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.

24th August 2014 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Weather Report

The first week had 32.5mm of rain which fell over six days, the second week had no rain just sunshine. Temperatures ranged from a cool low of 13.2ºC up to 23.8ºC which is about average for this time of year.

Last Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-

These can be found on the Eremaea eBird site. 10th - 16th August and 17th - 23th August The first week we had 106 sightings and the second week 112, pretty good numbers!

Morning and Evening Guided Walks:-

Morning walks (2½ hours) produced between 43-55 species, the lower count was due to rain disrupting the walk. The 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/hotspotshttp://ebird.org/ebird/hotspots.

Again we saw up to 11 Barn Owl on night walks and one Barking Owl. Mammal sightings were good with two Tree Mouse (Prehensile-tailed Rat) on one night, Fawn-footed Melomys, Eastern Horseshoe Bat and Northern Blossom Bat, two Striped Possum and both Long-nosed and Northern Brown Bandicoot. Frogs seen were Jungguy Frog, White-lipped Tree Frog, Red Tree Frog, Roth's (Laughing)Tree Frog, Dainty Green Tree Frog, Cogger's Frog and Cane Toad. Several Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko were also found.

Other Birding Highlights:-

Both Green and Cotton Pygmy-goose have been along McDougall Road as well as up to three Australian Pelican and White-necked Heron. Pacific Black Duck have been along McDougall including these two who were loafing, thought we would put in an image of these birds as some of the more common birds tend to get overlooked.

 

Pacific Black Duck

At least 32 Straw-necked Ibis were foraging in a cut cane paddock adjacent to the Lodge; straw-necks are not as common as Australian White Ibis around Julatten. Black-shouldered Kite have been regulars with one adult and two juveniles seen. A Pacific Baza was seen one day at the front entrance to the Lodge but not seen since. Also flying over the Lodge were a pair of Grey Goshawk being chased by a pack of Blue-faced Honeyeater. Another blue-face was seen chasing a Whistling Kite over Geraghty Park, this time it was hanging onto the tail of the kite! Other raptors seen were Wedge-tailed Eagle, White-bellied Sea-Eagle and over 50 Black Kite foraging in and around cut cane paddocks including this immature bird. 

 

Black Kite - juvenile

Red-necked Crake have started to call so we know they are around but only one sighting over the last two weeks. Wompoo Fruit-Dove have also been calling and being seen as a few more trees start fruit. Topknot Pigeon are still flying over in small flocks and very occasionally dropping into the Lodge grounds. An Australian Owlet-nightjar has been heard calling around the Lodge grounds and also in the vicinity of a previous daytime roost site but has not been seen. The two Papuan Frogmouth continue to roost in the Lodge grounds with four more seen roosting nearby. This is the male with the female hidden by the leaves in one of the Lodge mango trees about 6-7m up which is higher than they normally roost which is more like 4-5m.

 

Papuan Frogmouth

Two Azure Kingfisher have been seen along Bushy Creek flying along and perching near the Platypus viewing area, which has a nice new seat after the previous one was washed away in the flood caused by Cyclone Ita in March. Both Nankeen Kestrel and Australian Hobby have been seen around the Lodge. Scaly-breasted Lorikeet numbers have dropped off as the Queensland Blue Gum are finishing flowering but at least one pair are nesting in these trees and Double-eyed Fig-Parrot have been seen flying over since they, and the Australasian Figbird, have finished off the fruiting figs. Barn Owl have juveniles who have been sitting up in their nests dozing during the day like these ones were. 

 

Barn Owl - juvenile

Barn Owl - juvenile

Noisy Pitta have started to call and have been seen around the Lodge grounds, we still think we only have one bird present. There has been a couple of sightings of Lovely Fairy-wren in the grounds, one along Bushy Creek and another at the Crake Pool. Fourteen species of honeyeater were seen and one heard, which was only four less than the total recorded at the Lodge. Again Pied Monarch and Yellow-breasted Boatbill have both been calling well and being seen. Barred Cuckoo-shrike have made a few appearances but have not been regular. Golden, Grey and Rufous Whistler have all been seen in and around the Lodge as have Northern, Rufous and Grey Fantail. Only a couple of sightings of Leaden Flycatcher over the two weeks but Lemon-bellied Flycatcher have been around with up to six seen at a time. Victoria's Riflebird were seen in the first week but not in the second so they might have left. A Tawny Grassbird was briefly seen in an adjacent cane paddock where it was calling. Metallic Starling returned on the 10^th August from Papua New Guinea with numbers continuing to increase along with the nesting activity at their colony in Geraghty Park.

