11th August 2013 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Weather Report

Fantastic weather over the last two weeks with cool nights and mild days, clear skies and little cloud. Temperatures were down to 11ºC (yes we know this is the top temperature in some southern areas!), which is cool for us and up to the low 20ºc's. With this cooler weather many eucalypts have started flowering and a few fig trees have been fruiting which have attracted many more birds to the area.

Past Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-

Bird sightings for the first week were 111, 108 seen and 3 heard, second week sightings were 118, 112 seen and 6 heard. The last two weeks bird lists can be found on the Eremaea Birds Website:- 28th July - 3rd August and 4th August - 10th August. Morning walks were good with between 51 and 65 species seen and heard.

Birding Highlights:-

Metallic Starling returned from Papua New Guinea on the 4^th August when five were seen flying over the orchard, this was about a week later than 2012. Our neighbours had two Blue-faced Parrot-Finch in their garden at the end of the second week and said they were heading towards the Lodge grounds but so far have not been sighted here. Orange-footed Scrubfowl have been more noisy than normal (if that is possible) and one has been regularly seen roosting in a tree about five metres off the ground whilst on our night walks. 

Orange-footed Scrubfowl

 

Australian Pelican are still around with numbers getting up to five, which is pretty good seeing as it was only a few weeks ago that we saw our first two in the 1.5km area around the Lodge. We did see three circling overhead whilst on a morning walk. Two Black-necked Stork have been using a small swamp between Geraghty Park and McDougall Road frequently, one was seen flying over Geraghty Park one morning heading to the local Barramundi Fish farm, where it no doubt was chased off. Ibis numbers have dropped off over the last week with the Australian White Ibis no longer roosting across the Rex Highway from Geraghty Park. With cane harvesting starting up again during the second week greater numbers of Black and Whistling Kite were attracted along with a Wedge-tailed Eagle. Our two resident White-bellied Sea-Eagle were also keeping an eye on the harvesting and were perching along the edge of the cane paddock and our rainforest. Rainbow and Scaly-breasted Lorikeet were feasting on the blossom from the Queensland Blue Gum (Forest Red Gum) Eucalyptus tereticornis and also the flowers of the introduced African Tulip trees in Geraghty Park. Our Barking Owl pair seem to be only one now as we have only been hearing one bird calling, almost incessantly every night. It often perches on the cookshed roof as it is doing in this image. 

 

Barking Owl

Barn Owl have been showing on night walks but no sign of any youngsters yet. Sadly one adult Barn Owl was found with a head wound lying on the ground one day, unfortunately it did not survive. The Satin Bowerbird previously reported coming in to our neighbours garden is still making appearances and seems to be a loner with no others reported. Honeyeaters have also been feeding on the flowering eucalypts with 14 species seen and one heard over the two weeks. There has been one Helmeted Friarbird and one Noisy Friarbird present, both occasional visitors to our immediate area. A few Callistemon (Bottlebrush) have also been flowering and this one had a Dusky Honeyeater doing acrobatics to get at the nectar.

Dusky Honeyeater

Blue-faced Honeyeater were in flowering Grevillea's with this one taking time out to preen itself.

 

Blue-faced Honeyeater

Barred Cuckoo Shrike are still around, some feeding on a fruiting fig tree along Bushy Creek. At least one male Golden Whistler has been around the Lodge grounds and showing well on a few morning walks. A single Bowers Shrike-thrush has also been around the grounds and seen a few times; this is a species normally found at higher altitudes above 600m, the Lodge is 450m. A few Spangled Drongo are still around but most have moved on from the area. Rufous and Grey Fantail are also still around and have been joined by at least one Northern Fantail who has been on the edge of the rainforest. A pair of Torresian Crow have been very vocal across the Rex Highway from Geraghty Park and being chased off by a variety of birds. Pied Monarch and Yellow-breasted Boatbill are still being seen regularly around the Lodge grounds as has at least two female Victoria's Riflebird. Lemon-bellied Flycatcher have been active in Geraghty Park and often perch on the railing around the oval for good views. Olive-backed Sunbird have been coming down to feed in flowering Bromeliads at the entrance to the reception area as this female was doing.

