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| White-necked Heron (Ardea pacifica), WA, Australia. |
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| Emu and young (Dromiceius novaehollandiae) photographed west of Coolgardie, WA, Australia. |
White-necked Heron and Emu
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Red-browed Finch and Grey Butcherbird
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| Red-browed Finch (Neochmia temporalis) photographed at Melville Rose Gardens, Carmel, WA, Australia. |
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| Grey Butcherbird (Cracticus torquatus). |
Brown Honeyeater
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| Brown Honeyeater (Lichmera indistincta) photographed in our backyard in Perth, Western Australia |
Howell Cubby House
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| Cameron enjoying the iPad in the cubby house. |
The cubby house is (for now at least) complete. To see the build pictures go to this Flickr set. At some stage in the future I will no doubt add or improve a few things but everything I had planned for it is now done. I’ve enjoyed building it and learning some new skills.
N Gauge Layout MkII
I have made some modifications to my planned layout. See the image below. I have simplified the design and added a signal box. Construction has commenced with Tasmanian Oak beams and plywood base. The controller will be a Morley Controllers Vector Zero Two (rapidly becoming my favourite controller).
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| 1200 x 400 mm N Gauge Layout MkII |
Edit: See below for a slightly modified “MkIII” design. This is the design I have commenced construction on.
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| 1200 x 400 mm N Gauge Layout MkIII |
A belated update of sorts
So, it’s been a while since I posted a blog update. Here goes:
- I upgraded the RAM in my 13″ MacBook Pro from 4GB to 16GB (purchased from http://www.macfixit.com.au). The performance boost is nice.
- The cubby house I am building for the kids is progressing well. I am looking forward to the first round of bulk rubbish collections in the area for the year so I can stock up on some supplies (mainly Colorbond offcuts and wood).
- The computer collection received two new additions – an SE/30 and a PowerMac 7600. Both are used but came in their boxes including all peripherals, cables and documentation. Two very nice Macs.
- The N gauge model train collection and layouts are progressing well. Recent additions include some old Graham Farish Class 43 HSTs, a new Dapol Class 58 and numerous rolling stock items. I am in the process of planning a small 400 x 1200 mm layout as space in the Howell residence is becoming a little tight (see below for the planned layout).
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| 400 x 1200 mm Layout Plan |
2013 Birding Targets
Here is a list of the birds I am looking for in 2013:
- Terek Sandpiper (Xenus cinereus);
- Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii);
- Black-eared Cuckoo (Chalcites osculans);
- Shining Bronze-Cuckoo (Chalcites lucidus), not sure how I’ve managed to avoid this one;
- Gilbert’s Whistler (Pachycephala inornata), should be around the site I work at;
- Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata), a remote chance near the site I work at;
- Inland Dotterel (Charadrius australis);
- Painted Button-quail (Turnix varius);
- Southern Scrub-robin (Drymodes brunneopygia).
Currently I have no plans for any birding trips so 2013 might be quite a dry year.
Planes I have flown in
- Fokker 100 (Alliance Airlines, Network Aviation);
- Boeing 737-400 (Qantas/QantasLink);
- Boeing 737-800 (Qantas);
- British Aerospace 146 (QantasLink);
- Boeing 717-200 (QantasLink);
- Embraer E-Jets E-190 (Virgin Blue);
- Embraer EMB 120 Brasilia (Network Aviation);
The latest addition to the list is the Brasilia, a plane I travelled on from the Carina mine site (East Jaurdi) to Perth. A very noisy and bumpy ride.
Edited to add 737-800 (thanks John).
Twitchathon 2012 Ticks
I saw the following birds for the first time on the recent WA Twitchathon:
- Western Bristlebird (Dasyornis longirostris);
- Redthroat (Pyrrholaemus brunneus);
- Southern Emu-wren (Stipiturus malachurus).
These take my Australian life list to 330.
2012 Birding Targets: November Update
A November update to my birding targets list:
Freckled Duck (Stictonetta naevosa);Chestnut Teal (Anas castanea), I’m still checking all the Grey Teals I see(in reality I should have been checking my photo library);Royal Spoonbill (Platalea regia), beginning to think these are fictitious– finally saw these on the QLD trip;- Terek Sandpiper (Xenus cinereus);
Bridled Tern (Onychoprion anaethetus)– crippling views on a pelagic;- Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii);
Mulga Parrot (Psephotus varius);- Shining Bronze-Cuckoo (Chalcites lucidus), not sure how I’ve managed to avoid this one;
- Southern Emu-wren (Stipiturus malachurus);
- Redthroat (Pyrrholaemus brunneus);
- Gilbert’s Whistler (Pachycephala inornata);
Little Grassbird (Megalurus gramineus), a somewhat embarrassing hole in my list;Red-browed Finch (Neochmia temporalis), got to go check out that feral population in the hills..- Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata), a remote chance near the site I work at;
- Inland Dotterel (Charadrius australis);
- Painted Button-quail (Turnix varius);
- Southern Scrub-robin (Drymodes brunneopygia).