1st December 2013 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Weather Report

Over the last two weeks rainfall has been quite heavy as the monsoonal trough arrived about a month earlier than normal dumping 239mm over the two weeks. Temperatures went up to an extremely hot 33.1ºC one day but this was an exception. Overnight temperatures were only dropping down to low 20's. Humidity was high into the 85-95% range.

Past Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-

Bird sightings for the first week were 106, 102 seen and 4 heard, second week sightings were restricted by the rain which cut down on observation time with 89 recorded, 78 seen and 11 heard. The last two weeks bird lists can be found on the Eremaea Birds Website:- 17th - 23rd November and 24th - 30th November.

A morning walk turned up 55 species.

Birding Highlights:-

Papuan Frogmouth have been found in the area sitting on a nest with a fluffy white chick and Pacific Baza have been seen carrying sticks into a Blue Quandong tree, hopefully they will successfully build a nest. One Papuan Frogmouth, female, was spotlighted one evening whilst on an organised walk.

Papuan Frogmouth - mum and fluffy white baby

Pale-vented Bush-hen returned over the last few days of the second week when we heard them calling but have not seen any yet. Red-necked Crake are still calling and making a few appearances, this one was running across our neighbours garden.

Red-necked Crake

The local pair of Bush Stone-curlew continue to care for their two growing chicks who are now about ¾ adult size and Double-eyed Fig-Parrot have been making appearances in a couple of local fruiting fig trees. Cuckoos have been particularly vocal with the onset of the wet weather, Pheasant Coucal, Eastern Koel, Channel-billed, Gould's Bronze-Cuckoo and most vocal are the Brush Cuckoo. 

Brush Cuckoo

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo are still in their nest hollow and this one, which looks like a scruffy juvenile, was checking us out.

 

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

Barking Owl are still around but not being heard every night and not seen for over a week but the Barn Owl are calling and being seen. Azure Kingfisher have been along Bushy Creek and the Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher are flying around all over the lodge grounds and calling a lot with a few starting to build their nests in the termite mounds. We will not know how many pairs we have until they all start building when we can look at how many of our nearly 50 termite mounds are occupied. Blue-winged Kookaburra have been quiet and not showing so we think they are nesting. Noisy Pitta have also gone quiet so they may also be nesting, they are still showing in the orchard as they search for food. Lovely Fairy-wren were seen one afternoon along the edge of our orchard and heard again the next day in the same area but they are not regular here although our neighbours hear them frequently moving through the back of their garden. Some honeyeaters have been seen feeding recently fledged birds, mainly Graceful and Macleay's Honeyeater. In all 11 species were seen and Black-chinned Honeyeater heard over the last two weeks. Barred Cuckoo-shrike and Cicadabird have been around most days as have Spangled Drongo whose numbers have increased over the past weeks. Yellow-breasted Boatbill and Pied Monarch have again been vocal and showing. Metallic Starling are also continuing to build nests and fledge chicks at a rapid rate. Olive-backed Sunbird are also building nests, one pair on their second nest for the season. We also had the return of a few Chestnut-breasted Mannikin to the area after being absent for several months.

Further Afield:-

A small wetland on the edge of Port Douglas has been turning up some good birds over the past few months and a recent visit found interesting birds such as this Pink-eared Duck which had almost finished preening and showing the pink ear very well.

Pink-eared Duck

This Pied Heron (heavily cropped image below) was also at the wetland. A full list can be found on the Eremaea Birds site.

Pied Heron

Also on the same day a morning visit to the Cattana Wetlands at Cairns in less than favourable weather conditions found a White-browed Crake walking out on the water lilies

White-browed Crake

along with this nice adult Comb-crested Jacana, which you would expect on the lilies. A full list can be found on the Eremaea Birds site.

Comb-crested Jacana

An Elegant Imperial Pigeon was reported from Thornton Beach, Cape Tribulation, Daintree on the 19^th November. This species can be overlooked in amongst the Pied Imperial Pigeon so be aware and keep looking. Murray Hunt from Daintree Boatman Nature Tours had a Spotted Whistling-Duck on his early morning Daintree River birding tour on the 27^th November. This was the first sighting since January 2013. The Rufous Owl in Cairns on the corner of Florence and Abbott street in the mango trees was still there on the 27^th November as it has been for several weeks now. Mt. Lewis has had up to six Blue-faced-Parrot Finch at the clearing with several sightings, mainly early morning.

