My Friend and an Egret

There are a few of my friends whose friendship was truly built through our interactions on Facebook. David Richardson is one of these friends. I knew Dave through FB before ever I met him in person (he is taller in real life), and “live” he is just as enjoyable, or more so, than he is online. We are not related, but I think he would be good family to have. I am grateful that we are friends.

Dave lives on the edge of Truganina Swamp in Altona and he birds it very regularly. It is truly his “patch.” He has seen about 158 species of birds inside the swamp conservation area since 2007. So when he posted a photo of an Intermediate Egret in the swamp yesterday, I decided he was long overdo for a visit from me. Altona is only about 35 minutes from Lara and after doing a few morning things around the house, I headed up to Dave’s.

                   

Intermediate Egret (soon to be Plumed Egret -click the link for info).

I parked the Prius in his drive and we walked over into the swamp. It is a lovely, large area generously maintained by Melbourne Water. The Intermediate Egret is only the second one that Dave has seen there (or anyone else that I know of) the first one being in 2008.

         

We wandered over along Laverton Creek to the area where he had seen the bird yesterday and there was an Egret! Closer examination showed that it was a Great, not an Intermediate. We walked further along the creek. Very near where he had seen and gotten photos of the bird yesterday, an egret flew in and landed. It was the Intermediate! I took some photos and we just stood around enjoying the bird. It was my first Intermediate Egret in Victoria. No, it is not a Lifer Pie bird, but a very cool sighting and I am grateful.
     

About the same size as a White-faced Heron

My friend, Dave and me

I look forward to birding again with Dave sooner than later. Birders are such a wonderful part of birding. Good friendships grow out of this mutual interest in birds, or as another dear birding friend once referred to it, “this noble passion." Yep, birders are cool and I am grateful.


Peace. Love. Birds.

Remembering Gratitude

Our shipment of belongings arrived from the US on 10 March. This time there were some broken and damaged things. We do have insurance (and it was dear). We will be filing a claim. But we are grateful that most of our more cherished things arrived intact. Since then, we have been sorting our stuff into this tiny house. It is becoming homey, but many things that are precious to me are now packed away in storage tubs and being kept in our dear friend, Carolyn’s, garage. I am not sure what we would have done without her generous offer of this space. I am very grateful.

I have managed to occasionally get out for some brief birding outings here and there. I have not done a full day of birding since the pelagic on 5 March. There were some wonderful birds on that trip, including the most excellent Australian tick of a Long-tailed Jaeger, which was identified afterwards from our photos. Arctic Jaeger was also an Aussie tick for us (Parasitic Jaeger it is called in the USA, but it is the same Stercorarius parasiticus). The seas were very rough and even wearing the patch, Lynn was sick part of the time. I did not feel great, but gratefully I did not get sick.

Black-faced Cormorant

Cambell Albatross

Arctic Jaeger (Parasitic Jaeger)

Long-tailed Jaeger

I have been able to pop over to the WTP several times. I am still in awe that it is just across the highway from our home. It takes me about 5 minutes to reach the Avalon Airport which is just at the edge of the Poo Farm. It’s perhaps 10 minutes to get to the Beach Rd. gate. The WTP is, as my dear friend Ash put it, my natal birding grounds. It is the place where I really fell in love with birding. I never dreamed I would live so close to it, and for that, I am very grateful.
             

Great Egret

Common but gorgeous Welcome Swallows

                   

Western Treatment Plant with the You Yangs in the background. I love this place!

White-faced Herons poking up through the grass

A recording shot of a Pectoral Sandpiper at the WTP

I have also been over to the You Yangs a couple of times. These lovely “mountains” are also only 10 minutes from here and there are Koalas! We later found that this one’s name is Anzac. He is wild, but known to Echidna Walkabout's Koala Research Department and is recognizable to them by the skin pattern on his nose.
         

Anzac, the grand old "man" of the You Yang Koalas

It has not been all skittles and beer as they say (actually I do not know anyone who says that). Moving is always stressful and this move has been no exception. I will state that I am one hundred percent positive that I want to live in Australia full stop. I love it and plan to live out my days right here in the Land Down Under. I put aside any doubts that I might have had about that during our year of travel. Oh and I do miss the traveling more than I knew was possible. I actually ache to get out there amongst it, but things must be done within a budget. We are heading out for a couple of weeks in May. I can hardly wait.

Finding the time and headspace to write the “book” of our year of travel continues to vex me. I AM working on it now, very slowly. My head has been a bit off for a while now. To be honest (and I see no purpose in writing these if I am not honest), I have been depressed. And for me, that means anxious as well. And that can be a shit combination indeed.

I also have a few physical things that have been going on for a while now. In no particular order they are… screeching tinnitus 24/7, many dark cobweb-like floaters swirling through my vision, my left fibula occasionally popping out of my knee joint so that I have to “snap” it back in place with a painful, loud “clunk,” my continuing Chiari Malformation adventure (headaches and dizziness with very rare, and fortunately brief, memory lapses) and lastly, acid-reflux that is manageable, but still very annoying.

And that will do for now, although there are a couple of other things that do not bear going into. They are all nothing compared with what some of my friends and others are going through, and or have gone through. However, these things do wear on me. I have referred to the floaters as “tinnitus for the eyes.” For me it is much easier to ignore the sawmill in my ears than junk constantly floating in my field of vision. I do realize, with all my heart, that things could be much worse! I am grateful that they are not. I truly am. It is sort of a sideways kind of grateful, but grateful I am. Here are a few more photos...

Superb Fairy-wren beginning to "blue" up

I love Brolgas

And lastly, a beautiful Common Copperhead minding its own business as they do

There will be more to come. I need to write and I need to share. I enjoy this sharing and it helps to give me perspective and to better understand my life and who I am. The other day, I received a nice compliment and Lynn said, “You should be proud of yourself.” Without even thinking I responded, “I don’t know how to do that.” And that is absolutely true, but I am working on it and I am grateful.


Peace. Love. Birds.

Super Sunday

It began with Philip Peel’s organized outing at Lake Murdeduke. I refer to Phil as the “Birder Whisperer” because he is amazing at organizing outings and getting birders together and getting birders to birds. At this point I have lost track of all the birds that he has helped me find. He has shared information and knowledge with me (and many others) freely and patiently. Phil is the best of what birding is about.

Lynn and I rocked up in Troopi just after 8am (GOD it felt good to be doing that again, if only for the day!). There were about 45 birders at the lake taking part in Phil’s outing and I don’t think anyone was disappointed. The main targets were the continuing Buff-breasted Sandpiper and the Ruff. They were well seen by all. They were Aussie Lifers for Lynn and she had great views of them both. I got a few photos as well.

Buff-breasted Sandpiper

Ruff (the big one)

After the lovely morning at the lake, a few of our dear birder friends: Karen, James, Oakley and Alan decided to head down to the Great Otway N.P. Distillery Dam Picnic Grounds with Lynn and me. After a bumpy, dusty ride on the back roads (thanks to Oakley’s Google Maps) we arrived in the parking area of the picnic grounds by the little dam. And it was amazing. 

This was just after noon, which is not usually considered a great time for birding. And yet we ended up with 37 species right there. It was a stationary eBird list! The first big thrill was when James quickly spotted a Satin Flycatcher in the small tree right over the water. It was a male and female together. I have seen these birds before, but always only high in the canopy and these birds were at eye level!

Over the next three hours we all just marveled. Gang Gangs, White-necked Heron, Spinebills, Grey Goshawk and not only were the birds awesome, but so was sharing this experience with people who truly get it! These were fun, intelligent, witty, charming and knowledgeable friends who share this deep passion for birding and the natural world. It was a bonding that was close to spiritual. I will never forget it. And then Oakley saw the swift.

