7th April 2013 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Weather Report:-

Weather over the last two weeks has been mainly sunny with some cloud and a little rain. The monsoonal trough has gone north to Papua New Guinea with little prospect of it coming south again according to the weather bureau. So the rain we have been getting is the normal drier season showers coming from the south-east and onto the coast.

In the first week rain amounted to 74.5mm with 57mm of that falling on the first day, the second week only 8mm fell . The humidity was high for most of the period 60-92% with most lows around the low 60's and into the low 70's.Temperatures ranged from a low of 18.2ºC to a high of 27.0ºC which was very pleasant.

Past Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-

Bird sightings for the first week were 114, 107 seen and 7 heard, second week sightings were 108, 103 seen and 5 heard. The last two weeks bird lists can be found on the Eremaea Birds Website:- March 24th – March 30th and March 31tst - April 6th

Birding Highlights:-

A Eurasian Coot was seen in one of the lagoons along McDougall Road for several days and was a new species for our 1.5km bird list.  Surprising one has not shown before as they have been recorded in all the local wetlands quite regularly. No sign of the possible Red Goshawk mentioned in the last blog. Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher are again in the news with several juvenile birds being spotted in the rainforest including this one who fledged on the 10^th March. This image was taken on the 5^th April making it just over 3 weeks old.

Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher - juvenile

This female Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher showing its tail cocked, short and much blue at the base is a female. It was the parent of the youngster shown in the last blog which had come out of the nest in pin feathers and did not survive.

Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher - adult female

Wompoo Fruit-Dove along with Superb Fruit-Dove have been seen around the Lodge grounds with the superb making regular visits to some fruiting palms in front of the accommodation units much to the delight of the guests who have been getting great views of this difficult to see bird.

Superb Fruit-Dove - male

A single Pied Imperial Pigeon has been around for most of the last two weeks at a time when most of the other pied's have headed north to Papua New Guinea. Papuan Frogmouth sightings have been patchy with one seen roosting in the orchard some days or up near the reception area but most days hiding somewhere else. Australian Owlet-nightjar has been heard calling during the day but not tracked down as it is in a patch of dense rainforest, not in its home in the tree hollow for the last few years out on the edge of the forest. On 2^nd April 16 White-throated Needletail were seen flying over the Lodge in a one hour period, most were single sightings with one of four birds together. Also at the same time four Dollarbird were hawking insects with White-breasted Woodswallow and a Spangled Drongo. The Dollarbird were probably on their way north along with small groups of juvenile Channel-billed Cuckoo that have been seen moving over the last three weeks. A pair of Black-necked Stork have been seen in a lagoon between the Lodge and McDougall Road with Black Bittern seen along McDougall Road. The local Barramundi Farm has been turning up a few good birds which can be seen from the road, these include Pacific Black Duck, Hardhead, Australasian Darter, Little Black Cormorant, White-necked Heron, Eastern, Intermediate and Little Egret, White-faced Heron, Australian White Ibis and Royal Spoonbill. Good raptor sightings over the last two weeks: Black-shouldered Kite, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Whistling, Brahminy and Black Kite, Brown and Grey Goshawk,Spotted Harrier, Brown Falcon and Australian Hobby. Both Red-necked Crake and Pale-vented Bush-hen have been seen in our neighbours garden but only heard at the Lodge. Double-eyed Fig-Parrot have only been seen flying over and either Chestnut-breasted or Fan-tailed Cuckoo have been calling. Because their calls are very similar we have not been able to determine what species is calling. Barking and Eastern Barn Owl have been seen and Sooty Owl only heard. Laughing Kookaburra have been around in ever increasing numbers and are taking an unnaturally large amount of prey items including, nestlings, small birds (even Metallic Starling), insects, small reptiles and mammals. They look very cute as this one does perch on a tree stump looking out for anything that moves and is small enough for a meal.

Laughing Kookaburra

A White-throated Treecreeper was along McDougall Road on the 6^th April and would have moved down from the mountains behind us where they normally reside. Thirteen species of honeyeater were recorded including a first at the feeder when a Bridled Honeyeater came for banana. Barred Cuckoo-shrike and Cicadabird have been around and quite vocal as have been Grey Whistler. Black-faced Monarch are also still around and should be heading north very soon. Pied Monarch and Yellow-breasted Boatbill are around but not calling much so are difficult to see. It would appear that only one Grey-headed Robin has come down off the mountains behind us so far this season as we have only seen one occasionally.

