birds
hi hi hi! as of 2024 i've started getting into birdwatching and fallen in love. iam by no means a twitcher, but it's been nice to keep a little tally of which birds i've been lucky enough to spot. i usually engage with birds fairly passively/incidentally, and plan to stay fairly local to where i am - but hopefully i'll be able to make it out to some more regional spots. join me on my little big year!
| bird | date spotted | notes |
|---|---|---|
| Buff-Banded Rail | 14-12-24 | spotted escorting its babies across the wetlands! started yelling at me so gave them some space :P |
| Black Kite | 08-12-24 | fire-hawk!!!!! I think it was an episode of the Weekend Birder that said to pay attention to the wing+tail silhouette to identify birds of prey in flight. very useful! always a treat to see a bird of prey |
| White-Necked Heron | 07-12-24 | post hike pub feed, off in the field |
| Golden Whistler | 07-12-24 | its neck expanding while it sung helped so much with the ID! felt a bit weird holding binoculars by toilets |
| Grey Currawong | 07-12-24 | sitting atop the trail map before we climbed a mountain 😵 maybe a warning. so happy to spot this'n :) |
| Varied Sittella | 06-12-24 | up in the mountains with Katie ! this one briefly stopped into the campsite after dinner |
| Common Bronzewing | 14-11-24 | spotted on the path near the end of a 36km bike ride! a good omen. poor thing didn't make much an effort to jump out the way of our bikes |
| Straw-Necked Ibis | 14-11-24 | "" a whole mess of these and Aus White Ibis were chilling on a golf course |
| Rufous Bristlebird | 09-09-24 | such a cool tail???? somewhere between a fantail and a blackbird. these guys are very cheeky and acrobatic, first spotted in a few different instances 10m away, running into the bushes like a korok from breath of the wild. lol |
| Great Egret | 09-09-24 | insane size. got a little spot of it over an estuary and it dissapeared the next time i looked. cryptid behaviour |
| Gray Shrikethrush | 09-09-24 | a little baby was yelling at me in the grass. very vocal, let me take a couple photos. lucky it was a little one - probably very hard to ID if not for their rufous eyebrow patch |
| Great Cormorant | 08-09-24 | soaring a massive distance over the sea phwoarrrr |
| Singing Honeyeater | 08-09-24 | it's fun going to a new place - "oh is that a new bird?" yeah it's a new bird |
| Chinese Goose | 03-09-24 | (spotted on a farm, domesticated) |
| Muscovy Duck | 03-09-24 | (spotted on a farm) |
| Australasian Darter | 30-08-24 | spotted on the bike ride home. I thought this was a cormorant of some type!! Shared a moment with some strangers ogling from the side of the path :-) |
| Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo | 25-08-24 | spotted on a beautiful bike ride with Ash n Katie, just as it started to rain |
| Swamp Harrier | 17-08-24 | was circling around all the ducks i saw today, they all bunched up and got very spooked when it got close. didn't end up doing any dives. such a big bird!! |
| Australasian Shoveler | 17-08-24 | many ducks today |
| Blue-billed Duck | 17-08-24 | mate. you can't just dip your bill in wizzfizz you look ridiculous |
| Pink-eared Duck | 17-08-24 | i enjoy how small the pink ear is (spotted from very far away) |
| Restless Flycatcher | 11-08-24 | chillin on the fence |
| Red Rumped Parrot | 11-08-24 | so bright so small... wasn't sure on the ID (thought maybe a Mulga Parrot) so I'm lucky they let me take some photos! :-) |
| Varied Lorikeet | 05-08-24 | pretty birddddd (spotted by the Yarra!) |
| Red-Browed Finch | 01-08-24 | did not expect to see any new birds today. they were all so colourful!! appreciating very much how birdwatching feels like finding pokemon. love a finch |
| New Holland Honeyeater | 01-08-24 | o.o |
| Musk Lorikeet | 01-08-24 | so pretty!! nothing better than birdwatching at sunset. spotted just outside the park we were walking towards |
