Finch Update 22-12-2013

I'm in the process of cleaning out the cages so I have returned all of the Zebra Finches to the main aviary.  I also replaced the two (dead) potted grasses with alive (for now).  A bit of greenery really makes the aviary looks nice and the birds seem to like it as well.

The two charcoal males returned to the aviary without issue (although the smaller of the two seemed to have poor flying stamina initially).  I returned the pair of fawn Zebra Finches (nothing eventuated from the seven eggs they laid) and it turns out the male is quite the bully.  He insisted on occupying a large perch and would let no other bird near it.  The male grey Zebra Finch in the aviary is a solid little bird and even he was being pushed around.  I was hearing squawks I never thought finches could produce.  This was not good.

So late today I removed the pair of fawn Zebra Finches and placed them in a small cage indoors.  The atmosphere in the aviary changed instantly.  When I have cleaned out their cage they can go back in there.

Finch Update 15-12-2013

The proud father and a very industrious nest builder.

One of the young, almost all of the beak is now orange.  The beginnings of the "white spots on chestnut" sides mean this is a male (I think).

The whole brood is here.  The four on the left are the young, Dad and Mum on the right (blurred).  Third from the left is the "charcoal" Zebra Finch.

Finch Update 24-11-2013

All four young Zebra Finches have left the nest and a happily flying about the aviary.  I don't think the Gouldian and Painted Finches are terribly impressed with the young whippersnappers and their constant chirping and reckless flying.

Interestingly, one of the new arrivals appears to be a charcoal, raising the possibility that the pair of normal Zebra Finches have incubated and raised an egg from the pair of charcoal Zebra Finches that occupied the aviary (until the female died).

Still no news from the nest of the fawn Zebra Finches (there are at least four eggs in the nesting box).

Finch Update 17-11-2013

For the second day in a row the strongest fledgling in the aviary has escaped from the nest and had a bit of a run/fly around the floor.  This seems to cause the parent finches no end of distress and in both cases we have returned the truant finch to the nest.

Truant fledgling Zebra Finch (note the grey beak)

So in summary:

• 4 fledgling Zebra Finches in the pot plant in the aviary;
• No news regarding the nest and eggs in the smaller cage (I am starting to suspect they are too young).

Finch Update 09-11-2013

As far as I can tell four eggs have hatched in the main aviary.  The young make a racket when they would like a feed.  Despite that they are very hard to see (their parents have done a sterling job with the nest construction and camouflage).  The remaining two eggs may be from the charcoal pair (where the female died) so they may not hatch.

None of the eggs in the smaller cage have hatched.  I'm starting to get suspicious...

Finch Update 02-11-2013

Two of the eggs in the main aviary nest (normal/grey Zebra Finches) have hatched.  Four unbroken eggs still in the nest.  The parents are constantly feeding and maintaining the nest - wonderful to watch.

Finch Update 27-10-2013

In a medium sized cage with nesting box:

• The pair of fawn Zebra Finches have constructed a nest and laid two eggs.

In the aviary:

• The pair of Gouldian Finches are happy and enjoying the warmer weather;
• The pair of Painted Finches are happy fossicking around in the sand on the floor;
• The pair of normal/grey Zebra Finches have constructed an elaborate nest in a dead clump of grass in a pot plant and laid 6+ eggs.

In the medium sized "holding" cage:

• Two male charcoal Zebra Finches are keeping each other company.  One was in the aviary but his partner died last week.  I had thought it was the male that had died… hence the two males...

N Gauge Layout MkV

Despite the software indicating that the siding (between the Loco Shed and the Controller) would be possible, in practice it was too tight.  Below is what the layout will now look like.

1200 x 400 mm N Gauge Layout MkV

Mulga Parrot

Mulga Parrot (Psephotus varius, Boorabbin National Park, WA, Australia).

Mulga Parrot (Psephotus varius, Boorabbin National Park, WA, Australia).

N Gauge Layout MkIV

Below is the fourth design iteration of my small N Gauge layout.  I have replaced the two Peco engine sheds with a single Graham Farish pre-built unit.  This gives me more track space at the front and rear of the shed (the MkIII version was very crowded) and allows for the addition of a storage line down the side of the shed.

1200 x 400 mm N Gauge Layout MkIV

White-necked Heron and Emu

White-necked Heron (Ardea pacifica), WA, Australia.

Emu and young (Dromiceius novaehollandiae) photographed west of Coolgardie, WA, Australia.

Red-browed Finch and Grey Butcherbird

Red-browed Finch (Neochmia temporalis) photographed at Melville Rose Gardens, Carmel, WA, Australia.