                 

Above are Mr and Ms Satin Flycatcher (he is the blue one)

Gang Gang Cockatoo (male)

White-necked Heron

One of the dwindling number of land birds available to me as an Australian lifer was the Fork-tailed Swift (or Pacific Swift). Oakley spotted one overhead in company with a few Needletails. I “saw” it, but instead of using my binoculars, I swung the camera up and shot. This produced three photos of empty, blue sky and the birds disappeared behind the trees. We continued searching through the little groups of Needletails passing above without seeing any with that longer, pointy tail. Eventually the others lost interest and were distracted by a Diamond Firetail (very unusual for that area). However I continued to stare up into the sky. I got really good at spotting Needletails. And then… after about a half an hour I saw a long, pointy tail on a very dark swift! I had it! I kept it in my bins until it disappeared behind the canopy. So sweet. And a couple of hours later, Oakley, Karen and Alan saw another one just up the road in Anglesea as well.

       

L to R... James, Oakley, Alan, me, Karen and Lynn... the joy was palpable!

Lynn and I headed back to Lara and had a Fish and Chips dinner as our “Lifer Pie” treat. It was one of the most amazing days of birding that I have ever had. And that is really saying something. You don’t have to travel around the entire continent to have a phenomenal day of birding, you just have to be in the right places with the right people! And on that Super Sunday we certainly had both!

Peace. Love. Birds.

Doing A Bit Of Birding

I have actually been getting out and doing a few little birding jaunts lately. Getting settled into our tiny house has continued of course. And I am learning that this place, this “village”, has its pluses and minuses. Seemingly, the pluses still out-weigh the minuses and I am dealing with it. It is located wondrously well in regard to birding spots. So at least that is a very good thing.

I have gone over to Serendip Sanctuary and the You Yangs Regional Park a few times (both being less then ten minutes away). I can pop over and bird a couple of hours and then still get back to go to the grocery, or whatever else needs doing. Here are a few photos from those spots.

Dusky Moorhen, Serendip

Eurasian Tree Sparrow, Serendip

Yellow-billed Spoonbill, Serendip

Purple-crowned Lorikeet, Serendip

Little Eagle (dark morph), Serendip

Musk Lorikeets near Serendip

Troopi in the You Yangs

             

Fan-tailed Cuckoo, You Yangs

Brown-headed Honeyeater, You Yangs

I also went up to Eynesbury, a spot where Lynn got her lifer Speckled Warbler last year. They were still around as well as a stunning, young Pallid Cuckoo.
           

Speckled Warbler, one of three in Eynesbury

     

Brown Treecreeper, Eynesbury

Young Pallid Cuckoo, Eynesbury

And then I heard about the Painted Button-quail.

I have had less success with Button-quail than with any other group of birds. My main bogey bird, or nemesis bird, is the Black-breasted Button-quail. I had not put quite the effort into Painted that I had put into Black-breasted, but I had repeatedly tried for them in “reliable” locations in NSW and VIC without success. I was aware that they had been seen lately in Mangalore Reserve in Victoria, however that is two hours away. But then it got personal. I got a text from Philip Peel. He and David Adams and Owen Lishmund had seen 3, yes three PBQ’s on Wednesday morning. So I decided to go the next morning.

My friend, Carolyn Edwards, wanted to go as well. She and I headed up there at 6am. We took the back way up through Gisborne as it avoids the Western Ring Road and is a much nicer drive. We did not arrive until about 8:30. I birded hard. I looked where they had seen them first of course. But they had seen the birds at 7:30am. I also tried further along the path and off the path, but I returned to search “the” area repeatedly.

Later in the morning, I ran into another birder who had seen three PBQ that very morning quite close to where Phil had seen them! He had seen them at 7am. In the meantime, Carolyn flushed a single bird in a wooded section where there were a lot of platelets (the round, bare spots created by feeding button-quail). I dashed over there and searched that area without success. I decided to return to Mangalore the next day and arrive very early.

Friday morning I left the house at 4:45am. The traffic around Melbourne is really not bad at 5:15 and I arrived at the reserve about 6:30am. I eagerly headed to “the” spot, peering ahead and carefully scanning the ground, but no button-quail were to be seen. I searched where Carolyn had flushed one the day before, but no button-quail. I walked back and forth and to and fro through the area (a total of 10 kilometers according to my Fitbit) and no bucking-futton-quail! The bogey-bird curse was beginning to suck the very life-force out of me. I was getting very sad, but I was determined to keep trying.

After about two hours, I headed to the left of the path and went in a bit deeper than I had before and looked around without seeing hide nor feather of button-quail. I was making my way back toward the path and heading through the area (again) where Phil and company had seen them. And then, loud whirring wing-beat sounds exploded to my immediate left. I turned and watched three Painted Button-quail zooming off through the trees. I got cracking flight views, although not quite as much fun as if I had seen them on the ground, but cracking, lifer views none-the-less. Yes! Evidently there are three PBQ that hang around that small area. I looked in, searched, walked through, and scoured that area for two days. And when I finally found them, it was within 20 meters of the GPS coordinates that Phil had given me!

I need to get back up to Inskip Point, QLD and see about those damn Black-breasted. But that will have to wait for awhile. Here are a few photos from Mangalore Reserve.

Where the Painted Button-quail were..

White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike

Rufous Songlark

Owlet Nightjar peeking out and being cute

Long-billed Corella looking very long billed indeed.

Peace. Love. Birds.

Raptor Rapture

Things have been busy here in the Land Down Under as we have been getting sorted into our tiny house. At some point I will stop referring to it as our “tiny” house, but small it is. Many things that we are doing are based upon its smallness… such as deciding to mount the television on a bracket-arm in the corner by the fridge. (This hasn’t been done yet but will be soon). As we get it more together, I will post photos from inside the house. Our shipment from the US is estimated to arrive later in February. We will see. The dates are only estimates.

Birding has been put on hold far too often lately. On Sunday Philip Peel texted me a photo of a pair of Square-tailed Kites perched, and a juvenile in a nest. I texted one word back, “Where?” He texted back, “Bendigo.” He had been taken to the nest site by David Livermore that morning.

Square-tailed Kite was one of those birds that I really wanted a better look at. We had a fly-over last year in NSW as I was driving. Lynn got cracking views as it went along above the trees on her side of Troopi. I saw it, but not nearly as well. So when I heard that there was a nest with an almost fledged chick and parents around, I made plans to go.

First thing Monday morning, I headed up to Bendigo in Troopi. The drive from Lara is a bit over two hours and took me through some very familiar territory. My God, it was such a joy to be back in Troopi headed out into the bush! Phil had given me excellent directions and I rocked up at the spot on the track where he suggested I park. After perhaps a hundred meter walk, I saw the nest with the youngster and one parent. I just stood there in awe. My heart was literally thumping in my chest. What a thrill! Thank you Phil and thank you to David Livermore for sharing this information with him.
     

Square-tailed Kite parent

The Youngster

I took a few photos and texted a back-of-the-camera shot to Phil. He texted me back and mentioned that there was a Powerful Owl roosting at the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens if I wanted to stop by for a look. And I did want to! I had not seen a Powerful Owl in years. There had been one in Flagstaff Gardens in Melbourne in June 2009. It was my first “twitch,” meaning that it was the first time I went to a specific spot to see a specific bird. When I got to Castlemaine the owl was there in the top of a pine where Phil had said it should be. It had begun to spit rain, but I joyfully stood and marveled at it. Sweet. So sweet.

