Saturday started a bright sunny morning with an autumnal nip in the air as we started our walk around the Eagleby Wetlands, but with all the beautiful Melaleuca trees in full flower attracting all the nectar eating birds we were to absorbed to worry about the temperature.

The well planned walkways and open spaces allowed us to get good views of Scarlet Honeyeaters and Mistletoe birds with their red colour showing up well against the white flowers. There were abundant calling Brown and Yellow Honeyeaters, Beautiful Red-backed and Superb Blue Fairy Wrens and Little Grassbirds in the fields of waving lakeside grasses.

On the lake we saw Grey Teal, Hardheads, Pacific Black Ducks, Black Swan, Darters, Little Pied Cormorants, White Ibis, Dusky Moorhen, Purple Swamphen, Coot, Wood duck and Jacanas, phew, what a list!

Leaving Eagleby we spotted Grey Shrike Thrush, Golden and Rufous Whistlers, Sacred Kingfishers and finally, in the hover, a Black Shouldered Kite. We then travelled to Fred Bucholz Park and again saw many of the above species and also watched a Brown Goshawk take a Magpie Lark which flew across the lake and disappeared to eat its freshly caught prey.

After lunch we drove to the Canungra Valley and were lucky to get some really good views and photos of a Brown Falcon on a telegraph pole. A really good day’s bird watching was had by all, and for the twitcher, 60 species.

Pat Stockwell