16th November 2014 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Weather Report

Rainfall over the last two weeks was 3mm over four days, still very dry and the grass has turned brown. Humidity dropped down to 46% with lots of sunshine and temperatures reaching 31.6ºc which it has been doing for the last five weeks.

Last Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-

These can be found on the Eremaea eBird site. 2nd– 8th November and 9th- 15th November The first week had 105 species recorded and the second week 111.

Birding Highlights:-

Magpie Goose have again been heard flying over at night and seen along McDougall Road in one of the lagoons, which has also had Wandering Whistling-Duck, Pacific Black Duck, Grey Teal, Australasian Darter, two Australian Pelican, Great, Intermediate and Cattle Egret, White-faced Heron and six Royal Spoonbill. The Cattle Egret are now acquiring their breeding plumage with their head, neck and backs turning orange-brown.

Cattle Egret - breeding condition

 

A Black Bittern appeared at the Crake Pool on the evening of the 6^th November as guests were awaiting the Red-necked Crake (which did not show that evening). We get a few sightings of Black Bittern each year, but they are few and far between. A few raptors have been around with one sighting of Black-shouldered Kite and a pair of Pacific Baza. Other raptors around have been Grey and Brown Goshawk, Black and Whistling Kite plus White-bellied Sea-Eagle. 

 

Red-necked Crake was seen on several occasions at the Crake Pool and once at Bushy Creek across from the Platypus viewing area. It generally came at dusk, around 6.15pm but was seen once at 4.15pm. Both Buff-banded Rail and a White-browed Crake, which is a rarity around here, were seen along Bushy Creek.

Superb Fruit-Dove continue to call and feed around the Lodge and have been seen with much patience, they are difficult to get onto as they hide high in the rainforest canopy. Wompoo Fruit-Dove have been easier to see as have Pied Imperial-Pigeon and Topknot Pigeon. Cuckoo have been making their presence felt with Brush Cuckoo, Little (Gould's) Bronze-Cuckoo, Australian Koel, Channel-billed Cuckoo and Pheasant Coucal all being seen and heard. At least six male Little (Gould's) Bronze-Cuckoo were around the Lodge entrance for three days, chasing and foraging. Lesser Sooty Owl has been calling most nights, but nobody bothered to get up at 4.00am to go and find them! However, one called early in the evening on the15th and was seen high in a tree before flying over. Barn Owl and Barking Owl have also been around, this Barn Owl was just getting up and deciding whether it was worth leaving the daytime roost.

Barn Owl

Australian Owlet-nightjar was only heard. Azure Kingfisher have been up and down Bushy Creek perching for good views. Blue-winged Kookaburra have been quiet for the last week and not seen. The Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher which arrived on the 30^th October was seen high in the rainforest canopy on the 4^th November, but not heard or seen since. There have been reports of single birds in the district, but not of any significant numbers, so hopefully the main migratory population is not far away. A pair of Dollarbird have been around Geraghty Park checking out nesting sites and calling, but have not been seen attending any suitable tree hollows. Double-eyed Fig-Parrot are now feeding at least one nestling which will hopefully fledge successfully, both male and female are busy feeding their offspring.

 

Double-eyed Fig-Parrot - female at nest

Double-eyed Fig-Parrot - male at nest

Two juvenile Australian King-Parrot were feeding in the Lodge grounds one morning before flying off and not returning. At least one pair of Noisy Pitta returned overnight on the 4^th November when the male was seen perched 5m up in a tree calling with another pitta answering. Hopefully they will breed here again this year. 13 species of honeyeater were recorded around the Lodge including an occasional visitor, Eastern Spinebill. Quite a number of Lewin's Honeyeater are still around the grounds, numbers did drop, but seem to have increased in the last few weeks which is very unusual. It is possible that the prolonged dry spell we are having has forced them back down from the mountains, such as Mt. Lewis, to seek out some food. Male Yellow-breasted Boatbill have been calling a lot, mainly in the morning. Barred Cuckoo-shrike have been around calling and feeding on fruiting fig tees along with White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike, Varied Triller and Common Cicadabird. Black-faced Monarch have been calling, but no sign of nest building yet. They are probably waiting for a good downpour of rain to get going. Pied Monarch are also calling and being seen regularly as have Leaden Flycatcher whose numbers have increased in the last few weeks. 

Pied Monarch - male

 

A female plumaged Victoria's Riflebird was seen down by the Crake Pool after one was heard the day before and again seen with an immature male bathing in front of the self-contained units, this is very late in the season to have two around the Lodge. The Lemon-bellied Flycatcher reported on a nest last blog was seen feeding one nestling, but the outcome of the nest is unknown as the parents have not been seen at the nest for at least five days, hopefully the youngster fledged. Pale-yellow Robin have fledged young, this one was awaiting the parents to return with some food.

