26th October Report

A fine week with cool (cool for here 15º C) overnight temperatures and fine but a bit windy on a couple of days. A total of 69 bird species were seen for the week with a further 7 heard, 12 mammal and reptile species were seen.

Highlights for the week were the 1^st Fan-tail Cuckoo (20^th), this is an uncommon visitor to the lodge, 1^st Cicadabird (22^nd) 11 days later than last year and the 1^st Dollarbird (24^th) for the season seen in the lodge grounds. No sign of the Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfishers who could turn up any day now from Papua New Guinea (they had not arrived in Iron Range further north on Cape York Peninsula during the week) .

(Lesser) Sooty Owl has been calling throughout the week and was seen once high in a eucalypt tree. The two resident pairs of Noisy Pittas are still calling and being seen regularly as are several pairs of Yellow-breasted Boatbill. The Pale-yellow Robin nest mentioned in last weeks blog is still hanging precariously over Bushy Creek and has not been occupied yet and a Large-billed Scrubwren is sitting in a nest 0.5m off the ground. Two adult Spotted Catbirds with two recently fledged young are terrorising the other birds and spending a lot of time on the ground.

Spotted Catbird

Locally a Fairy Gerygone is building a nest and Green Pygmy Geese have been on a nearby private swamp.