Reptiles and Mammals:-

The welcome rain has got the frogs calling with at least eight species calling, most of which were seen. The most vocal have been White-lipped Tree Frog, Dainty Green Tree Frog and Cogger's Frog. A Slaty-grey Snake appeared in our neighbours garden which is a very uncommon species around the Lodge. A guided nightwalk had a Short-beaked Echidna climbing on a log by the Crake Pool, in our orchard, before dropping into the water and climbing up the bank and into the rainforest. This was followed a few minutes later by a Duck-billed Platypus in Bushy Creek, two monotremes within five minutes, this has only happened once before for us. Red-legged Pademelon with a joey has been seen in the orchard on several nights as has been a large male Agile Wallaby.

Other Wildlife:-

The rain has also drawn out many butterflies including Ulysses, Cairns Birdwing and this wet season form female Orange Bush-brown.

 

Orange Bush-brown - female

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2nd June 2013 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

FYI: The latest version of the Bird Trails Tropical Queensland brochure for the Cairns region has just been released. It covers Cairns, Daintree, Cairns Highland (Atherton Tableland) and Mission Beach areas. It has a map of the area showing all the best birding sites, bird guides and places to stay along with contact details and the various suggested trails around the area. The website shown on the brochure is not completed yet so has not gone live. You can download a copy from our website, just click on the brochure below.

Weather Report:-

Frustrating couple of weeks with lots of drizzle which did not produce much rain. Most of the drizzle came from the coast as the south-easterly winds were quite strong bringing the rain onshore. However there were a few breaks with sunshine and clear conditions temperatures ranging from 18ºC to 28ºC. Rainfall for the two weeks was 15.5mm. .

The cloudy weather did bring some good photo opportunities of the mountain range behind the Lodge. This one was taken with a 300mm F2.8 lens early morning.

Mt. Lewis Range in Cloud

Past Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-

Bird sightings for the first week were 86 seen and 11 heard, second week sightings were, 96 seen and 8 heard. The last two weeks bird lists can be found on the Eremaea Birds Website:- May 19th – May 25th and May 26th - June 1st

Birding Highlights:-

Magpie Goose were heard honking as they flew over the Lodge one night and were seen along McDougall Road the next day in one of the wetlands. Emerald Dove started to re-appear after their numbers dropped for about a month, they even started calling which might be a sign that the breeding season is not far off. Small flocks of Topknot Pigeon have been seen flying over from the mountains which hopefully signals their return to far north Queensland. A male Superb Fruit-Dove was caught helping itself to some palm tree fruit in front of the accommodation units late one afternoon and Wompoo Fruit-Dove also visited this food resource several times. Papuan Frogmouth was seen at the nursing home during the first week but disappeared during the second only to re-appear at the end of the week. A White-necked Heron, an uncommon visitor, was foraging in some ponding amongst a cane field behind the nursing home late one afternoon. A Nankeen Night Heron, occasional visitor, was along Bushy Creek one afternoon and at least five Royal Spoonbill were seen heading for the local Barramundi Farm. Raptors were around in low numbers with sightings of one Black-shouldered Kite, Spotted Harrier, Brown Falcon and Nankeen Kestrel plus a pair of White-bellied Sea-Eagle, two Whistling Kite and up to eight Black Kite. Red-necked Crake was heard quite frequently in the evening calling from the patch of rainforest between the Lodge and the Rex Highway but not sighted. Two Pale-vented Bush-hen were heard along Bushy Creek when a neighbour drove past in a tractor; noise quite often triggers them to call especially noisy cars, motorbikes and aeroplanes. Bush Stone-curlew have been very vocal at night up and down the road adjacent to the Lodge. These two, caught checking out the irrigation pipes of the nearby nursing home garden, could be the culprits.

Bush Stone-curlew

Double-eyed Fig-Parrot were seen flying over and were probably checking out a local fig tree which has fruits that are almost ripe - expect it to be ready in a week or two. Little Bronze-cuckoo have been around calling quite a lot and been seen, most are the nominate species not the usual Gould's sub-species that we get here; one Gould's was seen at the end of week two. 

