Australian Birds

After two days of continual driving some serious birding on the afternoon of 21 Nov. Firstly, I spent an hour or so in the Giru area trying to turn Golden-headed Cisticolas into the Zitting variety without success. Then it was on the Cromarty area to look for Lemon-bellied Flycatcher and White-browed Robin. No success here either but Cromarty Siding Road produced my first lifer of the trip: WHITE-GAPED HONEYEATER, a bird which I was to see in three other locations and can't believe I've missed on earlier trips. Then it was on to Townsville, where I spent the hottest part of the day birding around the Palmetum Botanical gardens which provided plenty of shade. Best birds here were Oriental Cuckoo, Red-tailed Black Cockatoo, and White-gaped Honeyeater, plus the first Yellow Honeyeaters and Sunbirds. A fledgeling Blue-winged Kookaburra was found on the ground making a terrible racket with concerned parent nearby. It looked a tad young to be out of the nest so I hope it was OK. I spent the afternoon on my first visit to Townsville Common which I have bypassed previously due to lack of time. It was very dry but still produced some good birds. Plenty of Brolgas and a family of Black-necked Storks. My second lifer, a very sleepy BARKING OWL near one of the hides. This bird was very unconcerned by my presence which was a problem because I wanted a photo of him with eyes open! After about 30mins I finally got a window of opportunity (no I didn't peg a rock at him!) when a very accomodating Brushturkey started scratching around beneath him. The Owl watched it for a few seconds, glared briefly at me and went back to sleep. Other birds I needed for my year list were Nutmeg Mannikin and Brown-backed Honeyeater. Spent the night at nearby Rowes Bay Caravan park.

The next day it was on to Paluma range to search for rainforest birds I have missed on earlier trips. (By the way, I have done this trip 3 times now and picked up plenty of new birds each time, but due to time constraints I have also missed plenty.) First stop was Little Crystal Creek on the road to Paluma. Rain and fog was a problem but what a beautiful spot and very birdy. Next lifer was BOWER'S SHRIKETHRUSH. I always thought I would have trouble distinguishing from Little ST but if you get a good look they are easy. Larger bill, smaller tail and lack of white around the throat. Other good birds here: Spectacled Monarch, Grey Whistler & Yellow-spotted Honeyeater. Pale-yellow Robins looked a bit different and I have since learned they are a different race (nana) from the Brisbane ones. Next stop Paluma Village (after dodging some maniacal bikers on the road up). More rain. The tracks around Paluma yielded some good birds. Cracking views of my next lifer CHOWCHILLA...a small party came within metres and I would have got great shots but the camera was in the car because of the rain! Other gooduns here were Pied Monarch, Spotted Catbird and Noisy Pitta. I have learnt after a few years of birding and photography that the single best method of obtaining crippling views of really good birds is to leave your camera in the car. Bypassing Big Crystal Creek (another hot spot around here) it was on to Jourama Falls targetting White-browed Robin and Lemon-bellied Flycatcher. Birding along the creek is fantastic even in the middle of the day. WHITE-BROWED ROBIN turned out to be easy and I even managed a couple of reasonable shots. The first surprise lifer of the trip was SUPERB FRUIT-DOVE a single female sitting high in the canopy and how I spotted it I will never know. Seeing the dull female of a new bird is always bitter sweet...almost like half a lifer! Never mind, I'll catch up with a male one day. Other birds were Cicadabird, Emerald Dove, Graceful Honeyeater (ID'd from Yellow-spotted by call but I feel I am almost able to separate these two by now). The afternoon was to be devoted to my favourite photography spot: Tyto Wetlands. Main target here was White-browed Crake on which I have dipped twice before. Well I had a great afternoon...got my first shots of Wood Sandpiper, several quite good shots of Crimson Finch and Yellow Honeyeater. I waited at the hide for quite a while in the late afternoon...but still no Crakes. Luckily I ran into local guru Tony Ashton who put me onto the Hinchinbrook Community Wetland Reserve (a lovely euphemism for Poo Ponds) just opposite Victoria Sugar Mill where I got Crippling views of WHITE-BROWED CRAKE first thing next morning. .