     

Powerful Owl

Leave me alone, I'm napping.

It is not often that one sees Square-tailed Kite and a Powerful Owl in the same day and yet I had experienced two wonderful raptor thrills in about an hour. And as importantly, once again I had felt the joy, the sense of freedom and being alive that rolling down a track in the bush gives me. I have missed my time with Troopi!

Peace. Love. Birds. Hope.

For Those of You Playing Along At Home

I am sitting here at five in the morning at the beautiful table in the house where we are house sitting again in Torquay. (Here is the blog about this house from a year ago).  This gives us a lovely and convenient base from which to begin getting sorted into our new little home in Lara.

We arrived yesterday, clearing Customs in Sydney at 6:30am and then flying our last leg to Melbourne where Josh collected us at 9:30am. Our luggage also made it safely and I am grateful. On the way to Torquay, we stopped by to peek in the windows of our home-to-be. It looks beautiful inside and is very close to being ready for us. I will know more later today.

We had a wonderful visit and Sunday roast supper at Josh and Rebekah’s. I got to spend some time with my delightful and brilliant (I read some of her poems and stories) granddaughter who is growing up at a rate that seems impossible. Slow down, Angel Face, slow down! And also growing up too fast (seemingly damn near grown) is my awesomely talented, long-haired, guitar-playing, very cool grandson. I am so proud of ALL of my grandchildren. And now I am in the same country as all of them! It was also wonderful to again be with our dear friend Norma. We have missed her so much.

I do not plan to fly internationally again for a long while. Once I scanned my passport re-entering my adopted country yesterday, the “clock” began a count-down toward when I can qualify for my Aussie Citizenship. I think it is about 2 years, but I need to check that. I will make the change from permanent resident to citizen as soon as I can.

It is summer here. It was light until after 9pm last night and this morning first light was before 6am. I thrive in that. Although tomorrow it is forecast to reach about 100F and that’s a bit much, but the cool change will come through and the rest of the week will be in the mid to upper 70’s. God, I love this place.

Troopi, our home for much of last year. I missed my big girl. I am back!

Sending much love from the Land Down Under. Lynn and I love and miss many of you in the US (and elsewhere), but I am really, and truly, home.

Peace. Love. Birds. Hope.

Lifers: Birds and Friend

I first heard about the Le Conte’s Sparrow in Virginia Beach a few weeks ago and gave it a very quick try on the 14th without success. But when Lynn and her sister Sherry were going up to NYC for several days, I decided I should go birding. I dropped them off at the train in Fredericksburg, VA then drove down to Virginia Beach to the Princess Anne Wildlife Management Area arriving about 3:30pm. After slogging around in the mud for about 45 minutes, a beautiful lighter colored sparrow flew by me and perched-up in the scrub. Tick!

After spending the night in our almost empty house in Manns Harbor (and having a take-away mahi mahi BLT from Blue Moon as my lifer supper!), I drove back up to Fredericksburg. I had asked Mom’s Big Year Birder, Nancy McAllister, if she had the Barrow’s Goldeneye in Maryland. She said she was going to look for it on Thursday. I said that I was too! We had become good Facebook friends, but had yet to meet in person. As she said, “The planets aligned.” And we decided to converge upon the Elm Environmental Education Center about 10am.

I had a lovely drive over from F’burg through the Virginia and Maryland countrysides. I stopped just after crossing into MD because I saw a very small, stubby-billed Goose. I hopped out with my camera and found that my battery was flat. I had neglected to check it before I left, something I had never done before. I also did not have my spare battery.

Nancy had more traffic to deal with and was running late. I arrived just past 10 at the end of the dirt road and parked by the center. I took my scope and started up the beach. The weather was perfect, calm and sunny. I stopped to scan a raft of ducks and in just moments I saw the white spotted side of the Barrow’s Goldeneye! YES! I decided to try to digi-scope it and immediately lost it. I texted Nancy that I had the duck. I walked further up the beach to get a better angle, but I could not relocate it. After about 15 minutes, I re-found it as Nancy was walking up the beach. I thought I could just stay on the bird until she reached me. It dove. I lost it again. We then spent about a half an hour both scoping through ducks before I was finally able to say, “I’ve got it.” Nancy looked through my scope at the Barrow’s Goldeneye, then snapped a few photos in its general direction. Tick! We did not find out until days later that she had indeed gotten a definitive photo of the duck. Sweet. I am grateful.

Nancy McAllister's recording shot of our Christmas Barrow's Goldeneye (on the left).

Nancy and a crazy man.

The parking area by the center. It is beautiful there.

We had a lovely lifer lunch and Lifer Pie desert at a little local restaurant. That might have been the last time I have fresh rockfish. It is not a fish that is available in Australia. It was a delicious end to a very excellent day. I added a new lifer and a new life long friend. I am very grateful.
     

Excellent local rockfish and good pie!

Here are a few photos of the Le Conte’s that I had already posted on Facebook. That is one lovely little bird.
       

Le Conte's Sparrow!

Peace. Love. Birds. Hope.

It. Is. For. Sale.

The Link to the Cottage Listing

Click the link above. It is official and listed. The house between the Sandbar and the Swamp is now on the market. My real estate agent has told me that she does not think most potential buyers would care for that description. It seems that “Swamp” is not a good word for some folks, but as I told her, my kind of people like swamps. Hell, birders love sewage works! But there are no sewage works near this cottage. It is located in Manns Harbor, NC between the Outer Banks Beaches (the Sandbar) and Alligator River National Wildlife Refuge (the Swamp). It is beautiful here. I absolutely love it, but we are moving to Australia and so we have to sell it.

The view of the water is phenomenal. It is a panoramic view of Croatan Sound without the worry of maintaining a bulkhead (we are one “lot” back from the water) or flooding. This property has not flooded. For example, hurricanes: Irene, Floyd and Matthew which caused major flooding in many of the surrounding areas of Dare County, never pushed water into this yard. It is a just a bit higher than the surrounding properties. This was a comfort during the recent Hurricane Matthew from which we suffered no damages.

The house also has a new (2013) propane-powered generator that runs all the essential parts of the home. During the recent hurricane, the power went out at 4:30 Sunday morning, the generator automatically came on and we had electricity until mains power was restored 36 hours later (and it used only about 10% of our propane).

The predominant trees here are lovely Live Oaks. There are no pines in, or around, our yard. Pines, as you may know, are weaker and tend to break-off or blow down in storms. We are indeed nestled amongst sturdy trees and it is a very birdy place.

The cottage is about ten minutes from downtown Manteo, ten minutes from the Nags Head beaches, fifteen minutes from a Fresh Market and Food Lion, fifteen minutes from the OBX Hospital and twenty minutes from Harris Teeter. You get the idea. We are close to the beach area and all its amenities, without the cost, or the hassle. It is (to me) an ideal place to live. If I were not moving to Australia, I would want to stay right here.

Again, here is the link to the MLS Listing. It has a lot of photos and gives a very good look at, and into, the house. Please have a look... The Cottage Listing

And please do feel free to share the link or this blog with any friends who you think might be interested in the cottage. I would love for birders to live here. It is such a special place.

Wishing you joy and peace from this very drawing table. I truly will miss this view.

Peace. Love. Birds.

One From Between the Sandbar and the Swamp

This morning I was having coffee while checking facebook and emails at my drawing table as I do. I was also drinking in the new and “improved” panoramic view of the sound. I am sad for the loss of some beautiful, big old live oaks in neighbor's yards, but it has opened the water view from this house even more! It is gorgeous. I will truly miss it.

I dearly do love it.