 

Little Bronze-Cuckoo (Gould's)

Barking Owl have been heard calling in the evening and early morning with one spotted on the edge of the Lodge grounds early one morning and another one perched in front of the accommodation units at the end of a night spotlighting tour, great views. At least four Eastern Barn Owl have been around, one was seen clutching a small mice/rat. An Azure Kingfisher was at the Crake Pool perching on a vine and diving in to collect some small fish late one afternoon. Blue-winged Kookaburra have been calling and seen in Geraghty Park most times we have looked. Spotted Catbird have been calling mainly early morning as they skulk around in the rainforest. Honeyeaters were about in small numbers with 12 species seen and another two heard. A single Barred Cuckoo-shrike was perched high in the orchard one morning preening on top of a Blue Quandong tree and not seen again over the two weeks. A Bower's Shrike-thrush was a surprise in the camping area as it foraged in a fig tree, it showed its distinctive black bill (adult male), grey upper parts and streaked deep rufous upper breast. We do get one or two coming down from their more usual haunts up above 600m in the mountains during the cooler months. It was only seen once before disappearing. An adult Yellow Oriole continues to move around the Lodge and our neighbours garden calling as it goes. Northern Fantail has been around spasmodically as have Leaden Flycatcher. A territorial dispute erupted in Geraghty Park between four Magpie-lark which became quite violent as this image shows with three of the birds getting stuck into each other with a blur of wings, the fourth bird joined in for a brief period before the intruders were sent packing! Not a particularly good photo but it does show the ferocity of the encounter.

Magpie-lark

Pied Monarch has been around the Lodge grounds as well as coming down to Bushy Creek late afternoon for a bathe. A pair of Yellow-breasted Boatbill were dueting to each other one morning in the rainforest, they kept going for over 15 minutes and were still going when we left. Not heard this calling to each other before and it was hard to know which bird was responding, male or female. Still only a few Grey-headed Robin have come down off the mountains with only two or three heard and seen; quite a contrast to last year when there were three or four times as many. Tawny Grassbird are still around with a couple heard in an adjacent cane field.

Further Afield:-

The strangest sighting was of a Budgerigar on Mt. Lewis, yes it was green and no it was not an escapee! An image and information is on the Eremaea Birds site. Budgerigar were also reported from Rinyirru (Lakefield) National Park by Doug Herrington and the BirdLife Northern Queensland Group. It is certainly a year for Budgerigar on the east coast with flocks of up to 900 reported from Townsville and district. Diamond Dove are still being found at Maryfarms (between Mount Molloy and Mt. Carbine) with others reported from around Mareeba. An adult Spotted Harrier was soaring over paddocks along Euluma Creek Road, in Julatten at the end of the second week, before landing in a cut cane paddock. Such a majestic bird with its contrasting grey upper wings and deep rufous breast.

Reptiles and Mammals:-

We had a student at the Lodge for just over a week who put out remote cameras for an experiment with mammals and it was very interesting to see what came to the feeding station by the reception area. At least two Long-nosed Bandicoot (one pregnant) came during the night, a species we don't see often earlier in the evening and a Black Rat turned up. One was reported a few weeks ago but not seen since, so the footage was confirmation of the sighting. We have only seen one previously at the feeder a few years ago and certainly would not encourage it to bring its mates along! A 4m+ Scrub (Amethystine) Python was seen crossing the road to reception one night, it had a large bulge in it so must have had a recent meal, possibly a White-tailed Rat. This would possibly be the largest python to be seen in the Lodge, its definitely the largest in our eight years. A Leaf-tailed Gecko was a great find on a night spotlighting tour – the first for several months. Boyd's Forest Dragon have been hiding most of the time but the odd one has been showing now and again. One around the reception area feeder came in for banana and another one was standing on the road near the entrance to the Lodge. This one did not want to move even when an Orange-footed Scrub Fowl almost walked on it! It needed some encouragement to get off the road and back into the rainforest. 

Boyd's Forest Dragon

Not many frogs around despite the drizzle, a White-lipped Tree Frog decided to set up home on a guest car between the cab and the back canopy, it did quite a few kilometres before it was coaxed out and relocated.