Further Afield:-

Blue-faced Parrot-Finch are being seen infrequently near Abattoir Swamp with only a couple of birds seen. Australian Bustard are displaying at Maryfarms between Mt. Molloy and Mt. Carbine and a single Australian Pratincole is still present at this location after about 3 weeks. Mt. Lewis is as good as ever with bird guide Doug Herrington from Birdwatching Tropical Australia reporting five male Golden Bowerbird seen in one visit! All other “Wet Tropic” endemics were found here in the last two weeks, even more reason to stay at Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge! Our roving bird guides Carol and Andrew Iles reported Tawny Grassbird, White-eared Monarch, Shining Flycatcher and Red-winged Parrot from Julatten as well as an Australian Hobby whizzing down Mt. Molloy main street. Freckled Duck are still at Hasties Swamp near Atherton and have been almost continuously for the past two years, they were joined by an estimated 2000 Magpie Goose this week.

 

Identification of odd Looking Lewin's Honeyeater:-

The first two images of a meliphagous honeyeater were photographed at Malanda on the Atherton Tableland at about 900m, the third more typical Lewin's  was photographed at the Lodge, they are all ssp. mab, which occurs in Far North Queensland.

After some discussion with a few local and interstate experts it was agreed that this bird is an odd looking Lewin's, it certainly had the Lewin's call. It has an odd shaped ear patch, which is a lot smaller than a normal Lewin's of the ssp mab. The ear patch looks more like a Graceful. The lower mandible is slightly curved like a Graceful and not straight like Lewin's  the length of the bill looks slightly longer in these comparison images than Lewin's. The underparts don't have as much streaking as Lewin's and the face is less grey than a Lewin's. It is possible this could be a Lewin's/Graceful hybrid as there altitudinal range does overlap (Graceful usually occur below 600m). Note:- Lewin's Honeyeater ssp. mab does not have the distinct crescent shape to the ear patch of southern birds but a slightly less shaped crescent as shown in the 3rd image.Thanks to the experts for their comments. 

 

Lewin's Honeyeater ssp. mab

Lewin's Honeyeater ssp. mab

Lewin's Honeyeater ssp. mab - typical

Reptiles and Mammals

In addition to the mammals and reptiles mention on night walks we had other interesting sightings including Red-legged Pademelon, Agile Wallaby, Platypus with two regularly showing, Water Rat, Green Tree Snake and Australian Scrub Python. Over the two week we had 17 mammal species and 12 amphibian/reptiles.

Insect:-

This interesting beetle turned up at the reception area feeder one evening, it is a Carion Beetle Diamesus osculans. In Australia there are only three species in two genera mainly found in forested areas within 300km of coastal areas in eastern and northern Australia. This species is also found in Papua New Guinea and in Asia. (info. From “A Guide to the Beetles of Australia” George Hangay and Paul Zborowski). This is the first one we have seen in the Lodge grounds.

Carion Beetle

Thanks to our bird guide neighbours Carol and Andrew Iles for helping to compile the weekly bird lists, don't forget to contact them if you need any bird guiding.

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15th June 2014 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Weather Report

The first week was drizzle and overcast with 8.5mm of rain over 4 days, the other three days were overcast with misty rain which did not even register in the rain gauge. The second week was raining every day with a total of 107.5mm making it very wet and boggy underfoot. Not the sort of weather we expect at this time of year, luckily the sun did appear for a few hours at the end of the second week. So after five weeks of this drizzle and rain we have had enough!