As I sat, I noticed a small bird fly into the live oak on my right and thought that it seemed different than the Yellow-rumped Warblers that are so ubiquitous this time of year. I got up and peered into the tree and finally got a good glimpse. I told Lynn, “I’ve got a Blue-headed Vireo out here.” We went back to the bedroom for a better viewing angle and it was still there, but on the backside of the tree. I cracked the window and pished and it popped right up in front of us. I went to get the camera, but it flew over the house toward the front yard.

I decided to wander out and see if it was still there and it was. It posed (although back lit) right in front of me for a few moments and I snapped a few photos. It had been far too long since I took photos of a bird. I am grateful for this little vireo and his visit this morning.
     

Beautiful Blue-headed Vireo

         

The cottage between the Sandbar and the Swamp will soon be listed as they say. It is easily one of my favorite places I have ever lived and certainly one of the best views I have ever had. I would love for it to go to someone who birds. I will keep y'all posted and I will, of course, post the link to the house once it is officially on the market. Anyone can contact me if they are interested and I will be happy to talk to you about this wonderful home.

Peace. Love. Birds.

We Are Moving To Australia (Want To Buy A House?)

Yes, we are moving to Australia full stop. We did this once before, but there were some difficult and unexpected problems and we ended up back in the USA. That was a blessing in part because Lynn (and I as well) was able to spend a lot of time with her father. Not long after we had returned, we found out that he was terminally ill. Lynn was able to take a very active roll in his care. It truly was a blessing (and I try not to over use that word). She was able to be with him until the end.

We returned to Oz and made the decision to do the massive year of travel and birding and keep our Permanent Resident Visas. With our visa requirements satisfied, we prepared to return to the US for a while, but then we found a house in Victoria that we could “afford.” We have found a tiny, one bedroom house that is... 2 minutes from the railway station, 2 minutes from good grocery stores, 5 minutes from the Avalon Airport, 5 minutes from the WTP (yes, the world famous birding location also known as the Poo Farm), 10 minutes from the You Yangs Regional Park, 5 minutes from Serendip Sanctuary and close enough to our kids and grandkids. It is a wondrous location, but as I said, it is very small house. We will be getting rid of a LOT of stuff.

So we are selling the House Between the Sandbar and the Swamp in Manns Harbor, NC. Our incredible cottage that is only 2 minutes from Alligator River NWR (the swamp) and 10 minutes from Nags Head’s beach (the sandbar). We renovated it just over two years ago. It has 2 bedrooms, 2 baths, 1 reading loft, bamboo floors, new stainless appliances and an enclosed porch with a breathtaking view of Croatan Sound. I will be adding more photos in the coming days. We also have an excellent generator that powers the majority of the house should the electricity go out. This is an ideal little house. I. Love. It.

Our US Prius in the driveway.

The wonderful porch (one end of it anyway).

Living room into the kitchen

The new shower in the bath off the master

Five minutes down the road (and there are bears there too!)

Bears in Alligator River NWR... just down the road.

The guest room

Sunset crossing the old Manns Harbor bridge.

The view from where I sit every morning when I am here.

If I were going to live in the USA, I would want to live nowhere else. I love this house and coastal NC. But we are going to be living in Australia… Parrots, Grasswrens, Fairy-wrens and Universal Healthcare… I will be coming back to you. I am coming home.

Peace. Love. Birds.

Not A Big Year, A Massive Year

We (and our luggage) arrived safely in Raleigh Durham last Thursday evening and for that I am grateful. Our dealings with Qantas have continued to disappoint to say the very least. It has been a steady decline in their service and services in the almost 20 years we have flown with them. I do not need to go into it here. It just is what it is now. As a good friend said, “Qantas is now a shell of what it used to be.” I could not agree more.

It’s been close to two weeks since I posted a blog entry. We are here in the USA and a lot of things need to be sorted out. These are the kinds of things that set my anxieties ablaze, burning through my brain leaving scorched earth where creativity could normally grow. Even if the growth were only some “thought weeds” pushing up between the blackened cracks, they would at least be spots of green amongst the darkness.

So as I wait for returned calls that do not come, or as I attempt to deal with any of the overwhelming organizational tasks at which I am less capable than most Golden Retrievers, I thought I would try to write something in here. Yes, that was all one sentence.

Over the last several days, I have managed to start a rewrite of the beginning of the "book" about the year. I am searching for the voice in which I will write it. It will of course be my voice, but it will be a bit different from the blog. I am also working out how detailed and personal I want it to be. Getting it going may be a slow process (see the scorched earth hyperbole above). But one of the things that I possibly can write about at this time is the notion of a “Big Year” in relation to our year of birding and our Couple’s Year List.

As birders know, a Big Year is when a person(s) attempts to see as many different species of birds in a specific area as they can in a year. The year usually would run from 1 January through 31 December. Because of our time situation, we began keeping a list on 20 August and stopped on 18 August since we did no birding after that. So the dates in themselves would make it a pretty unconventional “Big Year.”

Non-birders often point to the fact that occasionally we twitched a bird, or birds. Twitching is traveling a distance specifically in hopes of seeing a rare or unusual bird somewhere. That we did. But these were usually not too terribly far out of our way and never involved air travel. Real Big Years involve many flights for twitching rarities.

We also only did four pelagic birding trips during our year. Anyone really gunning for numbers will all but grow fins in pursuit of the deep ocean specialties. We missed many a pelagic bird, which a trip or two more would have probably provided. But those trips are not cheap and are often uncomfortable and we chose not to do an excessive number of them.

And believe me, we birded hard, very hard, but even then you sometimes dip. There were basically three bogey birds of the year. The baddest bogey being Black-breasted Buttonquail (alliteration anyone?). We put over five days into searching Inskip Point for that damn bird without a glimpse. The second bad bogey was Yellow-rumped Mannikin and last but not least, the Wandering Albatross. These were all birds that we put serious time and travel into, but did not see. It happens. It has to. If you don’t have a bogey bird (or three) you are not really birding.

We basically “let go” of quite a few birds that would have added numbers for us. We knew that Pheasants on Rottnest Island were a tick, but decided not to spend the money to get over there. We did not drive an hour off our route to tick the Ostriches near Barham, NSW on our way to twitch the Laughing Gull in Venus Bay. And speaking of twitching, we did not back-track for the House Crow near Perth, nor the Ringed Plover in Carnarvon, nor dash ahead for the Franklin’s Gull in Darwin (we tried but were late). I could go on, but I shouldn’t. I am not whinging, I am only giving a few examples of our not “big yearing” it.

Make no mistake, the year itself was massive. It was the biggest and most wonderful year of my life and I will be grateful for the rest of my days for the experience. We accomplished something that few people have. We birded the entire continent of Australia. God, I love that place and those birds.

Although it was so difficult to choose which ones, here are just a very few of my favorite non-bird photos from the year. A few I have posted previously...

My favourite photo of the year. The unposed pic of Lynn listening for (and hearing, then seeing) Sandhill Grasswren with Uluru in the background. This is as good as it gets.

Second favourite, Lynn and I crossing the King Edward River in Troopi (for the second time).

Early in the year, Lynn and Matilda at Hattah-Kulkyne NP

Lynn catching a bit of mobile signal at Chilli Beach, Cape York, QLD

Birding on Norfolk Island

21 November 2015, our 25th Wedding Anniversary at Jamberoo Lookout, NSW

And I love this photo too... nine days later and heading for Tassie.

Just one of the many faces of Tasmania. This is on the east coast.

Kangaroo Island gorgeousness.

Troopi base camp in Gluepot.

The Great Australian Bight near the Nullarbor Roadhouse. It actually looks unreal.

In the Stirling Ranges with Lily and Mike, dear new friends.

