• SunsetatScotia (Custom)
    • Jas Scotia3
6 Jan 2020 – waders
 

Up at a very reasonable 0400 and off to the reservoir. It was getting light as I arrived at the car park, giving me a chance to bird the woodlands on the approach to the reservoir itself. Good numbers of White-throated and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, along with a few Leaden Flycatchers were about. At the pylon break, I heard the distinctive sound of a Rufous Fantail, and saw it reasonably well although it mostly remained out of sight. It called persistently and I got a couple of recordings through the iPhone. I do have a “proper” recorder, and one of my aims this year is to make some recordings of as many species as possible – we don’t have many bird recordings from Brisbane currently stored on eBird. Rufous Fantails can be found all year in Brisbane, but are commonest in spring and autumn – their movements are probably fairly complex and I haven’t researched it enough to pretend yet to understand them.

I proceeded as usual onto the Forest Peninsula. The water level in the reservoir is still slowly dropping (today it was 54.4%) and a little more mud was exposed today. The Sharp-tailed Sandpipers had moved closer, and looking through the flock I saw something different – a Wood Sandpiper!!! This is a rare non-breeding migrant to Brisbane, occurring just about annually. The bird was calling stridently, so I got a recording – the first one of this species recorded in Australia on eBird!

Off the end of the peninsula another small group of sharpies was present in the usual spot, and with them something smaller – a Red-necked Stint! While not a rarity, they are essentially a coastal species, so it was great to get this species on the patch year list. A male Australasian Shoveler had joined the two females, and I later saw what were presumably the same birds at the JC Trotter end of the reservoir, before retiring to the car as the day heated up.

All in all, a great morning! My patch year list edged upward to 115, having added Rufous Fantail, Wood Sandpiper and Red-necked Stint.

eBird lists:

PlaceDistanceTimeSpp
JC Trotter0.98 km27 min19
Pylon line0.47 km21 min20
Forest Peninsula2.54 km140 min63
Desert2.02 km42 min32
JC Trotter1.63 km71 min33
TOTAL7.64 km5 h 1 min82

I love Rufous Fantails, and this one was very obliging allowing me to get a couple of decent recordings – see here.
Wood Sandpiper – only about 1-2 records per year in Brisbane, I was well pleased with this one. Also, I managed to get a lengthy recording of it calling – see here.
Mostly the Wood Sandpiper gave the dysyllabic call (left), but occasionally it gave what is for me the more familiar trisyllabic call (right), which is basically the disyllabic call with an additional, briefer, weaker, lower third note.
Juvenile Brown Goshawk – note the breast streaking, thick powerful legs, fulsome rounded tail.
A male Australasian Shoveler has joined the two females. Pick them out with their pale orange legs.
Red-necked Wallabies in the morning. Record on iNaturalist here.
Australian Tiger – what a beauty! Record on iNaturalist here.
I initially thought this was a rush, but Scott Gavins pointed out on iNaturalist that this is in fact a sedge – Grey Sedge Lepironia articulata. Record on iNaturalist here.
A stand of Grey Sedge – abundant around the water’s edge. Record on iNaturalist here.
Water Primrose Ludwigia peploides. Much less common than L. octovalvis, and occurring in marshier areas. Record on iNaturalist here.