2nd November 2014 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Weather Report

Rainfall over the last two weeks was 2mm one day and the next day 1mm, hardly touched the ground! Humidity dropped down to 44% with lots of sunshine and temperatures reaching 32ºc which it has been doing for the last three weeks.

Last Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-

These can be found on the Eremaea eBird site. 19th – 25th October and 26thOctober - 1st November The first week had 116 species recorded, which was the most for a very long time and the second week 104.

Birding Highlights:-

The much anticipated return of the Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher from Papua New Guinea happened on the 31^st October when one bird was heard and briefly seen high in the rainforest canopy flying away. One was also heard calling on the following day. Hopefully the main party of birds will be joining this one very soon.

Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher

The pair of Lesser Sooty Owl reported last blog were around for about 10 days but have gone quiet over the last week. Whilst they were calling and flying around they were perching low down for their picture to be taken and were not in the least bothered by us. The were preening and calling to each other before they took off to chase each other.

Lesser Sooty Owl

Apart from these great sightings there were a few waterbirds in the nearby wetlands including six Wandering Whistling-Duck, Australian Wood Duck, one Hardhead, a female Black-necked Stork, one Australian Pelican, one White-necked Heron, both Australian White and Straw-necked Ibis plus three Royal Spoonbill. A flock of Magpie Goose flew over the Lodge one night honking as they went. A lone Comb-crested Jacana was on the lilies in one of the lagoons along McDougall Road. A few raptors were around, mainly Black Kite with a few Whistling Kite but also seen were a pair of Black-shouldered Kite and Pacific Baza, Brown and Grey Goshawk plus White-bellied Sea-Eagle. Red-necked Crake was heard and seen several times at the Crake Pool, and along Bushy Creek. Carol Iles our neighboring bird guide had a Red-backed Button-quail in one of the adjacent cane paddocks, not often seen. Fruiting Blue Quandong trees have been attracting many fruit pigeons, Wompoo Fruit-Dove, Superb Fruit-Dove, Torresian Imperial-Pigeon and flocks of Topknot Pigeon, including this one which had a very enlarged crop, looks more like a displaying Australian Bustard! (excuse the poor cropped image but it was high in the canopy).

 

Topknot Pigeon

Also around were Brown Cuckoo-Dove and the regular Emerald, Peaceful and Bar-shouldered Dove. This Brown Cuckoo-Dove was on the ground with a full crop.

Brown Cuckoo-Dove

Brush Cuckoo have returned and are calling along with Little Bronze-Cuckoo, Australian Koel and Channel-billed Cuckoo. Barn and Barking Owl are also around as are Australian Owlet-nightjar but these have only been heard. Papuan Frogmouth are sitting on nests at the moment and not easy to find. This one was sitting on a nest in the full sun which is what they do in our area, they incubate for upt o 40 days which is a very long period to be in the sun. 

Papuan Frogmouth - male on nest

 

Six Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo flew over the Lodge grounds one morning calling, this is only the second time they have been seen in October for at least nine years. Double-eyed Fig-Parrot continue to feed in a fruiting Cluster Fig and are attending a nearby nest.

Double-eyed Fig-Parrot - male

This male Double-eyed Fig-Parrot flew into a car and was rescued, we kept it in a box for a few hours before it had enough strength to climb onto a branch in the shade for a while. It sat for nearly an hour before it gave a few chirps to say thank you and flew off to hopefully survive.

Double-eyed Fig-Parrot - male

Our single Noisy Pitta continues to show well in and around the orchard area, early morning and late afternoon. It has been calling occasionally but has not been joined by any others yet.

