I’ve birded fairly solidly over the last ten days or so, and picked up more
than 190 species around the valley, and with one day-trip out to Durikai Forest.
Seven Mile Lagoon is full of birds, over 100 Red-necked Avocets there last
Monday with Red-capped Plovers dotted around the perimeter, but just one
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. Many hundreds of ducks out on the water, at least 8
spp, including Wandering Whistling Duck – regular at Lake Apex, but not so
often at Seven Mile. Good scope views of a Peregrine Falcon sitting on a
fence-post. Whiskered, Gull-billed and Caspian Terns.
Thirteen raptor spp during the week, with Wedge-tailed Eagles every day.
We watched a pair of Great-crested Grebes performing their synchronised
courtship at Lake Dyer. At least a dozen were there, mostly on the far side
from the boat ramp, down towards the golf course.
The nesting colony of Banded Lapwings at Lockyer Waters have produced several
young, I don’t know how many in total yet, but there were at least 13 nesting
pairs there.
At Lake Apex a few Eastern Great, Intermediate and Little Egrets are in their
full breeding flush, providing an opportunity to see the three of them while
their beaks and soft parts are really coloured up - practically side by side
for comparison.
I found last week that a roost of thousands of Grey-headed Flying Foxes had
taken over what has been one of my favourite spring-time birding spots for more
than 30 years on the Toowoomba escarpment. The sight, sound, and even the smell
of the place was dramatically changed, and nearly all the birds I have been
used to seeing there at this time of year were absent. I went back a few days
later and found the bats somewhat reduced in number – and a few more birds
around.
My dates for spring arrivals in the Lockyer Valley this year include:
06 Sept – Common Greenshank, only one to date
10 Sept – Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, first at Helidon, then at Seven Mile Lagoon
11 Sept – Eastern Koel, several about, one practically resident at Abberton
14 Sept – Sacred Kingfisher, everywhere in numbers, lots of courting pairs
16 Sept – Channel-billed Cuckoo, fly-bys at Abberton daily, several every day
feasting on mulberry in a friend’s garden
19 Sept – Black-faced Monarch, only two so far, Toowoomba escarpment and
Ravensbourne NP
27 Sept – Dollarbird , several around the valley, still the bulk to come.
I managed a few interesting photographs, and will try to update the Abberton
website in the next few days.
Bill Jolly
“Abberton”
Lockyer Valley, Queensland
(27º 34” 21’ S; 152º 08’ 21” E)
Visit our website at www.abberton.org
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