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Camping at Noosa North Shore
SanderlingWe braved some lousy weather for a 3-day camping trip to Noosa North Shore, staying in the council-owned caravan park by the sea. We've stayed here a few times previously; this part of the...
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New Charter Boat for Sunshine Coast Pelagics
Crusader 1I'm pleased to report that we will be trialling a big new boat for pelagic birding trips off Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast. We will be able to take up to 23 people in what would be the...
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Sunshine Coast Canelands Subdivisions Under Fire
Pic SCD By Warren LynamMedia coverage today following my recent complaints about subdividing the Maroochy River canelands.SUNSHINE COAST DAILY 19/05/2017 By Bill HoffmanSUNSHINE Coast Council has...
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Freckled Duck at Lake Macdonald
Freckled DuckThis morning I found a Freckled Duck on Lake Macdonald on the Sunshine Coast. The bird was seen from the hide on Grange Road among a large flock of Hardheads. The numbers of Hardhead...
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Wandering Rome and the Vatican
Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam - Sistine ChapelOur 6-week visit to Europe kicked off with a 5-night stay in Rome following a tortuous 27 hour flight via Abu Dhabi and Amsterdam. We booked an...
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Europe Part 2 - Western Italy to Fitou, France
Black-eared WheatearOn our last day in Rome we visited the local cemetery close to our apartment where vast quantities of flowers were on sale . It's a treat to wander the paths of these quaint old...
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Europe Part 3 - Barcelona & Sitges, Spain; Eastern Pyrenees, France
Common NightingaleFollowing our stay in Fitou (following post) we headed south across the Spanish border to the Mediterranean seaside resort town of Sitges.Sitges I last visited this place 30 years ago...
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Europe Part 4: French Alps & Switzerland's Lake Constance
Eurasian Pygmy-OwlFollowing our stay in Fitou in the far south-east of France, we headed north to the French Alps and the town of St Egreves. Our hotel was at the base of a large cliff at the southern...
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Europe Part 5 - Bavaria to Berlin
Murnauer MoosFollowing our stay in Switzerland (see following post) we opted to travel to Germany through western Austria. Bad move. We were not aware we needed a tollway sticker to enter Austria as we...
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Europe Part 6 - Copenhagen & Oslo
Barnacle GooseFollowing our stay in Berlin (see following post) we took the bus north to the Danish capital of Copenhagen. It was an entirely relaxing mode of transit after our extensive travels in the...
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Europe Part 7 - Birding Norway I
Common TernAfter looking around Oslo (see following post) Ketil and I drove up to the Krysbmyra Forest in the mountains near the city. Our drive was followed by a 30-minute bicycle ride and a hike...
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Europe Part 8 - Birding Norway's Mountains (Eurasian Dotterel, Great Snipe,...
Eurasian DotterelAfter pottering around Oslo and the southern Norway coast (see following post) we headed north to Lillehammer, where we looked without success for Pine Grosbeak, making do with more...
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Camping at Murphy's Creek, Crows Nest, Blackbutt
Red-rumped ParrotWe've returned from a 5-day camping trip through the Upper Lockyer and South Burnett regions of south-east Queensland. We had 2 nights at Murphy's Creek Escape, a pleasant place amid...
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Sunshine Coast Pelagic Trip July 2017
Brown SkuaBrown Skua and a fine suite of cetaceans were the highlights of the July 30, 2017 pelagic trip off Mooloolaba on Queensland's Sunshine Coast. The outing was significant because it was the...
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August 2017 Bits & Pieces
Little Wattlebird & youngWinter is almost at an end and for the second year running, the resident Little Wattlebirds have raised a single youngster at what should be the wrong time the year. The...
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Day Time Marbled Frogmouth
Marbled FrogmouthI found a Marbled Frogmouth at its day roost in a grove of piccabean palms in rainforest in Mapleton National Park in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. This was a different site from...
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Sunshine Coast Pelagic Trip August 2017
Humpback spy-hopping. Pic by Rick FranksProlonged, multiple and unusually close encounters with multiple Humpback Whales were the highlight of the pelagic trip off the Sunshine Coast on Sunday August...
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Russet-tailed Thrush & Bassian Thrush in South-East Queensland
Russet-tailed ThrushThe difficulty of distinguishing Bassian Thrush from Russet-tailed Thrush in the field has led to a good deal of confusion about the respective distributional ranges of these two...
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Large-tailed Nightjar & White-throated Nightjar at Yandina Creek Wetland
Large-tailed NightjarLarge-tailed Nightjar and White-throated Nightjar occur together in the same habitat at the Sunshine Coast's Yandina Creek Wetland. I found a pair of each species in the same spot...
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Rare Owl Victims of Vehicle Strike & Pesticide Poisoning
Sooty Owl roadkill - Pic by Matt HarveyA Sooty Owl and an Eastern Grass Owl are the latest victims in a spate of incidents of rare owls being killed or wounded by vehicle strike or apparent chemical...
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