I particularly love this photo of Lynn. Just wow. This was our base camp in Carnarvon.

And one of my very favourite photos of Lynn. This was at the Broome Bird Observatory and it was that hot. I think she looks absolutely beautiful here.

Looking at White-quilled Rock-Pigeons in the Kimberley. There was a lot of rock-hopping.

This was taken just after we had crossed the King Edward River. Lynn and I went swimming in it.

A lot of climbing and crawling, but we got Kalkadoon Grasswren! Mt. Isa, QLD

The road into a piece of heaven... Kingfisher Park Birdwatcher's Lodge. I. Love. It. There.

I really felt a bond with that Laughing Gull.

Looking back at Troopi from near where we saw the Short-tailed Grasswren. I loved the Flinders Ranges.

One of the last days of the "year." Lynn birding back in Victoria in the You Yangs.

Stay tuned, there will be a lot more to come in the coming days. But I really needed a look back at this year right now. Sending much love from North Carolina at present.


Couple’s AUS Year Total: 638
Peace. Love. Birds.

Pink Robin Yard Bird

It’s been a week since my last blog entry. I have had my 63rd birthday, a happy one spent with family. I have continued to battle with this cold-ear-throat-chest thing and I am better. I’ve done several doctor visits. I have nasal sprays, pills and I have had lots of rest, a gross amount of rest. To quote an old AA saying, I am sick and tired of being sick and tired. But as I said, I truly am better. To my American friends, this is not really unusual for an Aussie “bug.” These things here often run for weeks at a time. I am just very grateful that I am getting much better and that I remained healthy (excepting the eye issue) throughout our year of travels.

About a week and a half ago, as we were getting in the car here in Torquay, I saw a robin in the bushes. I just caught a glimpse of it, but enough to recognize it as a probable female Pink Robin. I pished and she popped out for a quick, bare-eyed view. Yep, pretty sure it was a Pink Robin. I thought I saw her again a few days later as well, but I still was not positive.

Saturday morning, I took the camera out for a look around. I pished a bit by those bushes and sure enough, she popped up for a proper look and some photos. I saw my lifer Pink Robin (a female) several years ago at Point Addis, about ten minutes from here. I saw (and showed others) that robin a few times. I am very pleased to have such a sweet bird in the yard here at my son’s house and I hope it hangs around. I am grateful.

     

The lovely female Pink Robin

It is also Father's Day here in Australia. I was delighted to get a second present (the first were the tickets to Delilah's school show). Here is my new mug from my grandchildren and the sweet bag that it came wrapped in. I am very grateful.

     

    
I hope to write another blog entry before we leave for the US on Thursday. If I have time, I certainly will. I am very much looking forward to seeing my friends and loved ones in the US, but I am quite sad to leave my adopted home (and Troopi). We plan to return early-ish next year. I will tell y’all all about the plans and things soon. I will also be working on the book of our amazing year. I know I will have some jet-lag time coming to me in NC and I hope to get some writing done. I am grateful.

Peace. Love. Birds.

We Really Did It!

In one year’s time, we circumnavigated and birded the whole continent of Australia and more. We passed the “Halfway Across Australia” sign in February 2016 and again in the end of July 2016. We began our Aussie travels on 1 September 2015.

     

The left photo was taken in February 2016 and the right in July 2016. Notice how much my hat has bleached out.

I will have to find a better way to make maps. This map is crap. It does not include a lot of the places we went, but it gives you the general idea. You can see that we have indeed done it.

Missing a few parts of the route, but it does give you an idea of it.

When we decided to use travel and camping as a way to spend a year in Australia, we decided to “let the birds lead us.” We’d be traveling anyway, so our routing would be based loosely on birding locations and weather. Lynn had no interest in doing a real “Big Year.” Although we were going to keep a list and that list would be kept for a year, from 20 August 2015 to 19 August 2016. It would be a list of birds seen as a couple, a couple’s year list, but not a Big Year. Birders know the difference. I will explain that, and our list in much more detail later. I am extremely grateful for what we were able to do.

We consulted our dear friend John Weigel (I believe his 2014 AUS Big Year total of 770 will remain the record for many years to come). He laid out a basic route for us. Although we followed many of his suggestions, the routing changed again and again as life intervened. We had to push back our departure from the US by a month as I had cataract surgery on both eyes. That changed our original schedule from the start.
                       

John and me at our "planning table" at Maumee Bay Lodge in Ohio, May 2015.

We began traveling on 1 September 2015. In a very abbreviated list, we left Torquay and went to: Little Desert, Hattah-Kulkyne, NP, Gluepot, SA, Bowra Sanctuary, Inskip Point, QLD, Eungella NP, Cairns, Kingfisher Park Birdwatcher's Lodge, Iron Range NP, Lammington NP, Ourimbah, NSW, Norfolk Island, Deniliquin, NSW, Barren Grounds, Portland, VIC, Tasmania and back to the Torquay area for Christmas holidays. Phew.

I love Tassie. It has many faces and moods.

Leaving Boxing Day, we went to Kangaroo Island for a week. Then we house sat for several weeks in Torquay leaving 1 February 2016 heading to: Gluepot (yes again), Adelaide, Whyalla, SA, Lincoln NP, crossing the Nullabor, lots of birding in southwestern WA, then up to Cue, over to Carnarvon, out into the Pilbara and up to Broome for 3 hot weeks. 

The Great Australian Bight near the Nullabor Roadhouse.

Troopi in Broome. I loved the BBO and its people.

Then we went across the Gibb River Road through the Kimberley and up to Mitchell’s Plateau, then down and over to Kununurra and into the NT to Katherine and a few weeks basing at my adopted sister’s (my Yabok, Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow) in Darwin River, exploring Darwin, Kakadu and the surrounding areas. 

One of my favourite photos from the year... Troopi crossing the King Edward.

Then we went over to Mt. Isa and back down to Alice Springs, further down to Coober Pedy, SA, back up to Uluru and then up and over to Kingfisher Park (yes again, I LOVE it there), up to Cooktown, QLD and into Cape York. Then we came back down the coast. 

My very favourite photo of the year. An unposed shot of Lynn listening intently for Sandhill Grasswrens (she heard, we saw) with Uluru in the background. This. So much this.

In Kurra Kurra, NSW I heard about the Laughing Gull in Venus Bay, SA and we drove across to see it, thus passing the Halfway Across Australia sign in Kimba again. After the gull, we drove up to the Flinders Ranges, then down to Pt. Fairy, VIC and then back to the Torquay area again.

 

Lynn and me in front of the Kimba Big Galah by the Halfway Across Australia sign, July 2016 in the rain.

And here the year ended on a whimper. It was as if we returned to Victoria and I fell apart. I came down with a horrible cold; then an eye infection, ear infection, and I fell and cracked a rib (one of the more painful things I have experienced). But none of this crap is life threatening and I will eventually be done with it. I just have not felt like writing a blog entry and I have done no birding. It has been an amazing year. I am trying to grok that, and to revel in it as best I can.

Yes, there will be a book about it all. I promise. I am truly grateful (and I am feeling better). 

   

I will leave you with the 625th bird on the Couple's Year List, the endangered Golden-shouldered Parrot.

RB AUS Life List: 671
Lynn AUS Life List: 654
Couple’s AUS Year List Total: 639

Peace. Love. Birds.