Noisy Pitta

14 species of honeyeater have been seen plus one heard. Bridled and Lewin's are still in the area when normally at this time of year they have gone back up into the mountains. The Eastern Whipbird which arrived a month ago is still going around in circles calling for a mate. It was seen in the rainforest near the Crake Pool about 5m up a tree. Barred Cuckoo-shrike and at leas three male Common Cicadabird have been feeding on fruiting figs. A pair of Leaden Flycatcher were seen at the entrance to the Lodge whilst on a morning walk, they have been very scarce this year. The Lemon-bellied Flycatcher shown on its tiny nest last blog is still on it, not sure if it has a nestling yet. Pale-yellow Robin seem to have finished nesting duties for the time being and are being cute posing on branches in the orchard.

Pale-yellow Robin

Metallic Starling are still busy building nests and have been joined by a few immature birds, whilst the reported Mistletoebird at its nest appears to have fledged one young.

Further Afield:-

Oriental Plover, Australian Pratincole and Banded Honeyeater have been seen in the Maryfarms area, (between Mt. Molloy and Mt. Carbine on the Mulligan Highway/ Peninsular Road). Lovely Fairy-wren were found in Julatten at Mowbray National Park and along Euluma Creek Road. Large-tailed Nightjar were also heard along Euluma Creek Road and Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo plus Oriental Cuckoo were seen at the Mowbray National Park. Freckled Duck have become a fixture at Hasties Swamp near Atherton over the past two years with numbers fluctuating, up to 30 birds present this week. Mt. Lewis has been good as usual with all the 13 “Wet Tropic” endemics seen there over the past two weeks, no sign of Blue-faced Parrot-Finch yet.

Reptiles and Mammals:-

Fawn-footed Melomys have been active around the Lodge, they have been seen at the reception area feeder eating seed and banana, in the compost bin, eating an orange and a Sugar Apple in the orchard. Yellow-footed Antechinus have been chased out of the kitchen and feeding on banana at the feeder. 

Yellow-footed Antechinus

 

At least four Red-legged Pademelon have been in the rainforest and browsing in the orchard at night along with one Agile Wallaby, lean pickings on the browning grass. The pair of Platypus in Bushy Creek have again been performing at the viewing area on most evenings and early mornings. A few species of frog have started calling at the end of the second week and must think that some rain is coming, hope they are right! Those calling were White-lipped Green Tree Frog and Dainty Green Tree Frog along with Cane Toad. A few Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko have been seen as have Boyd's Forest Dragon and Eastern Water Dragon. Major Skink have been active with at least six different ones spotted around the Lodge grounds. 

Visitors:-
A couple of well known visitors called by during the week, Sean Dooley and Stephen Moss.
Sean is well known for his adventures trying to see as many Australian birds in a year as possible. The year of birding is documented in his book "The Big Twitch". Sean is now the editor of the Birdlife Australia magazine and in the past has been a comedy writer for several TV shows. Stephen Moss, who lives in the UK, is well known as an award winning TV producer of Natural History series, an author of many books and birder

Sean (L) and Stephen (R)

Sean and Stephen were up in Far North Queensland as guest speakers at the presentation of the John Hobbs Medal to Far North Queensland local Lloyd Nielsen for a life time of outstanding studies by an amateur ornithologist. Congratulations to Lloyd on a much deserved award, it could not have gone to a more dedicated and great bloke. We are lucky having such great talents in our area.


 

Thanks to Carol and Andrew Iles our roving bird guides for helping with the bird lists and area sightings. If you need any guiding in our local area contact us and we can put you in touch with them, contact through our secure bookings and enquiries web page. 

 

19th October 2014 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Weather Report

One day we had 6.5mm in a short shower, this was the total rain fall for the last two weeks. With the humidity dipping down to 34% and lots of sunshine and temperatures reaching 32ºc which is unheard of for this time of year, the rain did little to settle the dust.

Last Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-

These can be found on the Eremaea eBird site. 5th- 11th October and 12th- 18th October The first week had 104 species recorded and the second week 110.

Morning and Evening Guided Walks:-

Morning bird walks produced between 54 and 66 species which was very good for 2½hrs. Highlights were two male Superb Fruit-Dove in a tree beside Bushy Creek, male Common Koel, male and female Double-eyed Fig-Parrot feeding in Cluster Fig and nesting nearby.