Grey Butcherbird (Cracticus torquatus).

Brown Honeyeater

Brown Honeyeater (Lichmera indistincta) photographed in our backyard in Perth, Western Australia

Howell Cubby House

Cameron enjoying the iPad in the cubby house.

The cubby house is (for now at least) complete.  To see the build pictures go to this Flickr set.  At some stage in the future I will no doubt add or improve a few things but everything I had planned for it is now done.  I've enjoyed building it and learning some new skills.

N Gauge Layout MkII

I have made some modifications to my planned layout.  See the image below.  I have simplified the design and added a signal box.  Construction has commenced with Tasmanian Oak beams and plywood base.  The controller will be a Morley Controllers Vector Zero Two (rapidly becoming my favourite controller).

1200 x 400 mm N Gauge Layout MkII

Edit:  See below for a slightly modified "MkIII" design.  This is the design I have commenced construction on.

1200 x 400 mm N Gauge Layout MkIII

A belated update of sorts

So, it's been a while since I posted a blog update.  Here goes:

• I upgraded the RAM in my 13" MacBook Pro from 4GB to 16GB (purchased from http://www.macfixit.com.au).  The performance boost is nice.
• The cubby house I am building for the kids is progressing well.  I am looking forward to the first round of bulk rubbish collections in the area for the year so I can stock up on some supplies (mainly Colorbond offcuts and wood).
• The computer collection received two new additions - an SE/30 and a PowerMac 7600.  Both are used but came in their boxes including all peripherals, cables and documentation.  Two very nice Macs.
• The N gauge model train collection and layouts are progressing well.  Recent additions include some old Graham Farish Class 43 HSTs, a new Dapol Class 58 and numerous rolling stock items.  I am in the process of planning a small 400 x 1200 mm layout as space in the Howell residence is becoming a little tight (see below for the planned layout).

400 x 1200 mm Layout Plan

• I purchased an iPad Mini (16GB, WiFi+3G, White).  I am finding it a very convenient size.  This is my iPad, the children have claimed the other iPad (3rd Gen iPad, 16GB, WiFi, Black) for YouTube, ABC iView etc.

2013 Birding Targets

Here is a list of the birds I am looking for in 2013:

• Terek Sandpiper (Xenus cinereus);
• Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii);
• Black-eared Cuckoo (Chalcites osculans);
• Shining Bronze-Cuckoo (Chalcites lucidus), not sure how I've managed to avoid this one;
• Gilbert's Whistler (Pachycephala inornata), should be around the site I work at;
• Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata), a remote chance near the site I work at;
• Inland Dotterel (Charadrius australis);
• Painted Button-quail (Turnix varius);
• Southern Scrub-robin (Drymodes brunneopygia).

Currently I have no plans for any birding trips so 2013 might be quite a dry year.

Planes I have flown in

• Fokker 100 (Alliance Airlines, Network Aviation);
• Boeing 737-400 (Qantas/QantasLink);
• Boeing 737-800 (Qantas);
• British Aerospace 146 (QantasLink);
• Boeing 717-200 (QantasLink);
• Embraer E-Jets E-190 (Virgin Blue);
• Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia (Network Aviation);

The latest addition to the list is the Brasilia, a plane I travelled on from the Carina mine site (East Jaurdi) to Perth.  A very noisy and bumpy ride.

Edited to add 737-800 (thanks John).

Twitchathon 2012 Ticks

I saw the following birds for the first time on the recent WA Twitchathon:

• Western Bristlebird (Dasyornis longirostris);
• Redthroat (Pyrrholaemus brunneus);
• Southern Emu-wren (Stipiturus malachurus).

These take my Australian life list to 330.

2012 Birding Targets: November Update

A November update to my birding targets list:

• Freckled Duck (Stictonetta naevosa);
• Chestnut Teal (Anas castanea), I'm still checking all the Grey Teals I see (in reality I should have been checking my photo library);
• Royal Spoonbill (Platalea regia), beginning to think these are fictitious - finally saw these on the QLD trip;
• Terek Sandpiper (Xenus cinereus);
• Bridled Tern (Onychoprion anaethetus) - crippling views on a pelagic;
• Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii);
• Mulga Parrot (Psephotus varius);
• Shining Bronze-Cuckoo (Chalcites lucidus), not sure how I've managed to avoid this one;
• Southern Emu-wren (Stipiturus malachurus);
• Redthroat (Pyrrholaemus brunneus);
• Gilbert's Whistler (Pachycephala inornata);
• Little Grassbird (Megalurus gramineus), a somewhat embarrassing hole in my list;
• Red-browed Finch (Neochmia temporalis), got to go check out that feral population in the hills..
• Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata), a remote chance near the site I work at;
• Inland Dotterel (Charadrius australis);
• Painted Button-quail (Turnix varius);
• Southern Scrub-robin (Drymodes brunneopygia).

