Birdwatchers Lodge in Far North Queensland 19th February 2012

Only 9mm of rain fell at the end of the week continuing this very strange dry “Wet Season” weather. So once again sunny warm days with the minimum temperature again much the same as last week, down to 22.0ºc and the maximum was a few degrees cooler, down to 31.6ºc.

Birds recorded were 96 seen and 8 heard. 15 mammal and reptile species were seen and two frogs heard. The weeks bird list is on the Eremaea Birds website and morning walk lists can also be found at this link on Eremaea Birds

Highlights:

Continued sightings of Red-necked Crakes, two adults and three half grown juveniles who have been seen in the rainforest behind the units and out front of the units heading across the road by the reception area. Five of the seven confirmed Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher nests have fledged with youngsters seen and heard in the rainforest. The other two nests with chicks in are not far off from fledging, judging by the noise coming from them and the parents perched nearby trilling.

Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher - juvenile

Three Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo flew over Mt. Kooyong Road which were the first for a few weeks. One Lewin's Honeyeater was seen at the entrance to the Lodge grounds and was the first since one was heard at the beginning of January.

Other sightings:

Wetlands along McDougall Road continue to hold low numbers of waterbirds with only Magpie Goose, two Wandering Whistling-Duck, about 12 Pacific Black Duck, Hardhead, two Little Black Cormorant and two Masked Lapwing. Emerald Doves started calling this week which maybe a sign that they are interested in breeding.

Emerald Dove - male

Two Pied Imperial Pigeon in Geraghty Park are still behaving like they are going to nest but no sign of nesting material yet. No sightings of Papuan Frogmouth in the orchard this week or any calling at night but we did hear an Australian Owlet-nightjar calling one evening. About 12 White-throated Needletail flew over the adjacent cane paddock on Friday 17^th and One Fork-tailed Swift was flying over the same paddock paddock late on Wednesday 15^th. Several Black Bittern sightings were along McDougall road in seasonal ponding beyond the Bushy Creek bridge, one took off and followed the creek towards the Lodge. Four raptor species this week, Black-shouldered Kite, White-bellied Sea-Eagle plus Whistling and Black Kite. One Buff-banded Rail scooted across Mt. Kooyong Road and into the Lodge grounds whist on a morning walk, did not stop to let us know if it was “Katie” or not! A White-browed Crake was in one of the lagoons along McDougall Road and was seen rather than has been the case, only heard. Pale-vented Bush-hen have again been vocal but shy on showing themselves, not enough rain to draw them out of the long grass. A Pheasant Coucal was seen along Mt. Kooyong Road and a male Eastern Koel was in our neighbours garden. 
 

Eastern Koel - male

A few Channel-billed Cuckoo have been calling as they have flown over but not it's not like previous years when flocks of birds passed through heading north on migration at this time of year. We have had up to 60 juvenile birds stop over for 2-3 weeks in February to feast on fruiting figs in the past, maybe they are just late this year. Little (Gould's) Bronze-Cuckoo and Brush Cuckoo are still around and calling. Several Forest Kingfisher pairs have a few juveniles/immatures they are feeding including this one in Geraghty Park. Some of our guests unfamiliar with Australian Kingfishers have mistaken them for Sacred Kingfisher because of the juveniles buffy parts, but of course sacred are green on the upper body parts and forest are blue. 
 

Forest Kingfisher - juvenile

A few Rainbow Bee-Eater were feeding in Geraghty Park and one adult Dollarbird was calling at the beginning of the week after we said that we thought they had left, fatal making those statements! Noisy Pitta made a few calls over the week but did not show, maybe because the grass in the orchard is long and needs mowing again after only a week, it is growing faster than Bamboo. A female Lovely Fairy-wren was seen in two different places, once in Geraghty Park and another time alongside the adjacent cane paddock at the end of Mt. Kooyong Road. Thirteen honeyeater species seen during the week with both Macleay's and Blue-faced Honeyeater coming to the sugar water feeder. Our neighbours have started to get Dusky Honeyeater come to their feeder which is something they never do at our feeder. Also a Bridled Honeyeater was down McDougall Road. Cicadabird are still with us and calling well as are Grey Whistler who have been quiet for a few months. Black Butcherbird has been seen regularly on most days, lurking around in the rainforest. The Leaden Flycatcher nest in Geraghty Park has three chicks in it and they are growing well with the parents bringing a constant stream of insects to them. The Magpie-lark chick, mentioned last week in a nest in Geraghty Park, successfully fledged. Both Pied Monarch and Yellow-breasted Boatbill have been calling and seen. Lemon-bellied Flycatcher have again been along Mt. Kooyong Road and in Geraghty Park with at least four pairs seen. 
 

