7^th September 2014 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Weather Report

What can we say about the weather? Well we have had no rain over the last two weeks, just wall to wall sunshine, cool temperatures down to 10.5ºC (stop laughing you southern Australian people) and up to 23.6ºC, perfect conditions. Temperatures have been about 6ºC below the average for this time of year.

Last Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-

These can be found on the Eremaea eBird site. 24th August - 30th August and 30th August - 6th September The first weeks sightings had 99 seen and 4 heard, the second week 99 seen and 5 heard.

Morning and Evening Guided Walks:-

Morning walks had between 44 and 59 species. Some of the birds seen included Pacific Baza who was flying over Geraghty Park displaying and calling,

 

Pacific Baza

 

plus we had Buff-banded Rail, Peaceful Dove building a nest, Wompoo Fruit-Dove, Topknot Pigeon, Papuan Frogmouth, Double-eyed Fig-Parrot digging a nest, Blue-winged Kookaburra, Yellow-breasted Boatbill, Barred Cuckoo-shrike, Pied Monarch, Victoria's Riflebird and Metallic Starling also nest building. The full 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.

Night walks were productive despite it being quite cool and dry which restricted the number of frogs and reptiles which were out. Despite this we managed to see Leaf-tailed Gecko, Jungguy Frog, White-lipped Tree Frog, Red Tree Frog (Desert Tree Frog) and Dainty Green Tree Frog. Mammals seen were Striped Possum, Long-nosed and Northern Brown Bandicoot, Fawn-footed Melomys and Bush Rat. Australian Owlet-nightjar were heard but not seen and a Papuan Frogmouth was seen in camp ground. A pair of Barking Owl were seen perched in a tree beside Bushy Creek calling softly. As we watched them, they mated and the male flew off.

Other Birding Highlights:-

With the change of season from winter to spring there is also a change in some bird species which are in our area. Grey Fantail have left to go back south, we had our first Torresian Imperial-Pigeon, Australian Koel and Channel-billed Cuckoo for the season arrive from the north.

Wetland birds were scarce with only one or two of most seen which included Magpie Goose, Green and Cotton Pygmy-goose, Pacific Black Duck, Hardhead, Grey Teal, Australasian Grebe, Little Pied Cormorant, Australasian Darter, Australian Pelican, White-necked and White-faced Heron plus Intermediate, Great and Cattle Egret.

Plenty of raptors were around to scavenge off the cut cane paddocks, mainly Black Kite which were around in groups of up to about 100, here are some which were hanging around in the trees.

Black Kite

Black Kite

Also here were a few Whistling Kite, a White-bellied Sea-Eagle shown here perched in a Blue Quandong tree

White-bellied Sea-Eagle

and Australian Hobby (not a great image as it is a severe crop,but it gives an idea of what the bird looks like).

Australian Hobby

 
Red-necked Crake were again heard but not seen as was a Spotless Crake along McDougall Road.

Some very young Emerald Dove have appeared and a pair of Wompoo Fruit-Dove have come to investigate a few fruit trees which have just started to have ripe fruit on them. The nesting pairs of Barn Owl have now chased off their offspring from the area and we have only been seeing a few adults. Barking Owl have also quietened down but were seen roosting during the day. Azure Kingfisher have been along Bushy Creek and there has been a few sightings of Little Kingfisher in the Crake Pool on the edge of our orchard.

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo have been seen sitting in their nest hollow in a big Queensland Blue Gum tree and a few Scaly-breasted Lorikeet are still around feeding on the few remaining flowering gum trees. Noisy Pitta has started to call and has been seen in the orchard area, mainly early morning. Spotted Catbird are still coming to the reception area feeder to grab mouthfuls of banana. Red-backed Fairy-wren have been seen perched on the fences along McDougall Road. Twelve species of honeyeater were seen and one, Black-chinned heard. A few Lewin's Honeyeater are still around but the majority of them seem to have left for the higher altitudes of the mountains behind the Lodge. Macleay's Honeyeater is an ever present “Wet Tropic” endemic around the Lodge who have been taking advantage of the flowering grevilleas.