QLD Trip Lifers

Here is a list of new birds I saw on the south-east QLD trip with Martin Cake (with links to my photos from the trip):

• Australian Brush-turkey: ubiquitous in the rain forest areas;
• Black-breasted Button-Quail: the platelets gave away their presence;
• Magpie Goose: seen on a metropolitan lake (and if Martin hadn't pointed them out I would have written them off as manky farm ducks...);
• Wandering Whistling-Duck;
• Cotton Pygmy-goose;
• Royal Spoonbill: finally found one, beginning to think they were mythical;
• Wandering Tattler;
• Comb-crested Jacana;
• Pacific Baza: a wonderful surprise;
• Topknot Pigeon;
• Brown Cuckoo-Dove;
• Wonga Pigeon;
• Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo;
• Scaly-breasted Lorikeet: good views high in a tree;
• Australian King-Parrot;
• Pale-headed Rosella: probably my favourite new parrot of the trip;
• Crimson Rosella;
• Noisy Pitta: a wonderful bird, seen at three different locations (sorry John);
• Albert's Lyrebird: brief but spectacular sighting;
• Brown Thornbill;
• Superb Fairy-wren;
• Red-backed Fairy-wren: a really spectacular Fairy-wren;
• Large-billed Scrubwren;
• Yellow-throated Scrubwren;
• Fairy Gerygone;
• Brown Gerygone;
• Little Wattlebird;
• Noisy Friarbird;
• Little Friarbird;
• Blue-faced Honeyeater;
• Noisy Miner;
• Bell Miner: surprisingly hard to get good views of;
• Lewin's Honeyeater;
• Mangrove Honeyeater: seen in mangroves (as expected?);
• Fuscous Honeyeater;
• Eastern Spinebill;
• Scarlet Honeyeater;
• Eastern Whipbird: heard more often than seen, but we had great views as well;
• Logrunner: seen running along logs (as expected?);
• Eastern Yellow Robin;
• Pale-yellow Robin;
• Rufous Fantail: a really neat little bird;
• Leaden Flycatcher;
• Spectacled Monarch;
• White-eared Monarch;
• Spangled Drongo;
• Olive-backed Oriole;
• Australian Figbird;
• Paradise Riflebird: a brilliant bird we saw high in the rainforest canopy;
• Green Catbird: a very weird call;
• Regent Bowerbird: seen at O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat;
• Satin Bowerbird: seen at O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat;
• Varied Triller: an unexpected surprise, we initially thought it was a White-winged Triller;
• Pied Currawong;
• Double-barred Finch: my only new finch for the trip;
• Bassian Thrush;
• Russet-tailed Thrush;
• Common Miner.

These take my Australian Bird lifelist to 327.

Sanitised Ticks

Having only ever birded in Western Australia, I had a few birds on my life list that were a little dodgy.  A recent trip with Martin Cake to Queensland (SE QLD in particular) cleaned a few of these up:

• Sulphur-crested Cockatoo - a small population exists near Lake McLarty and a single bird hangs around the river near Midland;
• Rainbow Lorikeet - common in the Perth metropolitan area (and spreading, unfortunately);
• Red-browed Finch - there are established groups of these in the hills area.

I had good views of all of these on the QLD trip.  It was nice to see them in their natural habitat and not have the nagging thought that I'm ticking an escapee...

Chestnut Quail-thrush

Chestnut Quail-thrush (Cinclosoma castanotus, Carina Mine Site, WA, Australia).
Not a very good photograph of a very good bird.  This is bird number 270!

Mulga Parrot

Part of the safety plan when driving from site to Perth is to call your supervisor when you reach Great Eastern Highway.  The Boorabbin Memorial looked like a good spot to pull over as it's within a kilometre or so of the where we emerge from the bush.  As I pulled over I noticed a parrot perched in a low tree, seemingly attempting to defrost on what was a very chilly morning.  A Mulga Parrot!  What a spectacular bird.  It gave me enough time to get my binoculars out and then after a few seconds was off into the scrub.  Mulga Parrot (Psephotus varius) is number 269 on my life list.