Double-eyed Fig-Parrot - female at nest

A Noisy Pitta was seen most mornings and two Great Bowerbird were attending a very well constructed bower. 

 

Great Bowerbird Bower

White-throated Honeyeater were building a nest and mating plus a Lemon-bellied Flycatcher was sitting on its tiny nest, the smallest of any bird in Australia. This one is about 10m off the ground.

Lemon-bellied Flycatcher - on nest

(The full morning walk species lists can be found on the Eremaea eBird site. Click on Explore Data then Hotspots and type in Kingfisher Park – you will then see the Lodge in the drop down menu. Click this on and a map will appear with two markers, click these and you can have access to all our records. It sounds long winded, but it is really easy. Alternatively you can click this link which will take you directly to Hotspots http://ebird.org/ebird/hotspots).

One highlight on a night walk was the eclipse of the moon, we watched it as we went spotlighting and ended up in Geraghty Park to have great views of the event as we listened to two Australian Owlet-nightjar calling to each other. 

Eclipse Of The Moon

Other good sightings were a very brief glimpse of a Lesser Sooty Owl as it flew over and away from us, Giant White Tree Rat, Green Ringtail Possum, Water Rat and three Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko on one night.

Other Birding Highlights:-

One Female Black-necked Stork in a lagoon behind Geraghty Park as well as two Latham's Snipe along the edge, both species not seen for many months. One Australian Pelican flew over the Lodge on the 17^th October, probably heading for one of the lagoons along McDougall Road. A Grey Goshawk was seen to fly into a tree, adjacent to the Lodge orchard, carrying an Eastern Water Dragon and luckily the camera was at hand to whiz off a couple of shots before it moved off clutching its meal.

Grey Goshawk with Eastern Water Dragon

Pacific Baza have been around but not regularly and a pair of Brown Goshawk were circling over the Lodge one morning. Red-necked Crake was seen briefly late one afternoon as it was getting dark at the Crake Pool, it was also heard on several occasions. Pigeons and doves have been around to take advantage of fruiting trees and vines; those seen were Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Wompoo Fruit-Dove, Superb Fruit-Dove, Torresian Imperial Pigeon and Topknot Pigeon plus the regular Emerald Dove, Bar-shouldered Dove and Peaceful Dove. Lesser Sooty Owl was seen about 4.00am perched in a tree near our bunkhouse and heard on numerous other occasions. Barking Owl have been vocal with one roosting high up in a eucalypt tree near the bunkhouse one afternoon. A pair of Papuan Frogmouth have made a nest in a fern on a tree branch at a nearby private property, they laid on the 10^th October and usually take about 40 days to incubate.

Papuan Frogmouth - female on nest

Dollarbird returned on 16^th October along with Brush Cuckoo. Also on this day the Cicadabird started calling. Lovely Fairy-Wren were seen by our neighbours Carol and Andrew Iles (our local bird guides) in their garden, they also saw a Red-necked Crake run under their veranda. Spotted Catbird have been coming to the feeder to gather fruit and head off with it so they maybe feeding young. 13 species of honeyeater were seen and Black-chinned heard. The Eastern Whipbird mentioned in the last blog is still hanging around the area calling whilst it visits all the adjoining rainforest habitats as well as the Lodge grounds. Barred Cuckoo-shrike have been visiting the fruiting trees in and around the Lodge, mainly Blue Quandong. Groups of Spangled Drongo have been passing through the area on their southern migration with up to 50+ seen at a time. Black-faced Monarch are around in increasing numbers and calling and a single female Leaden Flycatcher was heard and seen, the first for seven weeks. A few Pale-Yellow Robin have been seen feeding fledged young whilst others are still sitting on nests. A Bassian Thrush was still around the grounds in the first week but was not sighted in the second.