Macleay's Honeyeater

The one male Golden Whistler, that has been with us for a few months, is still around the Lodge grounds and has been joined by a pair of Rufous Whistler who have been present on the edge of the Lodge grounds in the tall Queensland Blue Gum trees. They don't normally hang around for weeks, mainly confining themselves to the nearby Geraghty Park. Northern Fantail have moved back into the Lodge grounds in the last week to take the place of the departing Grey Fantail. A pair of Torresian Crow have also been flying over and calling after being absent for a few months, getting ready to play host to Channel-billed Cuckoo no doubt. Lemon-bellied Flycatcher have joined the Rainbow Bee-eater (who was being blown around in the wind) to perch and forage from the Geraghty Park oval fence.

Lemon-bellied Flycatcher

Rainbow Bee-eater (female - short tail streamer)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Golden-headed Cisticola have been calling from the remaining uncut cane but are in fewer numbers than previous years. This one was hanging on a seed stalk on the cane singing

Golden-headed Cisticola

 

Further Afield:-

Blue-faced Parrot-Finch are still being seen infrequently near Abattoir Swamp with up to five birds seen. Abattoir Swamp itself has been good for honeyeaters and has had a Grey Shrike-thrush nesting on the edge of the car park.Rufous Owl is still being reported along the Cairns Esplanade.

Reptiles and Mammals:-

In addition to those seen on night walks we saw Red-legged Pademelon, Agile Wallaby, a few bats – Eastern Horseshoe Bat, Large-footed Myotis, Northern Broad-nosed and Little Bent-winged bat, Giant White-tailed Tree Rat, Green Ringtail Possum, Spectacled Flying-fox and Eastern Water Dragon. A few snakes were seen, Green Tree Snake, Brown Tree Snake and the highlight a pair of Australian Scrub Python mating on the edge of the orchard whilst stretched out on a log.

 Thanks to our roving bird guides Carol and Andrew Iles who helped compile the bird list and are available for any bird guiding in the area. Contact them directly or through the Lodge.

31st October 2009 Report

Drizzly rain and quick showers were the order of the week but only 4mm from them. Temperatures ranged from 16ºC to mid-twenty's with the cloud cover keeping temperatures lower than previous weeks. There was enough sunshine in between allowing plenty of birding. Three morning walks and some dedicated birders around the grounds resulted in 101 bird species seen and 4 heard, which was the most for a week in a long time. Mammals and reptiles were 20 seen.

Highlights for the week were a Helmeted Friarbird foraging in a Black Bean tree, this species is a very rare visitor to the Lodge away from its usual distribution along the coastal strip. The Noisy Pitta was again regularly sighted hopping around the orchard early mornings. A Red-necked Crake was sighted twice, once crossing the path from the orchard to Bushy Creek in the rainforest and also coming into Bushy Creek to bathe. Despite constant calling throughout the week and numerous searches one Superb Fruit-Dove was glimpsed high up in the rainforest canopy only once. There was at least 4 fruit-doves calling at any one time but with their habit of sitting high in the canopy above dense foliage trying to see them from below is very difficult. Two Pied Imperial Pigeon were seen flying over cane paddocks for the second week which may indicate they are here to stay like last year. Again this is mainly a coastal or off-shore species. Plenty of Topknot Pigeons are still around for a second week and a single Wompoo Fruit-Dove seen foraging high in the rainforest. The Papuan Frogmouths are still not showing any signs of nesting and the Australian Owlet-nightjar has been posing well during the day as it peered out of its daytime roost hollow.

A few raptors are still around with Pacific Baza and Nankeen Kestrel both nesting and a Grey Goshawk seen perched along Mt. Kooyong Road. An Australian Hobby came zooming in over the orchard one morning putting up the flocks of Topknot Pigeon plus Rainbow and Scaly-breasted Lorikeet. One and sometimes two Buff-banded Rail have been active in the orchard, mainly early morning and late afternoon.

