19th September 2010

 

The blog is a few days late this week due to being away at the Australian Birdfair in Leeton, New South Wales over the weekend. A report on the birdfair will be on next weeks blog.

 

Temperatures this week were a much warmer minimum than last week, down to 19.4ºC and a warmer top temperature of 26.8ºC. Rain this week amounted to 3.5mm which fell over the first two days of the week, the rest of the week was very pleasant with plenty of sun and quite windy. Bird sightings were one less than last week, due to less effort in tracking them down, 73 were seen and 3 heard. Mammals and reptiles were 18 species seen.

The changing seasons were reflected in the first sightings of two summer migrants, a Channel-billed Cuckoo flew over the Lodge, they have been in nearby Mt. Molloy for the previous 10 days. 

Channel-billed Cuckoo

Also a single Pied Imperial-Pigeon showed up, it will be interesting to see if we get large numbers like last year up here away from the coast. Wompoo Fruit-Dove and Superb Fruit-Dove were also in the same tree as the Pied Imperial Pigeon but only gave very brief glimpses. Papuan Frogmouth continues to call at night but has been unsuccessful at attracting a mate so far. Pacific Baza was seen carrying nesting material but not to the previous two years nest tree and White-bellied Sea-Eagle was seen heading away from the barramundi farm with yet another fish. A Grey Goshawk was flying over the adjacent cane farm one morning. Red-necked Crake was seen a couple of times scurrying over one of the paths to the orchard and also calling but not as much as previous weeks. 

 Red-necked Crake

 
Pheasant Coucal, Little Bronze-Cuckoo and Brush Cuckoo are busy calling with only the Brush Cuckoo seen. Eastern Barn Owl were active around their nest hollow with at least another pair in the area calling. Azure Kingfisher has been busy up and down Bushy Creek and occasionally in the Crake Pool. Noisy Pitta is calling well, quite often high up in the trees proclaiming their territory making them difficult to find but they are being seen on the ground regularly. The image below shows one in a tree, last weeks image was on the ground.

Noisy Pitta

 
Still the odd Lewin's Honeyeater around and a few Barred Cuckoo-shrike. Grey Whistler is in full song calling loudly, mainly in the morning. Pied Monarch has been seen regularly bathing in Bushy Creek in the afternoon but also hopping up and down tree trunks and branches around the orchard area. Only a couple of Grey-headed Robin sightings this week and none calling so this maybe the last we see of them for a while. Metallic Starling and Olive-backed Sunbird continue to build nests.

A list of this weeks birds can be found on the Eremaea Birds site here

Some of the reptiles are starting to get more active as the weather warms up with Boyd's Forest Dragon, Eastern Water Dragon, 

 Eastern Water Dragon

Major Skink, Lace Monitor and an Amethystine Python seen over the week. The Lace Monitor was good to see as it crossed through the cookshed and into the rainforest as we have not seen one for nearly a year. A few frogs started to call at the end of the week when the rain started and the Platypus is still being seen regularly. A juvenile White-tailed Rat was seen in the rainforest during the day looking very awkward as it staggered across the forest floor. This species of tree rat is not normally seen during the day but it might have been one that was moved on by the parents or was in bad health.

Further afield a Black-faced Monarch, summer migrant from Papua New Guinea, was seen near Abattoir Swamp carrying nesting material. This is the first one we have heard of in our immediate area so they should turn up at the Lodge any day. Also at the same area as the monarch were three White-headed Pigeon feeding on a rainforest tree (Litsea sp.) fruit which appeared to be green, this is an uncommon species in our area. These pigeons are more likely encountered on the more southerly areas of the Atherton Tableland around Yungaburra, which is at a higher altitude than us although they are seen high on Mt. Lewis occasionally. 
 

5th September 2010 Report

Temperature this week was a slightly warmer minimum than last week, down to 16.9ºC and a cooler top temperature of 25.3ºC. Rain this week amounted to 49.5mm which fell mainly at night, the days were showery with two sunny days. However a few kilometres west it was dry, especially up towards Mt. Carbine. Bird sightings were up on last week despite the weather to 84 seen and 8heard but mammals and reptiles were down on last week but still good with 21 species seen.

 

Two pairs of Red-necked Crake continue to be heard with a single bird seen briefly flying across Bushy Creek one afternoon. The pair reported from the long grass across Mt. Kooyong Road opposite the camping area last week have started calling mid-afternoon but still not showing much to everyone’s frustration.

The nearby wetlands continue to have small numbers of birds on them with up to 16 Wandering Whistle-Duck, a pair of green Pygmy-goose, 30+ Pacific Black Duck, 5 Australasian Grebe, one Little Pied Cormorant, 40+ Little Black Cormorant, one Eastern Great and Intermediate Egret, 100+ Cattle Egret and 3 White-faced Heron one of which was seen carrying a stick so they maybe nesting. 

