There is an App you can download to your phone.  I do The bird count every year

We've had a Storm Bird (Koel) move into our yard.
You know I love birds, but he hasn't shut up for the last 3 days.
Will try and get a photo.

Eastern Rosellas in bird box under eaves of my house. Six hatched out of 7 eggs. Very happy.

Lovely to see they are doing fine.

I built a couple boxes three years ago hoping to attract some pale headed rosella. No results the first year, a swarm of bees took up residence for a while second year and after they decided it wasn't good enough & swarmed again I cleaned the wax out of the box, repainted it & a pair of rainbow lorikeets have moved in. I think they have hatched chicks buy the butcher birds have been annoying them & I think have managed to lay an egg in the box as I,m sure I saw a lorikeet feeding one from outside the box last week. I seem to spend a lot gazing at the nest & one bird sits at the entrance a lot & there is a lot of coming & going.

Nice one Keith.
The Butcher Birds and the Crows are causing havoc are here.
Also had 3 Channel Billed Cuckoos fly over yesterday. Never seen them other than solo.

I cannot believe how these little fellers have matured in seven days, I can now pick cock birds by there color, will be on the wing in three weeks in thing.
Keith your set up looks good, I hope things go alright.

Hi Derek
I didnot do the count as a lot of people in the village did so.
For me I went down to the Caravan storage which backs onto the wetland. This area as been eyemarked for the
Coomera connection road
Anyway I did see a lot of finches including Double bars, Red Brow fire tails and Chestnut breasted Mannikin. Was great to see them. I had all these finches   when I was a member of the Qld. Finch Society
regards Kevvie

Woke this morning to the sound of an Eastern Koel.  First time this year.

We have a couple of Moreton Bay Figs a couple of hundred metres away from the house and he seems to mark an area around then as territory.

Final result of the bird count.

There is an understanding that we have 828 different birds in Australia so this count over a week that found 628 birds has to be pretty good I think.

Disappointing to see the both the feral Indian or Common Minor and the House Sparrow in the top 10 though.

The Koel is very vociferous out here.  Been going since daylight.  He is still sitting in the Moreton Bay Fig Tree a few doors down.

Have heard the occasional call up in the hill behind us but not seen one of them out here yet Kevvie.

They are a strange bird.

Took this photo a couple of years ago of some double barred finches at my bird feeding station.

I am now watching two of them building a nest in a grevillea about 10 metres from our back patio.

Keeping my distance until they are well settled and finished.  Will take some photos then.

I am stoked.

Kev, I have seen the odd plum haded finch up along my back fence however they do not seem to want to come into the yard.

As the trees get bigger and more established that may change though.

Yet to see a red browned finch here at home.

I do have noisy minors but few and far between.  For a native bird they can be quite gregarious.

We are up at Atherton visiting family and they live on five acres with established trees. I often see Double Bars and Redbrows in their front yard. The Double Bars are nesting in one of the fruit trees.

Kevvie wrote on Jan 13^th, 2020 at 7:15am:


We are having a great time up here Kev. We will head back south when the granddaughters go back to school. There is a lot of bird life here which is great to see and entertaining at times. A couple of Bush Curlews nested here, Willy Wagtails just fledged a young one but there should have been two but a Kookaburra got the other one the day it fledged. Some White Cockatoos came in and were demolishing the cones on the Norfolk Pines. Lots of other smaller bids around also. Lastly there is a flock, if that is the correct word, of a dozen Guinea Foul that roam the neighbourhood.

From the patio I can now see through the branches a rather large ball of grasses where the double bar finches nest is progressing. 

Derek What type of grass are they using. It looks like a grass
they use to call november grass. we would collect it up against fences as it was the seed heads of the grass and was carried by the wind. It was very light and you could fill a big bag very quickly and the birds would go mad for it once you  it out for
them. we would also get it when we went to the finch society meeting. they would sell it along with other stuff for the  aviary birds.
fond memories are coming back. Would love to see them all in the wild.
regards Kev

Yes that would be the grass. They called November grass because it was around the month of november it would appear. And they kind of weave it. Another great thing was to watch the willy wag tails collecting the spider webs and the horse hair off the barbed wire fence to make their nests.
I remember them putting out the lint from the clothes dryer for the little birds to put into their nests.
regards Kev

anything like this

Thanks for the photograph Jeff. Yes that the November grass I was talking about that we use to give to the finches.
I cannot see the finches carrying around the tumble grass in Dave's photograph.
It would be a real pain trying to that mess up Dave.
regards Kev.

Nice photo Derek.

Kev, I haven’t seen them for a while, only these two, but we regularly had a small flock of up to about a dozen come in to feed on the seed I put out.

I think you are right about the female. She is looking very plump.

That is something I have never heard before Brian.

What a bummer   Kev

We have both grey and pied butcherbirds here and while I do enjoy seeing them as well as listen to their song they do play havoc at times.  We have lost quite a few young birds to them.

Hi Derek
Great to see the birds are back for you. We have had a lot of birds here around the lake, including about 50 wood ducks, spoon bills, mallard ducks it appears that all have gone except for 3 wood ducks. I was lucky enough to see a pair of Plume whistling ducks a couple of days ago. The wetlands here now have water again so I will have to get down and see what is there.  regards Kev
what is there.

Hey Derek
and here I was thinking I was pretty good seeing 2
I will get down in  the morning and see the wetlands       and see if any birds  Eagleby wetlands is where they want to put the northern entry/exit to the Coomera
connection road. 
regards Kev

 

I put a feeding station just outside the back patio (about three steps away) on the retaining wall hoping to attract the finches in close as they were being harassed by the bigger birds out on the lawn.

It worked.  Although only 6 in this photo there were 15 there before I could grab the camera.

Watched this morning as the peewees were building their mud nest on the street light outside our house.

I wonder if they realise they are going to be sitting under a light all night. 

At least they will have a good supply of fresh bugs for feeding the young ones come evening. 

TBF wrote on Feb 27^th, 2020 at 1:39pm:


I have an account on that site. My first list I recorded was in about 2005 in Jimna State Forest

Derek
Thanks for for the great photos.
Yes the double bars would not like the bird bath being out in the open. On the other hand the peewee  would really enjoy it.
regards Kev

Our peewees are now sitting on eggs. 

Was quite interesting for a while yesterday as they were both standing on top of a post gazing towards a Moreton Bay Fig Tree several hundred metres away.  In the fig tree was a Koel calling out. 

The Koel is a cuckoo and don’t build their own nest and love tipping peewee eggs out and dropping their own egg in the nest.

Interesting times ahead for this pair I think.

Raining here this morning hence the dull colours in the photo

Do you like some more....we have about 5 pair nesting here......how the breed is beyond me with their 5 stick nests

All we have is them and spoggies (sparrows) and one honeyeater....and Rosie's hated black birds

the doves nest in our lemon tree...its about 3m high

They should have some young ones hatching soon shouldn't they?

Chally wrote on Mar 16^th, 2020 at 9:06pm:


They are still just sitting. No feeding young yet.

We were away from home last week so I am curious if the Koel got to lay and egg up there.  Will be watching closely at the young.

The peewees are now feeding four very healthy looking babies.  Also looks like the Koel failed to lay an egg as they are all baby peewees

Good to see Derek.

TBF wrote on Mar 26^th, 2020 at 4:56pm:


The trouble with Butcher Birds is they kill all the little birds; they aren't welcome in our yard.

HI Derek
What a great sight to see
Thank you for sharing
regards Kev

Shouldn’t be too long and we will have some flyers

Looks like mum is telling the kids off.
Good photo.

Kids, always in trouble.