It was a hot Saturday morning on the Red Hill Nature Reserve, with the temperature already reaching 32º Celsius at 9 AM. May be it was just me but I felt there were less birds around and many of those I did see were sitting quietly in trees, under the canopy where there was shade. Despite the heat it was great to be out. It looked like the Leaden Flycatcher nestlings have fledged as their nest was empty. I also saw an immature Brown Goshawk as well as the truly beautiful Superb Parrots, hence why one of them heads this post. I hope you enjoy the photos.
JackyF told me about this Red Wattlebird (Anthochaera carunculata) nestling in a small eucalyptus sapling. The young bird was out off the nest, on a branch in the canopy staying very quiet, barely moving. The wind picked up while I was photographing so it gripped harder to the branch, looking very un-gainly, as it held on, suggesting it was not yet ready to fly.
The Red Wattlebird nestling staying quiet and motionless among the leaves
There was a group of four or five White-winged Choughs (Corcorax melanorhamphos) moving through the area looking for food. There was at least one immature bird in the group. Later, I went to where some choughs have a nest, not that I can be certain it is the same group. That morning, when I first saw the nest there was a single bird on the nest. After I moved away there appeared to be shift change with a group of choughs flying to the tree, including one who looked to be carrying some food. There was then a change of the bird sitting on the nest. The group disappeared again, leaving a new bird on the nest.
A group of White-winged Choughs
The first Chough on the nest
Shift change-over, with the bottom bird appearing to be carrying food
The second Chough on the nest
The Leaden Flycatchers (Myiagra rubecula) and friarbirds have probably left their nests, as both appeared completely abandoned and considering the sizes of the respective nestlings it would be impossible for them to hide in the bottom of their nests. The male flycatcher did fly into the trees near the old nest but did not stay long. I did not see any friarbirds near the old nest.
The male Leaden Flycatcher back near to where the nest was
The now abandoned flycatcher nest
A Grey Fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa) was flying around in the same area calling.
A Grey Fantail making its morning call
There were also a few Striated Thornbills (Acanthiza lineata), who were making it hard to photograph them.
Striated Thornbill
I realised there were not many birds on the north side of Red Hill, where the sun had been been baking for a few hours by this stage as the temperature climbed over 30º Celsius so I decided to drop down from the hill. I followed the power lines which took me to the trees where the Brown Goshawk swooped me in early December 2018. Looking into the trees I saw the unmistakeable profile of a goshawk, which on closer inspection turned out to be an Immature Brown Goshawk (Accipiter fasciatus). It was quiet, although I could hear some other bird species making noises. When I drew closer the immature Goshawk started making calls, which I interpreted as somewhat plaintive. These calls were answered by a more mature goshawk call. Not wanting to push my luck I took a photograph and moved away from that location.
Immature Brown Goshawk
Getting back to Hughes I was so excited to see a small flock of three Superb Parrots (Polytelis swainsonii) sitting in a tree of a house that backs onto the Hughes nature corridor to the Federal Golf course. My presence may have made them feel uneasy as although they stayed for a little while they did fly off to taller trees further west. The male colours are mesmerisingly beautiful while the female is less ostentatious but still a thrilling bird to see. I will try to get some better shots next time.
Male Superb Parrot
Female Superb Parrot
I saw a single White-stemmed Gum Moth (Chelepteryx collesi) caterpillar in the location I saw two a couple of weeks ago.
White-stemmed Gum Moth caterpillar
The hill was rich with butterflies, including this Common Grass Blue (Zizina labradus) and the Chequered Copper (Lucia limbaria). When I was post-processing the Chequered Copper I realise it was casting a shadow that appeared out of proportion to its tiny body. The expression of casting a giant shadow came to me when I saw that long shadow.
Common Grass Blue
A Chequered Copper casting a giant shadow
There were a number of Yellow-winged Grasshoppers (Gastrimargus musicus) all over the hill which formed a rolling, jumping procession as I walked through the long grass.
Yellow-winged Grasshopper
This immature male Blue Skimmer (Orthetrum caledonicum) was nowhere near water, in fact it was on the north aspect of the hill, the hottest part of the hill. It seemed to be happy grasping that dead stick. I took this photograph from the front because of the lighting, I did not want to try to take a top down shot in case I scared the insect off.
immature male Blue Skimmer Dragonfly from the front