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| Masked Owl |
Imbil State Forest,
with its mosaic of open forest, Auracaria pine plantation and
lowland rainforest (vine scrub) is always worth a look. I surveyed
for owls along 6km of Derrier Road and side tracks heading south from
Stirlings Crossing. A Platypus obliged by showing in the late
afternoon at Stirlings Crossing.
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| Platypus |
I was looking for
Masked, Power and Barking owls. No joy with the latter two but it was
an exceptional time for Masked Owl, with four birds seen and photographed within an
hour. The first was a female showing well enough in open forest
before it flew to join its mate at the edge of an adjoining pine
plantation.
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| Masked Owl (female, pair I) |
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| Masked Owl (male, pair 1) |
About 1km further
on, another pair of Masked Owls were calling (not in response to
playback) on what was a still, moonlit night. These birds were in a
quite open area of woodland and again showed nicely. Eventually they
flew into some nearby vine scrub. The differences between the females
and males of both pairs were noticeable, with the first male having
particularly pale underparts. In both pairs, the smaller males lacked
the buffy colouration visible on the females' underparts.
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| Masked Owl (male, pair 2) |
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| Masked Owl (female, pair 2) |
Other birds in the
state forest included Rose Robin, Azure Kingfisher, Variegated Fairywren and quite a few
Russet-tailed Thrush.
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| Azure Kingfisher |
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| Rose Robin |
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| Variegated Fairywren |
After
visiting Borumba Dam I headed back to Imbil. One km south of town on
the Brooloo Road, a Black Falcon was circling over the road. By the
time I got the camera together it was moving away so I managed just a
distant shot. It's my first Black Falcon for the Sunshine Coast area
(and one I missed during
the 2018 Big Year).
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| Black Falcon |
A
bit further on, on the northern outskirts of Brooloo, I found an
unexpected colony of Fuscous Honeyeater. This species is rare in the
Sunshine Coast region;
the only other area where
I know it to occur is
Yabba Road near Jimna.
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| Fuscous Honeyeater |
I
called into a farm dam
near Gheerulla on the Moy Pocket Road. Here were 6 Pink-eared Ducks,
another species that's rare in the region. I
first found the ducks on the dam a few weeks ago.
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| Pink-eared Duck |
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