14 September 2013

Birds from Northern Queensland

Sent to me to share with you, photos taken by Maggie S.

Bush Stone Curlew, Manunda, Qld.





Pied Oystercatcher

Pacific Baza or Crested Hawk

Maggie writes: There is a story with these birds. They were the first birds I saw on Palm Island and they were calling and doing aerial displays above the forest.  This was special for me because this is a species that I have raised and cared for in my wildlife rescue work.  

One day at school, the Bazas were calling and flying overhead when I had my class outside, so I pointed to them and said: "look at the hawks!"  One of the children said: "those are spirit birds, miss."


The next day we were playing games down at the school oval and three boys decided to jump the fence and run off into the mangroves.  At that moment the hawks flew overhead, crying... so i went down to the fence and called out: "the spirit birds are telling me you are hiding in the mangroves. Come back!" and they did!
Torres Strait Pigeon

Thanks Maggie; it's great to see the birds you find up there in Northern Qld.

12 comments:

DeniseinVA said...

Thank you for sharing Maggie's photos of these pretty birds Carole. I also enjoyed her story of the spirit birds. Wonderful!

Christian Perrin said...

I liked that story too!

That Pigeon was on my "To See" list recently but I sadly missed out! It looks like a beauty though!

Isidro Ortiz said...

Buenas capturas de estas aves.Un abrazo

eileeninmd said...

Your friend Maggie has some wonderful bird photos and stories. I can only imagine how much she has seen as a wildlife rescue worker. Thanks for sharing, have a happy weekend!

Montanagirl said...

Maggie's photos are really nice, and thank you for sharing them with us!

TexWisGirl said...

how awesome. loved the tale, too. :)

Helma said...

Especially the first bird I find very special and separate. Very nice that she has sent these pictures :-)

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

Nice to see the Baza as it came quite a number of times to my daughter's garden, in fact there were 2 around. Nice to see the Bush Stone Curlews again also. Thanks to Maggie.

Grandma Barb's This and That said...

Thanks for sharing Maggie's photos and stories. They are wonderful!

Brian King said...

Wonderful photos! I love that close up!

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Thanks for sharing ... remarkable birds and wonderful story. I can just imagine those little runaway boys with big eyes coming back to school thinking the teacher had special help from the spirit birds! Maggie is obviously a perfect teacher for there!!!

Jeanne said...

How interesting about the "spirit birds". Love your shots!