Lemon-bellied Flycatcher

Horsfield's Bushlark is still along McDougall Road which is the only location they have been seen this year in our area. Egg shells are still appearing under the Metallic Starling nests in Geraghty Park but there is definitely less birds present than has been in previous weeks. Our pair of Olive-backed Sunbird who were nesting have been seen with two juvenile birds which is good news as they have a high predation rate.

Further Afield:-

Another trip to Cairns allowed us to spend a pleasant hour eating lunch and watching the shorebirds in action as the tide came in. Nothing spectacular here but good to have a refresher course on the waders. A pair of Australian Pied Oystercatcher were loafing on their own whilst the other birds were either feeding on the decreasing mud or running along with the tide. 
 

Australian Pied Oystercatcher

Smaller birds were Red-necked Stint, Lesser Sand Plover and Greater Sand Plover, medium size birds were Great Knot, Terek Sandpiper, Grey-tailed Tattler and Masked Lapwing whilst the larger birds were Whimbrel, Eastern Curlew and Bar-tailed Godwit. There was also one Crested Tern and many Silver Gull. Along the area between the shoreline and the road were Varied Honeyeater, Magpie-lark, Willie Wagtail, House Sparrow and Common Myna. Notably absent were Pied Imperial Pigeon who were very obvious a few week previously, maybe they have headed north. Full list on Eremaea Birds site.

On the way back from Cairns we called into to see Sue at Cassowary House in Kuranda and afterwards returned to Julatten via the alternative route along the unsealed Black Mountain Road. It is a four wheel drive/high clearance vehicle road as there are some high whooboys (high piles of dirt across the road to direct water flows to the side) and is quite narrow once it enters the Mowbray National Park section. It is an interesting alternative route with good opportunities to stop for birding. We did not stop as it was getting late in the afternoon but we did see a mixed flock of Sulphur-crested and Black-tailed Cockatoo in one of the pine plantations before we got back into the rainforest. It took us an hour and twenty minutes to get back to the Lodge this way, which is probably around 20 minutes longer in time but a shorter distance in kilometres than the sealed route via Mareeba. Normally this road would be impassable at this time of year if we had been having a “normal” wet season.

Two juvenile Great Bowerbirds were accidentally disturbed on a property along Euluma Creek Road, Julatten, whilst they were roosting 2m off the ground on a vine overhanging a driveway. Also spotlighted here was a roosting Azure Kingfisher and a 2.5-3m Amethystine Python who was hanging around a small lagoon what for one of the many frogs calling to hop past.

Other Wildlife:-

This bee was walking around on the ground in the rainforest and looks like similar ones we have had before which were identified as Italian Honey Bee, not sure if this is the same.

Bee sp.

Also at the beginning of last year (2011) we had a cluster of pupae on a tree which were identified as a species of Oil Beetle, we have revisited this ID and had a beetle expert look at the images and have now found out they are not Oil Beetles but Acerogria oriuda from the big beetle family Tenebrionidae, sorry no common name. Here are two images to remind you of what they looked like.

Acerogria oriuda -  pupae

 

Acerogria oriuda -  Hatching beetles

15th January 2012 Report

A week with no rain, which must be a record for January, and plenty of sunshine providing great birding weather once again..

The sunny days kept the maximum temperatures up on previous weeks, getting up to 32.4ºc and the minimum was down to 20.3ºc for one day, the rest of the week was 1-3ºc higher. Humidity ranged from a low of 59% to a high of 92%.

There were less birds recorded this week than last due mainly to the lack of waterbirds and raptors, totals were 99 seen, 6 heard and one found dead. 19 mammal and reptile species were seen, 4 heard. The weeks bird list is on the Eremaea Birds website and morning walk lists can also be found at this link on Eremaea Birds.