Other Criters:-
This rainforest Preying Mantis sp. turned up one evening and stayed long enough to get a photo.

21st April 2013 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Weather Report:-

Weather over the last two weeks has been drizzle and rain for the 1^st week then sunny with some cloud and a little rain for the start of the 2^nd week but towards the end of the second week the weather was glorious. Rainfall for the 1^st week was 124.5mm and second week 5.5mm. Temperatures ranged from 17.2ºC to 28.4ºC. No humidity figures as our humidity sensor broke, this is the 3^rd one to break so we are looking for a more reliable one!

Past Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-

Bird sightings for the first week were 96, 95 seen and 1 heard, second week sightings were 115, 111 seen and 4 heard. The last two weeks bird lists can be found on the Eremaea Birds Website:- April 7th – April 13th and April 14th - April 20th

Birding Highlights:-

The news from the Lodges Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher is that some have left during the last few days of the second week leaving some juvenile birds and just a few adults behind. Several of the juveniles seen probably have another 2-3 weeks development before they can head off. Reports from the Daintree indicate that most if not all their kingfishers have left the area. This image of one of our juvenile birds was taken by Ed Pierce as he was leaving on the 19^th April - looking rather sad as if  his parents have left him.

Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher - juvenile about 6-7 weeks old

A female Superb Fruit-Dove was seen in the orchard during a morning walk but they have been even more difficult to find as they have not been calling for several weeks. Topknot Pigeon are quite spasmodic at the moment with odd sightings, there was only one sighting of ten birds flying over the Lodge. There have been two Papuan Frogmouth in the Lodge grounds for most of the two weeks due to a male turning up during the 1^st week. He was in the orchard and our resident female was roosting near the reception area, but on a few days the female was in the orchard and the male disappeared. One day the female who normally roosts about 5-6m off the ground, decided to roost in front of the units about 3m off the ground which is very unusual. This is her on the 3m roost.

Papuan Frogmouth - female

Waterbirds have been thin on the ground apart from Pacific Black Duck and Hardhead who are spending most of their time at the local Barramundi Farm. A few Australian White Ibis have joined them some days and Straw-necked Ibis have been sharing the cattle paddocks with Cattle Egret. The Straw-necked Ibis are interesting as there were over 30 one day which is a contrast to last year when we hardly saw one all year around the Lodge although there were plenty along the coast last year. A Pacific Baza was a first sighting for over twelve weeks, let's hope they are back to nest in the area. Other raptors around include Grey Goshawk, Spotted Harrier, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Nankeen Kestrel after five weeks away, two White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Black-shouldered Kite and both Whistling and Black Kite. Red-necked Crake has been showing occasionally at our neighbours house along with Pale-vented Bush-hen. Double-eyed Fig-Parrot are around but only when a pair has flown over. Channel-billed Cuckoo were last seen on 17^th April when four juveniles were along Bushy Creek so it maybe they have all headed north to Papua New Guinea. A Shining Bronze-Cuckoo was seen one day which may mean that a few are coming down from higher altitudes in the mountains behind us. The two Barking Owl which have been around the area for nearly a year now have been coming into the Lodge and have been seen several times, once on a night walk and again when one was perched on our entrance sign as this image by Ed Pierce shows. (BB Paradise-Kingfisher don't really have such a thick short bill, it's just the angle of the photo!).

Barking Owl

A (Lesser) Sooty Owl was found one morning roosting in dense foliage along the road to the reception area which was a great sighting as they have not been calling for a few weeks or seen for nine weeks. Eastern Barn Owl have been calling and three individuals were seen on a night walk plus three more heard. An Azure Kingfisher was seen zipping along Bushy Creek whilst on a morning walk as well as Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher, Forest Kingfisher, Blue-winged and Laughing Kookaburra – not bad five kingfishers on one morning walk, that does not happen too often. These two Laughing Kookaburra were perched at the entrance to the Lodge waiting  for breakfast to appear.

