Sunday 1 March 2009

Bird Report 1st March


Back to wet weather with 87.5mm in the first part of the week before the sun came out towards the end. 64 bird species were seen and another 13 heard. Mammals and reptiles were 13 seen.

This weeks highlights were a male Shining Flycatcher calling and foraging around our wet season lagoon on the edge of the orchard. This is a first seen for the lodge grounds with only one other heard along Bushy Creek behind our neighbours garden in 2006. The three Papuan Frogmouth were seen once roosting together for only the second time this year and with daily movements to different roost site makes finding them difficult. The first Rainbow Bee-Eaters arrived back during the week, there was one sighting in December 2008 and prior to that the main presence was in July/August 2008. An Juvenile Eastern Koel was foraging along Bushy Creek and several Juvenile Channel-billed Cuckoos flew over heading north. A pair of Barn Owls re-appeared at their roost site after being absent for several weeks.

Barn Owl

A Northern Brown Bandicoot was seen for the first time in several months and a Boyd’s Forest Dragon was found sleeping on a slender tree beside our eating area. Major Skinks have started to re-appear and an Eastern Horseshoe Bat decided to roost under one of the tables on our veranda.

Further afield Mt. Lewis was still turning up Blue-faced Parrot Finch, Fernwren, Bower’s Shrike-thrush, Chowchilla, Atherton Scrubwren and a family party of three ground thrushes (2 adults and a Juvenile) which we decided were Bassian.

Bassian Thrush

A lone Barn Swallow was seen along Somerset Drive near Newell Beach at the beginning of the week.

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