A Few Victorian Birds

We are in the midst of winding down from a massive year. Our year list of birds seen as a couple officially ends this Friday 19 August at midnight. It has not been a "big year," although we kept a list for a year. There are many examples over that time when we did not go for the tick. We did not go by and tick the Barham Ostriches although we passed fairly close to where they are when we went for the Laughing Gull. We did not go out and get the Pheasants on Rottnest Island. We NEVER got to the Strzelecki Track, even though we really had time to do so in the last weeks. There are more examples than I care to think about of things we did not do, but we did do a LOT and I will be focusing on that. I am very grateful.

I will write briefly about the year, the travel, and this winding down in the next blog entry. We are not likely to add any more to the list, but we will see. Much of it will all eventually (soon-ishly) be written as a “book.”  It was an amazing year and a hell of an accomplishment, and it is a story that I need to tell. I will write it.

At present, Lynn and I both have sore throats and head-achy congestion. Maybe it’s colds; maybe it’s pollen. Stuff is beginning to bloom around here. It is odd that after almost a year of traveling around this entire continent without a sniffle, we are both feeling poorly back here. My abdominal issue of last week “seems” to have normalized (at least normal for me, which still ain’t right) but I am grateful for that. I do believe with all my heart that I am healthier when traveling. For me, travel is life (with very necessary occasional pauses!).
           

Lynn birding in the You Yangs.

I just took some ibuprofen, so I hope to finish with the photos and get this written and posted. Thanks to our dear friend, Philip Peel, we found an excellent spot for Speckled Warbler. This was a lifer for Lynn! I had only previously seen one, and that was several years ago in the You Yangs. At Phil’s spot just up the road in Eynesbury, VIC, we quickly found them and had wonderful views of this sometimes difficult bird. I am grateful.

Then also at his suggestion, we drove over to the Werribee Open Range Zoo where we found a beautiful Buff-banded Rail for the year list. This one is missing a foot, but seems to get around just fine. I will call him Stumpy.

Lynn's lifer Speckled Warbler, Eynesbury, VIC

     

There were lots of Tree Martins nesting in the area.

There were Brown Treecreepers around as well. We saw several there.

Buff-banded Rail on the Werribee Zoo grounds. I shall call him Stumpy and he will be my friend.

Gorgeous Little Eagle flying over whilst we were in the Zoo car park.

And just because I like those feathers, here's a Great Cormorant from a few days ago on the Great Ocean Road.

Sending love and peace from the Surf Coast (as this area is called). I will keep y’all posted.

Peace. Love. Birds.

RB AUS Life List: 671
Lynn AUS Life List: 654
Couple’s AUS Year List: 638

Port Fairy Victoria Pelagic and Global Birdness

Slender-billed Prion, tick!

We got a call from Philip Peel a while back to see if we wanted in on a pelagic on Sunday 7 August. To make a longer story shorter, we said yes and were in Port Fairy on the evening of the 6th. When Phil arrived at our accommodation he asked, "How do you like my hat?" I wish there was a photo of my face as I looked at Phil wearing a BSBO hat! I was gobsmacked. My dual-hemisphere existence collided. Then he gave me a "Love Packet" from Kim Kaufman that had t-shirts and stickers and pins and socks and just a whole bunch of wonderful Black Swamp Bird Observatory stuff! It was so very touching and I am so grateful. My birding family in the USA and Oz have successfully merged and things will never be the same again. Watch out world, this is Global Birdness!

Phil Peel, Lynn and me in Port Fairy, VIC

Sunday morning at 7am we headed out to sea with a boat full of friends.

       

The sunrise heading out from Port Fairy.

Along with Phil, we had the company of our buddy and birding partner, Robert Shore, as well as our good friend Bill Twiss. Also aboard were friends David Adam, Alison Nesbitt, Tim Nicholls, Kevin Bartram, Adam Fry and other wonderful Victorian birders. As the morning progressed the wind kicked up far above what was forecast and we were rockin’ and rollin.’ In about three hours we were 50 kilometers offshore and we set up to berley (chum). This began our birding in earnest.

We had some wonderful birds, four of which were lifers for the two of us and another just for Lynn. A White-fronted Tern on the trip back into port was a lifer for her. The other lifers were: Great-winged Petrel (nominate race, we had Grey-faced), Brown Skua, Slender-billed Prion and Grey-backed Storm-petrel. I am grateful. I will be honest and admit that having once again dipped on Wandering Albatross was a disappointment. But the trip was wonderful (for a pelagic) and it was especially nice birding with friends. Brace yourselves, here come some photos...

   

Brown Skua

Brown Skua floating

Brown Skua leaving

Great-winged Petrel (nominate race)

Great-winged Petrel showing off his wing.

Grey-backed Storm-petrel

Fairy Prion

Slender-billed Prion

New Zealand Fur Seal visited for a few moments.

Indian Yellow-nosed Albatross

Grey-backed Storm-petrel, Black-browed Albatross and a Fairy Prion

The three hours plus ride back into port. My least favorite part of pelagic birding.

Phil nodding off as Bill Twiss and Robert Shore brave the spray in the stern.

Lifer Selfie on the way in.

We had a quick coffee with the group before heading back to our accommodation and supper at the pub. A wonderful day it was. I am very grateful.

Monday morning we drove to Torquay where we have a beautiful AirBnB apartment for the next ten days before we move in for a few weeks at our son’s. I awoke Tuesday morning here feeling abdominal discomfort that sometimes means trouble. I’ve now done a day and a half of 'clear' liquids and so far so good. I am weak and tired, but that is to be expected. Crossed fingers that I will be back to whatever it is that is considered normal for me very soon. There’s some birding left to do! I am grateful.


RB AUS Life List: 671
Lynn AUS Life List: 653
Couple’s AUS Year List: 636
Peace. Love. Birds.

Short-tailed Grasswren, Flinders Ranges, SA

When my plan was hatching to dash across to Venus Bay, SA, it more than crossed my mind that the Flinders Ranges with their Short-tailed Grasswren were only a couple hours or so northeast of Port Augusta. We had to go through Port Augusta anyway, so why not pop up to have a look for the Grasswren on the way back from the Expat Laughing Gull twitch? I also had plans to look for the Copper-backed Quail-thrush at Secret Rocks near Kimba. The pouring rain drowned that idea and we continued on to stay in a truly crap cabin in a dilapidated caravan park in Stirling North. Live and learn and move on.

We were out of there first thing the next morning and after a grocery stop, arrived in the Flinders Ranges at Willow Springs Station and our nice little cabin by noon. We got the list of recent grasswren sightings at the Station (they keep track of them there) and headed to Stokes Hill Lookout, just around the corner from the station.

Views in the Flinders Ranges are amazing, even more than I expected.

The big wing at the entrance to Willow Spring Station.

These are views from Stokes Hill Lookout. Yeah, wow.

The wind was howling. This makes grasswrens sad and they sit at home somewhere and watch old movies and eat ice cream. Maybe not, but they were not to be seen anywhere across those hills that afternoon. And in many people’s opinion, Stokes Hill is the go-to place for the Short-tailed GW. We went back to our cozy little cabin for the night.

The next morning the wind was still up. We waited until about 10am and then went over to have a look. It seemed a bit less windy and we trudged across the ridges toward the optimum grasswren area (as dictated by the recent sightings). Low and behold, the wind did drop out a bit more AND the sun even came out! It was still chilly, but much better. We bumped into three other birders and began a “sweep” along the side of the hill. In about fifteen minutes we were on the bird! I saw it. Lynn saw it. And I even got some recording shots. Then we saw that bird again, as well as a second one nearby. Awesomeness. Truly. Lynn and I rejoiced, and after hanging around to see if any more were going to pop out in the immediate area, we joyfully walked the kilometer and a half or so back to Troopi. I am so very grateful!
     

At times we had an audience.

First view of the Short-tailed Grasswren!

