Wildlife in a Suburban Garden

As usual, I was up at first light this morning. But what a difference today. The weather has turned nasty and now we have low cloud, mist and rain, sometimes heavy but mostly just a light drizzle. It's pretty much rained the whole day long with the occasional break but the sun is noticeable by it's absence. In spite of that, after a visit from the Rainbows coinciding with first light, it went quiet in the garden and I went out to the Town Common, a massive, (by UK standard), wetland area, close to town. It was still wet and overcast but the soft light made it easier to photograph and there were some great birds to see. What a wonderful place Townsville is. Pretty much on every outing there is something new to see, or a better opportunity than before. So it turned out today with a couple of lifetime firsts and a few old favourites. I travelled up the wet road, wet being better than the previous dust, and had sightings, as I went, of Wedge Tailed Eagle and Chestnut Breasted Finch. The latter being a species that I have kept at home and it was simply brilliant to see them in the wild (again)……. I have previously seen them in Tahiti where they have been introduced, and several other places on my travels but I can't be specific. My target species was going to be Forest Kingfisher, I have pictures but not good close ups…….. until today that is. After a few K's up the dirt track I caught sight of a bedraggled and sad looking Kingfisher on the fence line, I drove closer and stopped the car . I took photos, now reasonably close and was pleased to get better shots than previously. Then I bumped in to a pair of Spur Winged PLover with a young chick in tow. A cute little thing, however I was wary of the parents because I have heard that they use the wing spurs to attack possible predators and will think nothing, apparently, of swooping down on humans that they perceive as a threat, sometimes causing damage with their spurs. I didn't want to add cuts from a Spur Winged Plover to my list of outdoor injuries so i kept the car door shut.
At the Freshwater Hide there was, at first not a lot to see but as is usual here, I was quickly entertained by another Forest Kingfisher that was seemingly struggling to find htis first meals of the day. It even tried out a leaf and then made a couple of dives in to the pool which apparently is rare behaviour for woodland Kingfishers. Anyway, great photo opps. We had a quick visit from a Pied Cormorant, my first of the trip and the little cormorant from the previous evening joined me to fish, simply brilliant. I decided to check out the other hide, a 400 m walk, and I am really glad that I made the effort. What birds!
I walked with a Bush Turkey most of the way, no, not a name for the locals but a species of megapod bird, common and almost tame. As I got to the hide there was a small flock of finches around the hide and I took photos immediately. This was a small family group of Crimson Finches, an almost ridiculously pretty and tiny finch which must weigh around 6 or 7 grams and is about 4 inches long including tail, with bright red plumage. They were feeding on the ripening seeds and didn't even bend the grass stems as they crept up to the seeding heads. At first I was just seeing immature birds that were dull brown with just hints of red showing through, but then an adult gave me a treat by popping in to full view literally feet in front of me. Perhaps the photo of the trip so far, certainly one that I will cherish for a lifetime. There were more Bee Eaters and a Pied Cormorant gave me photo opportunity, then suddenly, again on the seeding grass but this time feeding on sunsets, was an Australian Reed Warbler which looked so like the European variety. As I type this at dusk, Barking Owls have just started to call, there are two close by, "barking" to each other…. and finally it's stopped raining, well almost!