Highlights:

Seeing Red-necked Crake three times in one day, 11 Red-tailed Black Cockatoo flying over mid-day and two (Lesser) Sooty Owl flying around one night, one perched. 

(Lesser) Sooty Owl

Three Papuan Frogmouth, two in our neighbours garden whilst the third was calling in the Lodge grounds.

Other sightings:

A juvenile Orange-footed Scrubfowl was hiding in vegetation around the reception area trying to avoid the attention of adult birds who were intent on chasing it away. Waterbird species were down in the McDougall Road lagoons but still a few Magpie Goose, Wandering Whistling Duck, Pacific Black Duck, Hardhead, Australasian Darter, Little Pied and Little Black Cormorant. A Wompoo Fruit-Dove was heard but not seen but a female Superb Fruit-Dove was perched out in the open for good views. A few Pied Imperial Pigeon and Topknot Pigeon are still around. Australian Owlet-nightjar was seen in its daytime roost and also flying through the Lodge grounds one night. A Nankeen Night-Heron was foraging at the Crake Pool one afternoon and a scruffy looking Royal Spoonbill was hanging around the Barramundi Farm. As previously mentioned raptors were scarce this week with only Black-shouldered Kite and Whistling Kite with a late addition, a Grey Goshawk late Saturday evening, which was disappointing after last week when we had eight species. The one sighting of a dead bird was by reported on Birding-Aus by Phil Gregory from Cassowary House who found a Spotless Crake caught on a barbed wire fence along McDougall Road. We have been hearing them call along here quite often but this is the first sighting for well over a year. 

Spotless Crake

Pale-vented Bush-hen was seen along Bushy Creek from the Platypus viewing area late one afternoon, this was the only sighting despite many pairs calling around the area. Bush Stone-curlew were in Geraghty Park calling at night but they did not venture into the Lodge grounds as they had been doing. Double-eyed Fig-Parrot were seen several times in the Lodge grounds, once in a eucalypt tree and calling whilst flying over on several occasions. Cuckoo were again calling and most showing well, good views of Pheasant Coucal, Channel-billed Cuckoo, Little (Gould's) Bronze-Cuckoo and Brush Cuckoo. Eastern Koel was heard only. Eastern Barn Owl were around calling and at least three were seen. Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher are still showing well and calling nearly all day. Several have been seen coming out of their termite nests and are probably sitting on eggs. Laughing Kookaburra have also been noisy this week as they are feeding recently fledged birds, one was seen devouring a Jungguy Frog Litoria jungguy. Blue-winged Kookaburra have also been calling in Geraghty Park but don't appear to have any youngsters. Rainbow Bee-eater actually made it to the Lodge with a small flock flying over, they have been in the area for over a month but not recorded at the Lodge. Dollarbird are getting around with at least one juvenile and Noisy Pitta have retired into the rainforest, hopefully on their second nest attempt. Lovely Fairy-wren have been heard in bamboo along Bushy Creek in the late afternoon and maybe roosting here. 

Large-billed Gerygone

 
Large-billed Gerygone have built a nest over Bushy Creek at the Platypus viewing area and probably have eggs at the moment. The nest below is made to look like flood debris.

Large-billed Gerygone - nest

Lewin's Honeyeater has also been heard in the grounds which is unusual for this time of year. 

Lewin's Honeyeater

Brown-backed Honeyeater continue to attend a nest in Geraghty Park. A few Barred Cuckoo-shrike are still around and showing well when tracked down from their calls. Cicadabird is also still calling and flying around the grounds. White-breasted Woodswallow have appeared in greater numbers this week with 34 perched on a fence along McDougall Road. One pair of Spangled Drongo are flying around with a juvenile whilst another pair are still sitting on their nest. Leaden Flycatcher were seen feeding a juvenile and that odd Black-faced Monarch (previously mentioned) was found sitting on a nest about 20m up in the rainforest. At the moment we are trying to see its mate the check out the plumage to see if there is any differences. Pied Monarch has started to call and be seen more often this week, two were bathing in Bushy Creek one late afternoon. Yellow-breasted Boatbill is also calling and being seen more often as well. Pale-yellow Robin are also feeding juveniles, this one was awaiting its next feed while the parent was having a rest.