I love how Grasswrens go up on tiptoes.

Yes, I do.

The Short-tailed GWs were just in front of where Lynn is standing.

Looking back at Troopi and a few other vehicles at Stokes Hill Lookout from the Grasswren area.

I am sitting in “our” Willow Springs Overseer’s Cabin writing this. There is no mobile reception or wifi here. So this will get posted from somewhere, hopefully tomorrow. This is an interesting experience. It is remarkably beautiful out here. The cabin’s setting is picture-postcard lovely. There is no television or internet, none of my usual ADD distractors (I am usually popping back and forth to Facebook and checking things… weather, routing, email, etc). So we are listening to background music as I write and edit photos. This is very peaceful. Just being quiet in peacefulness is not something I do very well. I tend to be a doer. I tend to want to be doing, and just chilling does not come easily to me. It is something I would like to work on, but we will see.
   

The three photos above are views from our cabin. It is so lovely there. Once again, the birds did their job and lead us to wondrous places. I am grateful.

There were 3 horses around Troopi. I got this one's photo.

That evening, I had a couple of those excellent non-alcoholic beers before supper and Lynn had a couple of regular ones. Then we grilled some sandwiches and… I just happened to have bought a small carrot cake (just in case). So yes, there was Lifer Pie. I do wish I had had some ice cream to go with it!

RB AUS Life List: 667
Lynn AUS Life List: 648
Couple’s AUS Year List: 631


Peace. Love. Birds.

Expat Laughing Gull Twitch, Venus Bay, SA

I have said before that in birding (as well as other things) sometimes one man’s ceiling is another man’s floor. In September of 2014, with our wonderful friend Linda from New Mexico visiting us in North Carolina, we dashed up to Cape May, NJ to twitch a Whiskered Tern. Sure we had seen hundreds in Oz, and our Aussie friends laughed at us, but this was quite a rarity for the US. And when a Laughing Gull, quite a rarity for Oz, showed up in Venus Bay, South Australia, I wanted it on my Australian list. I am sure some of our North American birding tribe found this funny as well.

Expat Laughing Gull, Venus Bay, SA

My childhood was spent along the waterfront of Hampton Roads in tidewater Virginia. I grew up around the water. I spent much of my time fishing and crabbing. I loved it. The sound of a Laughing Gull is a part of my soul. I am now an expat in Oz and I reckon so is this gull. I love Australia. I love it (and my grandchildren) so much that I am going to live here. But it has been far from easy on a lot of levels. So I feel a real connection with this expat North American Gull.

We were on the coast of New South Wales when I began to seriously entertain the idea of twitching this bird. I spoke with Kay Parkin who had just seen it. She thought that in its molting condition and with its comfortable food and lodging at the caravan park, it would be around for a while. We decided to go for it. We started southwest and stayed at our dear friend, Robert’s house in Parkes, NSW. If you have never seen the film, “The Dish” rent it, stream it, whatever, just watch it. It is wonderful, and it took place in Parkes. We had a lovely visit and left a bit late Thursday morning. We drove to Hay, NSW. Not much to say about Hay or that drive. We passed through the Shire of Bland, literally and figuratively. Honestly though, it is lovely out there in its open, scrubby Aussie way. I am grateful.

We decided to do a longish drive on Friday and made it to Burra, SA where we stayed in a very old, but VERY cold stone cabin. It is gorgeous in that part of South Australia. Lynn described the luxuriant green of the hillsides as “emerald” and they were. It was lovely driving through there and it put us within striking distance of Venus Bay, SA on Saturday.
     

The drive from Burra was about 7 hours and we rocked up at the Venus Bay Caravan Park just after 2pm. I immediately asked about the gull. I had spoken to both Ruth and Linda of the caravan park a few times on the way (wonderfully sweet, both) and they knew who I was and why we were there. Ruth said that the gull was definitely around and it would show up soon. After maybe fifteen minutes of giving me heart palpitations by its absence, show up it did! I was standing amongst a group of Silver Gulls when Lynn said, “Look at that one.” Right in front of me, the Laughing Gull had snuck in. Neither of us saw it arrive, it just seemed to appear there. It touched my heart. I am grateful.
       

       

The true Lifer Selfie with the bird also in the photo!

After about a half an hour of drinking-in the reality of this wonderful widely traveled gull, we checked in and settled into our cabin. I opened a cold non-alcoholic beer (my favorite, Erdinger) and just looked out at the water. We have a wondrously gorgeous view of the bay. The cabin is comfy, cozy, and beachy. It is exactly my kind of place. They have takeaway here at the caravan park and I had some excellent butterfish F&C and Lifer Pie of ice cream on a stick. I am so very grateful.
         

From our cabin... love this.

This morning I wandered down first thing to check on my new gull pal. He was right there. I took some more photos and had a visit with a Victorian twitcher friend, Alan Crawford who had flown over from Melbourne and was staying in one of the cabins as well. This is a wonderful place and I am glad that it is benefiting from the LAGU. 

There he is...

Yes, he is molting and there are a few feathers missing.

After Lynn and I had a walk around, I am ready for a lazy Sunday arvo on the bay. Sending love and peace from Venus Bay, SA. I’ll keep y’all posted. Here are some photos from our little walk (I do love me some Pelicans).
         

Lots of Singing Honeyeaters around.

Australian Pelican

I love the colors on the bill.

RB AUS Life List: 666
Lynn AUS Life List: 647
Couple’s AUS Year List: 630


Peace. Love. Birds.

New South Wales, RT Thrush and Masked Owl

I am sitting in the heated comfort of a motel room in Kurri Kurri, NSW. There were trees down across the roads keeping us out of Barrington Tops where we had hoped to find the Rufous Scrub-bird last weekend. So instead, we headed on south ending up here last Saturday. I am grateful.

Saturday afternoon we stopped at the very cool Wingham Brush Nature Reserve near Taree, NSW. It was recommended as an excellent Russet-tailed Thrush site. This was a bird that Lynn needed and we needed on the year list. We birded along the old wooden boardwalk and in the peaceful shade of the lowland rainforest, we soon were looking at a Russet-tailed Thrush. I took copious photos and we are positive of the i.d. I am grateful.

Russet-tailed Thrush... the secondary covert feathers are bold and the colors do not go up the feather shaft. They look as if they were dipped in paint.

The white is longer on the tail feathers...

It has a very russety, shortish tail and its rump feathers do not have the heavy dark edges like the feathers on the back.

We drove on to Kurri Kurri where we had found a nice and “affordable” motel. Our tolerance for cold seems to have lessened since all of our steamy northern travels. We had been hot, and or warm, for so long that camping in the cold is not something that we want to do very much. Especially not in the wind and or rain. So we have been splurging on little cabins and rooms when we can. After checking into our room, we headed to a local Painted Button-quail site where we saw NO button-quail. We did see lots of platelets. I think platelets are made by aliens, like crop circles. We were back at our motel by dark.

Sunday Morning, we were back at that site at first light. We birded until about 9:30am when we gave up and drove back to the motel for breakfast (we have food with us of course). Although it was not real cold, the 6-7 C temperature sank into us. We spent the rest of the morning in our room trying to get warm. Weird.
       

Early morning Troopi

Yet another place where button-quail are not. We know a lot of these places. But platelets? Platelets we've got. I am damn sick of looking at platelets.

Sunday evening we drove down to Allan Richardson’s house in Morisset. He had generously offered to take us looking for a Masked Owl. Allan had seen one a few weeks ago in the Watagan Mountains not far from his house. We arrived at his spot on a muddy logging track as the darkness descended. After about fifteen minutes Allan said, “That’s it!” The Masked Owl was calling from the upper canopy to the right of us. We listened to it repeatedly and then Lynn saw it fly across the track above us. It called from that side a few times before flying back across the track above us giving us all a good, brief look as it passed between the trees. Not a photo op for sure, but we saw Masked Owl! YES! I am so grateful. Thank you, Allan!