 

Olive-backed Sunbird - female

Further Afield:-

Another trip to Cairns allowed us to check out the Cattana Wetlands whilst we had breakfast. Australian Grebe and Comb-crested Jacana were obliging enough to come within range for their picture to be taken, although the jacana was in a hurry to move away.

Australasian Grebe

Comb-crested Jacana

An immature Black-faced Monarch was seen by our local bird guide Carol Iles near Abattoir Swamp, this is very unusual to see an immature at this time of year. The adult birds have not returned from Papua New Guinea yet and don't start breeding until about December and into the new year. Blue-faced Parrot-Finch are being seen in the area away from the Lodge but often require a lot of patience. Red-backed Kingfisher have been seen around Maryfarms between Mount Molloy and Mt.Carbine where Diamond Doves are still present after about six months. Hasties Swamp still has Freckled Duck present, two have been there for about six months, also two Australasian Shoveler are still there after about two months.

Reptiles and Mammals:

23 reptile and mammal species seen over the two weeks which is pretty good considering the cooler weather has slowed down the reptiles. We saw a Tree Mouse Pognomys sp. feeding in a fruit tree in our orchard whilst on a night walk, a species we only see a few times a year. Our Yellow-footed Antichinus has been coming to our feeder to get banana much to the annoyance of the birds.

Yellow-footed Antichinus

Red-legged Pademelon (small rainforest kangaroo) have been in the orchard grazing at night and Agile Wallaby have been along the edges of cut cane paddocks. Giant White-tailed Rat have been a bit more obvious than usual with at least five seen one evening – these are native tree rats with very sharp teeth! A Fawn-footed Melomys was feeding in a five corner fruit tree one night and ran off to hide behind the bark of the tree and as the image shows not very successfully!

 

Fawn-footed Melomys

Platypus have been seen in Bushy Creek but not every day, we suspect they maybe breeding at this time of year as it is not until later in the year we start seeing three Platypus. Frogs have been quiet due to the dry cool weather but a few individuals have been showing occasionally, including this Peter's Frog Litoria inermis which appeared one evening on one of the louver’s of a window in the reception area. 

 

Peter's Frog

Also this Dainty Green Tree Frog Litoria gracilenta made a home in the mens shower for a few days, it looked like a piece of green soap!

 

Dainty Green Tree Frog

 

Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge Business and Property For Sale

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18th July 2010 Report

Temperature range this week was 16.9ºC – 22ºC which was slightly cooler than last week. Drizzle and a few showers produced 14mm of rain but there were a few sunny breaks and again good birding. Bird numbers were slightly down on last week, but again a different mix of birds which produced 78 bird species seen and 1 heard. Mammals and reptiles were 20 species seen which was less than last week but the quality was better!

One surprise bird during the week was a Metallic Starling in one of our neighbours gardens, normally the birds from here are back in Papua New Guinea at this time of year. Small numbers over-winter in coastal areas like Cairns and Port Douglas but not around our area. 

 Metallic Starling

Wompoo Fruit-Dove is still around the Lodge grounds calling and being seen. Papuan Frogmouth continues to play hide and seek but was found on more days than not. The roosting Australian Owlet-nightjar was only seen peering out of its daytime hollow towards the end of the week when the sun started to shine, the dull overcast days kept it inside. The pair of Whistling Kite that were nesting a few months back have set up home in a nearby tree and were seen peering out of a new nest, not sure if the first nest failed but we did see at least one chick in it. A Grey Goshawk was seen flying across Bushy Creek one afternoon, no doubt looking for a feed. The Eastern Barn Owl juveniles mentioned over the last few weeks are now flying greater distances from the nest but returning to receive food from the parents. One was seen being feed by an adult outside the nest hollow. One adult bird found a daytime roost in the Lodge grounds a few weeks ago when it was located in a broken top of a tree as this image shows.