| Welcome Swallow | 22-07-24 | i love how you can always tell it's a swallow no matter how far away. very distinct movemence |
| Osprey | 13-07-24 | to Toronto! |
| Double-Crested Cormorant | 12-07-24 | spotted on the most beautiful walk in the world. massive number of them on a pair of islands alongside some gulls |
| Northern Cardinal | 12-07-24 | |
| American Robin | 12-07-24 | |
| Canada Goose | 12-07-24 | the way i haunkkk (rolling into Ottawa!) |
| Turkey Vulture | 12-07-24 | |
| Black Capped Chickadee | 11-07-24 | on Mont-Royal! thank you alice, for help with so many id's !! ❤️ |
| Chipping Sparrow | 11-07-24 | also on Mont-Royal :3 |
| Red Wing Blackbird | 08-07-24 | |
| Common Grackle | 08-07-24 | what a feathers what a name |
| American Crow | 07-07-24 | |
| Ring-Billed Gull | 04-07-24 | |
| Mallard | 04-07-24 | you know how I said I probably wouldn't stray too far from my local area. lol |
| Chestnut Teal | 20-06-24 | |
| Eastern Rosella | 20-06-24 | |
| King Parrot | 20-06-24 | lovely day walking around w/ jimi! |
| Peacock | 20-06-24 | still unsure if i should be logging not-wild birds :P saw one jump onto a roof! |
| Willie Wagtail | 10-06-24 | my wifeee (saw outside of a car window. not shaking ass unfortunately) |
| Little Corella | 09-06-24 | i didn't see any up super close but i saw about 200 corellas in the span of four days i'm sure one of them was a little corella (and not long-billed)! |
| Spotted Pardalote | 09-06-24 | so small and funny |
| Australian Raven | 08-06-24 | grauuhhhhhaha rahuuuuuraaaaaaagh |
| Flame Robin | 07-06-24 | got lured into the forest by pretty pink birds, i think the forest was trying take my soul or something |
| Wedge-Tailed Eagle | 07-06-24 | |
| Silver Gull | 12-05-24 | I've seen a million of these guys but forgotten to log them!! Saw some today at the beach :3 |
| Pied Butcherbird | 14-04-24 | |
| Laughing Kookaburra | 10-04-24 | was secretly hoping to see kookaburras the whole hike and just on the walk back to the train station, i spotted three! |
| Superb Lyrebird | 10-04-24 | i feel so lucky being having spotted a lyrebird. how absolutely gorgeous. saw this guy digging up worms by the path and stood by on the other side for a few minutes. it didn't seem to mind. |
| Eastern Yellow Robin | 10-04-24 | i love how these guys latch to trees - their grey backs blends in with bark. |
| Crimson Rosella | 10-04-24 | went on a big hike today! these rosella's calls had a sound similar to a bell miners', i don't know if it's mimicry or just coincidence. |
| Australian White Ibis | 17-03-24 | i cannot believe it has took me this long my bin-wading friend |
| Yellow-Billed Spoonbill | 17-03-24 | watching these birds look for food is incredible. also their name is stupid sorry |
| Pied Stilt | 17-03-24 | absolutely perfect name. these guys walk so good and i cannot believe how cute they are |
| Australian Pelican | 17-03-24 | heard an anecdote on a bird podcast once about someone mistaking a pelican for an actual pteradactyl and honestly. do not blame them. absolutely sized and shaped creature. (all of the new birds from today were from a 9 minute allowance into the bird hide, just closing down for the day as i was stopping by inbetween places. so lucky i spotted so many new birds and they were so distinct so i could identify too! shoutout FESWI) |
| Brown Goshawk | 08-03-24 | baby's first bird of prey spotted |
| Stubble Quail | 03-03-24 | "" thanks for the eggs bud |
| Chicken | 03-03-24 | i don't know if these count these were at my cousins' place. i was told they were black orlington chickens. chickens don't have an eBird page funnily enough lol |
| White-Faced Heron | 03-03-24 | |
| Common Blackbird | 29-02-24 | |
| Nankeen Night Heron | 29-02-24 | on said tour we came to a lake and the tour guide said she'd been told nankeen night herons have been seen around but she's never spotted any personally. on cue, a baby came out from the reeds. so magical |
