20180226-MMPI0046 - Bird Outing - Purga Region
For my bird outing on Monday 26th February 2018 I visited Purga Nature Reserve and Harding's Paddock, Queensland, Australia. Purga turned out to be very quiet, I did briefly sight a Sacred Kingfisher, a couple of Wallabies frightened me as they took off from the boardwalk and otherwise heard Magpies calling but saw no other birds. While the Melaleuce wetland had potential, it was very quiet this morning. I may retry the site later this year in Winter.
On route to Harding's Paddock I drove along a dirt road and photographed Golden-Headed Cisticolas along the fenceline, the first time I had shot from inside my car using it as a blind which certainly worked for these birds. On the road leading to Harding's Paddock I found a White-Necked Heron perched in a Eucalypt tree, this is one species I have only seen a couple of times so I took the opportunity to get some shots of this nice bird.
This was my first visit to Harding's Paddock, a site that I can see has real potential, will definitely return during the cooler months. A young Oriental Cuckoo eluded me a couple of times, I was unable to get a good shot of it. Got a couple of nice close-ups of a Striated Pardalote calling loudly from a low branch, along with a Pale-Headed Rosella that was a bit higher up the tree. I got a fright when a Lace Monitor (large Goanna) moved from behind a tree, it had lost its entire tail which could only have been removed from a bite as Monitors don't drop their tails as a defensive method like smaller lizards like Skinks do. At the pond near the car park I got shots of a noisy Australiasian Grebe and a family of Maned Ducks (formerly known as Australian Wood Ducks) with two ducklings in tow.
All in all a good day out, not many birds on offer and no lifers, but still enjoyable and got to see a White-Necked Heron which is not that common for me.
Read MoreOn route to Harding's Paddock I drove along a dirt road and photographed Golden-Headed Cisticolas along the fenceline, the first time I had shot from inside my car using it as a blind which certainly worked for these birds. On the road leading to Harding's Paddock I found a White-Necked Heron perched in a Eucalypt tree, this is one species I have only seen a couple of times so I took the opportunity to get some shots of this nice bird.
This was my first visit to Harding's Paddock, a site that I can see has real potential, will definitely return during the cooler months. A young Oriental Cuckoo eluded me a couple of times, I was unable to get a good shot of it. Got a couple of nice close-ups of a Striated Pardalote calling loudly from a low branch, along with a Pale-Headed Rosella that was a bit higher up the tree. I got a fright when a Lace Monitor (large Goanna) moved from behind a tree, it had lost its entire tail which could only have been removed from a bite as Monitors don't drop their tails as a defensive method like smaller lizards like Skinks do. At the pond near the car park I got shots of a noisy Australiasian Grebe and a family of Maned Ducks (formerly known as Australian Wood Ducks) with two ducklings in tow.
All in all a good day out, not many birds on offer and no lifers, but still enjoyable and got to see a White-Necked Heron which is not that common for me.