Eastern Barn Owl

Two Spotted Catbird have been coming into the feeder by the reception to grab banana but the honeyeater numbers have diminished here due to some natural flowering in and around the Lodge grounds. The lone male Yellow-throated Scrubwren continues to forage around Bushy Creek and is often seen bathing in the late afternoon. Barred Cuckoo-shrike have been in the Lodge grounds and also in a nearby fruiting fig tree but only a couple seen at a time. The fig tree has been attracting large numbers of Australasian Figbird, now there is a surprise! An adult Black Butcherbird has been around this week with no sign of the brown immature. Pied Monarch and Yellow-breasted Boatbill have been calling for long periods in the early morning and again late afternoon, both have been seen well throughout the week. The juvenile male Victoria's Riflebird which has been around the Lodge grounds for about two months was seen again this week. The single Chestnut-breasted Mannikin reported last week again appeared this week (possibly the same one but a bit hard to tell as they all look the same!). A full list of the weeks birds can be found on the Eremaea Birds website using this link

http://www.eremaea.com/Lists.aspx?List=65108

Spotlighting this week turned out to be good towards the weeks end with the Tree Mouse (ex. Prehensile-tailed Rat) Pogonomys sp. appearing in one of our fruit trees, a South American Sapote (Chupa-chupa) Quararibea cordata. As you can see from the image of the Striped Possum below it has prolific flowers on the branches and lots of nectar. As well as the Tree Mouse (Record shot) the Spectacled Flying Fox and Striped Possum have also been attracted to the nectar.

 Tree Mouse

 

 Striped Possum

Striped Possum mainly feed on tree boring larvae of beetles and have very powerful lower incisors in their lower jaw to rip into dead and decaying trees. They hook out the larvae with a sharp claw on an elongated forth finger (image below) or use their long tongue. They will also eat fruit and insects.

 

Elongated forth finger of Striped Possum

 

During the day honeyeaters also flock to the sapote, the flowers should be good for the next 2-3 weeks. A Green Ringtail Possum was seen perched high up on an exposed tree branch doing what they seem to do a lot of and that is nothing. Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko was again seen on several trees plus the Northern Brown and Long-nosed Bandicoot have again been digging holes all over the orchard. The rain bought a few frogs out of hiding with six species being recorded including Jungguy Frog, Cogger's Frog and Red Tree Frog. The Red-legged Pademelon which turned up last week was again foraging in the orchard.

Further afield Maryfarms (famous for Australian Bustard and north from Kingfisher Park) was attracting numbers of interesting honeyeaters, large flock of Bridled were seen by a guest. De Richards from Fine Feather Tours reported Rufous-throated and Bar-breasted Honeyeater from this location, both are unusual here. Bar-breasted occur way south of us around Townsville and further north but generally avoid the “Wet Tropics” area like several other species. Records for Bar-breasted Honeyeater in our region have come from Mt. Carbine Dam, Rifle Creek, and Rocky Creek between Mareeba and Atherton. There have been occasional reports from Abattoir Swamp (6kms away) by visitors but none confirmed, possible confusion with Brown-backed Honeyeater? Rufous-throated are rare on the Atherton Tableland but we did see one in the CSIRO grounds in Atherton one October while on a 24 hour “twitch”. One lone Blue-faced Parrot-Finch was seen not far from the Lodge one morning but not seen again.

Our shop has received copies of two interesting locally produced compact guides on the flora of our area, the first Plants of Tropical North Queensland features 485 key plants using photographs, vegetation zones and a simple key. A description accompanies each of the species. 

The second book Plants of Cape York follows the same layout as the first but has 600 key plants. 

Both books are by John Beasley and can be ordered through our secure online website page, Tropical North Queensland Plants is $20.00 plus Post & Packing the second Plants of Cape York is $25.00 plus post and packing. Both books cover the range of vegetation types and plants most likely to be encountered.

