Grevillea leiophylla) – the flowers are 6-8mm and the racemes 1-1.5cm. (My thanks to a very helpful young fellow who showed me a lot about photography in a very short time!)
There were a lot of tiny birds calling off in the very bushy heath. We caught glimpses of White-cheeked Honeyeaters, and Red-backed Wrens. It was impossible to go far off the tracks as the undergrowth was just too thick so I had to be content with distant photos for ID only.
We stopped and boiled the billy on a little camp stove for a cuppa and sat around in camp chairs and just enjoyed the quiet sounds of the bush and the feeling of space and emptiness out there.
To cap off a great afternoon I saw a Ground Parrot! Now I must admit that it was only a very brief glimpse before it dived back down into the scrub and I did not get a photo – but even a brief glimpse was great! Then we waited quietly as the darkness came, to hear the Parrots call. They only call for a very short time at dusk or dawn but it is a hauntingly beautiful call. The sound is not a bit like the usual harsh parrot call but is a series of clear ascending notes There were calls from six different directions so we assumed at least six birds in the area.
I wish I could find a way to give a better impression of the magical quality of the light and the space as night came down. A big 'thank you' to Kelvin and Amelia and family for a great time!