Last Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-

These can be found on the Eremaea eBird site. 1st - 7th June and 8th - 14th June

Birding Highlights:-

Waterfowl have been scarce around the Lodge with only the usual Pacific Black Duck and a few Wandering Whistling-Duck plus a couple of Australasian Grebe. Carol Iles our resident neighbouring bird guide reported two Australian Pelican flying over McDougall Road, which is quite unusual. Other waterbirds included Great, Intermediate and Cattle Egret, White-faced Heron, Australian White and Straw-necked Ibis and Royal Spoonbill. A few raptors have been around in small numbers, those seen were Black-shouldered Kite, Brown Goshawk, Black and Whistling Kite, White-bellied Sea-Eagle and Brown Falcon. 

 

Black Kite

Cuckoos seen were Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Shining Bronze-Cuckoo which was the first around here for the year and Little (Gould's) Bronze-Cuckoo. Night birds seen were Barn Owl, Barking Owl and Papuan Frogmouth. Scaly-breasted Lorikeet numbers increased as the Queensland Blue Gum started to flower and a pair of Double-eyed Fig-Parrot were seen at a nest site, the female doing all the excavations in the tree branch. Spotted Catbird has been a regular at the banana feeder along with Lewin's, Yellow-spotted and Macleay's Honeyeater who have all been finding it hard to find food in the rainy conditions. Other interesting honeyeaters seen in the 14 species recorded were Bridled, Black-chinned and Noisy Friarbird. Large-billed Scrubwren are resident at the Lodge and can be found in small family groups foraging in the rainforests, often hopping up vines. This one was taking advantage of a fallen tree, which had a hollow filled with water in it, to have a bath. 

Large-billed Scrubwren

Yellow-breasted Boatbill have been calling and seen usually high up in the rainforest canopy with occasional sightings lower down. The only Black Butcherbird we saw was a brown immature bird in Geraghty Park foraging on the ground. A few Barred Cuckoo-shrike were around the first week but disappeared in the second, they are very nomadic. Australasian Figbird have been finding plenty to eat around the Lodge grounds with over 100 in the orchard one morning. Northern Fantail have joined the Rufous and Grey Fantails flitting around the Lodge in search of insects. Both Spectacled and Pied Monarch have been active, calling and foraging. A male Leaden Flycatcher seen in Geraghty Park was the only one seen over the two weeks, no sign of any females. The pair of female Victoria's Riflebird reported in the last blog are still getting around the Lodge together and also calling. Lemon-bellied Flycatcher have been foraging in Geraghty Park with three seen on one morning walk, they come and go quite regularly from our area. 

 

Lemon-bellied Flycatcher

Mistletoebird have been very active especially the males, we saw one consuming a mistletoe fruit in Geraghty Park, another foraging near the Lodge entrance and two in our neighbours garden. Australasian Pipit have been foraging around the very wet and soggy cane paddocks.

Further Afield:-

Several Lesser Sootyowl have been seen on Mt. Lewis over the past two weeks. Golden Bowerbird has also been seen here but only juveniles of females, no males sighted. Lake Mitchell between Mt. Molloy and Mareeba has been good for Cotton Pygmy-goose with a few sightings in amongst the Green Pygmy-goose. Squatter Pigeon have been seen in the township of Mt. Molloy, not far from the main street.

Reptiles and Mammals:-

We did manage a night walk on the only dry night of the past week which was well worth the effort. We saw Two Barn Owl, two Red-legged Pademelon, two Bush Rat, three Leaf-tailed Gecko, all in new locations, two Striped Possum – both heard, but only one seen, several Spectacled Flying-fox, Giant White-tailed Rat, five species of frog – Jungguy Frog, White-lipped Tree Frog, Desert (Red) Tree Frog, Dainty Green Tree Frog and Cogger's Frog. They liked the wet weather. 

 

Dainty Green Tree Frog

Other mammals seen included Fawn-footed Melomys and Agile Wallaby, other reptiles recorded included Boyd's Forest Dragon and Eastern Water Dragon.

One of our guests photographed this bat which we think is a Little Bentwing Bat but cannot be sure. The other common microbat around here is a Northern Broad-nosed Bat. Maybe there is someone more experience with bats has a better idea? If so please leave a comment.

Unknown Bat

Thanks to Carol and Andrew Iles for their sightings contributions. If you need any bird guiding contact Carol and Andrew.

