Tumblersville

Bird-y themed diary for my time in Birdsville, as my memory isn't what it used to be. Dec 2012 - to whenever we leave.

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....hello Brisvegas!

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Good bye western Queensland....

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Happy #cleanupaustraliaday

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Daily E-W migration from the pub lawn to the oval. Stopping only for traffic and the occasional photo

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Finally got a sprinkle of rain to cool things down.

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The end of the road.

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Flies. The outback is awesome.

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fucking hot.

Forgot to mention - Australia day was the 31st consecutive day over 40 that we had in a row. I thought i should commit this to writing, as it was painful, and if we ever think of coming back out here, we need to keep this stat firmly in our mind. 

I'm going to repeat it for added emphasis, 31 x days over 40 degrees. January average high was 43.3, with a max high of 49. 

http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/dwo/201301/html/IDCJDW4011.201301.shtml 

fuck. 

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Bustards are hanging out on the school oval in the middle of town. That's how dry it is. 

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random observations for the first wk or two of feb

* black falcon swooping on a chat at the airstrip while servicing the plane.

* visited a bore on Roseberth (behind the aerodrome) on 9/2/13 that's been overflowing for a few days to see if the water had brought anything interesting out. Plenty of chats and pipits, native hens . Willy way tail, white-backed wrens and WP honey-eater. Unfortunately it was a quick trip as i was with barry and sheeba who whinged the whole time. I'd like to get back and go for a decent walk, but not sure when i'll get a chance. 

* most mornings i still get to watch the wood-ducks waddle across the road from the oval, across to the lawn of the hotel for a bit of breaky. 

*had a walk around the sewerage pond last week, but didn't see anything unusual

*seem to be lots of cats at the moment when i go for a walk - whether there actually are more, or they're just concentrating around the water hole - not sure. 

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flock pigeons keeping an eye on me while having an afternoon drink. They've moved back over to the southern side of the billabong. Still several hundred of them - not sure what, or even when they eat, as it doesn't seem to matter what time i come to the billabong, they're sitting in the shade, or having a drink. 

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congrats on the wedding mitch & claudia

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10/02/2013

am

first crimson chat down at the billabong since i've been here (caravan park seciton). Also got a triple with BS-kite, spotted harrier (which i've seen around town a fair bit lately) and what i reckon was a sparrowhawk. 

- came home and found the sparrowhawk in the gum tree out the back which is pretty sweet. 

Dropped my binocs this morning though, so they were pretty useless. However, after poking around at them this morning, i left them in the car when i went for my swim, where the temp probably pushed 45-50 degrees, and now they seem to be working again. We'll see how they go once they cool down again. 

pm

big swim to the western end of the billabong round 2pm - prob mid forties while i was out there so i was swiming in style with shirt, big hat and sunnies.  However...saw the plumed-whistling ducks (about 30) while i was out there, so they haven't left, they've just moved to the western end of the billabong where they can't be seen from the shore.

brown falcon in a tree on the swim back, and scared a barn owl from his semi-usual just south across the water from pelican point.  

Also saw a green shank/marsh sandpiper on the way back - i can never tell them apart - unless they probably stand next to each other. Seemed 'big' so i'll go for greenshank. 

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Had to give way when crossing the bridge this morning

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23/01/12

am - Walk around bore drain and Two-boys dreaming for Atlas survey. 

Nothing major, but nice walk. Found a spotted crake in the usual spot. Little eagle (presumably the same one i saw on the road kill - light, but with the very ginger head of hair) hanging around the same area. 

Also saw a large cat - through a rock at it when i saw it, but soon lost it. On the way home i saw the cat being buzzed by a whistling kite and plenty of crows, so presumably it must have caught something during its morning walk. I've consistently seen cats around the area since july, i don't think these ones are being affected by the dry too much. 

Pretty sure i saw (after looking at the book when i got home!) a wood sandpiper on the billabong side of the culvert. Its got that really dark, speckled back which sets it apart from the other waders i've found out here. I'll go back this arvo/tomorrow to check. 

When i went for a swim after my walk i found a hoary headed grebe to add to the list in the billabong. He was with a flock of 11 Aust grebes. Based on that increase i can expect to find ten hoary and 100 Aust grebes on my next visit. 

*today's probably going to be well over 40 again...

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Come on Skytrans, its late and I want to go home to bed

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Budgies - somewhere near Quilpie (taken by Rob and KA on 31/12/12).