12th January 2014 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Weather Report

Welcome to 2014 and hope you all enjoyed Christmas/New Year celebrations. Since the last blog the weather has been a mixed bag, extremely hot for here - up to 35ºc, but elsewhere in Queensland almost 50ºC! It did get down to 18ºc overnight on a couple of occasions. Rain has been very patchy with only 33mm over the last four weeks when we should be getting more as it is our “Wet Season”. The monsoonal trough is over the far north of Australia, across Cape York Peninsula and is forecast to come further south in the next two weeks so we should expect some good rainfalls. The total rainfall for the last year was 1473mm which is well below our average. In 1992 Julatten had 2148mm in January alone!

Past Four Weeks Bird Sightings:-

Bird sightings for the first week were , seen and a high number of heard, second week sightings were , seen and heard. The last four weeks bird lists can be found on the Eremaea Birds Website:- 15th - 21st December , 22nd - 28th December , 29th December - 4th January, 5th - 11th January

Birding Highlights:-

The absolute highlight over the last month was a female Yellow-billed Kingfisher seen by three of our guests perched along Bushy Creek near the Platypus viewing area on the 28^th December. Luckily two of the guests had a camera on hand and took a few images, two of which they sent us to put into the blog, shown below. 
 

Yellow-billed Kingfisher - female

Yellow-billed Kingfisher - female

Yellow-billed Kingfisher is a Cape York Peninsula speciality occurring as far south as about Coen, which is over 500km north of the Lodge. There have been a few records in our area including a previous one in Julatten, but none have been written up (as far as we know) or photographed. We heard it calling in the rainforest the next morning, but did not see it. That was the last record of it so we presume it moved on. That was exciting!

Papuan Frogmouth have been playing hide and seek by not staying in the same location two days running, this pair was seen one day on the edge of the orchard.

 

Papuan Frogmouth

Lesser Sooty Owl has been heard a few times and hopefully has moved back into the Lodge grounds since the Barking Owl appear to have left the area. Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher are nesting and hopefully sitting on eggs, we have at least eight nests around the Lodge with several others in our neighbours garden and adjacent rainforest. Other birds seen nesting include, Australian Brush-turkey, Peaceful Dove, Pacific Baza, Scaly-breasted Lorikeet, Dollarbird, Australasian Figbird, Olive-backed Oriole, Spangled Drongo, Black-faced Monarch, Spectacled Monarch, Magpie Lark, Pale-yellow Robin, Metallic Starling, Olive-backed Sunbird, Red-browed Finch (nothing new here as they build nests all year around) and Chestnut-breasted Mannikin.

A few interesting observations regarding nesting birds were; a Spangled Drongo building a nest seen placing sticks and wriggling around in the nest to shape it then a week later the nest was occupied by an Australian Figbird who is still in it! The pair of Spangled Drongo are now in another nest in the same tree, but on the other side. Not sure whether the drongo was trying to take over the figbirds nest or the figbird stole the drongos nest. Also of interest was a Pale-yellow Robin nest which had at least one nestling in it. There were four adults attending this nest and feeding the young. When I passed the nest the adults started flying around my head to chase me off before dropping to the ground. Here they started doing a broken wing display, then as I backed away the birds headed to the nearby leaf litter and started to move around with both wings outstretched and flapping. 

 

Pale-yellow Robin - broken wing display

Pale-yellow Robin - disturbing insects on the ground

Presumably they were trying to disturb insects as they were turning over leaves at the same time. Not seen this behaviour before. Noisy Pitta have bred and have at least one juvenile which has been seen in the vicinity of the Crake Pool. Varied Sittella were seen along McDougall Road, this is an uncommon species in the vicinity of the Lodge, but over the last couple of years sightings have become more frequent. Pied Monarch and Yellow-breasted Boatbill have been calling and seen around the Lodge grounds most days. 