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1st June 2014 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Weather Report

Mixed weather over the last two weeks, mainly drizzle with a few sunny days but temperatures were kept low only getting up to 24ºC. The first week we had 29mm of rain and the second week some rain fell with 10mm on four rainy days, again as in the previous two weeks just enough to be annoying.

Last Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-
The first week had 84 species and second week 94 species.

Species lists can be found on the Eremaea eBird site.  18th - 24th May and 25th - 31st May

Birding Highlights:-

A single Australasian Grebe was along McDougall Road, a first for two months. Also along here were over 300 Cattle Egret who roost in the trees around the lagoon. A Black-breasted Buzzard was seen by one of our guests over Geraghty Park, this was the second time in a few weeks one has been seen in the area. Red-necked Crake have only been heard and not seen, the area they were frequenting has now dried up and they have gone further into the rainforest. Fan-tailed Cuckoo arrived back from southern parts of Australia on 27^th May with at least three birds calling around the Lodge. Lesser Sooty Owl was heard but not seen, probably due to the pair of Barking Owl who were around the Lodge grounds every night keeping it away. One Barn Owl was seen in a nest tree which may mean they are getting ready to breed again as it is the right time of year. At least four Papuan Frogmouth have been seen in the area and an Australian Owlet-nightjar heard calling one night. Double-eyed Fig-Parrot were seen digging out a nest hole in a tree but the branch it was in broke off and they have not been back since. A pair of Red-winged Parrot were seen near the Julatten school (just in our 1.5km Lodge area) by Carol Iles our neighbouring bird guide. This is about the closest they come to the Lodge apart from a couple of sightings in Geraghty Park. Spotted Catbird are still coming to the feeder in the morning and also feeding on the fruit of a Soursop tree in our orchard. Red-backed Fairy-wren have been seen along McDougall Road, usually sitting on the fences. 12 species of honeyeater over the two weeks, including Scarlet, White-cheeked and Macleay's. The Macleay's Honeyeater have been hogging the bird feeder and chasing off the Lewin, Yellow-spotted and Graceful Honeyeater. 
 

Macleay's Honeyeater

Yellow-breasted Boatbill continue to call and be very active so they are being seen regularly. Barred Cuckoo-shrike have been calling and around in small numbers as have Varied Triller.

Little (Rufous) Shrike-thrush have been very active and calling a lot, they are common residents around the Lodge and are not to be confused with the Bower's Shrike-thrush. The Bower's are normally resident up on the mountains behind us and can be seen usually above 600m on Mt. Lewis, we are only 430m which is within the range of the Little who can be found up to 600m. Bower's do come down in the winter months but we only see one or two. Bower's has more obvious striations on throat and breast, also their bill is black (adult male and older immature males) or grey/black (adult and immature females as well as immature males) whereas Little have a pinkish-brown/grey bill and a light coloured eye-ring. Bower's have dark grey back and head, the little have olive-brown, although we have seen a few little with quite grey back and rumps. There are seven sub-species of Little Shrike-thrush in Australia, the one found here is giseata. All these sub-species have plumage variation with the sexes being similar.

Little (Rufous) Shrike-thrush

Bower's Shrike-thrush

At least one male Golden Whistler is still around the Lodge and has been joined by a Yellow Oriole which is more a species of the coast in our region but has been creeping into our area over the last few years. A few Spangled Drongo are still around but the majority of them have gone further north. Pied Monarch have become more active and are calling as have at least two female Victoria's Riflebird who have been getting around the Lodge together.

Further Afield:-

A Spotted Harrier was seen over the adjacent cane paddock by our neighbour Carol Iles and was probably the same one we saw a few weeks earlier at the same location. A (Common) Cicadabird was calling along Euluma Creek Road in Julatten, unusual for this time of year. On 28^th May Del Richards from Fine Feather Tours reported a Brown Songlark (female) at Maryfarms, north of Mt. Molloy. It was perched on a fence with a female White-winged Triller and Black-faced Woodswallow. This was a first sighting for him since the 2002 drought. Both Brown Songlark and Black-faced Woodswallow are uncommon at this location.