Pale-yellow Robin - juvenile

Grey-headed Robin are still with us which again is a late stayer which normally goes back into the mountains at this time of year. Yet another bird which is normally up in the mountains is the Bassian Thrush, one was seen along Bushy Creek on the 9^th November. Mistletoebird are still very active with some males and females chasing each, but other pairs are busy breeding or have fledged young.

Mistletoebird - male

Further Afield:-

Banded Honeyeater continue to be in the Maryfarms area between Mt. Carbine and Mount Molloy. Also in this area are displaying male Australian Bustard.

 

Australian Bustard - displaying male

 

Latham's Snipe were seen twice in Julatten over the last week and four Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo flew over Mt. Molloy. (thanks to Carol Iles for these sighting). Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo were again seen at the Mowbray National Park in Julatten along with Lovely Fairy-wren. A Ruff was reported on the Cairns Esplanade and a Barn Swallow at Yorkey's Knob both these reports were from Dominic Funnell who operates Cairns Bird Tours and can organise half, full or multiple day tours. Blue-faced Parrot-Finch are starting to appear on Mt. Lewis with four seen one morning.

Blue-faced Parrot-finch

Reptiles and Mammals:-

Highlight over the two weeks was a first sighting of an Australian Wood Frog Hylarana daemeli in the Lodge grounds. This frog occurs on the Cape York Peninsular and down the east coast to about Townsville. Surprising we have not recorded it before as it is reasonably common in our area and is a large frog (90mm). The promise of rain bought out a few frogs:- Jungguy Frog, White-lipped Tree Frog, Northern Dwarf Tree Frog, Roth's (Laughing)Tree Frog, Desert (Red) Tree Frog and a few Cane toad. Yellow-footed Antechinus have been very active with several seen during the day, this one was in the rainforest foraging before it ran to shelter in a log.

Yellow-footed Antechinus

Agile Wallaby have been coming into the orchard in the hope of finding some green grass.

Agile Wallaby

A Green Ringtail Possum was seen on a night walk, a first for about a month and a Striped Possum was seen behind the accommodation units one evening. The pair of Platypus in Bushy Creek have been performing most evenings and early morning along with several Eastern Water Dragon. Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko are still being found, but have become more difficult with many staying up high on trees. Boyd's Forest Dragon have also been around with at least one male coloured up in his greenish breeding condition. An interesting snake was seen on the path to the orchard, it was about a metre long and a uniform mustard yellow colour. Not quite the same colour as a Green Tree Snake which is a brighter yellow with a black belly, but it could have been one to our untrained eye.

Insects:-

The prolonged dry spell we are experiencing has slowed down the insects, but a few dragonfly have started to appear such as this Painted Grasshawk.

Painted Grasshawk - male

 

Bird ID:-

This wader has been a bit of a challenge so we a throwing it open to anyone who has an opinion as to which species it might be.

 

Unknown Wader

 

Thanks to Carol and Andrew Iles our roving bird guides for helping with the bird lists and area sightings. If you need any guiding in our local area contact us and we can put you in touch with them, contact through our secure bookings and enquiries web page. 

 

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5th October 2014 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

This weeks blog features some of the other wildlife we have in the Lodge grounds in addition to the birds. It highlights the amazing diversity to be found in even a small area such as our 5ha's if you are prepared to look closer.

Weather Report

After almost having a dry month a few showers arrived on the 29^th giving us 9 mm of rain . Before this event we had more sun, temperatures slightly warmer than previous weeks, down to 15.5ºC and up to 28.0ºC, excellent birding weather. Humidity was 70%+.

Last Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-

These can be found on the Eremaea eBird site. 21st - 27th September and 28thSeptember - 4th October The first week had 108 species recorded and the second week 101.

Morning and Evening Guided Walks:-

Morning walks produced between 46 (photography morning) and 63 species, some of the highlights were:- Nankeen Night-Heron was seen foraging along Bushy Creek carrying a prey item. Grey Goshawk soaring above, Azure Kingfisher perched, Great Bowerbird at his bower, 

 

Great Bowerbird - at his bower

 

also Barred Cuckoo-shrike feasting on small figs, Bassian Thrush (uncommon) along Bushy Creek and a Platypus performing in Bushy Creek for great views on several occasions.

 

(The full morning walk 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).

