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.

Birdwatchers Lodge in Far North Queensland 5th February 2012

Quick update on knee – walking around normally now and have OK from specialist but have to reassess how it is going in three months for any further work on it.

Meanwhile we had 24mm of rain and big winds at the end of the week causing a tree to fall onto our bedroom roof, little damage and tree now sawn up into logs! The minimum temperatures were much the same as last week down to 22.9ºc but the maximum was a few degrees warmer at 32.1ºc , humidity was down to 66% and up to 95%.

Birds recorded were less, due to the inclement weather and restricted walking distance at the beginning of the week, with only 87 seen and 12 heard. 18 mammal and reptile species were seen and three (frogs) heard which was a lower than normal number due to no night walks. 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:

A small group of seven Cattle Egret returned and were found foraging in a paddock along McDougall Road, they had been absent for five weeks. Red-necked Crake parents are still looking after their three juvenile offspring and have been seen several times, heading across roads and bathing.

Other sightings:

Waterbirds are still scarce in the area with only Pacific Black Duck, Little and Little Black Cormorant plus Intermediate and Cattle Egret seen early in the week but right at the end Magpie Goose, Wandering Whistling-Duck, Hardhead and a Comb-crested Jacana turned up. Wompoo and Superb Fruit-Dove were only heard whilst only one Pied Imperial Pigeon was reported along with at least 50 Topknot Pigeon sitting high up in a Blue Quondong tree. 

Topknot Pigeon

Our female Papuan Frogmouth was only found once roosting in the orchard on the edge of the rainforest. Three raptors were seen, Black-shouldered Kite, White-bellied Sea-Eagle and Whistling Kite. A lone Buff-banded Rail was foraging on the lawn out the front of the nearby Barramundi Farm and two Pale-vented Bush-hen were in our neighbours garden. A few Scaly-breasted Lorikeet were feeding on flowering Queensland Blue Gum in Geraghty Park and two Double-eyed Fig-Parrot flew over the Lodge grounds. A single Channel-billed Cuckoo was perched in a tree along Mt. Kooyong Road and probably contemplating the trip north to Papuan New Guinea/Indonesia which should be taking place very soon. Sooty Owl and Eastern Barn Owl were only heard due again to no spotlighting. Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher now have seven confirmed nests with another two unsure but still with birds in the vicinity of nest mounds. A few Rainbow Bee-Eater have been foraging in Geraghty Park and a very recently fledged Dollarbird was perched in the Lodge grounds looking very bewildered, wondering what to do next. One Noisy Pitta was seen in the orchard and heard calling on two other occasions but no sign of any juveniles. There was a reported 1.5m Red-bellied Black Snake in the vicinity of the nest, lets hope it did not predate the chicks. Red-backed Fairy-wren were along McDougall Road and Lovely Fairy-wren were in our neighbours garden. 

Red-backed Fairy-wren - male

Large-billed Gerygone were again at their nest over Bushy Creek at the beginning of the week but not seen there towards the end, so we are not sure how the chicks have fared. Nine species of honeyeater were seen and one, Scarlet, heard. Macleay's and Blue-faced Honeyeater along with Graceful and Yellow-spotted Honeyeater are all now regulars at the feeder by reception. Barred Cuckoo-shrike were around at the end of the week and a pair of Cicadabird were foraging in Geraghty Park and calling around the Lodge. 

Cicadabird - female

Spangled Drongo continue to have their offspring following them around and a Willie Wagtail was foraging in the orchard, something they have not been doing for several months. Leaden Flycatcher have been calling around the grounds as have Black-faced Monarch. The Spectacled Monarch nest beside Bushy Creek, mentioned last week, had two chicks being fed by the adults on Saturday morning but by the afternoon they had fledged and were being fed near the nest. 

Magpie-lark in Geraghty Park were still sitting on a nest, this female was perched nearby as the male sat. 

Magpie-lark - female

Pied Monarch have a very recently fledged juvenile following them around and it was on hand to get its photo taken. This is the youngest Pied Monarch that we have found and a plumage stage that is little reported. 

Pied Monarch - juvenile

Several Lemon-bellied Flycatcher were on the edge of the Lodge grounds along Mt. Kooyong Road foraging in a Queensland Blue Gum; not too many around at the moment. The Metallic Starling colony in Geraghty Park lost 5-6 nests due to the high winds with at least two containing chicks. One nest had two chicks in and was upside down, we turned it over with the entrance hole upright and out popped two chicks who were almost ready to fledge. They flapped off along the ground and the parents came down to feed them. Our Olive-backed Sunbird is still sitting on its nest with the chicks near fledging, the location is quite safe from predators hanging off the safety chain in the gas bottle compound.

Olive-backed Sunbird nest

Further Afield:-

Still a surprising number of Black Kite along the road from Mt. Molloy to Mareeba. An unfortunate juvenile Pacific Baza was picked up dead along Euluma Creek Road in Julatten. It had a broken neck and will be lodged with the Queensland Museum in Townsville. A report of a nesting Satin Flycatcher in Mareeba has to be confirmed, if it is one then this will be a significant breeding record this far north in Australia.

Reptiles and Mammals:-

Highlight for the week was the previously mentioned Red-bellied Black Snake which was on the path to the orchard before it shot off into the rainforest at 100kph! We rarely see this snake around the grounds. Yellow-footed Antichinus was around again this week raiding the Mango on the feeder and running along the veranda outside the units. Giant White-tailed Rat was at the feeder late in the week and Striped Possum was seen in our neighbours garden. Bandicoot numbers seem to have decreased with only one Long-nosed and a couple of Northern Brown Bandicoot seen. 

Long-nosed Bandicoot

No Platypus sightings this week in Bushy Creek, probable due to the fast flowing murky water making observing difficult. A few small Major Skink were around but no sign of the larger adults. 

Major Skink - immature

There were however several Eastern Water Dragon lounging around on a few fallen logs, no doubt resting after too much celebrating for the Chinese New Year of the Dragon!

Eastern Water Dragon