Further Afield:-

Mt. Lewis is still producing all the 12 “Wet Tropic” endemics but not all at once! One Blue-faced Parrot-Finch was seen near Abattoir Swamp but no reports of them up on Mt. Lewis yet. Maryfarms between Mt. Molloy and Mt. Carbine has displaying Australian Bustard, still at least eight Australian Pratincole and Carol Iles saw an injured Oriental Plover with the pratincole. Photo courtesy of Carol Iles.

Oriental Plover- broken wing

Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo were seen around the Mowbray National Park in Julatten on several occasions. Abattoir Swamp has been good for honeyeaters and White-browed Crake. Up to 12 Spotted Whistling-Duck have been reported at Keatings Lagoon near Cooktown, 2 hours north from the Lodge.

Reptiles and Mammals:-

The Water Rat seen in Bushy Creek whilst on a night walk was the most exciting mammal over the two weeks followed by the elusive Green Ringtail Possum seen once. Three Giant White-tail Rat were seen one night; they have not been seen much lately so must have woken up. Platypus have been very cooperative appearing in the morning and late afternoon with up to two. Boyd's Forest Dragon and Major Skink have also been appearing with the warmer weather. Several snakes have also woken up with sightings of Australian Scrub Python, Slaty Grey and Green Tree Snake – one in our downstairs toilet was a surprise. Just having a look around in the first photo before it retreated back inside. It eventually left by the window with a bit of encouragement and headed for the rainforest.

Green Tree Snake

Green Tree Snake

 

Thanks to Carol and Andrew Iles our roving bird guides for helping with the bird lists and area sightings. If you need any guiding in our local area contact us and we can put you in touch with them, contact through our secure bookings and enquiries web page. 

 

2nd March 2014 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Weather Report

Not quite as much rain over the last two weeks as the previous two weeks but still a healthy 249.5mm (10 inches). This was enough to flood the road from Mt. Molloy for a few days.

 Bushy Creek - about 600mm over the main road

The wet weather softened up the ground and a few trees fell down including this one along the path from the orchard to Bushy Creek, which took down three other trees. Quite a mess and a lot of clearing required to open the path again.

Path from Orchard to Bushy Creek

The overcast and rainy weather kept the temperatures down highs around 28ºC and down to 22ºC. The second week saw most of the rain clear away and sunny days re-appear to help dry out the soggy grounds.

Past Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-

The first week was quite wet and restricted birding with only 86 species heard and seen but the second week was much better with 102 seen and heard.The complete lists can be found on the Eremaea eBird site. 16th - 22nd February and 23rdFebruary - 1st March

Birding Highlights:-

The pair of Pacific Baza nesting on the edge of the Lodge grounds have successfully fledged two youngsters who have been around begging for food but have now left the Lodge after being harassed by a gang of Sulphur-crested Cockatoo. The family of Pale-vented Bush-hen previously reported still have five surviving juveniles who are growing rapidly, this image shows one about 22 days old.

Pale-vented Bush-hen - 22 days old

This image shows one of the adults.
 

Pale-vented Bush-hen - Adult

Waterbirds have been few and far between with all the rain providing plenty of alternative habitats, there was one White-faced Heron seen flying over the Lodge which was a first sighting for this year. Late in the second week a few more waterbirds showed up including two Black Bittern, Great, Intermediate and Little Egret, Spotless Crake, White-browed Crake, plus a single Comb-crested Jacana. All these sightings were along McDougall Road in and around the wetlands. Black-shouldered Kite also nested along McDougall Road. Other raptors around were White-bellied Sea-Eagle (2), Whistling and Black Kite, plus Brown Falcon. Red-tailed Black Cockatoo continue to fly over the Lodge every few days as do Double-eyed Fig-Parrot. Cuckoo's are calling well with Pheasant Coucal, Eastern Koel (male & female), Channel-billed Cuckoo, both Little and Gould's Bronze-Cuckoo plus Brush Cuckoo. Barn Owl are around and calling as was a Lesser Sooty Owl on one occasion. The adult Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher are still flying around and perching for photos. The juveniles are becoming more obvious and are coming down to lower levels from high in the canopy. Three juveniles were seen in the same area together but it was not known if they were all from the same nest. Other juveniles seen have mainly been on their own apart from two perched on the clothes line! This Juvenile Forest Kingfisher took advantage of an old chair in Geraghty Park for where it pounced onto the ground for worms. 