Further Afield:-

A vagrant Black-tailed Gull (Japanese Gull) was seen on the Cairns Esplanade on April 1^st (no not an April Fools Joke!) an image and more information can be found on the Eremaea Birds site. We looked on the 5^th April but no sign of it or even any Silver Gull. We had seen this gull in Darwin back in the early 1980's and again more recently in Townsville. Two Crimson Finch were along Walkers Road in Cairns, (south of the Yorkeys Knob roundabout on highway), this is a fairly reliable place for this species. At least 30 Glossy Ibis were present at Brady Road Swamp 4km north of Mareeba at the beginning of April. Three Blue-faced Parrot-Finch were seen about 5km up the Mt. Lewis Road and another couple reported from Sweetwater Lodge in Julatten. It would appear that they are moving down the mountain as only one bird has been reported from the 10km “clearing” on Mt. Lewis in the last week. White-headed Pigeon have been in the local area but not around the Lodge grounds, this one was in a group of eight which landed in a tree for a rest.

White-headed Pigeon

Reptiles and Mammals:-

The banana feeder has proved a good place to be with Boyd's Forest Dragon, Major Skink and Yellow-footed Antichinus all making use of this food source. The antichinus was also seen grabbing a centipede which was longer than itself! These two images show the antichinus at the banana feeder and the Boyd's Forest Dragon who was nearby puffing up his throat pouch towards the antichinus who was eating “his” banana – none to pleased!

Yellow-footed Antichinus

Boyd's Forest Dragon

Our neighbours had a Striped Possum in a bunch of bananas outside their upstairs front room window one night. They also has a Slaty-grey Snake in their yard along with a couple of bat species, Large-footed Myotis (fish eating bat) and Northern Broad-nosed Bat. A single Northern Brown Bandicoot continues to come to the seed feeder most nights but the Long-nosed Bandicoot are keeping to the rainforest. A Red-legged Pademelon (small rainforest kangaroo) has been foraging in the orchard most days in the early morning of late evening.

Insects and Fungi:-

A few butterflies are around including this Large Green-banded Blue.

Large Green-banded Blue

Also a few moths including this one which was attracted to the mosquito trap.

Moth sp.

Fungi are still appearing with the most obvious being the Crinoline Fungi which have popped up in the mulch and are pollinated by flies which are attracted by their rotting smell as the fly in this image is doing.

Crinoline Fungi

This other fungi is less obvious.

Fungi sp.

24th April 2011 Report

Another glorious week with a glitch in the middle when we had 10mm of rain, this was all we had. Again sunny dry days and a temperature range of 18.5ºC to 26.2ºC. The views across to the Mt. Lewis area were spectacular as this image shows. For the month of May we have a special rate for our unit accommodation and you can come and enjoy this view and our wildlife, the rates can be found on the Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge specials page.

Looking toward Mt. Lewis behind the Lodge

Bird species recorded were 95 seen and 7 heard, reptiles and mammals were 21 seen.

The weeks bird list is on the Eremaea Birds site.

Bird movements continued this week with the first arrival of a Grey Fantail from down south on the 23^rd April. Previous years have seen them arrive in 2010 on 7^th March, 2009 an odd one arrived on 1^st March with the rest arriving on 22^nd March, 2008 4^th May, 2007, 2006 and 2005 30^th April. So there is a two month window for them to arrive with most coming in April. Good to see them back. Shining Bronze-cuckoo were calling around the area; this is a species that is normally found at higher altitudes, such as Mt. Lewis. A White-necked Heron was seen along McDougall Road and signals the return of this species to the area.

Wandering Whistling Duck numbers have increased over the last week with at least 20 in ponding amongst the cane field behind the Mt. Kooyong Nursing Home. Brown Cuckoo-dove are calling with numbers increasing but only one Wompoo Fruit-Dove seen perched high in a Queensland Blue Gum tree. Two Papuan frogmouth have been seen around the Lodge grounds, one outside the reception area on four occasions and one in the orchard twice. An Australian Owlet-nightjar was heard calling from the patch of rainforest between the Lodge grounds and the Rex Highway, this is the first we have heard for several months. 

Australian Owlet-nightjar

Black Bittern has become a regular along McDougall Road and was seen again this week. A White-faced Heron was seen flying over Geraghty Park one morning heading for Bushy Creek. Raptors were out in force with ten species in the area including Black-shouldered Kite, Pacific Baza, Brown and Grey Goshawk and Brown Falcon. Red-necked Crake was heard calling one night in the Lodge grounds but not seen and a pair of Pale-vented Bush-hen were also heard calling with movements in the grass giving away their location but no views. A juvenile Eastern Koel has taken up residence in a fruiting palm tree in our neighbours garden and hunts out any intruders. At least two Channel-billed Cuckoo were calling during the week but not seen and a Chestnut-breasted or Fan-tailed Cuckoo was also heard. (Lesser) Sooty Owl was again heard and two Eastern Barn Owl seen. No Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher to report this week which means the last sighting was on 14^th April of a single adult. There were however four other kingfisher sightings, Azure and Forest Kingfisher plus Laughing and Blue-winged Kookaburra. One juvenile Dollarbird is still around and Noisy Pitta has been out and about the Lodge grounds showing off to the guests. Spotted Catbird has been vocal and active with frequent visits to the feeder as well as skulking around in the orchard. Eleven species of honeyeater were around including the three meliphagas honeyeaters with the yellow ear patch, Lewin's, Yellow-spotted and Graceful; this gave everyone a chance to compare the three side by side. These species seem to cause the most confusion amongst our guests but help is at hand as you can download an identification guide from the Birds Queensland website . This Lewin's Honeyeater has its head turned around distorting the crescent shaped ear-patch which can cause more ID problems.

Lewin's Honeyeater

Other honeyeaters included Bridled, Yellow, Blue-faced and Macleay's. 
This Bridled Honeyeater was foraging in an African Tulip tree in Geraghty Park adjacent to the Lodge grounds.

Bridled Honeyeater

Cicadabird have also been very busy foraging around low down in the trees with both male and female seen well. Several Spangled Drongo have been actively hawking insects along with Rufous Fantail foraging in the rainforest. Pied Monarch and Yellow-breasted Boatbill were both seen well and calling a lot. Lemon-bellied Flycatcher have been busy hawking insects in Geraghty Park 

Lemon-bellied Flycatcher

 

and Grey-headed Robin have started to come out of the rainforest around the grounds, probably due to the grass being cut shorter. A Tawny Grassbird was hiding in swampy vegetation in the adjacent cane field and calling one evening. A small flock (20-30) Chestnut-breasted Mannikin were also in the cane field and adjacent grassy vegetation getting seeds.

A few more reptiles and Mammals this week helped by a spotlighting trip which turned up some goodies like Feather-tailed Glider and Striped Possum along with a Long-nosed Bandicoot in the rainforest. Northern Broad-nosed Bat was roosting under our neighbours house during the day and Eastern Horseshoe Bat was flying up and down the veranda collecting insects. Despite the dry weather a few frogs were around they were Striped Marsh Frog, Jungguy Frog, White-lipped Green Tree Frog, Northern Dwarf Tree Frog, Dessert Tree Frog (Red Tree Frog), Cogger's Frog and Cane Toad. Boyd's Forest Dragon and Major Skink made a few visits outside the units.

Further afield the highlight was a Southern Cassowary with a chick along Carr Road (about 2.5km from the Lodge). This is most unusual as they are normally up on the ranges behind but suspect food is in short supply and they came down to forage in the orchard here. White-necked Heron was reported in Port Douglas which is uncommon and Atherton Scrubwren was seen on Mt. Lewis collecting and carrying nesting material. This is very unusual as their normal nesting season is August to December. White-necked Heron and Atherton Scrubwren sightings were courtesy of Del Richards from Fine Feather Tours. The Spinifex Pigeon reported a few weeks ago at Granite Gorge west of Mareeba were still there during the week.

This butterfly obligingly posed for a photo, it has two common names Brown Soldier or Chocolate Argus Junonia hedonia (depending on which book you read) its usual host plant is Hygrophilia angustifolia which grows in moist swampy areas. This one was along the edge of a cane field but not far from a swampy area. 
 

Brown Soldier or Chocolate Argus Junonia hedonia

The Ulysses Butterfly is one of the more spectacular butterflies to occur in our region and can be see around the edges of the rainforest in the Lodge grounds or as this one is, feeding on an exotic Ixora in our neighbours garden. Unfortunately they rarely open their wings fully.

Ulysses Butterfly

9th January 2011

We had 52.5mm of rain for the week on 6 rainy days. Most of the rain fell during the late afternoon and into the night leaving most days fine and sunny, even got some lawn mowing done! Temperatures this week were 21.0-28.1ºC which was a slightly lower minimum and maximum than last week. Bird species were down on last week with 71 seen but 12 heard which was more than last week (within 1.5km of the Lodge). Mammals and reptiles seen were one less thankfully last week with 15 seen.

The weeks bird species list is here

A Wompoo Fruit-Dove was actually seen this week but the Rose-crowned and Superb Fruit-Dove still eluded us. The Pied Imperial Pigeon continues to sit in it's nest 20m off the ground in a Queensland Blue Gum Eucalyptus tereticornis at Geraghty Park, adjacent to the Lodge. 

 Pied Imperial Pigeon - on nest

The lone Papuan Frogmouth was seen once during the week in the rainforest outside the reception area but better news for the pair down the road at the Mt. Kooyong Nursing Home, they were found roosting with a juvenile. So at least one pair in the area bred last year. Australian Owlet-nightjar was heard again this week but not seen. A few Black Kite are still around the area and are not very common at this time of year, tried to get this one in flight but need more practice at this technique!

Black Kite

A Brown Goshawk was soaring over the Lodge grounds early in the week and Nankeen Kestrel continue to perch on the power lines alongside the Rex Highway. Red-necked Crake was heard most days but not seen as was Pale-vented Bush-hen. Sulphur-crested Cockatoo have whinging youngsters and Double-eyed Fig-Parrot have been flying over but we have not found where they are feeding yet. Cuckoos continue to call with Pheasant Coucal, Eastern Koel and Brush Cuckoo only heard with Channel-billed and Little Bronze-cuckoo also seen. More about Bronze-cuckoos can be found at the end of this weeks report.

(Lesser) Sooty Owl has been heard calling once in the evening and many times early in the morning around 4 to 5.00am but not seen despite one search for it. One Eastern Barn Owl has again been seen coming out of the regular daytime roost but no sign of its mate. Further along the highway an adult female E. Barn Owl was unfortunately picked up dead and is now in our freezer after measuring and weighing. It will along with another be passed onto the relevant authorities. Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher continue to surprise with six nests now confirmed to have chicks in and another two still having birds sitting on eggs. Another nest in our neighbours garden also has chicks in it as does one in Geraghty Park. If you want to see a stunning image of a BBP Kingfisher taken at the Lodge this week check out this link. Dollarbird continue to feed their nestlings in Geraghty Park and Noisy Pitta is still calling frequently and being seen not quite so frequently. Brown Gerygone was in our neighbour garden for the second week running and Large-billed Gerygone were inspecting a hanging vine over Bushy Creek with a view to possibly building a nest. 

 

 Large-billed Gerygone

Striated Pardalote were calling after an absence of 10 weeks in the eucalypts on the edge of the Lodge grounds.

Lewin's Honeyeater is still with us and Macleay's Honeyeater are still showing up with juveniles in tow. Barred Cuckoo-shrike were heard at the beginning of the week and Cicadabird are still around calling. Australasian Figbird are still sitting in a nest not far from the Pied Imperial Pigeon nest in Geraghty Park. Black Butcherbird has been around all week calling and even hopping along the veranda outside the units. Spangled Drongo have three juveniles they are feeding which is keeping them busy. Chestnut-breasted Manikin have been seen carrying nesting material so they maybe going to nest again.

The most interesting reptile sighting this week was this Boyd's Forest Dragon who was clinging to a tree outside the reception shedding its skin, note the difference in the skin colour from the old and new. 
 

 Boyd's Forest Dragon

A small colony of Little Bent-wing Bat mixed with Northern Broad-nosed Bat decided to roost under our neighbours house during the week.

Further afield a juvenile Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher was seen at the Jindalba Boardwalk on the northern side of the Daintree River, this is a very early record.

Again the wet weather has bought out some more fungi as well as a few butterflies including the Small Grass Yellow.

 Fungi sp.

 Ramaria sp. (?)

Small Grass Yellow

Bronze-cuckoo identification can pose a few problems up here in Far North Queensland, especially juveniles and females. Shining, Little and Gould's (now lumped with Little in the Australian Taxonomy of Christidis and Boles, 2008) pose the most problems.

Females are not illustrated or shown well in several field guides, Pizzey and Knight don't show female of any of the three species, Slater shows only a side on view of male, female, and juvenile Little and Gould's which does not show the broken scalloping on the breast of the adults, the Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds does not show female Little or Gould's Bronze-Cuckoo but it does show a female hybrid between the two species, it also shows differences in tail patterns between male and female Shining. Simpson and Day do show male and female of Little and Gould's but not Shining (only under-tail appear different). Which leaves Morcombe's Field Guide, which does show male and female of both Little and Gould's pointing out ID features and probably does the best job of the lot. The best descriptions we have found are in Lloyd Nielsen's book Birds of Queensland's Wet Tropics and Great Barrier Reef which sadly is out of print now. Juveniles of Horsfield's, Shining, Little and Gould's Bronze-Cuckoo are almost impossible to separate. Lloyd says that habitat is a good indicator, Horsfield's prefers drier open forest, Shining in usually in upland rainforest, Little are usually in open, paperbark and gallery forests and tropical woodland whilst Gould's prefer coastal rainforest, nearby open and gallery forest as well as mangroves. Gould's also appears to like some of the open woodland around the Lodge. Differences between Little and Gould's really do not matter now as Little and Gould's are lumped  -:).

Below are a few images taken around the area of the Lodge, the first three are the same bird whilst the forth is a different bird. You will notice the different amount of barring in the tail, first bird (3 images) shows three bars and the second only one bar, maybe this is an age feature? All three show rufous outer tail feathers which is diagnostic of Gould's, Little has white outer tail feathers. The fith bird has incomplete scalloping across the breast but shows some rufous around the neck, it also appears to have white outer tail feathers and more barring in the tail with no rufous in the tail and a light coloured eye ring which would make it a female Little Bronze-Cuckoo.

These first four birds would appear to be female Gould's and the fifth one a Shining Bronze-Cuckoo, if anyone has any other ideas please let us know.
 

 Gould's Bronze-Cuckoo - female

 Gould's Bronze-Cuckoo - female

 Gould's Bronze-Cuckoo - female

 Gould's Bronze-Cuckoo - female

Shining Bronze-Cuckoo

6th June 2010 Report

  Quite a dry week with only 6.5mm of rain, sunny and overcast days with temperatures down to 18ºC and a top of 25ºC. Bird numbers were 70 bird species seen and 2 heard - mammals and reptiles were 14 seen.

 Once again the (Lesser) Sooty Owl was calling during the week near the reception area in the evening before again heading towards Geraghty Park as it did the previous week. We have not been able to find out where it is going once it gets into the park as it stops calling. Brown Cuckoo-Dove have been feeding on fruiting Tobacco Bush and a Wompoo Fruit-Dove has been calling around the Lodge grounds. Papuan Frogmouth has been found in the orchard several times during the week and some guests saw two birds one night around the camping area. Australian Owlet-nightjar has also been calling in the Lodge grounds on two occasions but not seen. A pair of Pacific Baza have been around and calling a lot so they may be getting ready to nest again this year. Meanwhile the Whistling Kite in a neighbours property have been flying around and visiting the nest which probably means they have young in the nest. An Australian Hobby was perched high up in a Blue Quandong tree beside Bushy Creek early one morning. From here it was diving out onto the surrounding grounds trying to catch breakfast. The image below was taken at a distance with a hand held 300mm lens and a 1.4x tele-converter on an EOS 7D camera. Whilst it is not the best image in the world it is pretty good considering it has also been heavily cropped.

 

Australian Hobby

  A pair of Double-eyed Fig-Parrot flew over calling once and Australian King-Parrot made a return for two days. Eastern Barn Owl continue to play games with us, this time there were two birds roosting in the same tree hollow twice during the week and no sign of visiting their nest site. A third bird was seen on the edge of another suspected nest site. A pair of Azure Kingfisher continue to visit the Red-necked Crake pool during the day. Maybe we should rename the pool to Azure Kingfisher pool as the crakes have not been heard or seen there for some time, hopefully they will return when the water level drops a bit more. Noisy Pitta has been calling during the day and seen on several occasions but has been keeping to the rainforest. Both adult and brown juvenile Black Butcherbird have been around the Lodge grounds as has been a brown sub-adult male Victoria's Riflebird. Red-browed Finch have been around with young ones, the one in the image below lacks the red eye stripe of the adults but has the red on the upper tail coverts and tail.

 Red-browed Finch - juvenile

 In the local area a large fruiting fig tree has been a magnet for fruit eating birds, a visit late one morning produced the following, 6+ Wompoo Fruit-Dove, 20+ Double-eyed Fig-Parrot, 1 Tooth-billed Bowerbird, numerous honeyeaters including Graceful, Yellow-spotted, Lewin's and Macleay's, 2 Barred Cuckoo-shrike, numerous Australasian Figbird, 1 Olive-backed Oriole and a small flock of Silvereye. Will have another look this coming week. A dam north of the McLeod River produced Squatter Pigeon and Black-throated Finch. Female Golden Bowerbird has been seen several times around the parking area on Mt. Lewis but no sign of any males recently.

 

Vine Moth Nyctemera secundiana

 A few interesting Moths this week a Vine Moth Nyctemera secundiana (also called Magpie Moth) which is found on Cape York Peninsula down to Taree in New South Wales, They are distasteful to predators and quite active during the day as this one was. It's the first time we've seen one here but we could easily overlook them. The moth below is called a Four O'clock Moth due to its habit of flying in the afternoon/evening, this one was out at 8.00am! Thanks to Rupert for this ID and description.

Four O'clock Moth Dysphania numana

25th April 2010 Report

More drizzle this week with sunny periods and 16.5mm in the rain gauge for the week. Temperatures were down to 20ºC and a top of 26ºC. Bird numbers were 74 bird species seen and 4 heard - mammals and reptiles were 17 seen and one heard.

Highlight of the week was as last week, a mammal, this time Green Ringtail Possum. Two adults with a very large juvenile were spotlighted in the orchard, which is the first time we have seen three green ringtails together. The rather large juvenile was clinging to one of the parents backs before climbing down onto a branch to sit beside it. The other presumed parent was a few metres away watching proceedings. Great to see they are breeding within the Lodge grounds.

 Green Ringtail Possum

There has been a bit of movement with the migratory species in the area over the last week. The first Australian White Ibis for the season turned up in a cow paddock just over the Rex Highway (Hwy44) from the Lodge. Other summer migrants which are still in the area include two male Eastern Koel, several Channel-billed Cuckoo, at least two Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher were still with us at the end of the week, 

 Rainbow Bee-eater

Rainbow Bee-eater numbers are up with several small flocks passing through and Black-faced Monarch were still feeding large juveniles. No sightings of Superb Fruit-Dove this week but with several fig trees in the area fruiting they may well have moved to them, Wompoo Fruit-Dove were present at the beginning of the week but had disappeared by the end. One Papuan Frogmouth was again in the orchard, sometimes hiding but the reliable Pale-yellow Robin found him for us a couple of times. Pacific Baza was around all week calling and foraging in the tree tops and White-bellied Sea-Eagle were again soaring over the grounds calling. Pale-vented Bush-hen and at least two Red-necked Crake were heard calling from a patch of grassy edged forest along the Lodge boundary with Mt. Kooyong Road but not seen.
 

Bush Stone-curlew have just started to come into the Lodge grounds and one was outside the reception area one night. 

 Bush Stone-curlew

(Lesser) Sooty Owl have been around again during the week calling early evening and early morning before going to roost. Several Barred Cuckoo-shrike are still around making use of fruiting fig trees and Cicadabird is still calling and both Yellow and Olive-backed Oriole have been feeding in fig trees and on palm seeds. An adult Black Butcherbird has been around giving some poor frogs a hard time. Grey Fantail is still in short supply with only one regularly seen around the lodge near reception, surprising not more have arrived as we saw small flocks on the Atherton Tableland a month ago. Grey-headed Robin numbers are still low with the local migrants still up at higher ground on Mt. Lewis.

Further afield a Dollarbird was seen on powerlines along the Bruce Highway at Palm Cove whilst we were going into Cairns; they appear to have all left the Julatten area with no sightings for two weeks. Five Dusky Woodswallow were seen at Hasties Swamp near Atherton by Alan Gillanders from Alan's Wildlife Tours, this is an unusual time of year at this site.

Several interesting insects were seen during the week including this female Common Eggfly butterfly.

female Common Eggfly

and this colourful caterpillar from an unknown (to us) species.

Caterpillar

Access to Mt. Lewis is definitely four wheel drive at the moment with many boggy patches and a lot of pig damage chopping up the road. There has only been one sighting of Blue-faced Parrot-Finch over the last few weeks on the mountain but there has been reports of Russet-tailed Thrush calling up at 950m which is quite high.

Other interesting animals spotlighted during the week included Leaf-tailed Gecko, great views of Feather-tail Glider foraging on inflorescence in a Coconut Palm, frogs included White-lipped Tree Frog,  (this one was resting up during the day!)

White-lipped Tree Frog

 

Jungguy Frog, Northern Dwarf Tree Frog and Red Tree Frog. Bumpy Rocket Frog or Peter's Frog Litoria inermis was recorded during the week, this is a rarely observed frog at the Lodge. 

After talking to several frog experts the general consensus is that Jungguy Frog Litoria jungguy occurs at the Lodge and not the very similar Wilcox's Frog Litoria wilcoxii, both these species have been split from Stony Creek Frog Litoria lesueurii.

24th January 2010 Report

217mm of rain during the week which was mainly due to two Cyclones in the area. The first, Neville, fizzed out into a rain depression and the second Olga crossed the coast near the Daintree Village. The top of this cyclone sheared off and it was this that crossed the coast, the lower half went down the coast and bought rain to the southern Atherton Tablelands and coast. (The pre-occupation with watching the cyclones resulted in the blog being delayed this week) Temperatures ranged from 20ºC to 29ºC. Bird numbers were 79 bird species seen and 8 heard - mammals and reptiles were 15 seen and two heard, (Striped Possum and a White-lipped Tree Frog).

Once again this week the Noisy Pitta was foraging around the reception area but this week we had two together collecting worms, all the time bobbing their tails up and down. One even came around the feeder area outside the reception area before hopping along the veranda past the units! The Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher continued to harass the pittas, diving down onto them, the pittas reacted by spreading their wings showing off the turquoise wing patches.

Noisy Pitta

Superb Fruit-Dove and Wompoo Fruit-Dove was again seen well and the Pied Imperial Pigeon numbers seem to have abated with only two seen this week. A Red-necked Crake was in our neighbours garden with possibly a young black fluffy juvenile. The rain bought a Pheasant Coucal out onto a fence post to dry it's wings during a sunny period and Brush Cuckoo was in full song enjoying the rain.

A check of the Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher nests during the week found three with chicks in, two with birds sitting and one which had nobody home. Our neighbour has another nest with chicks in and in the rainforest between us and the highway is another nest with chicks in. So it looks good for the kingfishers so far. A recently fledged juvenile Dollarbird was seen perched in a tree whilst the parents were busy chasing off any other birds which came near, don't often seen Dollarbirds this young. Several Spotted Catbird were busy harassing and being chased by Spectacled Monarchs, Pale Yellow Robin and Macleay's Honeyeater. The catbirds were also feeding on a Soursop fruit and a fallen mango in the orchard. The lone (apparently) Lewin's Honeyeater was around the feeder near reception on several occasions. Bridled and Scarlet Honeyeater returned after an absence of a few months. The Cicadabird pair (reported last week) were off their nest but no signs of any juvenile birds, they were hanging around the nest site so hopefully the nestling's fledged. One pair of Magpie-lark were seen feeding some large nestling's while another pair fledged their young which were seen flying around and being fed by the parents. A Lemon-bellied Flycatcher was attending a nest alongside the highway in a eucalyptus and appeared to be feeding nestling's. This nest must surely be one of the smallest made by an Australian bird.

Lemon-bellied Flycatcher

A quick evening trip to look for the local owls turned up the regular pair of Eastern Barn Owls who are randomly moving between their nest tree and roost tree on different days. Whilst waiting for the owls to appear we spotlighted a calling Green Tree Frog Litoria caerulea in a tree! We were so used to this species living in our house in Darwin many years ago but we have not had them anywhere near our house or Lodge buildings since living here, only the White-lipped Tree Frog Litoria infrafrenata come into the buildings. We don't hear the Green Tree Frog much but when we do they are always high up in trees.

Further afield a trip to Cairns allowed sometime along the Esplanade where there was the usual good mix of waders, plenty of Great Knot and Red-necked Stint but fewer Lesser and Greater Sand Plover than a few weeks ago. The Laughing Gull and Asian Dowitchers have not been seen for nearly a month and can be assumed to have left town. A visit to nearby Abattoir Swamp produced 31 species including a White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike and Magpie Lark on nests. Other interesting birds seen were a Brown Quail, Red-winged Parrot, good looks at the calling Brush Cuckoo and White-throated Gerygone. From the swamp we checked out the nearby Wessel Road where we found 30 species, highlights here were Black Bittern foraging alongside the road in some water run off, Eastern Yellow Robin and Grey Shrike-thrush which are not common in the area, a Tawny Frogmouth calling during the day, male Cicadabird and a Grey Whistler carrying food. A 1m Lace Monitor ran across the road as we arrived and a Little Red Flying-Fox was hanging in a tree over the road. The White-browed Robin has been seen at Big Mitchell Creek (between Mt. Molloy and Mareeba) and Emerald Creek Falls (between Mareeba and Kuranda).

Eastern Yellow Robin

Last weeks image of the Orchard Swallowtail which was up for an ID discussion was deemed to be an Ambrax Swallowtail, thanks to those who sent in their comments and reasons for the final ID.

17th January 2010 report

When you next visit you will be greeted by a new sign at the entrance, the old one has been retired after doing a great job since 1994, it had been retouched once but was now looking very secondhand with the Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher falling off the sign! So we now have a more modern sign reflecting our logo.

18mm of rain during the week which was less than the previous week, just a few showers with distant thunderstorms which avoided us. Temperatures ranged from 20ºC to 29ºC. Bird numbers were 85 bird species seen and 5 heard - mammals and reptiles were 13 seen and a Striped Possum heard growling in the dawn chorus!

Noisy Pitta made the headlines this week with one hopping around peoples feet in the orchard collecting insects and flying into the rainforest to presumably feed young in a nest. The most interesting sighting of the Noisy Pitta, was one roosting at night - something we have not seen before. The bird was sitting on an exposed branch of a Lychee tree in the orchard only 1.75m off the ground. Our references to Noisy Pitta roosting in trees: Handbook of Australian, New Zealand and Antarctic Birds (HANZAB) vol.5 (2001), Handbook of the Birds of the World (2003) and Pittas, Broadbills and Asities (1996) all mention Pittas roosting in trees but only HANZAB says that Noisy Pitta roost high off the ground. This observation seems to be continued on in other more popular articles (i.e. Michael Snedic in the Birds Australia magazine Wingspan March 2002) and information leaflets we have seen. We suspect that observations of Noisy Pittas roosting are few and far between and what little has been written up and published refers only to birds roosting high up, so if you have seen them roosting low down get it published!

The Red-necked Crake was another highlight for the week with at least four sightings of a bird down by Bushy Creek. One was seen flying across the creek and foraging along the edge making several guests very happy. It's about time they started to put on a show after proving so elusive over the last few months. The image below shows one lurking in the undergrowth doing a wing stretch.

Red-necked Crake

Several breeding events have been noticed this week, Yellow-breasted Boatbill has been feeding a very juvenile bird, several Spectacled Monarch have been building or sitting in nests, both Red-browed Finch and Chestnut-breasted Mannikin have been carrying nesting material as was a Little Shrike-thrush. The pair of Pacific Baza who recently successfully fledged two youngsters returned with them for a couple of days after a week away, the juveniles made a lot of noise begging for food. They are interesting birds to watch whilst they feed, delicately picking small pieces off their prey (insects and frogs) rather than tearing them apart like some other raptors. The Cicadabird (male and female) are feeding nestlings; two little fluff balls were seen early in the week peering out of their nest which was good. Last week we thought nothing was going to happen as the female had been sitting on the nest for much longer than the normal incubation period.

It was a good week for pigeons and doves with Brown Cuckoo-dove, Emerald Dove, Peaceful Dove, Bar-shouldered Dove, Wompoo Fruit-Dove, Superb Fruit-Dove and Pied Imperial Pigeon all seen around the Lodge grounds. There was at least three Wompoo Fruit-Dove feeding in a fruiting tree and several Superb Fruit-Dove calling with one eventually tracked down and seen well, high up in a rainforest tree. Pied Imperial Pigeon numbers continue to increase quite dramatically with 150+ counted in one fig-tree alongside Bushy Creek, most of these moved into the Lodge grounds and noisily fed in a few fruiting trees seemingly knocking down more fruit than they ate!

Australian Swiftlet numbers built up during the week with a few White-throated Needletail mixed in with them. A Great Cormorant flew over one morning, not a species we see much of around here. A Pair of White-bellied Sea-Eagle majestically glided over, late one evening in formation, calling to each other whilst we waited for some Eastern Barn Owls to show. Pale-vented Bush-hen was seen briefly foraging in long grass at the edge of the orchard and along Bushy Creek as well as being heard in several other places around the Lodge. A few Barred Cuckoo-shrike are still hanging around but there was no sign of the brown Black Butcherbird this week. Instead two adults are hanging around much to the displeasure of the other birds. An Eclectus Parrot flew over one afternoon calling, obviously one we would not expect as they normally occur way north on Cape York, including Iron Range. They are kept in captivity and we suspect this one came from a nearby resort who have two they let free fly.

Further afield Blue-faced Parrot-Finch has been seen on Mt. Lewis in increasing numbers with up to eight birds seen. Two other birds were seen along the Black Mountain Road at the Julatten end almost opposite the Black Mountain Hideaway horse rides property. White-browed Crake was seen at Abattoir Swamp and Mt. Carbine Dam but the most unusual sighting was by Alan Gillanders from http://www.alanswildlifetours.com.au/ in Yungaburra who had a Striped Honeyeater feeding in eucalypts at the end of Black Gully Road, Tinaroo on the Atherton Tablelands for at least five days. This species is way north of its normal range. White-browed Robin was seen at Big Mitchell Creek which is good as they have been hard to see since big fires went through the area towards the end of last year.

Spotlighting was quite good with Papuan Frogmouth, Australian Owlet-nightjar, Eastern Barn Owl, Green Ringtail Possum, Northern Brown Bandicoot, Spectacled Flying Fox (one dropping a mango which just missed one of our guests) and Cogger's Frog. We were buzzed by a large bat on several occasions one night, if we had to guess what it was we would go for Diadem Leaf-nosed Bat, which we have seen roosting here before.

Dragonfly sp.

Butterflies and dragonflies continue to be conspicuous and with fallen mango's there are quite a few fruit sucking moths starting to appear. Must get out with the camera and get a few images of the moths. Dragonflies are a real challenge and one we've not taken up yet, this photo is of an unknown species which we think might be one of the bluestreaks (?). The butterfly looks like an Orchard Swallowtail, if anyone has any ideas please let us know. All the ID books show the butterflies with wings spread, which is not what you normally see when they are at rest.

Orchard Swallowtail (?)