Laughing Kookaburra

Rainbow Bee-eaters have been around in small flocks and the odd Dollarbird was still around mid-way through the second week. In the first week of April a Noisy Pitta was seen in the orchard and one was heard during the second week but they are very shy at the moment. A female Lovely Fairy Wren was seen on the edge of the orchard on the 16^th April, this is a rare sight in the Lodge grounds. 13 species of honeyeater for the last two weeks including a few Bridled Honeyeater which are down from the mountains, however the most numerous at the moment are Dusky Honeyeater who are feasting on the Blue Quandong blossom. Barred Cuckoo-shrike and Cicadabird are making a few appearances as are Varied Triller with seven on one morning walk. This included a female feeding a very young juvenile which appeared to have streaking down the upper breast; this is a late breeding record. Grey Whistler are calling all over the grounds and being seen rather than just heard which has been the case lately. A Yellow Oriole was along Geraghty Park Road, Julatten, feeding on the seeds of a Bats Wing Coral Tree Erythrina verspertillio, seen on a morning walk.  

 

Yellow Oriole

A Northern Fantail was around the local Barramundi Farm on several occasions but have not been back to the Lodge grounds since last year. Willie Wagtail have been back a few weeks now and this one was looking for some guidance at our neighbours house!

Willie Wagtail

A very young dependent Black-faced Monarch was being fed in Geraghty Park one morning; this is a very late breeding record. Both Pied Monarch and Yellow-breasted Boatbill have started calling more frequently allowing them to be tracked down more easily. A Victoria's Riflebird turned up in the orchard during the first week and has been calling ever since but nobody has seen it yet, this is another occasional visitor from the mountains behind us. Several Tawny Grassbird Olive-backed Sunbird have started sitting on a nest on our neighbours veranda, a location they have bred from before. This female is enjoying a flowering ginger plant in our grounds. 

Olive-backed Sunbird - female

 

Further Afield:-

Definite highlight for the last two weeks was a White Wagtail at McIvor River north of Cooktown (about 3hrs north of the Lodge) found by Kath Shurcliff and Dave Houghton, further information and an image is on the Eremaea Birds site.  The most bizarre sighting was one of a juvenile male Superb Fruit-Dove which flew from the coast out to sea to land on the Ocean Spirit (tour boat) at Michaelmas Cay some 18Km from Cairns.  Who knows where it was heading or why it took off over the sea when its normal rainforest habitat is the opposite direction.

Superb Fruit-Dove - juvenile male    © Nathalie - Ocean Spirit Cruises 2013

Lake Mitchell (between Mt. Molloy and Mareeba) has been getting a few good birds over the past two weeks, Cotton Pygmy Goose (4), White-browed Crake, Grey-crowned Babbler and Tawny Grassbird, all viewed from the causeway. A Tooth-billed Bowerbird was along Pinnacle Road, Julatten on the way to Mowbray National Park, this is an interesting and lower than normal altitude record which is not too unusual as they have been seen here before. Yellow-billed Spoonbill and Restless Flycatcher have been seen at Brady Road Swamp, Mareeba.

Reptiles and Mammals:-

A good few weeks with 27 species of reptiles and mammals seen, probably because we and a few guests did more looking due to favourable weather. Red-legged Pademelon (small rainforest kangaroo) have been seen in the orchard early morning or late at night. Bats identified were Eastern Horseshoe, Northern Broad-nosed and Little Bentwing plus Spectacled Flying Fox. Bandicoots have started to show but only one or two, a Northern Brown has been coming to the feeder and a Long-nosed was seen near the entrance to the Lodge being eyed off by a nearby Barking Owl! A few frog experts went out one night and added to the frog list, those seen were (Brown) Striped Marsh Frog, Jungguy Frog, White-lipped Green Tree Frog, Northern Dwarf Tree Frog, Peron's Tree Frog, Desert Tree Frog, Dainty Green Tree Frog, Cogger's Frog and Cane Toad. Boyd's Forest Dragon continue to be around the feeder near reception but one was also seen in the orchard on the edge of the rainforest. Eastern Water Dragon have been in Bushy Creek seen clinging to a few exposed logs, An Australian Scrub Python (Amethystine) was in our neighbours garden and a Green Tree Snake went past the units in an overhanging tree escorted by several honeyeaters who were trying to see it off. 

The picture below is of a Carpet Python found in Julatten (thanks to John Weigel for correcting our initial wrong ID!).

 

Carpet Python - juvenile

Thanks to Ed and Ocean Spirit for the use of their photos in this weeks blog.