 

Forest Kingfisher - juvenile

Dollarbird are still around with adults and juveniles seen. Noisy Pitta have been difficult to see as they are keeping to the rainforest and quite often high in the trees. A pair of Great Bowerbird were in a neighbours garden one morning polishing off some palm tree fruits. Thirteen species of honeyeater over the two weeks with Scarlet Honeyeater returning after being away for at least two months. Black Butcherbird have two well grown brown juveniles hunting around the grounds, Australasian Figbird are feeding young as are Leaden Flycatcher. A female Victoria's Riflebird has been coming to our neighbours feeder and was seen in the Lodge grounds on the edge of the orchard. Red-browed Finch are constantly building nests for  most of the year but we have never seen one like this, a hanging one. Normally they are supported by tree branches and quite well hidden in the foliage.

Red-browed Finch Nest

Further Afield:-

An estimated 300 Black Kite were circling over the Mulligan Highway north of Mareeba on the 26^th February, which is very unusual to have such a high number at this time of year. A Spotted Harrier was along Wetherby Road, Julatten as was a Black Bittern and a Horsfield's Bushlark. Mt. Lewis is still performing with most of the endemic species seen apart from Golden Bowerbird and Lesser Sooty Owl. Blue-faced Parrot-Finch are still up on the mountain but two were lower down at the end of McDougall Road late in the second week. The road has been closed on several occasions by falling trees but the local Mareeba Shire Council have been quick in responding to our reports and have cleared the road, thanks to them. Carol Iles our out and about bird guide reported a Grey Shrike-thrush at Abattoir Swamp, which is not common. They are regularly at nearby Wessel Road but don't come across to the swamp very often. Lloyd Nielsen reported a Shining Flycatcher on a nest along Bushy Creek between Julatten and Mt. Molloy which is one of a very few recorded in this area. A Torresian Crow was flying eastward towards the coast, over the Great Diving Range in Julatten late one afternoon, unusual as not many have been seen this year.
 

Reptiles and Mammals:-

24 reptiles and mammals were seen over the past two weeks. A yellow-footed Antichinus was hiding under one of our chair covers along the veranda one morning, luckily nobody sat on it! Red-legged Pademelon have been out the front of our units as well as in the orchard area rainforest. Striped Possum have been seen a few times but no sign of any Green Ringtail Possum. Platypus was seen, when Bushy Creek was in flood, swimming along the rock wall by the viewing area. Seven species of frog were seen and Roth's (Laughing) Tree Frog heard. An Australian Scrub Python was on our neighbours veranda one night and this Brown Tree Snake decided to curl up in the peg basket in the camp laundry. It was removed and put outside where it climbed a tree which was much more like its natural habitat! 

 

Brown Tree Snake

Insects:-

A few moths have been around including this unusual one which we have never seen here before.

Moth sp.

Butterflies have also been around, this Blue-Triangle found something of interest on the yard broom.

 Blue Triangle Butterfly

Fungi:-  
The wet weather has also triggered off lots of different species of fungi like this one growing at the foot of a Queensland Blue Gum (Forest Red Gum) Eucalyptus tereticornis.

Fungi sp.

Could be Panellus ligulatus ?

We will be having a break from the blog until the end of March, we might be posting a few snippets so keep looking!

20th September 2013 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge.

