MEET COOCHIEMUDLO ISLAND...

 A friend lives in Redland Bay and suggested a trip over to Coochiemudlo Island by ferry when I stayed overnight with her recently.  I'm always up for a visit to a new place (also one I don't think I'd heard of before), especially when the weather is perfect, so off we went, catching an early morning ferry over at the grand price of $5.00 return each (pensioner discount applied).  

Above, it's low tide as we walked towards the ferry with Coochiemudlo bathed in sunlight.

The channel markers are popular perches for the many and varied water birds in the Bay. On this one, pied cormorants...

We turned right off the ferry, deciding to walk at least part of the Coochie Track, before breakfast at the local café. It is an easily negotiable track but after a while we went onto the beach. We could see some mud flats at the end of the island with a flock of black cormorants and some pelicans flying around. 

There were lots of birds in the bush as well but very hard to get clear shots of them. This is one of the many noisy friar birds we saw.

 "Coochie" itself was a first for me and so was this sweet little bird, a striated (or maybe a spotted) pardalote, apparently intent on making its nest in a dead tree on the beach. 

It wasn't too worried about us.

Not many people around at that time of day, approx. 8.30am, and we found a seat on the northern end to watch the world, and the birds, go by.  

 Another 'first' was this bush stone-curlew which was foraging for crabs along the shore where we were sitting. There was another nearby but it was too shy to come out from under a tree.

 Such a funny bird, pulling funny faces as it strutted along...

Plovers (or masked lapwings) were everywhere as well.

 I hadn't noticed the fish breakfast before putting the photo of this magnificent bird up on the computer. Brahminy kites have featured here before of course as they are one of my favourites birds of prey.

This was a second kite which eventually landed in an adjacent tree. We left before seeing what, if anything, would happen. 

On our way back to the café for breakfast we saw a few more birds including this little white breasted wood swallow, also building a nest somewhere...

 Very noisy sulphur crested cockatoo followed us back... "Hey you, I want a cracker!"

Someone with a sense of humour started a thong tree apparently.

Waiting on our breakkie spotted a blue-faced honeyeater in a nearby tree.

Reasonably priced, delicious breakfast, with a view of the Bay, at the Curlew Café.

Waiting on the ferry home I finally managed a shot of a butterfly [meadow argus]. We'd seen a few on the walk but couldn't manage a photo. 

Main Beach, if we'd turned left off the ferry.

I'd love to go back and do the rest of the walk we didn't do and if you ever get the chance, take a ferry to Coochie.  Highly recommended and if you want a quiet holiday spot there are places to rent.

FLOCKING (AND FEEDING) TOGETHER....

 I've been taking lots of shots of birds of late and because it's about time I blogged again, decided a bevy of feathered beauties might do the trick.  These corellas are frequent visitors to my current workplace at Cooroy and love the pine cones in our tree.  They were in a flock of about 50. 

Currawongs are also frequent visitors and a group of 7 were outside our kitchen window, serenading me while they fed on the red berries of an unidentified shrub (the boss said what it was but I can only remember it is a pest). They really are wonderful song birds.

This cute drongo was snacking on a grasshopper as I walked under his tree in Mooloolaba one day. 

During a walk at Kingscliff recently, I spotted this osprey feeding on a fish high up on a pole. 

I love ospreys and I'm always trying to shoot them flying.... with varying degrees of success.  This one was taken at Coolum Beach.

Lots of figbirds in my suburb (this one is a male)... they are also great little songsters.

I took this shot of a yellow-tailed black cockatoo in a neighbour's tree the other day because he was making such a mournful sound.  He was there quite a long time, moaning and chirping, (not their usual raucous call) so I think he was on his own and waiting for his mates.  As I was putting this post together I heard the usual call and rushed out to see two fly over but I had cunningly forgotten to turn on the camera and they were gone!  Aaaaargh!  Hopefully, one of them was this fellow, reunited.

I love photos of birds taken front on because they look so funny. "Are you, lookin' at me?" This is a noisy friarbird and I have to say, they are not the most handsome of birds. In fact, they look a little like a throwback to their dinosaur days with their featherless heads and knobby beaks.  But I like them.  This one is feeding on yellow grevillea

Lastly, a black kite sat prettily for me in the waning daylight the other day in Bli Bli. An unexpected surprise.

WONDERFUL WILDLIFE ALONG THE WAY...

 I just got back from a mini road trip from Melbourne to Brisbane and thought I'd share some of the wildlife we saw along the way. I got closer to some than others which will account for varying degrees of sharpness.  First up is a wedge tailed eagle, I believe, taken in country Victoria. He/she was feeding on a carcass on the side of the road and flew off as we approached.  By the time I got the camera out, he'd flown quite a distance so I was pleased to get even this, slightly blurry, shot of such a magnificent bird of prey.

  At Forster in NSW, I was spoilt for choice as we stayed 2 nights and took a few walks around the place.  Even the fish were photogenic, from good sized mullet to pretty striped fish.

 These crested terns were enjoying the sun as we walked towards them, then flew off giving me the opportunity to get an action shot. 

 Not a particularly clear photo sorry, but I think it's an elusive whip bird which was hiding in dark foliage of a low hanging tree.  After I tracked down the noise of its call, I was thrilled to spot it even though it wasn't particularly cooperative and disappeared when a noisy baby butcher bird arrived under the same tree.

A new holland honey eater gave us the eye at Forster too.  Pretty little birds aren't they?

I include this sulphur crested cockatoo because, even though I have lots of shots of them, this guy looked quite windblown (and interesting). 

Despite the waters around him teeming with fish, this little pied cormorant seemed oblivious.  Perhaps he'd had his fill.

Probably the high spot of my stay in Forster was the dolphins which apparently turn up most evenings and swim around the lake. Unfortunately, I didn't get a close up of them but this photo shows a couple of them on the other side of the sandbank in the foreground. Amazing how they garner such attention once spotted.  Forster is a lovely place to visit.

My friend spotted a couple of small birds in the bush as we walked along the beach in Ballina but they were too quick for me to focus on so I was excited to get this shot of a different small bird towards the end of our visit.  This is a red-backed fairy wren which was very vocal but also very swift. I thought the quality of the shot would have been better but he was too small and too far away to focus well enough. I was just lucky he's on a neutral background

Finishing how I started really with another bird of prey. This time a Brahminy Kite doing lazy circles at Ballina.  Fortunately, he didn't spot my fairy wren.