The
weeks rainfall was 36mm, considerably more than the last few weeks,
this all fell in the last three days of the week. Maximum
temperatures were slightly lower than last weeks due to the rain and cloud cover
getting up to 30ºc and the minimum temperature was down to 21.2ºc.
Humidity was also higher, up to 96% and down to 55%.
There
were slightly less birds recorded this week than last with 103 seen
and 8 heard. 23 mammal and reptile species were seen which is slightly
more than previous weeks. The weather played its part in these
numbers with less effort put into birding and more reptiles and
amphibians coming out to enjoy the wet conditions.
Highlight
around the Lodge grounds has to be “Katie” our Buff-banded Rail
who now has a boyfriend called Pete! They were seen mating on the
lawn in front of the units in full view of the guests. “Katie”
still comes around the reception/office but less frequent now but
Pete is off in a flash if he spots someone. The pair of them were
circling a Green Tree Snake one afternoon not knowing quite what to
do whilst the snake was rearing up and looking threatening. We moved
the rails out of the way and allowed the snake to seek refuge up a
tree. A Dainty Tree Frog record was of a dead one
that “Katie” was playing with without actually eating it. A quick grab shot with the compact camera shows the deed being done.
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| "Katie" with Dainty Tree Frog |
Other highlights included at least two and possibly three
(Lesser) Sooty Owl who showed at the end of the week, one perched along
Mt. Kooyong Road for a good 20 minutes to allow guests to have good
views, another was on the other side of the road calling but not
showing and a little later a (Lesser) Sooty Owl called at a distance
from Geraghty Park. Lovely Fairy-wren were seen foraging in the
bamboo alongside Bushy Creek near the nursing home.
Other
sightings:
Waterbirds are still coming and going at the Lagoons along McDougall
Road with the same species recorded as in previous weeks. Seven
species of dove and pigeon over the week included good views of a
male Superb Fruit-Dove who came down to eye level along Bushy Creek
at the platypus viewing area for to thrill two guests. It sat for a
while before flying along the creek for a short distance to perch
again for more good views. Lucky guests! Our female Papuan Frogmouth
only appeared at it roost site on the edge of the orchard once but
was heard again most nights. Australian Owlet-nightjar was not seen
in its daytime roost but was heard calling Saturday night when the
(Lesser) Sooty Owl appeared.
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| Australian Owlet-nightjar |
Also on Saturday 26th
at least five Fork-tailed Swift went over ahead of storm clouds. Our
neighbour Carol (of bird guide fame) saw two Black Bittern fly across
McDougall Road one evening as well as seeing four Bush Stone-curlew
drinking from one of the Lagoons. The immature Nankeen night-Heron
reported a few weeks ago was seen again this week flying over Bushy
Creek. The regular pair of White-bellied Sea-Eagle were displaying
over the adjacent cane field one afternoon, one bird had a fish in
its talon and flew in circles with the other following before they
reversed positions and carried on until they disappeared over the
Lodge grounds. A Brahminy Kite was circling over the Barramundi Farm
early one morning, Grey Goshawk was along McDougall Road and Nankeen
Kestrel continue to perch on the foot pegs of the power poles along
the highway. Red-necked Crake have been even more vocal than last
week even joining in the morning chorus however they have eluded the
many pairs of binoculars trained on the direction of the calls. A
Pale-vented Bush-Hen was heard calling near our neighbours house
which hopefully signals their return to the area. Cuckoos were again
calling this week with Pheasant Coucal, Eastern Koel and Little
Bronze-Cuckoo only heard and Channel-billed Cuckoo and Brush Cuckoo
seen. Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher have been extremely vocal,
flying around chasing each other and perching out in the open for
great views. Blue-winged Kookaburra were also calling and showing
well in Geraghty Park where they seem to be spending more time than
elsewhere.
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| Blue-winged Kookaburra |
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Dollarbird are still going around in pairs but have not be
observed doing any nesting activities. Noisy Pitta are still noisy
and being seen regularly, quite often dodging the unwelcome
attentions of the Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher who dive bomb
them. Spotted Catbird were still feeding young as were Pale-yellow
Robin who are having a good breeding season this year. Always worth an image for their "cute factor".
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| Pale-yellow Robin |
The same 12
honeyeater species as last week were seen with very few coming to the
feeder. Graceful Honeyeater were coming to the feeder and taking away
banana, presumably to feed their young. Barred Cuckoo-shrike and
Cicadabird are both still calling and being seen infrequently.
Spangled Drongo were seen building a nest in Geraghty Park and
Spectacled Monarch have several nests in the Lodge grounds. One
Grey-headed Robin was seen at the beginning of the week but not
since, dare we say they have all gone back into the mountains behind
us? Our neighbour Carol witnessed 10
Fairy Martin, along McDougall Road, twittering in to roost, they ended up all huddled along a little 1m tall sapling or weed bent over to almost touching the ground! Metallic Starling are still busy adding to
their nests with both adult and immature birds collecting building
material, also egg shells have been found under the nests indicating
a second brood for the season.
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| Metallic Starling - immature |
Olive-backed
Sunbird have been investigating a piece of string we put out by the
reception area several years hoping they would choose it to build a
nest on, maybe they will.
Further
afield Murray Hunt from Daintree Boatman Nature Tours (ex Chris
Dahlberg's River Tours), reported seven Spotted Whistling-Duck on the
Daintree River Friday afternoon. These maybe the ones from Wonga
Beach, which is not far away and the river is a new location for
them. A check of the lagoon 4km north of Mareeba during the week
failed to find the previously reported Grey Wagtail and Painted Snipe
but did find at least 60 Plumed Whistling-Duck and a large flock of
Magpie Goose.
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| Plumed Whistling-Duck |
Lovely Fairy-wren have been regularly seen in the Rifle
Creek camping area at Mt. Molloy. Also near Mt. Molloy one possibly
two Buff-breasted Button-quail were seen by guests who spent three
days searching an area, also in the same area were Brown Quail and
Painted Button-quail. Looks like it could be a good year for the
BBBQ's with the habitat looking suitable at the moment.
Reptile
and mammal numbers were up this week to 23. A Green Ringtail Possum
was seen during the day in our neighbours garden moving through some
trees, probably disturbed by too much attention from the birds. This
was the first one reported for two months. This one shows how they roost during the day, curled up on an exposed branch.
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| Green Ringtail Possum |
Striped Possum have been
showing well and calling as they crash around in the rainforest
giving good views, some only 4-5m off the ground. At least two
Platypus are still being regularly seen in Bushy Creek along with the
odd Water Rat who make infrequent appearances. The wet weather
tempted a few frogs to start calling and showing, the Northern Dwarf Tree Frog were one of the frogs whose calls were triggered by the rain.
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| Northern Dwarf Tree Frog |
A White-lipped Tree
Frog was actually spotlighted in a tree – much better than the
amenities block! At
least two Boyd's Forest Dragon are still around the eating area near
the units. They were seen chasing each other and one ended up on one
of our guests outdoor table where it sat for a while before moving to
the back of a chair.
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