 White-faced Heron

At least three Superb Fruit-Dove have again been calling in the rainforest around the orchard but not seen – they are very difficult blighter’s to get onto! Australian Owlet-nightjar has also been calling with one possible sighting when an eye-shine near one of it's daytime roosts was seen. Papuan Frogmouth has also been calling in the night and seen once flying over the Lodge grounds near the reception area, only seen once at one of the the normally reliable daytime roosts in the orchard. More calling, this time from a pair of White-bellied Sea-Eagle who have been flying and soaring over the Lodge giving their quite unlike raptor call of quacking, more like ducks! Buff-banded Rail was seen in the orchard on several occasions foraging in the open before darting back into the long grass at the edge of the rainforest. Several Pheasant Coucal have been seen dodging traffic on the road as they try to fly from one side to the other. Flight is not their strong point, they tend hop up to a high point then glide downwards with an occasional flap of the wings. As cuckoos go they are quite unusual as they are non-parasitic building their own nest and raising their own young. A single Eastern Barn Owl was seen at the nest site during the week but several others, adult and juveniles, belonging to another pair were heard and seen nearby. A pair of Great Bowerbird have been feasting on a fruiting bush in Geraghty Park along with Rainbow and Scaly-breasted Lorikeet, Lewin's Honeyeater, Little Shrike-thrush, Australasian Figbird, Silvereye, Metallic Starling and Olive-backed Sunbird who were all seen feeding at the same time. Large-billed Gerygone were observed bringing food to their nest so hopefully they will have some youngsters flying around soon.

Graceful Honeyeater

  
Graceful Honeyeater are still using the South American Sapote along with Dusky Honeyeater. A single Bridled Honeyeater appeared at the feeder but was seen off by the bossy Macleay's Honeyeater. 

 Yellow-spotted Honeyeater

The image of the Yellow-spotted Honeyeater above was taken in the rainforest whilst it was feeding on a flowering root parasite Balanophora fungosa. This image used a technique called colour wash which involves placing a solid object between you and your subject, in a way that only the colour of the out of focus object remains, partially covering your subject, but showing the latter as if it was covered with a veil. In this case a green leaf but all this was completely accidental and not planned! Not sure I'll be repeating this type of image again. More about this technique can be found here .
 

 Balanophora fungosa

Balanophora fungosa is a leafless plant and resembles a fungus with a large rounded head. The female flowers form an densely packed apical cone with the male flowers clustered below them, they pop up out of the rainforest floor at this time of year usually in clumps but ocassionaly singularly. The flowers have a white pollen and a smear of nectar on the surface of the female flowers as well as the base of the male flowers. As well as honeyeaters  other daytime visitors inclde beetles, ants and flies. At night it is visited by rats, and Long-nosed Bandicoot. (information from the book "Amongst Trees - images from the rainforests of North-east Queensland" which is a colloboration between several writers and artistes)The image above shows a few white flowers on the left but dead ones on the right, the image below has mature white flowers and not quite mature female flowers on the cone. We have heard tour guides describing it as fungus, mushrooms and even cassowary droppings!

   Balanophora fungosa

Slight interlude, now back to this weeks birds. Very few Barred Cuckoo-shrike seen with most seemingly moving on to better feeding grounds. Black Butcherbird has again been catching White-lipped Tree Frogs, well they have to feed as well. A lone Spangled Drongo continues to come to the feeder for a few sips of sugar water. Grey-headed Robin are still with us and probably took one look at the cloud down on the hills and decided to stay. Olive-backed Sunbird are making several nests around the area, well the female is doing all the work with the males supervising. This female pictured below went into what looked like a submission posture staying perfectly still whilst the male was sitting just above her, he was not impressed and flew off – maybe it was a threat posture? 

 Olive-backed Sunbird - female

  
One nest a female was building was an old one from several years ago which had fallen into disrepair, interesting to see if they actually use it. They do make several nests in an area and choose one they think will work, we've seen this with Noisy Pitta also who made one nest and decided it was not quite right and immediately started building another 20m away which they did use.

Not much spotlightiing this week due to the rainy weather but several Stripped Possum and one Green Ringtail Possum were seen along with a Tree Mouse and Feather-tail Glider again in the South American Sapote in the orchard. This tree has now passed its use by date as far as the flowers are concerned as they are now wilting and dropping off. It has certainly been a productive tree over the last month or so attracting honeyeaters

Further afield the good news is that a male Golden Bowerbird was seen on Mt. Lewis on the track beyond the old tin miners dam early in the week but the bad news is that roadworks and recent rains have closed the road which is extremely slippery, dangerous and not recommended for any vehicle. A single White-headed Pigeon was also seen on Mt. Lewis. A Cicadabird was heard calling at Abattoir Swamp, (first for the season) also an Australian Reed-Warbler was seen on the edge of reeds here from the hide. Another first for the season around here was a single Channel-billed Cuckoo at Maryfarms on the Peninsula Development Road towards Mt. Carbine. Banded Honeyeater has been in flowering eucalypts in Vains Park, Mt. Molloy along with large flocks of Scaly-breasted Lorikeet.

 Scaly-breasted Lorikeet

Keith will be attending the upcoming Australian Birdfair 17th-19^th September at Yanco Agricultural Institute – Murrumbidgee Rural Studies Centre near Leeton, New South Wales along with Andrew from Red Mill House at Daintree Village. We will be promoting our area and will be looking forward to catching up with any of you who will be attending. More information about the Birdfair can be found here.