Mangrove Honeyeater

This post is for World Bird Wednesday.

Mangrove Honeyeaters - often called Varied Honeyeaters - are common around the bay. If you hear a beautiful songbird calling from a mangrove tree this is most likely what you are hearing. I have cropped the second photo to show the bird's beautiful blue eye.

Shades of Gray

When I walked out to the Mullens roost the other morning everything was colored in shades of gray. There had been a big fire burning the previous day and the smoke had drifted everywhere. It was the same color both north and south.
There were birds on the other side of the roost but they were too far away for me to accurately ID them.
I know that some were Godwits because I found this wing feather sitting among the saltmarsh plants.
I saw numbers of Herons and Egrets close by and on the way back this Little Egret gave a nice photo opportunity. It was standing on a little rocky island and let me get quite close before it flew a little way on to the next rocks.
For more bird photos visit the Bird Photography Weekly.

Red-capped Plover

This Post is for World Bird Wednesday.

I walked across the salt marsh flats on Monday to see if there were any Godwits back yet but could not see any at all. However, while I was walking across the flats I heard a Red-capped Plover and then it flew quite closely past me. It then fluttered to the ground and did its best to convince me it was hurt in some way and I should go and investigate. It was the old 'broken wing' technique to lure me away from where it had either a nest or a young one hidden. When I was far enough away it stood up tall and flew off quite well. I just hope the nest is far enough above high tide to be safe - or that the young one is able to move away. The bird is a female and the typical red on the head is not as dark as the male has.

Eastern Curlews

For more bird photos visit the Bird Photography Weekly.

I still hadn't seen any large flocks of Godwits by the end of last week but there were good numbers of some of the other migratory shorebirds. These Eastern Curlews were out on the end of the point at Inskip Point. I counted 70 birds.
When I first saw them they were resting and sleeping.
Is that a yawn or a squark?
Inskip Point is where vehicles get on the barges to go over to Fraser Island. As well it is a favorite place for fishermen to launch their boats. It was not long before the birds were disturbed and flew off. There had been people walking about on the sand island when I first arrived but as they had left by now the birds decided that was a better place to rest.

Buff-banded Rail

This post is for World Bird Wednesday.

The other week a couple of friends told me that they had Buff-banded Rails (Gallirallus philippensis) which came and walked around their yard even when they were sitting out on their veranda and having morning or afternoon tea. I had seen and photographed a Rail a month or so ago but that one was quite a distance away and the photos were not very clear. So I was invited over for afternoon tea when the light was best and the Rail obligingly came out and walked around.

Blue Against Blue

This post is for Bird Photography Weekly.

These Blue-faced Honeyeaters (Entomyzon cyanotis) are usually in my yard somewhere but I thought they looked particularly beautiful this afternoon against the blue sky. Once again it was the Grevillea tree that was attracting them.

Rainbow Bee-eaters

This post is for World Bird Wednesday.

I often find Rainbow Bee-eaters (Merops ornatus) when I go out to Inskip Point. They are such beautiful birds that I can't resist more photos of them. The male bird has the very long tail shafts and the female has shorter shafts. These two were very vocal as they sat on a branch in a gum tree and then went swooping off after insects.

Rainbow Beach

This post is for Our World Tuesday.

I always enjoy looking at the stretch of beach north and south of Rainbow Beach. There are some rocks close to the town of Rainbow Beach which get exposed every now and again, but other than this it is a long stretch of open sand in the north from Inskip Point to Double Island Point in the south.
Photos enlarge when clicked on.
Looking south towards Rainbow Beach and the colored sand cliffs.
Looking north from the surf beach at Rainbow Beach towards Fraser Island in the distance.

Scarlet Honeyeater

This post is for the Bird Photography Weekly.

The other day my friend Janet phoned to say she had Scarlet Honeyeaters (Myzomela sanguinolenta) feeding in her Callistemon bush and would I like to come and get some photos of them. I have never had these birds in my yard, but my friend's yard backs on to some undeveloped land which at present has a thick growth of tall grass and shrubs and trees. The smaller birds can find lots of hiding places in there and can then fly into the yards that back onto this area.
I have taken lots of photos of Scarlet Honeyeaters before - and have even posted a few on this blog - but my previous photos have shown a beautiful scarlet color gainst the blue sky but no detail of the birds. This time I was really up close!
These birds are tiny - 10-11cms or about 4 inches. They were flying in and out of the bush and climbing all over the flowers to feed. Often they were completely hidden by the leaves and flowers but then it was just a matter of waiting until they chose another flower where I could see them properly.
Special thanks to Janet for phoning to tell me about these birds!