Pied Monarch

 

Further Afield:-

Euluma Creek Road, Julatten has been turning up some uncommon birds in the district including Tawny Grassbird and Horsfield's Bushlark. Abattoir Swamp has had Black-chinned Honeyeater (Golden-backed form) and Northern Fantail. Five Squatter Pigeon and six Grey-crowned Babbler were at Mt. Molloy. Lake Mitchell had at least 45 Whiskered Tern, two Brolga and two Black-necked Stork. A dam on the Kondaparinga Road north of Mt. Carbine had a Bar-breasted Honeyeater building a nest on a Rubber Vine, an unusual record. The isolated population of White-gaped Honeyeater were seen at the regular location of the McLeod River along with a nesting Black Bittern. Hasties Swamp near Atherton has been getting good numbers of birds, we counted 247 Pink-eared Duck, at least 400 Grey Teal plus 10 Freckled Duck and at least 150 Eurasian Coot on 17^th December but Alan Gillanders from Alan's Wildlife Tours had 269 Pink-eared Duck, 500+ Plumed Whistling-Duck and 28 Freckled Duck on the 8^th January. There were plenty of other species present, but not in high numbers, Latham's Snipe have also been seen here recently. Our full list from Hasties can be found on the e-bird site. Lake Evan (Brady Road Swamp) 4km north of Mareeba has been getting up to 1200 Magpie Goose as well as a variety of other species such as Plumed Whistling-Duck, Red-kneeded Dotterel and a single Pink-eared Duck. 

Magpie Goose - part of the flock of 1200

Red-rumped Swallow and immature Barn Swallow were reported from Somerset Drive north of Mossman. We went down to have a look, but only found Fairy Martin and Tree Martin on the powerlines. Next to the powerlines was this very appropriate sign which says it all!

Whilst we were down that way we called into Newell Beach Boat Ramp at the mouth of the Mossman River which flows into the ocean here and forms a sandbar which is often good for shorebirds. A few Bar-tailed Godwit were about the most exciting birds present as it was high tide and most of the sandbar was under water.

Newell Beach at mouth of Mossman River

A trip to Cairns on the 9^th January actually coincided with a favourable tide for a change. Plenty of shorebirds including a Sanderling on the mudflats with Red-necked Stint. Sanderling are not very common at the Esplanade. Other shorebirds included both Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwit, Terek and Curlew and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Lesser and Greater Sandplover, Grey-tailed Tattler, Great Knot, Eastern Curlew and Whimbrel. Full list can be found on the Eremaea Birds site. Mt. Lewis is again proving to be the spot to go to with numbers of Blue-faced Parrot-Finch climbing up to at least 40 which is the most seen for many years.

Reptiles and Mammals:-

A few snakes have come active with the warmer weather including a Red-bellied Black seen on the track to Bushy Creek, a Green Tree Snake eating a poor unfortunate White-lipped Tree Frog and an Australian Scrub Python has been in our neighbours garden. 

Green Tree Snake with White-lipped Tree Frog

Boyd's Forest Dragon, Eastern Water Dragon and Major Skink have all been showing well. Platypus has been around with three being seen one late afternoon. Bats have been active with 6 species seen, Eastern Horseshoe Bat, Large-footed Myotis, Northern Broad-nosed Bat, Little Bentwing Bat and Diadem Leaf-nosed Bat plus Spectacled Flying-Fox. Red-legged Pademelon have been seen scurrying around the rainforest and in the orchard. A Yellow-footed Antichinus (small rat like species) was seen hurrying across the reception area feeder one morning, the first for several weeks.

17th November 2013 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Weather Report

Over the last two weeks rainfall has been patchy and light with falls of 7mm, 2.5mm and 0.5mm, again it has been dry and hot with temperatures up to 30ºC. Overnight temperatures were only dropping down to 19ºC. Humidity dropped to 51% but went up into the low 90's.

Past Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-

Bird sightings for the first week were 108, 94 seen and a high number of 14 heard, second week sightings were 119 , 110 seen and 9 heard, this was a great week. The last two weeks bird lists can be found on the Eremaea Birds Website:- 3rd - 9th November and 10th- 16th November.

Morning walks turned up between 51 and 61 species.

Birding Highlights:-

The stand out has to be a Lesser Sooty Owl seen perched at eye level whilst on a guided nightwalk on 12^th November. This is only the second sighting in six months; both these sightings have been in the last three weeks, which hopefully means were have a resident Lesser Sooty Owl again. The main contingent of Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher arrived over the nights of 8^th and 9^thNovember when they were heard calling in all parts of the Lodge grounds. Since then they continue to be heard but are proving difficult to see, one was seen swooping a Noisy Pitta in the orchard. A Square-tailed Kite was seen soaring over cane paddocks within the 1.5km radius birding area around the Lodge, quite uncommon these days. Another good sighting was from our neighbour, Andrew, who found a Common Greenshank in a nearby small wetland to add to the Lodge birdlist, which now stands at an impressive 225 species. 

 

Common Greenshank

Red-necked Crake have been seen regularly with at least four heard calling at one time. They have usually been seen around the Bushy Creek/Crake Pool area. Red-winged Parrot was another unusual visitor to our bird list area, seen near the Julatten school; they are usually further west towards Abattoir Swamp and the drier areas of Mt. Molloy. A few stragglers are still with us, a Lewin's Honeyeater, a Rufous Fantail and a Grey-headed Robin. These species have usually moved up to higher altitudes and left the Lodge grounds by now. Superb Fruit-Dove have again been around the Lodge grounds but have only been seen flying away! Pied Imperial-Pigeon have been cooing and displaying with what appears to be two males wooing a single female. A Black-breasted Buzzard was seen over McDougall Road one afternoon, very uncommon here and a Grey Goshawk was circling over the Lodge grounds one morning putting the Rainbow Lorikeet, Pied Imperial-Pigeon and Sulphur-crested Cockatoo to flight. Two adult and one immature White-bellied Sea-Eagle have been seen flying over and perched along Bushy Creek. An Australian Hobby was seen whizzing over the Lodge and was the first seen for a few months. Double-eyed Fig-Parrot have been seen occasionally feeding in a Cluster Fig on the edge of Mt. Kooyong Road. A good number of cuckoos are around the area with Channel-billed, Gould's Bronze-Cuckoo and Brush seen with Pheasant Coucal and Eastern Koel heard. Barking Owl are still around but have not been seen, only heard at a distance. Spotted Catbird have been calling as this one was, whilst perched in the Lodge orchard.

Spotted Catbird

Honeyeaters have again been good with 15 species seen and one heard, that only leaves four not recorded from our list. A pair of White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike have been around the Lodge for the past week.

White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike

Barred Cuckoo-shrike have been foraging in the Lodge grounds over the past week as have Cicadabird. Little Shrike-thrush have been seen making a nest in the Lodge grounds. Pied Monarch and Yellow-breasted Boatbill have also been calling and showing well. Olive-backed Sunbird have been attending to a nest on the edge of the Lodge grounds as well as trying to chase off their reflections in guests car wing mirrors!

Further Afield:-

Lake Mitchell between Mount Molloy and Mareeba has been good for waterbirds with a male Cotton Pygmy-goose seen and a Wood Sandpiper reported by our guide Carol Iles. Carol also reported a pair of Horsfield's Bushlark (uncommon in area) at Rasmussen Road, Julatten and Banded Honeyeater in Fraser Road, Mount Molloy. Big Mitchell Creek, near Lake Mitchell, has been turning up White-browed Robin despite the area being extensively burnt recently. White-gaped Honeyeater have been seen at McLeod River north of Mt. Carbine as well as Banded Honeyeater who have been seen from here back south to Mount Molloy. Lloyd Nielsen reported White-throated Nightjar nesting in the Rifle Creek Reserve in Mount Molloy, this would be a rare sighting. Mt. Lewis has been good as usual with all the 13 “Wet Tropic” endemics seen including Golden Bowerbird (only brown female/immatures), Tooth-billed Bowerbird, Atherton Scrubwren, Chowchilla (proving difficult for some people) and Fernwren. No sign of Blue-faced Parrot-Finch up at the 10km clearing yet, they must be down at lower altitudes on the mountain. 

Late News:- A Grey Wagtail was reported from Lake Evan (Brady Road Swamp) 4km north of Mareeba by Doug Herrington from Birdwatching Tropical Australia on 16th November, must try and check it out. 

Daintree River Trip:-

Was lucky enough to find a spare morning to travel down to the Daintree River and go on a morning trip with Ian “Sauce” Worcester and a couple of our guests. Sauce operates Daintree River Wildwatch and goes out on the river for early morning and sunset river trips looking at the birds and other wildlife on the river. The morning was a bit cloudy with short intermittent showers which did not dampen anyone’s enthusiasm over the 2 hours we were on the river. The list of the 47 bird species we saw can be viewed here on the Eremaea Birds website. Highlights were Cotton Pygmy-goose, Great Cormorant, Great-billed Heron (juvenile) and Latham's Snipe, also a Salt Water Crocodile showed its head alongside the boat when it yawned showing its formidable set of teeth. Below is a selection of birds seen. 

Wompoo Fruit-Dove - on nest

Papuan Frogmouth - male, who incubate during the day

Great-billed Heron

 

Little Pied Cormorant

Great Cormorant

Great Egret (Note gape extending beyond eye, ID feature)

White-faced Heron

Latham's Snipe

Reptiles and Mammals:-

24 reptile and mammals were seen and two heard over the last two weeks. Fawn-footed Melomys and Yellow-footed Antichinus were seen. Two Red-legged Pademelon with a joey were seen in the orchard whilst on a night walk and later in the week the female was seen in the rainforest with the joey looking out of her pouch, great to see they are breeding successfully. A Large Agile Wallaby (male) has also been hanging around in the orchard at night. Both Bush Rat and Giant White-tailed Rat have been seen on night walks as well as raiding the reception area feeder. Striped Possum have been hard to find but there was a couple of sighting over the two weeks. An Echidna was seen on several occasions near Bushy Creek, once when it walked past guests at the Platypus viewing area and stopped for all to get great views.

Short-beaked Echidna

Frogs have been hiding despite a few rain showers but a few individuals have ventured out, Jungguy, White-lipped Tree Frog and Dainty Green Tree Frog have been the ones seen. A Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko was seen one night but not again but Boyd's Forest Dragon have been co-operating and showing regularly. A 2m Scrub Python was seen one night along the road to the reception area and a Green Tree Snake was in the camping area one day. 

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Bird Report 1st March

Back to wet weather with 87.5mm in the first part of the week before the sun came out towards the end. 64 bird species were seen and another 13 heard. Mammals and reptiles were 13 seen.

This weeks highlights were a male Shining Flycatcher calling and foraging around our wet season lagoon on the edge of the orchard. This is a first seen for the lodge grounds with only one other heard along Bushy Creek behind our neighbours garden in 2006. The three Papuan Frogmouth were seen once roosting together for only the second time this year and with daily movements to different roost site makes finding them difficult. The first Rainbow Bee-Eaters arrived back during the week, there was one sighting in December 2008 and prior to that the main presence was in July/August 2008. An Juvenile Eastern Koel was foraging along Bushy Creek and several Juvenile Channel-billed Cuckoos flew over heading north. A pair of Barn Owls re-appeared at their roost site after being absent for several weeks.

Barn Owl

A Northern Brown Bandicoot was seen for the first time in several months and a Boyd’s Forest Dragon was found sleeping on a slender tree beside our eating area. Major Skinks have started to re-appear and an Eastern Horseshoe Bat decided to roost under one of the tables on our veranda.

Further afield Mt. Lewis was still turning up Blue-faced Parrot Finch, Fernwren, Bower’s Shrike-thrush, Chowchilla, Atherton Scrubwren and a family party of three ground thrushes (2 adults and a Juvenile) which we decided were Bassian.

Bassian Thrush

A lone Barn Swallow was seen along Somerset Drive near Newell Beach at the beginning of the week.