Birds from Queensland.

We took a 3 hour Paddle Steamer tour along the Darling River.

# 6
I found it completely frustrating, the rocking of the Steam Boat.
It’s near impossible to take an in focus Photograph.
Another thing is the Captain wont stop for me while I take Pictures of Eagles landing on their Nests. [drat]
So this group of Pictures is the best I could manage under the circumstances.

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# 9
The last two months of Flooding have all but washed soil from around these old gum Trees.
These Trees are the homes of so many Birds.

# 10
Tourist Information Centre.

Wow that place does have a lot of birds!

Nice pics Ginger!

Wow, what's a sight! Thanks Ginger for sharing the experience with others.

OMG, that's a lot of birds!!!

Ginger, I really can imagine what the noise of all those Corellas would have been like if they'd all taken off.

Very inconsiderate of the paddle boat captain not to stop so you could take photos. Some people, eh?

# 11
If I haven’t mentioned it before they are: Little Corella Cacatua sanguinea
Yes Burn, it sure is, but it is not unusual to see flocks of 20 to 30,000 here out west.
Thank you Lily for the thank me. ;-)
And as Margaret so rightly says.
The noise when they take off is almost deafening.
No need for zoom lenses out here.
I actually had to walk backwards quite a way to get them all in. [55 mm lens]
They are so used to farmers and people they are not scared at all.
When a Farmer is ploughing his Fields.
It’s not unusual to see many thousands flying behind him and also walking on the newly ploughed soil picking up seed.

This Picture was taken from about 12 feet away.
No sign of being worried. :-)
At home they only come this close after months of feeding.

# 13
Taken from Paddle Steamer.

# 14

I really struggle to differentiate the Brown goshawk from the Collared Sparrowhawk in photos, but would tend to go with a Brown Goshawk in the last two shots. In my book it shows the Collared Sparrowhawk as being approximately the same size as a Red Wattlebird or Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike, whereas the Brown Goshawk is a much larger bird.

Unfortunately I only got those two Pictures of this Bird.
We were on the Paddle Steamer and the Captain was not very helpful. ?-)
I did get this Photo next to a nest. [they do look similar though.]
But I can’t say it is the same Bird.

Margaret,
I am hoping you will be able to help with this one.
I spotted it on the banks of the River at Bourke.
I only managed to get 3 Pictures.
It was late afternoon and I was using my flash.
It disappeared into a hollow in the Tree.
Could it be some sort of Rosella ?

Picture # 2 of this Bird.

I love these strong contrasting Pictures.
Contrast in Colour and Man-made versus Nature.

These Darters are constantly diving under the water looking for Fish.
Then they stand like statues to dry out.

Edited as these Birds are no longer Shags.
They are now Darters. ;o)


This message was edited Mar 8, 2011 5:38 AM

Dart # 2.

Thanks to Resin for this ID.
This is a Darter Anhinga melanogaster
From http://birdsinbackyards.net/species/Anhinga-melanogaster

What ever that bird is it is beautiful! Love the Shag too. Great pics Ginger, we are really enjoying the thread.

Ginger, I think it is an Australian Ringneck, Race barnadi, known in the local area as the Mallee Ringneck. This is how my book describes it: "Blue and green head. Red frontal band. Hind neck, mantle blue-black. Collar yellow: some have yellow breast band." Looking at one of my other books, the photograph of the Mallee Ringneck is a dead ringer for the one you've posted.

Well found Margaret,
“Australian Ringneck”, “Mallee Ringneck", "Mallee Parrot" Barnardius zonarius

Today we are heading north to Cunnamulla.
Yesterday the temperature out here was 33° C. but humidity is very low.
Spotted these flightless Birds around Bourke.

Yes Pell,
The Shag is a wonderful sight.
Out here they are quite different to the ones I have at home.
I'll show them when we get home.

Spotted these just outside Cunnamulla.
The bushes/trees are called Mulga Scrub.

These little guys are no bigger than a Turkey.
I thought I would run after one and catch it for some close up Pictures.
What a joke that turned out to be.
They could run 5 times faster than me.
When I get to Toowoomba I will get my revenge.
There are a couple of shops selling Emu Hamburgers.
There is an Emu Farm near Toowoomba [Gatton] selling Emu meat. ;o)

The mother Bird just stood back as if she was laughing at me.

Ginger, there is a farm not too far from where I live that has a couple Emu birds. Next time I pass by there I'll take some pics. Now I know where they're originate. :)

How about that Lily so close to you and you never knew. :-)

These claws/toe nails can tear a mans tummy and or groin open like a can opener.
It’s best not to annoy them.

From Cunnamulla we drove east to Toowoomba and Grantham.
Grantham is where 13 people drowned during our most recent Floods.

Unfortunate Resin was right, This Thread has run its race. [don’t you hate being right ?]
I am less than ½ ways through the Pictures I was going to add.

I started with ‘The Floods’ and now I finish the same way.

Nice set of pics!

While I was away with DFIL.
We had another Flood here in SE Queensland. [when will it ever stop]
As usual the fence near the Creek copped it first.
The previous flood was higher.
But this time the soil was totally saturated and all the fence posts were just pushed over.
It has taken two days to stand it up again enough to keep the Horses inside.

These River She Oaks is where the Frog Mouths lives.

Our usual fresh water Creek is now a muddy stream.
The Birds love it though.
This one is having a feed of fish.

These Birds are usually very timid around people.

I have seen this Guy pick up a 6 ft long green snake, kill it and then swallow it all in a few minutes.

Whooooo Oooo is this ?

Love the Kingfisher! Great shot! Sorry about the latest flood.

Ginger, that's rotten about the flooding. You folks have sure done it tough this summer.

I love your tree trunk with eyes.

Funny that you say the Magpie Lark/Pee Wee is usually timid around people. We have the opposite experience here and can easily hand feed them. They'll be absent for several weeks or even months and then one will appear at the door wanting a handout. They frequently hang out on verges and in parks with the Magpies.

You know, I was thinking when I saw your birds walking around the studio room, that birds in Australia are WAY more friendly, or would it be adventurous, than here in the midwest. First Margaret has them in her house and now you.