| White-Browed Scrubwren | 29-02-24 | was the only person that showed up for a local bird tour and the very lovely tour guide helped me distinguish some scrubwrens apart from thornbills! |
| Common Starling | 28-02-24 | stood starstruck in the middle of the pavement seeing this little fella and got some strange looks from schoolchildren :) |
| Galah | 18-02-24 | |
| Long Billed Corella | 16-02-24 | i regret not taking a photo of these guys. im not 100% on my id (could possibly be little corellas) but i remember a very distinct red plumage, more common with long billed corellas. i'm counting it anyway |
| Brown Thornbill | 11-02-24 | little brown birds are so difficult to id. saw one that was polite enough to stick around for a while. thanks friend |
| Pied Currawong | 30-01-24 | i'm kinda making up the rules as i go along but i keep hearing currawongs but never seeing them. finally found one! they have my favourite calls. |
| Little Raven | 29-01-24 | i want to talk to whoever named these the little raven |
| Masked Lapwing | 29-01-24 | |
| Crested Pigeon | 29-01-24 | sick haircut dude (these guys are also natives) |
| Black Swan | 29-01-24 | big |
| Grey Fantail | 29-01-24 | >:^ |
| Little Black Cormorant | 29-01-24 | |
| Australasian Grebe | 29-01-24 | |
| Emu | 29-01-24 | went out for a wildlife reserve walk with mum. this was the first bird we saw that wasn't a myna or lorikeet. it was about 10/15 metres away. we heard it before we saw it and afterwards kept our distance |
| House Sparrow | 26-01-24 | |
| Eastern Spinebill | 25-01-24 | honeyeaters are very fun to watch. these are a little braver than wattlebirds i've found. i see honeyeaters like to move very specifically behind foliage to not be seen (this is maybe nothing). i try not to scare them but it's fun to try and spot them in the sidelines of the path |
| Silvereye | 25-01-24 | |
| White Plumed Honeyeater | 20-01-24 | took forever looking online trying to figure out who this guy was from memory |
| Black Faced Cuckoo-Shrike | 20-01-24 | saw a mother and its baby. fun fact: these are neither a cuckoo or shrike! |
| Grey Butcherbird | 20-01-24 | |
| Superb Fairy Wren | 20-01-24 | another birding trip. these guys are so fun to watch |
| Tawny Frogmouth | 15-01-24 | feel so lucky for this one. went for a rollerskate and forgot to bring shoes to walk uphill home. i decided to try walking up in my skates anyway and had to stop for a break - they were right there in the tree by the bench. about three of them. roughly 4/5pm |
| Fan-Tail Cuckoo | 15-01-24 | heard outside of my bedroom window at 3am. their call is. haunting. |
| Rock Dove | 12-01-24 | i love how many different pluamges these fellas have |
| Red Wattlebird | 12-01-24 | i think these are maybe my "spark bird". i saw one hanging upside-down from a native flower last year on a walk home and i haven't stopped being able to think about it since |
| Little Wattlebird | 12-01-24 | |
| Spotted Dove | 12-01-24 | |
| Magpie-Lark/Peewee/Peewit | 12-01-24 | |
| Australian Magpie | 12-01-24 | |
| Sulphur Crested Cockatoo | 12-01-24 | i love these birds they sound awful <3 |
| Pacific Black Duck | 12-01-24 | |
| Common/Indian Myna | 12-01-24 | |
| Noisy Miner | 12-01-24 | |
| Dusky Moorhen | 12-01-24 | |
| Eurasion Coot | 12-01-24 | on this first birding journey, i was a little confused trying to figure out if swamphens, eurasian coots and dusky moorhens were the same bird. it was very fun to figure out each of their little distinctions. |
| Bell Miner | 12-01-24 | bip bip bip bip bip |
| Australasian/Purple Swamp Hen | 12-01-24 | all of the birds dated from today were from my first intentional trip to go birding in a park and make an effort to identify. there'll be a bunch from today |
| Rainbow Lorikeet | ? | "" |
| Australian Wood Duck | ? | i wrote down i saw one in an undated diary entry early this year. whoops |