9th May 2010 Report

Less drizzle this week and a few sunny days with only 10.5mm in the rain gauge for the week. Temperatures were down to a cooler 18ºC and a top of 25ºC. Bird numbers were 79 bird species seen and 4 heard a slight increase on previous weeks - mammals and reptiles were 18 seen.

Once again one of the highlights was the juvenile Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher who stayed behind after all his mates disappeared to the north, he was still with us on the 6^th May which beats the previous latest sighting by one day. We would not be surprised if he is still around as he still had very juvenile plumage. 

 Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher (Juvenile)

 
Another highlight was not a bird but a mammal, a Tree Mouse Pogonomys sp..which was spotlighted in the orchard on two night walks. This mammal, which was previously known as a Prehensile-tailed Rat, is possibly a new species in Australia (two other Pogonomys species occur in New Guinea) and was spotted in a Langsat tree (normal distribution is western Malaysia) munching on some fruit. It sat eating the fruit for at least five minutes for all to get excellent views of this rarely seen mammal. It was first recorded in Australia at Lake Eacham, Atherton Tablelands in 1974

An Australian Owlet-nightjar was very obliging on a night walk and sat in a tree for excellent views. A female/young male Victoria's Riflebird showed up in the camping area foraging on a Queensland Blue Gum Eucalyptus tereticornis, this is the first for the season.

Water-birds have started to trickle into nearby lagoons and dams with the first Eastern Great Egret for the season turning up. Also a few Magpie Geese still around and an Australasian Grebe was swimming in a lagoon with Pacific Black Duck. Raptors were also in evidence with Black-shouldered Kite, Pacific Baza, White-breasted Sea-Eagle, Whistling Kite, Brahminy Kite, Black Kite, Grey Goshawk and Nankeen Kestrel.

Numbers of Rainbow and Scaly-breasted Lorikeet increased as more Blue Quondong Eleocarpus grandis (large rainforest tree) came into flower. Honeyeaters were also attracted with thirteen species recorded for the week, these included Bridled, Scarlet and Noisy Friarbird which are locally nomadic visiting us a few times a year.

Sooty Owl was again heard several times and Eastern Barn Owl was calling and seen emerging from a tree hollow in Geraghty Park. A Blue-winged Kookaburra was observed eating a rather large phasmid (Stick Insect), shown in image below.

 Blue-winged Kookaburra

A Torresian Crow flew over towards the end of the week, they have been scarce lately with no sightings for over a month. Black-faced Monarch was around at the beginning of the week but disappeared towards the end so they may have gone north.

Further afield a male Southern Cassowary with large juvenile was seen at Mt. Hypipamee (the Crater), between Atherton and Ravenshoe, during the week. Worth calling in on the off chance if you are passing. A dead specimen of a Southern Boobook race lurida (sometimes referred to as Red Boobook) was picked up by Del Richards from Fine Feather Tours at the top of the Rex Range on the Rex Highway (altitude approx. 400-450m). We took measurements which keyed it out to female. The specimen will be submitted to the appropriate authority. Another specimen was also collected by Del in September 2007 at a slightly lower altitude. It maybe that this sub-species of the higher mountains within the wet tropics migrates to lower altitudes at certain times of the year. Not much known about this race which is one of the smaller sub-species.

Spotlighting was good during the week with the previously mentioned Tree Rat, Australian Owlet-nightjar, Eastern Barn Owl and some other interesting sightings including a Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko, Feather-tail Glider and a group of Little Bent-wing Bat in the amenities block.

 Orange Bush-brown

This Orange Bush-brown butterfly was the most common butterfly this week with many Wide-brand Grass-dart as well. Dragonflies were uncommon but we did manage to get images of these two species which we think are Red Arrow and Twister. As we are still learning dragonflies we would like any corrections to our identifications from you experts out there.

 Red Arrow

Twister