JULY '19

 Little Pied Cormorant

 Crested Pigeon. They too, have started calling and displaying to each other in this mild winter we had so far.

 A male Fan-tailed Cuckoo

Male Golden Whistler 

 Spotted Pardalotes, female above and male below, are still very vocal and common.

 Male Scarlet Honeyeater feeding on nectar.

 Laughing Kookaburra

A male Rufous Whistler preening.

 Australian Brushturkey

A pair of Black-faced Cuckooshrikes reappeared after a few weeks away (?)

MID JULY

More and more birds are expressing breeding behaviours, I was surprised to see a pair of Rainbow Lorikeets on the ground with one bird pecking and feeding on something and the other dancing around it.

It looks like a single Spangled Drongo is left in the reserve at this time of the year, maybe a male holding the breeding territory?

Australian King Parrots, female above, male below. 

 A male Australian Figbird, the orange-pink skin around its yes will become scarlet red in a few months during the breeding season.

The Crested Pigeons have started displaying and calling in pairs, for them too, the breeding season has truly started.

Maybe the Red-necked Wallaby is back....  I have heard something jumping in the bush and then I saw these fresh droppings.

 A cute Black Flying Fox.

Two Eastern Spinebills were feeding in this flowering bush and one called repeatedly for a while.

A beautiful Queensland Silver Wattle Acacia poldalyriifolia in full bloom along the creek.

 Grey Butcherbird calling

 Black-faced Cuckooshrike

Kookaburra expecting some food.

I was very glad to be able to take a reasonably good photo of the Azure Kingfisher, here at the eastern bridge just where dogs love to swim at dog-walking rush-hour. I see the Azure Kingfisher more often during the cooler months and it is usually darting fast and calling along Breakfast Creek. Today 20.7.19 it lingered a little bit longer, looking down at the water for small fish.

 A Koala sleeping in the heart of the reserve, seen from one of the main tracks.

Masked Lapwing



LATE JULY

Dusky Moorhen

 Much chasing, booming and territorial defence going on with the Brush Turkeys.

 Brown Gerygone, I didn't see it nor hear it yesterday, I thought it left for a rainforest at higher altitude but today (21.7.19) there it was, calling, preening and feeding among the canopy. I wonder how long before it will go to its breeding grounds.

Much calling, singing and chasing around through the tall grass, low bushes and reeds for the White-throated Scrub-wrens.

 Finally after about two months, I saw the Brown Goshawk back in the reserve.

Male Australian Magpie

A very shy Tawny Grassbird that I have been hearing singing from the carpark lately, maybe trying to attract a mate? I really hope it will succeed.

Red-backed Fairywren, male.

Royal Spoonbill

This July I have visited the reserve ten times, saw a total of 65 species of birds, on average 44.5 per outing. Here is the complete list of birds seen during this month.

JUNE '19

 EARLY JUNE 

A cold start for the beginning of the month with only 8-9 degrees at sunrise, even most of the birds were quiet until the sun rose higher. This female Rose Robin (above and below) is one of the two present at the moment at Banks Street Reserve, their contact call can be heard loud and clear walking right in the middle of the Reserve. 

White-throated Scrubwrens (above) are very active and interactive with each other as this is the beginning of the breeding season for them, males are regularly singing out loud from the tall grass, low bushes and the undergrowth. 

 A male Rufous Whistler above.

Laughing Kookaburras

 A Masked Lapwing in the morning darkness.

Pacific Black Ducks 

A Little Pied Cormorant sharing a perch with a Pacific Black Duck.

 This is what the fruits of the Foambark - Jagera pseudorhus, look like in early June, the bright wine-red of early April is long gone.

White-browed Scrubwren

Brown Gerygone

Rufous Fantail

 A Koala found by the Noisy Miners.

Australian Brushturkey

 Evening Brown, winter form.

Olive-backed Orioles started singing, including mimicking other birds.

A pair of Pale-headed Rosellas feeding on Tree Marigold flowers.


 MID JUNE

The wether has been mild for a while now, some birds are showing the first signs of breeding behaviour such as singing, chasing, displaying and collecting nesting material: White-browed Scrubwrens, Red-backed Fairywrens, Noisy Miners, Pacific Black Ducks and Australian Brushturkeys.

 Red-backed Fairywrens, male above and female below are becoming much more active and noisy after being very shy and quiet for the last two months, they are now singing and collecting nesting material.

 The male Australian Brushturkey is back to his nest and his wattles look brighter.

A pair of Pacific Black Ducks on their favourite branch. Males are displaying now early in the morning, with their quick, high-pitched whistle and head-up tail-up display, quite a beautiful sight.

Royal Spoonbill, non-breeding plumage.

 Some Silver-eyes show a darker shade of brown on their sides, they are of the subspecies lateralis visiting from Tasmania.

 The Sulphur-crested Cockatoo on the right is blind to one eye.

The Australian Wood Ducks have started looking for tree hollows, a female above.



LATE JUNE

A female Australian Magpie preening, the pair still has the young bird with them from the last breeding season.

Late June has been quite mild and rainy, signs of breeding have increased with more birds singing like the Tawny Grassbird and others looking for nests, like the Kookaburras. The gumtrees are flowering, more and more everyday, attracting many honeyeaters.

 Female Variegated Fairywren.

Blue-faced Honeyeaters and a Noisy Miner.

 Eastern Spinebill

 A male Brushturkey attending his nest, at some point he was inside a hole dug on top of the nest and then he run to a nearby female with his tail fanned and then he ran back to the nest. Is it a courtship behaviour?

Male Red-backed Fairywren.

This June I visited Banks Street Reserve nine times, I saw a total of 61 species of birds, on average 43.6 per outing. Here is the list for all the birds recorded this year in June.