Buff-banded Rail

Bush Stone-curlew have been becoming more active and calling more during the week with several flying over the Lodge calling. A single male Double-eyed Fig-Parrot was foraging in a fruit tree by the rear entrance to the Lodge, for excellent views, before it was chased off by a Forest Kingfisher. A pair of fig-parrots was seen entering a nest hole high up in a Blue Quandong tree near the Mt. Kooyong Nursing Home. 15 species of honeyeater were around the flowering Black Bean trees and what is left of our grevilleas after the local council ”vegetation management” team came down the boundary road with chain saws. A few Barred Cuckoo-shrike are still in the area but only a couple of sightings of two flying over. Several Cicadabird were calling intermittently and seen at least once and Spangled Drongo continue to move through the area.

Spangled Drongo

Black-faced Monarch are starting to be seen regularly in the rainforest and along Bushy Creek at bath time, also a pair of Pied Monarch and Yellow-breasted Boatbill have been showing well. Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher are not back yet and were not on Cape York Peninsula at Iron Range towards the end of last week, so we still await their arrival.

Further afield the two previously reported Spotless Crake and White-browed Crake were still at Abattoir Swamp despite a fire going through the area and cattle tramping down the edges. Laughing Gull and Asian Dowitcher still along the Cairns Esplanade.

Spotlighting failed to find any Striped Possum and only one Green Ringtail Possum, however Striped Possum was seen on several other occasions. Platypus were seen regularly along Bushy Creek, mainly early evening just before or on dark. Several Lace Monitor were seen after a prolonged absence and a Common Green Tree Snake was seen in the orchard on the grassy ground. The showery weather triggered off a few frogs to start calling but his was only a false start as they soon stopped!

Northern Brown Bandicoot

Some interesting behaviour was observed on one spotlighting trip when a large male Northern Brown Bandicoot Isoodon macrourus tourosus was seen to be feeding whilst standing up on its hind legs. It was feeding on a Sugar Apple Annona squamosa fruit which was hanging down on a low branch. The bandicoot was at full stretch pulling the fruit down and nibbling on it. The Northern Brown Bandicoot is omnivorous with a diet of earthworms, spiders, berries, grass seeds, subterranean fungi and plant fibre such as sugar cane. A quick look through some literature did not mention this type of feeding behaviour.

12th April Report

It must be Easter again as the rain came back just in time to make it a wet weekend with 76.5mm. Despite the rain it was a better week for bird sightings as well as mammal/reptiles, mainly due to a proliferation of frogs enjoying the wet weather. There were 75 bird species seen, 5 heard and 22 mammal/reptiles over the week. Highlights for the week were the number of summer migrants that we thought had headed north, but turned up during the week, these were:- Channel-billed Cuckoo with at least 3 still showing, Dollarbird, Cicadabird, Black-faced Monarch (Juvenile) and a small flock of Metallic Starling (10-15). A Fan-tailed Cuckoo turned up mid-week and was calling each morning from the early hours, not very common here, Black-chinned Honeyeater(2) of the Golden–backed form were foraging in eucalypts in the adjacent Geraghty Park, again not common here and a Snipe sp. flew over the lodge grounds from Bushy Creek heading west. There seems to be more juvenile Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher than adults around reinforcing our belief that some of the adults have already left to go north. Some juveniles are almost into adult coloured plumage while a few are still looking green with dark bills, not the red of the adult, which would indicate they maybe around for a few more weeks yet. One of the two White-throated Treecreepers, which turned up the previous week was around throughout this week and was calling regularly. Further afield Black Kite numbers are on the increase towards Mareeba, this increase usually heralds the “Dry Season”.

Black Kite

The frogs came out in force with the rain with Northern Dwarf Tree Frog, Eastern Dwarf Tree Frog, White-lipped Tree Frog, Desert Tree Frog, Dainty Green Tree Frog, Cogger's (Mottled) Barred Frog and Cane Toad all recorded on one night. Long-nosed Bandicoot and Northern Brown Bandicoot were more obvious than they had been for a few months

Northern Brown Bandicoot

and both Green Ringtail and Striped Possum were seen on several occasions. A Feather-tailed Glider was also seen near the bunkhouse.