(Updated) 2012 Birding Targets

After a fairly good start to the birding year, here is an updated 2012 birding target list:

• Freckled Duck (Stictonetta naevosa);
• Chestnut Teal (Anas castanea), I'm still checking all the Grey Teals I see (in reality I should have been checking my photo library);
• Royal Spoonbill (Platalea regia), beginning to think these are fictitious;
• Terek Sandpiper (Xenus cinereus);
• Bridled Tern (Onychoprion anaethetus) - crippling views on a pelagic;
• Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii);
• Mulga Parrot (Psephotus varius);
• Shining Bronze-Cuckoo (Chalcites lucidus), not sure how I've managed to avoid this one;
• Southern Emu-wren (Stipiturus malachurus);
• Redthroat (Pyrrholaemus brunneus);
• Gilbert's Whistler (Pachycephala inornata);
• Little Grassbird (Megalurus gramineus), a somewhat embarrassing hole in my list;
• Red-browed Finch (Neochmia temporalis), got to go check out that feral population in the hills..
• * Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata), a remote chance near the site I work at;
• * Inland Dotterel (Charadrius australis);
• * Painted Button-quail (Turnix varius);
• * Southern Scrub-robin (Drymodes brunneopygia).

New additions to the list are marked with an *.

Finally: a fruitful trip to Lake Monger

After numerous attempts I finally saw the Freckled Ducks at Lake Monger this evening.  They have been hanging around for a few weeks now and steadily increasing in number (five were present).  It turns out I had confused east and west and had been checking the wrong area of the lake.

As an added bonus John Graff's expert Little Grassbird mimicry yielded good views of a specimen just before dusk.  These two birds are numbers 267 and 268 on my life-list.

New MacBook Pro

I now have a new laptop - a brand new 13" MacBook Pro 2.4GHz Core i5 with 4GB of RAM and a 500GB hard disk drive.  It is just the second computer I have purchased brand new (the previous being a 12" PowerBook G4 1GHz while studying at Uni).

I was considering an 11" MacBook Air (for about the same price) but the lack of ability to upgrade RAM, relatively small storage space and general lack of ports pushed me back from style towards substance.  I am very happy with the decision.

Lamest. Tick. Ever.

A bird that had been conspicuously absent from my list was the Chestnut Teal.  Or so I thought.  I recently purchased Apple's Aperture application and imported in all of my digital photographs (nearly 7,300 photographs from the Canon 350D alone).  I was cycling through the old photos and something caught my eye.  A Chestnut Teal.  Full plumage male no less.  Refer to the photograph below...

The worst bit is I remember the day I took the photograph clearly, I was looking for Hoary-headed Grebes at a lake in Joondalup and thought this particular bird was a manky farm duck.  So the Chestnut Teal becomes bird number 266 on my list.

Chestnut Teal (Anas castanea, Joondalup, WA, Australia).  Image has been cropped and the white balance adjusted.

Hillarys Pelagic 01/04/2012

The recent Hillarys Pelagic netted me three new birds for my list:

• Streaked Shearwater (many seen, easily the highlight of the trip);
• Wilson's Storm Petrel (a brilliant little bird but almost impossible to photograph);
• Bridled Tern (great views near the boat).

After my last pelagic experience (I felt very seedy....) I was reluctant to go on this trip.  It turns out sea sickness tablets do work (I took some the day before) and seeing cool birds early in the trip takes your mind off "other things".  I'm glad I went.

Check out Leeuwin Current Birding for discussion of the Streaked Shearwaters.  These move my lifelist onto 265.

Edit: here is the official trip report.

Two days, two new birds

These two birds are the latest additions to my life list, taking it to 262:

• 261: White Wagtail (Lake Joondalup, WA, 23/03/2012);
• 262: Red-browed Finch (Carmel, WA, 24/03/2012).

Seeing a White Wagtail was an unexpected surprise as I had previously dipped on one (perhaps the same bird) at Lake Gwelup in January.  I didn't think lightning would strike twice as the White Wagtail is a fairly rare vagrant to Australia (let alone Perth).  I happened to be travelling near Lake Joondalup when I heard that Martin and John had relocated it and after a short detour (probably about 20 minutes) I had seen the bird (many thanks to Wayne Merritt for finding the bird the day before).

The Red-browed Finch was a slightly different story.  I had known of the existence of an introduced but self-sustaining population in the hills of Perth for a number of years.  Despite living very close by for the last three years I had never gotten the chance (or organised the chance) to find them.  So Martin, Alan, John and myself convened a meeting of The Big Twits at the Melville Nursery Rose Gardens in Carmel and spent a few hours talking and walking amongst the roses looking for finches.  After about an hour of searching I was rewarded with great views of a Red-browed Finch.  Other notable birds at the Rose Gardens were Red-eared Firetails, Nankeen Night-herons and Western Spinebills.