 

Pale-yellow Robin - Adult and Juvenile

 

Pale-yellow Robin - Juvenile calling for food

 
The Olive-backed Sunbird have finished building their nest which is hanging from a safety chain around a gas bottle.

Red-browed Finch are still churning out many juveniles who are coming to the feeder by the reception.

Further Afield:-

The track opposite Sides Road has not had Blue-faced Parrot-Finch there for at least three months but it is still turning up interesting birds. At the end of last week a Barking Owl was found dead along the track and this week the culprit was found, a Rufous Owl which was seen clutching a Striped Possum. Rufous Owl are known for killing other owls so there is a good chance that it did kill the Barking Owl, they also put Striped Possum high on their menu. One reason we are glad we don't have a resident Rufous Owl although we have sightings of birds most years as they pass through. 

Rufous Owl

Mowbray National Park at Julatten is always an interesting area and worth visiting; this week it turned up 100+ Red-tailed Black Cockatoo, Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo and an egg shell outside a Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher nest. This kingfisher is more advanced than ours. Mt. Lewis continues to host good numbers of Blue-faced Parrot-Finch with 20+ reported at the “clearing”, also an Azure Kingfisher was at the miners dam which is at 950m.

Reptiles and Mammals:-

Our neighbours reported a Slaty Grey snake under their house early in the week, not a snake we see very often. A Green Tree Snake was also seen in the orchard, harmless to us but not to the frogs! Only one Striped Possum sighting, again in our neighbours garden in a Banana plant. A Red-legged Pademelon (small rainforest kangaroo) was sitting by the Crake Pool one afternoon, good that this one is staying around. It has been around for a few months now but usually only seen at night. Two Platypus were seen in Bushy Creek late one afternoon and a single one seen most days. Frogs have not been showing but have been calling when they think rain is coming but it did not come this week. Jungguy Frog and Cogger's Frog were the only two species seen. 

Cogger's Frog

Boyd's Forest Dragon have been active and obliging as they have been running around and perching on the side of trees for great views. Major Skink have also been showing but being quite shy and not staying around for prolonged views.

Other Interesting Sightings:

Fungi and Slime Mould, not too many around at the moment with the dry weather. The slim mould looks like the one pictured in Bruce Fuhrer's book A field guide to Australian Fungi P344.

Coprinellus disseminatus. ?

Slim Mould Ceratiomyxa fruiticulosa

27th February 2011 Report

 

This week started off dry and ended up wet, we had two dry sunny days before 170mm of rain fell in 24hrs. We ended up with 202.5mm of rain for the week but managed to mow the camping area before it turned back into a mud bath. No hope in our orchard  getting mowed despite trying; the mower got bogged after traveling 3m! Temperatures ranged from 21.5ºC to 30.1ºC. Bird species recorded were 75 seen and 8 heard, reptiles and mammals were 20 seen.

The weeks bird species list is here

Wompoo Fruit-Dove disappeared this week but Superb Fruit-Dove continued calling but not seen. Papuan Frogmouth was again roosting in front of the reception area most days. Cattle Egret returned after being away for 10 weeks, three were in the paddock across the Rex Highway mid-week with another absentee, White-faced Heron who had been away for 12 weeks. Few sightings of Whistling and Black Kite which were only seen once as was Nankeen Kestrel. 

Nankeen Kestrel

Two Red-necked Crake were seen and heard foraging around on the edge of the creek where it crosses the path to the orchard one afternoon. Eastern Koel, male and female, are still around the Golden Cane Palm behind our units feasting on the palm seeds. A cuckoo, either Chestnut-breasted or Fan-tail, was calling from the hills opposite the Lodge across the Rex Highway, it was a fair way off and not able to be separated into species. (Lesser) Sooty Owl was again calling in the evening and getting quite frantic at one stage flying over and around the grounds, despite searching we only caught sight of it as it flew over. An Azure Kingfisher flew past the Geraghty Park hall whilst our neighbours were taking their dog for a walk. Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher juveniles continue to grow and prosper and seem to be having a successful breeding season. Rainbow Bee-eater and a few Dollarbird have been flying around and calling. The Noisy Pitta adult is still calling and appears to have stopped feeding the two juveniles as they have been seen fending for themselves. 

Noisy Pitta - juvenile

Spotted Catbird has been coming to the feeder, mainly in the morning and heard in the orchard at other times of the day. Red-backed Fairy-wren were across the Rex Highway opposite the Geraghty Park tennis courts. Scarlet Honeyeater returned at the beginning of the week after being absent for nine weeks. Blue-faced Honeyeater are also insect eaters and this image shows one busily foraging under the paperbark trying to prise one out.

Blue-faced Honeyeater

Cicadabird are still here and calling, they usually stay until May and return in October although in 2010 we had an early return on 19^th September. Little Shrike-thrush have been seen feeding a juvenile, this image of the adult shows it foraging for insects.

Little Shrike-thrush

Black-faced Monarch are another migratory species which are still calling, they usually depart in April and return in September but we do have the occasional birds which stay and over-winter. Both Pied Monarch and Yellow-breasted Boatbill have been very active and calling around the rainforest by the units. The numbers of Grey-headed Robin have been increasing this week with many more calling early morning/late afternoon. 

Grey-headed Robin

 
A few Metallic Starling continue to stay around but the majority seem to have headed out of the area. They normally leave March/April to head back to Papua New Guinea.

For the second week running reptile and mammal sightings were fairly quiet. The highlight was a Green Ringtail Possum encountered along the path to the orchard early one afternoon. It was at eye level on a vine before scurrying up it to the more substantial branches of a tree where it sat and watched. This is the first one we have seen since Cyclone Yasi three weeks ago. Frogs were again enjoying the wet weather with seven species seen. A Yellow-footed Antechinus (small rat like mammal with a pointed nose) decided to try and make a nest under one of our chair covers on the veranda one morning but was quickly chased out.

Further afield the Eyebrowed Thrush at Malanda was seen on Sunday 20^th February and no reports that we know of since. A juvenile Black (brown) Butcherbird was seen eating a cane toad in our house garden in Julatten. The bird had the toad flipped over on its back and was eating the underside, amazing how quickly they learn the good parts of the toad avoiding the poison glands on the top of the body, anyway it is better eating toads than baby birds or frogs! 

Black Butcherbird - juvenile

 
The road up Mt. Lewis was navigable at the beginning of the week even by 2WD vehicles but all the rain since has probably made it impassable now. The track to the dam from the parking area has a huge fig tree across it but you can clamber over it. Once you have achieved this the track is relatively clear well beyond the dam where there is a communications tower.

15th February Report

A drier week with 3 rain free days and only 56.5mm of rain. Birding was a bit better than the last few weeks with 69 species seen and a further 6 heard plus there was 12 reptile/mammal sightings. Highlights for the week were the five remaining Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher nests with chicks all fledged during the week, the other nest had fledged 2 weeks ago.

Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher - Juvenile

Two adult and immature Papuan Frogmouth seen roosting together in the orchard, this is the first time we have seen the family group together since the immature bird fledged in December. The previous day the Male was roosting on the edge of the campground and the female and immature birds were in the orchard at least 300m away. One of our guests was lucky to watch a Red-necked Crake bathing and preening for 15 minutes at the edge of our seasonal pond near the orchard before seeing a Noisy Pitta foraging nearby. The Sooty Owl called during the week and one night there were two calling, something we have not heard for a very long time. A juvenile Brown Falcon was perching on a fence post in the adjacent cane field and a Pale-vented Bush-hen was seen foraging along Mt. Kooyong Road opposite the campground. Channel-billed, Little and Brush Cuckoos continued to call throughout the week.

Little (Gould's) Bronze-Cuckoo

A Brown Tree Snake (Night Tiger) spent a day curled up on a palm frond just outside the reception area and was harassed by birds all day, the snake took no notice of the commotion going on around it. Several Boyd’s Forest Dragon’s were actively seen hunting and a few Major Skinks have started to appear after several months absence.

Further afield a newly fledged Australian Bustard was seen with it’s parents along East Mary Road at Maryfarm’s near Mt. Carbine.