4th November 2012 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Over the past two weeks we have once again had stunning weather with a couple of rainy days (getting monotonous as it is the same weather over the last six weeks!) amounting to 6mm.

The minimum temperature over the two weeks was 14.6ºC which was slightly less than the previous two weeks and very cool for October. The maximum temperature was 30.1ºC, which was slightly higher than the previous two weeks. The humidity was still high, up to 92% and again a very extreme low for us of 49%.

Bird sightings for the first week were 105 seen plus 4 heard. The second week had one less sighting but a high number of heard only, 104 seen plus 14 heard. Mammal and reptile species were not quite as good as the previous two weeks but still a respectable 26 seen and one heard. 
 

The last two weeks bird lists are on the Eremaea Birds Website for Week1 and Week2 plus morning walk lists can also be found at this link on Eremaea Birds

Birding Highlights:

Well there have been a few over the last two weeks starting with a Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher which had been calling just down Mt. Kooyong Road near the nursing home and Bushy Creek for three days before we saw one on a morning walk on the 2^nd November.  Prior to that they had been reported on the lower slopes of Mt. Lewis (at the back of the Lodge) on 25th October. We heard one calling before seeing it fly into some bamboo alongside the creek, it was a male in splendid plumage who sat and called for over five minutes giving great views. Still sitting and calling when we left. Two were finally seen in the Lodge grounds on Saturday 3rd November. Welcome back!

 

 

Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher

 

Blue-faced Parrot-Finch was seen by our neighbours in their garden and flying into the Lodge grounds on several occasions, however it was not seen by anyone else! A Glossy Ibis appeared in a lagoon between Geraghty Park and McDougall Road, this is a very infrequent visitor to our 1.5km area around the Lodge. Two were also seen later in the week circling over the Rex Highway before heading in the direction of Mount Molloy. We only have two other records in November and December 2009. Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo were heard flying over one evening when we were looking for Eastern Barn Owl, this is the first record we have for October, most other records have been between November and February. McDougall Road has been turning up a few interesting birds including a Peregrine Falcon heading south, reported by Carol Iles our bird guiding neighbour, this is only the fifth record since 2004, several people reported a Latham's Snipe in one of the lagoons and Carol also reported three Varied Sittella, which is only the third record at this location, previous records were 2^nd January 2004 and 5^th February 2012.

Other sightings:

A few more waterbirds have been turning up in our Lodge reporting area (1.5Km radius), Magpie Geese were back, at least 35 Australian Wood Duck were on a lagoon between Geraghty Park and McDougall Road along with Pacific Black Duck, Little Black and Little Pied Cormorant, Eastern Great Egret, White-faced Heron, Little Egret and Royal Spoonbill. Cattle Egret continue to colour up into breeding plumage, this one was with a few cattle and allowed an unusually close approach for a photo; they usually fly off at the first sight of a camera lens!

Cattle Egret

Both Straw-necked and Australian White Ibis were seen flying over near Geraghty Park making all three Ibis occurring in Australia seen in our area. Emerald Dove have been calling in the rainforest and coming out onto the grassy areas to forage like this female in Geraghty Park.

Emerald Dove

Peaceful Dove used to come to our seed feeder in the Lodge, but have kept away for most of the year, probably because the larger Bar-shouldered Dove outnumber them and are quite aggressive. This one was sitting on the Geraghty Park oval railings enjoying the morning sun. Note the brown background which reflects the colour of the dry grass.
 

