When I woke up this morning, the birds around the house were unusually vocal, so I decided on the spur of the moment to go for a quick ride to check out what was in the area. I had in mind to check a particular spot that last week had a lot of seeding grasses. It is one of only two places I know in Brisbane to look for Nutmeg Mannikins, also known as Spice Finches. These birds are introduced to Australia, brought from tropical south Asia as cage birds and readily escaping and surviving in the Australian environment on the east coast. They used to be common in Brisbane, and still are in parts of their range such as Mackay. However, I only have a handful of records from the last few years so I was extremely happy when a few pairs flew in while I was watching the grass-heads. They were surrounded by Chestnut-breasted Mannikins - another unusual bird for the area, and Double-barred Finches. Nearby a Striped Honeyeater was calling - my first record for the Mandalay area. In all I had 58 species of birds in less than an hour, so it was a very productive morning.
Total birds to date: 254
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment