Over
the past two weeks the weather has stayed steady with plenty of
sunshine and very hot days (but not as hot as the rest of
Australia!). Rainfall amounted to 42mm over the past two weeks but
just showers with no sign of the monsoonal trough coming south from
the tip of Cape York Peninsula.
The
minimum temperature over the two weeks only went down to 19.7ºC with
one overnight temperature of 23.6ºC, which was quite warm for us.
The maximum temperature was 33.3ºC, which was almost the same as the
previous two weeks but that was an exception with the majority of
days getting into the high 20's. The humidity was still high, up to
92% and a low of 50%.
Bird
sightings for the first week were 115 -104 seen and 11 heard, this
number was mainly due to the New Years Day effort. The second week
had slightly more sightings due to a greater number of observers,
there were 117 - 111 seen and 6 heard
Past
Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-
The
last two weeks bird lists can be found on the Eremaea Birds Website:-
Morning
walk lists can also be found on the Eremaea
Birds Website.
Big
Day 1st
January 2013:-
We
have a bit of a tradition of birding on New Years Day to see how many
birds we can list, the record stands at 153. To achieve this we
normally whiz around the countryside to clock up the greatest list
and kilometres, however, this year we decided to slow down and count
only species within a 1.5km radius of the bird lodge, which is the
area of our lodge bird species list. The two of us spent a total time
birding of almost six hours, travelling about 25 km and even finding
time for eating and sleeping! A few rain breaks provided more rest
periods.
A
quick one hour around the lodge grounds to start with at 7am produced
43 species before breakfast. Then 1½ hours at nearby McDougall Road
to check out a couple of lagoons, which are on private property but
can be viewed from the road, and the Julatten School surrounds (just
inside the 1.5Km's) moved the total onto 84. It was now 12.00 and
time for lunch and a siesta. Back on the road to check out the local
Barramundi Farm ponds and adjacent bushland along with a second visit
to McDougall Road moved the total onto 95. Another coffee break and a
walk around the lodge grounds and down to the local nursing home
produced four more new birds bringing the total up to a tantalising
99! We knew we could get an Eastern Barn Owl to finish off with 100
species for the day, so come dusk we headed out, looking up to the
skies as birders do and luckily we saw a White-throated Needletail
zoom overhead with a flock of Australasian Swiftlet - 100. On cue the
Eastern Barn Owl appeared to finish the day at 101.
 |
| Eastern Barn Owl - No 101! |
Best
birds were White-necked Heron and Glossy Ibis (rare here),
Double-eyed Fig-Parrot, Noisy Pitta and Yellow-breasted Boatbill and
of course Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher. Greatest dip was
Torresian Crow and Pied Monarch.
Just
goes to prove you don't have to travel vast distances to clock up 101
species if you are in the right place, which we are! The total was 93
seen and 8 heard.
This
trip report with more images and full bird list can be found on the Wildiaries site by
clicking on the top scenic image on the left.
Other
Birding Highlights:-
Buff-breasted
Paradise-Kingfisher have dug out their nests in 8 termite mounds
which means hopefully there will at least 8 pairs breeding which will
be the most in the seven years we have been monitoring them. Both
Red-necked Crake and Pale-vented Bush-hen have been calling and
showing regularly.
Superb
Fruit-Dove were calling but as usual just giving glimpses, most times
when they are flying off! Two sightings of White-throated Needletail
are all we have seen of this species, both time just a single bird
mixed in with Australian Swiftlet. A male Black-necked Stork was
foraging in one of the McDougall Road lagoons for a few days.
 |
| Black-necked Stork - male |
A
Black Bittern flew off from Bushy Creek in the neighbouring cane
field one afternoon. A Little Eagle was seen over the orchard one
afternoon, this added to the few sightings we have had at the Lodge.
Buff-banded
Rail have been at the local Barramundi Farm walking around on
vegetation on one of the ponds alongside the Rex Highway. Red-tailed
Black-Cockatoo have been feeding in eucalypts around the Lodge or
flying over, one flock had 21 birds in it. Both Rainbow and
Scaly-breasted Lorikeet have been nesting in tree hollows along with
Dollarbird who have been bringing in food to their nests.
Pheasant Coucal, Eastern Koel, Channel-billed Cuckoo, Little Bronze-cuckoo and Brush Cuckoo are the cuckoos which have been seen and calling well. Barking and Sooty Owl have only been heard but Eastern Barn Owl have been reliable and seen on every nightwalk. Laughing Kookaburra have juveniles in tow and Forest Kingfisher were seen bringing in frogs and beetles to a nest. Noisy Pitta have continued to call to each other and appear in the orchard rainforest edge, we are not sure if they are nesting yet. A White-cheeked Honeyeater was an unexpected visitor to the reception area feeder on morning, this was a first. They have been seen on the fringes of the Lodge grounds before but on very few occasions, this sighting bought the total honeyeaters seen this period to fifteen. Barred Cuckoo-shrike and Cicadabird are still calling and showing as are Pied Monarch and Yellow-breasted Boatbill. Metallic Starling continue to build onto their nests, this one was collecting material from the center of a palm tree.
 |
| Rainbow Lorikeet |
 |
| Scaly-breasted Lorikeet |
Pheasant Coucal, Eastern Koel, Channel-billed Cuckoo, Little Bronze-cuckoo and Brush Cuckoo are the cuckoos which have been seen and calling well. Barking and Sooty Owl have only been heard but Eastern Barn Owl have been reliable and seen on every nightwalk. Laughing Kookaburra have juveniles in tow and Forest Kingfisher were seen bringing in frogs and beetles to a nest. Noisy Pitta have continued to call to each other and appear in the orchard rainforest edge, we are not sure if they are nesting yet. A White-cheeked Honeyeater was an unexpected visitor to the reception area feeder on morning, this was a first. They have been seen on the fringes of the Lodge grounds before but on very few occasions, this sighting bought the total honeyeaters seen this period to fifteen. Barred Cuckoo-shrike and Cicadabird are still calling and showing as are Pied Monarch and Yellow-breasted Boatbill. Metallic Starling continue to build onto their nests, this one was collecting material from the center of a palm tree.
 |
| Metallic Starling |
Further
Afield:-
Peregrine
Falcon have been seen in a few places, two between Mareeba and Mt.
Molloy and another one in Mount Molloy, quite uncommon in our area.
Still a few Straw-necked Ibis hanging around in the Maryfarms area
between Mount Molloy and Mt. Carbine at a time of year they have
normally disappeared from the district. Del Richards from Fine
Feather Tours had a Red-kneed Dotterel in Port Douglas which is
unusual. Mt. Lewis is still accessible and providing good views of
most of the wet tropic endemics but Blue-faced Parrot-Finch have been
difficult with a few sightings by guests who have persevered in
tracking them down.
Reptiles
and Mammals:-
Good
few weeks for reptiles and mammals with 29 species seen and one frog
heard. Red-legged Pademelon have been around the orchard with at
least two seen. Bats have been busy trying to get onto the few
insects we have at the moment, Eastern Horseshoe, Diadem Leaf-nosed,
Northern Broad-nosed and Little Bent-winged are the ones we have
identified. Possums have been hit and miss but both Striped and Green
Ringtail Possum have been seen. Long-nosed and Northern Brown
Bandicoot have been around but not quiet as obvious lately. Platypus
has been regularly seen swimming past the Platypus viewing area and
in deeper water downstream from here. Frogs have been calling when
they think rain is coming but most times they have been wrong! A few
have ventured out from hiding and have been seen – Jungguy Frog
(male in yellow/green breeding condition), White-lipped Tree Frog,
Northern Dwarf tree frog, Green Tree Frog was heard, Roth's or
Laughing Tree Frog, Dainty Green Tree Frog, Cogger's Frog and Cane
Toad. A few snakes have also been seen, Australian Scrub Python,
Green Tree Snake and Red-bellied Black Snake under our neighbours
house.
 |
| Green Tree Snake |