Reptiles and Mammals:-

At least three Red-legged Pademelon are still around the Lodge grounds after one was taken by an Australian Scrub Python. Two species of bat recorded for this period, they were Large-footed Myotis (fish eating bat) and Northern Broad-nosed Bat. Striped Possum were seen, one was in our neighbours garden, another was seen late in the second week jumping around the trees near the Lodge reception. The persistent drizzle was to the frogs liking with Jungguy Frog, White-lipped Tree Frog, Roth's Tree Frog, Desert (Red) Tree Frog, Cogger's Frog, Dainty Green Tree Frog and Cane Toad.

Cogger's Frog

An adult Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko was spotlighted on a tree in the rainforest and an immature one, only 60mm in length, was rescued from the amenities block and released back into the rainforest. This is the first time we had seen an immature Leaf-tailed Gecko, which as you can see from the photos is very cute and very well camouflaged.

Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko - immature

This tree-dwelling nocturnal species relies on its camouflaged appearance to avoid discovery by predators. They are found in rainforests, wet sclerophyll forests, rocks and on the forest floor at night. We have found them on the floor where they run with their tail up in the air. During the day they are hiding behind loose bark or tree crevices. At night they come out and perch head down on large trees in the rainforest or on our orchard trees, we usually find them between 1-3m from the ground. They mainly eat large invertebrates such as Katydid, Cricket, Cockroach and Spider. Breeding season is usually just before the "Wet Season" in October or November when the females lay one or two soft-shelled eggs in moist soil or leaf litter. After about three months the young hatch and have to start catching insects straight away. They don't reach adulthood until two years and go on to live for about nine years.

Australian Scrub Python were seen in our neighbours garden, this one had just had a meal and was looking to rest up somewhere. Judging by the bulge in it's body it must have eaten something at least as big as a White-tailed Rat. This close up of it's head has a mosquito on it, they are not fussy who they get their blood from!

Australian Scrub Python

Finally whilst our neighbour Carol was guiding one of our guests on Mt. Lewis recently they came across this Queensland Blue Earthworm Terriswalkeris terraereginae an invertebrate which can grow up to 2 meters. We've only seen one which is not surprising as they only come to the surface after heavy rains when they are disturbed from their burrows. This image was taken by Ross Monks -thanks Ross.

 

Queensland Blue Earthworm

Thanks to Carol and Andrew Iles our neighbouring bird guides for helping compile the weekly species list.

Abattoir Swamp:-
Abattoir Swamp is about 6km from the Lodge and is a good birding area but unfortunately the boardwalk to the bird hide has collapsed and the local Mareeba Shire Council have told us that they have no money to repair it at the moment. We had sent them a summary of birds and the importance of this facility to birdwatchers and local businesses but this did not make any difference to their decision to close the boardwalk apart from making them aware. They did say they would look at it in the future. The car park is a good birding spot so it is still worth stopping here.

Abattoir Swamp Boardwalk

Abattoir Swamp Boardwalk - damage

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3rd May 2014 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Weather Report

The first week was quite wet with 71.5mm of rain falling, just to keep the ground sodden. However the second week was absolutely glorious, no rain, cooler temperatures down to18ºC and up to 27ºC. The humidity also dropped from the mid 90% to 62%

Last Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-

These can be found on the Eremaea eBird site for  20th - 26th April and 27th - 3rd May

Birding Highlights:-

An uncommon visitor was a Pied Currawong seen by our neighbour and local bird guide Carol Iles flying past her house and heading for the Mt. Lewis Range. We only get one or two sightings, but not every year. Looks like most of the summer migratory species have left as we have not seen Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher since the 21^st April or Black-faced Monarch since 27^th April. Dollarbird have also not been seen for a week, but flocks of up to 80+ immature Metallic Starling are still with us. Waterbirds have been scarce with the highlight a Nankeen Night Heron along McDougall Road. Australian White Ibis have been hanging around the Barramundi Farm along with a pair of White-bellied Sea-Eagle. Other raptors seen were Whistling and Black Kite, Brown Goshawk and Collared Sparrowhawk. Red-necked Crake have not been so obvious over the last week with no sightings, only heard, also Pale-vented Bush-hen have gone quiet and not been seen for nearly a week. This one is about 3 months old.