  The next day the plan was to head up to The tableland for some more rainforest birding and maybe look for Sarus Cranes. I made a very brief stop at Edmund Kennedy National Park near Innisfail. Very birdy but unfortunately the mosquitos here are attracted to commercially produced insect repellant! I could stand only about ten minutes out of the car. Good birds were: Lovely Fairy-wren, Fairy gerygone, Grey Whistler, Varied Triller, Yellow Oriole and DuskyHoneyeater. Morning Tea at Henrietta Creek and picked up Helmeted Friarbird for the year list. Made a mental note to camp here next time...what a nice spot.   Next it was Mt Hypipamee to pick up Bridled HE and Grey-headed Robin (No Atherton Scrubwren this time). The GH Robins are a great photograhic subject (albeit they hang around in very dark areas). I think they actually enjoy being photographed they are so tame.    Then it was on to Kingfisher Park for the afternoon, after dipping on Sarus Crane again in several spots. Last time I was at Kingfisher  Park it poured with rain the whole time I was there and I saw about 10 birds. This time I had high hopes of picking up all sorts of lifers...didn't happen. Lindsay informed me that the Masked Owls have moved on and Sooty Owl was coming around only every 5 or so days. Red-necked Crake was also said to be shier than normal. Well all that deflated me a bit and I got nothing new here. Some birds seen were Pied Monarch, Spectacled Monarch (VC), Grey Whistler, Large-billed Gerygone, Graceful Honeyeater and Azure Kingfisher.   

Next morning off to the Daintree for Chris Dahlberg's river cruise. I would never allow myself to miss this when in north Queensland. It's very good value and great for photo opportunities as long as it doesn't rain too much. Sadly, we missed out on Great-billed Heron which had been seen lately. However, I managed one lifer that I surprisingly dipped on last time: SHINING FLYCATCHER, and was able to get some shots of nestbuilding. Other birds photographed were Papuan Frogmouth and Azure Kingfisher. I wasn't quick enough to get a shot of Black Bittern but I will try again next time. I had to return the campervan that day in Cairns so I dropped off my stuff at the hotel and headed out for some birding along the esplanade. The mangroves at the northern end of the esplanade yielded MANGROVE ROBIN. This bird was being surprisingly accommodating for photos but when it started doing the broken wing act I realised I must be too close to a nest. Then I notoced a flegeling sitting on a Mangrove root. Again it looked a bit young to have left the nest so I hope it will be OK. Naturally I got out of there to restore a bit of peace. The esplanade proper was supposed to yield Broad-billed Sandpiper and Asian Dowitcher...it did neither. And I assumed the Laughing Gull was long gone (didn't stop me looking for it). Nevertheless a good time was had taking some photos of Black-tailed Godwits and other waders. When you get the combination of high tide and late afternoon here you can get some great shots. Walking back to the hotel past Centenery Lakes I surprised a Black Bittern in a little pond opposite the Lakes Resort. I went back early next morning and was rewarded with great views of s long time bogey species for me PALE-VENTED BUSH HEN. Two birds showed very well as I stood there in the pouring rain. This made a nice even 10 lifers for the trip so I tried very hard not to see any more after that! Other interesting birding in Cairns. There is a bush track that starts at Anderson Rd and comes out near Centenery Lakes (parallel to the cemetery). Here I saw several (at least 5) Oriental Cuckoos...all juveniles or hepatic females. Unfortunately, Centenery Lakes is a bit disapppointing at the moment with large sections roped off while they clear Mangroves (to improve drainage after recent flooding?). Local birder Brian Venables told me there was a Great-billed Heron hanging around the lakes but I didn't have time to look for it, and flew back to Brissy at 0930. To plan my trip I used Jo Wienecke's great book "Where to find birds in North Queensland". Thanks also to Local birders Tony Ashton and Brian Venables for a few tip-offs...you can't beat local knowledge.