Weather Report

Warmer weather over the past two weeks with a few storms around but we missed most of them and only received 8.5mm rain. Temperatures ranged from15ºC to an extreme of 32ºC which is one of the highest temperatures we have recorded here. Along with this was extremely low humidity of 36% which is also a record. High temperatures and low humidity resulted in quite large bush fires in the area but not near us.

Past Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-

Bird sightings for the first week were 103, 95 seen and 8 heard, second week sightings were 98, 92 seen and 6 heard. The last two weeks bird lists can be found on the Eremaea Birds Website:- 6th - 12th October and 13th - 19th October.

Morning walks were between 42 and 54 species seen and heard, the lowest number was a photography walk.

Birding Highlights:-

A single male Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher was seen on the 16^th Oct, one day later than the earliest sighting we have had in eight years. One called on the 18^th and another sighting was had on the 19^th. So at least one has made its way back from the Fly River delta in Papua New Guinea, let hope his mates are not far behind.

Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher

Another excellent sighting was of a Lesser Sooty Owl perched above the road to reception on the 7^th October, which was 24 weeks since the last sighting. This was seen by two of our guests whilst they were spotlighting a White-tailed Rat and noticed something nearby, lucky them. Not heard or seen it since. At least two Red-tailed Black Cockatoo flew over the Lodge one evening at 6.30 calling. This is only the second record we have had here in eight years for October; we suspect they were attracted to the area by the bush fires as we have seen them feeding on burnt seeds previously. A Little Kingfisher was seen near the Crake Pool late one afternoon, the first for several months. A Cicadabird of the southern buzzy call race was in the orchard calling on the 9^th October, this is another first for the Lodge. Although this race is quite common in more open woodland areas such as Abattoir Swamp (6km away) we have not had it here, only had the coastal race which does not have the buzzy bit in its call.

Cicadabird - male

Birds reported building or carrying out nesting activities over the past two weeks were, Papuan Frogmouth which we suspect is nesting as the male has been the only bird seen over the past two weeks which would suggest that the female is sitting on a nest nearby during the day, as this is the normal breeding time. Sulphur-crested Cockatoo are continuing to sit on their nest in a tree hollow and Noisy Pitta was seen carrying nesting material, which is about a month earlier than normal. A White-throated Honeyeater was seen sitting on a nest, Macleay's Honeyeater carrying banana away from the feeder who is probably feeding young, Black-faced Monarch seen carrying nesting material, Pale-yellow Robin, one pair building nest and another pair feeding juveniles. The colony of Metallic Starling has increased in numbers with new arrivals building new nests alongside existing nests built by the early arrivals, who have already fledged the first clutch of the season and are adding to their nests. Plenty of immature birds from the first seasons clutches are helping out with the nest building. Olive-backed Sunbird have recently fledged nestlings and as ever the Red-browed Finch are busy building new nests. Quite a busy time of year.

Wompoo and Superb Fruit-Dove have been around, mainly calling and rarely seen. Cattle Egret numbers have dropped and the odd Straw-necked and Australian White Ibis are still around. A pair of Pacific Baza showed for a day and promptly disappeared but both Whistling and Black Kite were ever present. Red-necked Crake was heard in the Lodge grounds but only seen a couple of times in our neighbours garden. Buff-banded Rail was seen foraging around the edge of Bushy Creek in the grass late one afternoon and a pair of Bush-stone Curlew are still looking after two youngsters which are growing up fast. Brush Cuckoo have really started to get excited at the prospect of rain and are calling every day now unlike the Barking Owl who have not been heard every evening. The have still been heard intermittently but don't seem to be spending as much time around the Lodge although one was found roosting adjacent to the orchard in the rainforest. Azure Kingfisher is regularly being seen flying along or perched in Bushy Creek. Lovely Fairy-wren have been seen in our neighbours garden but not in the Lodge grounds which they seem to avoid! Having said in the last blog that both Lewin's and Bridled Honeyeater had left they turned up the day after the blog was published. Only one Lewin's and a couple of Bridled have been around for a day or two. Blue-faced Honeyeater were seen noisily chasing a raptor off the premises one afternoon and again harassing two roosting Barking Owl across Mt. Kooyong Road. Barred Cuckoo-shrike are moving around the area in response to fruiting trees and have been seen around the Lodge several times. Grey Whistler, Yellow-breasted Boatbill and Pied Monarch have all been vocal but Grey Whistler has been hiding and not seen as often as the other two species. 