Pale-vented Bush-hen

Bush Stone-curlew are around the area which has some good bush but these three choose to roost during the day in amongst junk at the rear of the local nursing home. 
 

Bush Stone-curlew

Ocassionally they do go to more pleasant surrounds as below.

Bush Stone-curlew

Double-eyed Fig-Parrot have been feeding in a couple of fruiting fig trees, mainly female and juveniles. Barking Owl have been around for most of the last two weeks, calling and seen a few times. Azure Kingfisher have been zipping up and down Bushy Creek or fishing in the Crake Pool. Rainbow Bee-eater have been around in groups and roosting in nearby trees. Spotted Catbird have started to come back to the feeder for banana as have the honeyeaters, mainly Yellow-spotted, Graceful, Blue-faced and Macleay's. Grey Fantail arrived back at the beginning of May with at least two calling. Pied Monarch have been around, but not calling much whereas Yellow-breasted Boatbill have been very vocal. Victoria's Riflebird (female) has been seen in the Lodge grounds and in Geraghty Park picking off bark looking for insects. Pale-yellow Robin are always favorites with our guests as they are so confiding and cute (and easy to photograph!)

Pale-yellow Robin

Olive-backed Sunbird have been busy feeding on some of the flowering gingers.

Olive-backed Sunbird

Chestnut-breasted Mannikin where seen collecting nesting material along Mt. Kooyong Road.

Further Afield:-

Mt. Lewis still had a few Blue-faced Parrot-Finch in the 10km clearing at the beginning of May, but more were seen further down the mountain about 1-2 km from the bottom of the road. Other birds reported from the lower slopes of Mt. Lewis included Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo, White-eared Monarch and a male Victoria's Riflebird. Carol and Andrew Iles reported some good birds along Quaid's Road opposite Lake Mitchell (between Mareeba and Mt. Molloy), they included Banded Honeyeater, Noisy Miner who only occur in a few isolated areas in Far North Queensland, and flocks of Striated Pardalote. They also heard Grey Butcherbird, Pied Currawong and Northern Fantail. Euluma Creek Road in Julatten had an Australian Hobby and Brown Falcon plus White-headed Pigeon and Wompoo Fruit-Dove. Ferrero Road, near Port Douglas, had 28 adult Magpie Goose plus one juvenile with them. A 55 minute visit to Cattana Wetlands in Cairns turned up 32 species including an adult Wandering Whistling-Duck with five ducklings, three Australian Pelican soaring overhead, good views of at least 10 Double-eyed Fig-Parrot and a rather scruffy Little Pied Cormorant. Yorkey's Knob Lagoon at the golf course has been progressively modified over the years with the island being joined to the mainland and trees removed and this  has caused a drop in species using it. We did see an Australasian Darter carrying nesting material into one of the remaining trees, and a Buff-banded Rail heading into mangroves. The area along the back of the Yorkey's Knob Beach has some good vegetation with many species using it including Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove (thanks to Tony Neilson for supplying the photo below), 
 

Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove

Lovely Fairy-wren, Black Butcherbird and several pairs of Olive-backed Sunbird. This immature Helmeted Friarbird was interesting for the amount of bare skin around the eye which extended to the bill, unfortunately the sun cast a shadow from the branch over the birds face.

Helmeted Friarbird

Reptiles and Mammals:-

A Bush Rat appeared at our feeder after an absence of about 2 months, hopefully more have survived the two Barking Owl which have been hanging around the area. Frogs have been around in small numbers with Jungguy Frog, White-lipped Green Tree Frog, Roth's (Laughing) Frog, Desert (Red) Tree Frog, Dainty Green Tree Frog and Cane Toad being seen plus Striped Marsh frog only heard. Boyd's Forest Dragon have been hiding with only one or two appearances, Eastern Water Dragon have been regularly along Bushy Creek and Major Skink have also been showing.Bats have been roosting under our neighbours Carol and Andrew's house, we have seen Northern Broad-nosed Bat, Little Bent-winged Bat and Large-footed Myotis here. We think these ones are Northern Broad-nosed Bat.

Northern Broad-nosed Bat?