Peaceful Dove

One Superb Fruit-Dove was briefly seen flying off from the rainforest next to our orchard, but as usual several were heard everyday. Pied Imperial Pigeon are very vocal at the moment and maybe going to nest in the area; at least four have been seen. Four White-throated Needletail were seen, over the adjacent cane paddock, on the 31^st October late one afternoon heading south before circling around and heading north. Raptors have been getting scarcer over the two weeks with the majority of Black Kites and some Whistling Kites disappearing since the cane harvesting has finished. A Brown Falcon did fly low over the Lodge one evening calling as it zoomed by at great pace. Pacific Baza have been coming and going with only a couple of sightings but the White-bellied Sea-Eagle have been regulars with one adult majestically soaring over the tree tops of the Lodge one morning. Red-necked Crake have been heard but not seen as they skulk around in the rainforest. Rainbow and Scaly-breasted Lorikeet numbers continue to decline as the eucalypts finish flowering and Double-eyed Fig-Parrot continue to make brief fly-overs a few times a week with only a few visiting a fruiting fig tree in the camp ground on one occasion. A Shining Bronze-Cuckoo was heard behind the Geraghty Park hall one morning, the first for quite a while, also here was a female Pheasant Coucal. Channel-billed Cuckoo have started to call again after going silent for a few weeks as have Little Bronze-Cuckoo. Brush Cuckoo have been around calling for the last few days of the second week, they have been making the “referees whistle” call. Barking Owl is still moving around the area and have made a few appearances in the Lodge grounds, but have been heard more than seen.  (Lesser) Sooty Owl have been calling, but not seen despite a few searches. Blue-winged Kookaburra have been keeping a low profile, silent for the first week and only heard once in the second week. At least two pair of Dollarbird are around Geraghty Park calling and looking for nesting hollows in the Queensland Blue Gum. Noisy Pitta continue to call all hours of day and night with at least four birds calling, generally 10-20m up in the rainforest trees making observations difficult. This one however decided to sit out on a branch at a height of about 10m behind our self-contained units and wake us up one morning! 

Noisy Pitta

Red-backed Fairy-wren were along the Rex Highway sitting on a fence whilst we were on a morning walk, there were a male and four female/juvenile birds showing well. Lovely Fairy-wren were again in a gully behind our neighbours house calling most evenings. The Large-billed Gerygone nest over Bushy Creek at the Platypus viewing area is still getting plenty of attention with the adult feeding chicks at the moment. 14 honeyeaters for each of the last two weeks around the Lodge with Helmeted Friarbird still around with at least two birds present. Yellow-faced Honeyeater are resident at the Lodge and tend to keep high up in the canopy except when they come down to bath in the creek or one of the bird baths around the Lodge, this one was feeding unusually low down.

Yellow-faced Honeyeater

Barred Cuckoo-shrike have been calling and showing most days with one pair carrying nesting material to our neighbours garden. Cicadabird have started to call in earnest with at least six individuals one morning trying to out do each other. One male showed in a Raintree where it had nested last year and a female was seen foraging at the entrance to the Lodge. Grey Whistler continues to be the dominant species in the dawn chorus and is usually found after some hard work tracking then down, usually high in the rainforest canopy. Olive-backed Oriole have been calling and hiding, but this one popped up in the open in front of a blue sky calling.

Olive-backed Oriole

There is at least one Rufous Fantail still around the Lodge, all the others have moved south off to higher ground. Northern Fantail are calling and now moved to Geraghty Park which is more normal open woodland habitat for them rather than our rainforest. Black-faced Monarch is another species calling and chasing each other around, but Pied Monarch have fallen silent and have mainly been seen coming in to bathe at Bushy Creek late afternoons. There was still at least one Grey-headed Robin in the Lodge ground mid-way through the second week. We have quite a few record of birds still here in November, fewer in December and only one in January. They return here as early as March which means they are not absent for much or the year. Golden-headed Cisticola have returned after being away for a few months, maybe they avoid part of the cane harvesting season and return when it is finished. Quite a few juvenile Metallic Starling getting around with the adult birds collecting nesting material, they don't waste any time helping with the second clutch of the season. Olive-backed Sunbird have made a second nest in the Lodge grounds after abandoning their refurbishment of last years nest, we will keep an eye on progress.

Further Afield:-

A Spotless Crake was seen and photographed from the hide at Abattoir Swamp by one of our guests, a difficult bird to spot! A Golden Bowerbird male was chanced upon on Mt. Lewis for a couple of lucky guests; most of the other “Wet Tropic” endemics have been regularly seen on the mountain including nesting Fernwren. A much sought after bird the White-eared Monarch have been seen twice in Mowbray National Park, one along Pinnacle Road and another along the “Bump Track” off Black Mountain Road, Julatten. Banded Honeyeater continue to be seen in the woodland areas north of Mt. Molloy. Del Richards from Fine Feather Tours reported a few interesting sightings from Port Douglas; A single Pied Heron, 3 Latham's Snipe on the golf course and 20+ Golden Plover. The first record of Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher in our region was along Stewart Creek Road, Daintree Village, reported by Trish and Andrew from Red Mill House on the 22^nd October. On the downside Phil Gregory from Cassowary House reported a European Starling just north of Marreba on the northern edge of the Atherton Tableland. The very occasional one pops up in our region from time to time, probably assisted. We've seen one in Cairns and another on the western side of Cape York at Pormpuraaw in the past.