Before we took our coats off, I grabbed us a quick Masked Owl Lifer Selfie. We had looked for this bird in Tassie and Julatten, but finally got it in NSW!

We were back in our room by 9pm for a late sandwich and then we stayed up until midnight. We are wild ones! Tonight we are going out for a proper Lifer Supper somewhere. Wishing all y’all love and peace from New South Wales. I’ll keep you posted.

RB AUS Life List: 665
Lynn AUS Life List: 646
Couple’s AUS Year List: 629


Peace. Love. Birds.

Some Genuine Gratitude and Another Lifer (Finally).

I have a difficult time dropping the anxiety regarding stuff that I had been very anxious about. Even when the anxiety “spark” is gone, the hot little fire of nerves that it fired-up continues to cook. It is not unlike removing a pointy stone from your shoe, but continuing to have a bruised foot. I wish it had an on-off switch. I wish I had an on-off switch. Hell, who doesn’t.

Last November on the day we collected Troopi from the RV place, I had a vitreous detachment in my left eye. It caused a small circular tear in my retina. After major anxiety (the word of the day), I went to an Optometrist, then to an eye surgeon and in less than 24 hours that small hole had been laser-ed over. Since then many checkups have always produced an “all clear.” So even though my world is seen through lots of floaters now, they are nothing to worry (be anxious) about. They are just annoying.

I had been warned all along that my right eye would probably also have a vitreous detachment within the year, BUT there was very little chance of it causing a retinal tear. I was to watch for “flashes” (which I always have, and have had, and I will never understand) and… something described as a “shower of floaters.” This morning, standing by Troopi at the campground, I had a frigging murmuration of floaters. Like a massive flock of starlings, I had hundreds and hundreds of tiny round dots swirling through my right eye. My anxiety hit eleven.

The view from the campground not long before the murmuration of floaters scared the crap out of me.

Lynn and I got on the internet and the phone and found an OPMS near by and soon I had an appointment at 11am. After a thorough examination, the doctor said that in her opinion, the massive shower of floaters (two hours later 99% of them had dissolved and were gone) had been created by the safe (emphasis on “safe”) vitreous detachment in my right eye. The thing that I was warned to watch for had passed safely. It was over. It did no damage to my retina. Sorted. Sweet. I am fucking grateful.

See, the worry that had created a cloud of anxiety over my head since last November was over… safely. I should be relieved. I AM relieved!! I am also still so used to staying vigilant that it is difficult to drop it and to really have that relief sink in. I am working on it. I really am.

LIFER!! Our lovely friend, Marie Tarrant, picked us up last night and took us out to the Brisbane airport to watch for Eastern Grass Owl. Just before dark, by the light of a gorgeous full moon, we saw one! I was getting some more mozzie spray from Marie (they were biting me through my damn socks!) when Lynn said, “WHOA! What’s that!?” And Marie said, “That’s it!” A Grass Owl passed by giving us lovely views as it flew low and slow across the field. I am SO grateful!

Eastern Grass Owl Lifer Selfie... Marie, Lynn and me.

Tonight is more than a Lifer Night. It is a chill and try and relax night. We are heading south and will be chasing some birds here and there, mostly on our own, but joining friends when they can. Tonight it is just Lynn and me heading over to the local pub here in wherever we are NSW. I am going to have chips and gravy. Yes, for dinner. Think, “Lifer Pie” I am very grateful.

And here are just a few fairly random photos from the last month or so that I never posted in the blog. I am so grateful for these birds and the eyes with which to see them.

Little Kingfisher, Buffalo Creek, Darwin, NT

Grey Fantail, Alice Springs, NT (will look up subspecies later- it's the one around Alice Springs with so much white in the tail).

Crimson Chat and bug, Coober Pedy.

White-winged Fairy-wren, Coober Pedy

White-browed Woodswallows on the Barkly Highway, NT

Rainbow Bee-eaters, Cape York, QLD

Pied Monarch, Julatten, QLD

Variegated Fairy-wren, Inskip Point, QLD

Red-backed Fairy-wren, Inskip Point, QLD

Yes, I am grateful, so grateful.


RB AUS Life List: 664
Lynn AUS Life List: 645
Couple’s AUS Year List: 627
Peace. Love. Birds.

Not Superstitious

It has been ten days since the last blog, so I reckon a catch-up is in order.

When last I left y’all, we were heading south after the fantastic prawns in Ingham, QLD. Friday a week ago in Marlborough, QLD we pulled in to the caravan park and noticed oil dripping from the left back wheel hub. A call to the roadside assistance brought a slightly histrionic young man from Rockhampton who pronounced it as differential fluid. He said that we should not drive it and that no one would be able to touch it until Monday morning (weekends are sacrosanct). The RACV put us up at the caravan park motel. So Monday morning the mechanic (emphasis on “the”) in Marlborough diagnosed it at a glance (he did not even have to lean down to look at it closely). He said that it would be ready later that afternoon. I called RACV and they extended our motel to include Monday night. The wheel bearings had gone in that wheel and needed repacking in the others as well. Expensive, but not as expensive, or as much trouble in general as it could have been. I am grateful.

We were finally out of there Tuesday morning and after camping one night in Gin Gin, we arrived at Inskip Point early Wednesday afternoon and began our search for the Black-breasted Button-quail. Despite the fact that another birder had seen two males the previous Saturday at midday, we did not find any.

I do not want to become superstitious. I am already OCD (emphasis on the “O” for obsessing). I do not want to have to wear blue socks or some such thing when I look for a new bird. I do prefer (emphasis on “prefer”) to wear a PRBY apparel t-shirt when I am birding, but I do not consider that a superstition. It is just me being ready for my Lifer Selfie. What I am sort of bothered by is posting on the Facebook about the bird I am looking for before I have found it. There have been several times in the past when I have posted about a certain bird before I saw it, only to dip on the bird.

Lynn took a photo of me sitting on a log that I quite liked and she posted it on Facebook noting that we were pursuing the Black-breasted Button-quail. After being there at first light on Thursday until mid afternoon and then yesterday from about 9am (when the rain stopped) until mid arvo, we still have not seen, glimpsed, heard, nor even smelled one. The superstitious-ness is building and Stevie Wonder is doing a guest set in my head.

One of the methods is to sit quietly and watch an area with new platelets. I am sort of doing that here. But I am also resting my knee. Yes, it is still not right, and is worse than it was a few months ago.

We have covered that area from the roundabout to the point until I have memorized it. We have seen "new" platelets that should indicate the presence of the button-quail. We have had advice from excellent birders on methods for looking for them. We have tried them all. Repeatedly. I reckon Tim Dolby was once again spot-on. He said before ever we arrived here, “It is just a matter of stumbling on them. Allow time for several days perhaps.” And that is the advice that we are following. We are still here in Rainbow Beach (close to Inskip Point) waiting out the weather to go back down and see if we can stumble on them. I am very grateful that we can do that.

Here are a few photos from Inskip Point, Queensland. Cheers for now, I will keep y’all posted.

That is a platelet, a roundish bare area created by a feeding Black-breasted Button-quail.

A Carpet Python that was there both Wednesday and Thursday. On Wednesday he seemed to have no head.

On Thursday he was looking at me. Yes, we did joke that he might be too full of button-quail to move.

Lovely White-cheeked Honeyeater

Peace. Love. Birds.