Pied Monarch

Spangled Drongo numbers have increased as they migrate through the area and a Northern Fantail has been heard on the edge of the rainforest and along Bushy Creek. 

Spangled Drongo

A few Grey-headed Robin are still around but most have moved back up onto the mountains behind us. A few Chestnut-breasted Mannikin have started to re-appear to join up with the flocks of Red-browed Finch.

Further Afield:-

Yellow-billed Spoonbill have been in the area with up to three on Lake Evan (Brady Road Swamp) 4km north of Marreba, also here were a Marsh Sandpiper and two Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. At last an excuse to put in a wader shot!

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

Another Yellow-billed Spoonbill was on a dam along the Kondaparinga Road north of Mt. Carbine in a dry woodland area. White-browed and Spotless Crake are still being seen at Abattoir Swamp (6km from Lodge). Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo were heard on the lower slopes of Mt. Lewis and Banded Honeyeater have been seen near Mt. Molloy. Mt. Lewis has sprung to life with a little bit of rain, most of the endemics have been seen over the last week including a female Golden Bowerbird and a Lesser Sooty Owl. A trip up Mt. Lewis one morning had to be cut short due to rain but we did see Chowchilla, Atherton Scrubwren and Grey Fantail, race keasti.

Reptiles and Mammals:

A Yellow-footed Antichinus was seen whilst on a morning walk scurrying around in the rainforest adjacent to the orchard. The Lace Monitor reported in the last blog has been seen regularly patrolling around the camping ground and units much to the delight of our guests. This one is about 1m long.

Lace Monitor

Lace Monitor

Up to five Red-legged Pademelon were seen one night browsing in the orchard which is good news as long as they don't nibble our rainforest plantings! Agile Wallaby have been around with one in our orchard and another four seen near a cane paddock. A fish eating bat Large-footed Myotis was roosting in our neighbours property. A large male Striped Possum was seen whilst on a spotlighting tour; this was the first seen in the Lodge for several weeks. A Platypus continues to be seen in Bushy Creek but few frogs have been tempted out after a few showers of rain. Those that have were Stoney Creek Frog (Litoria jungguy), Desert Tree Frog (Litoria rubella), Cogger's Frog (Mixophyes coggeri) and a few Cane Toad. A Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko was on the veranda outside one of our units early one evening and had to be rescued and released on a nearby tree in the rainforest. A great sight for our guests to see this magnificent creature who are masters of disguise.

Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko

Boyd's Rainforest Dragon have been around the unit with at least two and Major Skink are also moving around with at least five seen around the grounds. A green Tree Snake was seen disappearing into vegetation near one of our two bedroom units which made the occupying guests day.

Other Happenings:-

During the week we had the Australian Wildlife Sound Recordist Group (AWSRG) workshop for six days of talks and their AGM. We gave a presentation on the birds and other wildlife around the lodge, other talks were about the Fuscous and Yellow-tinted Honeyeater around the Herberton, Kaban and the Wondecla area as well as areas further north up onto Cape York. Quite a confusing story where these birds do not fit the species type but have subtle differences. Do we have 3 species/subspecies of Cicadabird was the subject of another talk. Again very interesting with birds from various regions of Australia having quite different calls. Insect calls and recent insect discoveries in our region was another interesting talk. Other speakers talked about the ways and means of recording wildlife sounds and preserving them into the future. It was a very social and interesting six days. If you are interested in sound recording we would urge you to join the group and check out their website.

AWSRG relaxing during a talk