Reptiles and Mammals:-

Highlight was probably an Echidna seen during the day in the rainforest behind the units. A Striped Possum was out on an open branch in a Lychee Tree on a night walk for great views and again in the same area on a different night. A Red-legged Pademelon has bee see in the orchard on several occasions, once during the day. A Yellow-footed Antichinus was caught visiting the feeder to get some banana which it is lapping up.

Yellow-footed Antichinus

Also seen at the feeder eating banana were a Major Skink and a Boyd's Forest Dragon. Good job we have a banana farm down the road! Whilst on a nightwalk we found at least four Northern Broad-nosed Bat Scotorepens sanborni clustered under window frame of the reception building. Their fur was bicoloured brown with a light reddish tinge on their back differentiating them from the other common bat at the Lodge the Little Bentwing Bat Miniopterus australis which has uniform dark brown fur on its back. Platypus are still being regularly seen along Bushy Creek most evenings and early morning. A brown snake has been seen swimming in the creek on several occasions and is probably a Keelback (Freshwater Snake) Tropidonophis mairii. This non-venomous snake can tolerate the poison of small cane toads.A Macleay's Water Snake Enhydris polylepis was seen eating a very large fish in Bushy Creek late Saturday afternoon.

Insects:-

Despite the dry weather a few dragonflies have at last started to appear, this Painted Grasshawk was one,

Painted Grasshawk

another was a Grey Duskhawker who was trying to bash itself to death on our laundry window one evening, it was rescued and flew off apparently none the worse for its ordeal. Butterflies have also started to appear including this Union Jack (Red-banded Jezebel) Delias mysis.

Union Jack (Red-banded Jezebel)

 

Total Eclipse Update:-

The 14^th of November is getting closer and many of you are already on your way to stay at the Lodge to view this spectacular phenomenon. The units, bunk house and campground will be full with almost all our guests being birdwatchers as well as Eclipse watchers.

A short walk to our entrance sign on the main road gives a clear view to the east with a convenient dip in the hills. We watched the rise sun this morning (3^rd November) in a clear sky and just hope the weather is the same on the 14^th!

Some of you will opt for traveling west onto the Peninsular Development Road to get a better chance of clear skies. The latest estimate is that 60,00 people will be visiting the area for the Eclipse, so the traffic is likely to be very heavy that morning as people attempt to find the best vantage points.

The Queensland Government has issued the following advice on how to safely view the eclipse.

1. Even if wearing Eclipse Glasses do not look directly through binoculars, telescopes or camera optical viewfinders. It is not safe to use regular sunglasses, exposed film or x-ray film to view a solar eclipse.

2. Never look directly at the Sun without proper eye protection. It is possible to suffer serious and permanent eye damage by looking at a solar eclipse the wrong way, even for a very short time.

3. Always use solar eclipse glasses, or filters that have been made specifically to attach to hand-held glasses, telescopes or binoculars for safe solar eclipse viewing. Eclipse glasses are for sale at the Lodge - $4 each.

4. Look for filters that have been appropriately certified against the European Standard for personal eye equipment (EN 1836:2005+A1:2007) or the Australian Standard for welding shields and goggles with a lens category higher than 12 (AS/NZS 1338.2:1992 & AS/NZS 1338.1:1992).

5. Before using solar eclipse glasses or filters, check to see if they are scratched or damaged. If so, do not use them as they will not fully protect your eyes.

6.Do not use solar eclipse glasses or filters that do not show compliance with the Standards listed above - they may do you more harm than good.

Please be aware that Julatten has limited mobile phone coverage with Optus and Vodaphone having reception, but Telstra is limited to Mount Molloy and the top of the Rex Range coming from Mossman. The Lodge offers Wi-Fi for $5 per stay.

If you are planning to eat out, reservations at The Highlander (4094 1210) or Mount Molloy pub (4094 1133) are recommended.