Evening walk highlights were Barn Owl, Fawn-footed Melomys eating banana from a bunch growing near the units, Red-legged Pademelon, Giant White-tailed Tree Rat, Striped Possum, Platypus, five different frog species, Northern Leaf-tail Gecko – one on the ground and another on the side of a tree and Boyd's Forest Dragon. Also this interesting Centipede which is 150mm (6”) long was seen on the edge of the rainforest. Centipedes are mainly nocturnal and are predatory feeding on a range of prey items such as worms, reptiles, amphibians, small mammals, bats and birds. 

 

Centipede sp.

 
Other Birding Highlights:

Two Cotton Pygmy-goose have been intermittently showing along McDougall Road in one of the lagoons (within our 1.5km reporting area). An Osprey was a surprise flying over Mt. Kooyong Road one afternoon - not many records from adjacent to the Lodge. Pacific Baza have been around infrequently and were seen displaying over the Lodge one day when they locked feet and spiraled down to tree top level before breaking off. A Wedge-tailed Eagle was seen over the Lodge on at least two occasions, also around have been both Grey and Brown Goshawk, often pursued by Blue-faced Honeyeater. Red-necked Crake have been making more appearances at the Crake Pool with one or two birds arriving just before it gets dark around 6.15pm but not every night. This juvenile Emerald Dove has been coming to the reception area feeder for at least the last two months and has been chasing away the adult doves.

Emerald Dove - juvenile

Wompoo Fruit-dove are starting to come into fruiting Blue Quandong trees which are just getting ripe, up to three have been seen so far. Superb Fruit-dove was heard calling on the 29^th September in the Lodge grounds but not seen, first one heard for 4-5 months. At least one male and one female Australian Koel have been around the Lodge and our neighbours garden. Lesser Sooty Owl was around for a few nights, first heard calling on 25^th September, but not seen. A large Peregrine Falcon (as opposed to the smaller superficially similar looking Australian Hobby, which is fairly regular in our area) was seen twice when it flew over our neighbours garden early one morning before being seen over the Lodge grounds later the same morning. Not many records of Peregrine Falcon in our area. Our single Noisy Pitta is still around on it's own with no sign of our usual two adult pairs which normally return in September - November to breed. Plenty of honeyeaters around 12 seen and one heard. 

This shot is of a Graceful Honeyeater showing an unusually curved bill (they are normally slightly down-curved), slight diffuse yellow stripe on the belly and the blue/grey eye, some of the features to help separate it from Yellow-spotted Honeyeater which has straighter lower mandible and a brown eye. Very distinctive calls between graceful and yellow-spotted honeyeaters which visitors would be well advised to learn before they visit.

 

Graceful Honeyeater

An Eastern Whipbird was heard calling on the 26^th September from a patch of rainforest between the Lodge and the Rex Highway. This species rarely comes into our immediate area and in nine years we have only had one or two birds in the Lodge grounds. Black-faced Monarch were heard calling for the first time this season on the 29^th September.

Further Afield:-

A Spotless Crake was seen at Abattoir Swamp by Doug Herrington from Birdwatching Tropical Tours. Up to seven Australian Pratincole have been reported along West Maryfarm Road north of Mt. Molloy along with displaying Australian Bustard. Birds found nesting in and around Julatten include Graceful Honeyeater, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Fairy Gerygone, Pale-Yellow Robin, Metallic Starling and Mistletoebird. 

 

Graceful Honeyeater Nest

Mistletoebird Nest - female still building

Up to three Blue-faced Parrot-Finch have been found near Abattoir Swamp but they should start moving off and up into the mountains very soon. Mt. Lewis continues to show most of the 12 "Wet Tropic" endemics including Golden Bowerbird, but roadworks and some rain has made the road only suitable for four wheel drive vehicles at the moment. As this is being written (4th Oct.) there is still a grader working on the road with a water truck. Rufous Owl is still being reported from Cairns Esplanade.

Reptiles and Mammals:-

Yellow-footed Antichinus have been seen in various parts of the Lodge grounds during the day darting around on the ground. Agile Wallaby have joined the Red-legged Pademelon at night to browse in the orchard with at least three seen. Striped Possum is not visiting our South American Sapote tree any more as the flowers have nearly finished, but one was seen in a nearby tree which has just started to blossom, another was seen in a tree above the campground cookshed. The Platypus have been showing well both in the evening and early morning with up to two swimming up and down Bushy Creek at the viewing area. Up to six Northern Brown Bandicoot have been visiting the reception area feeder, good to see increased numbers over the last few weeks. Frogs got excited when we had a few millimeters of rain with up to six species seen – Jungguy Frog, White-lipped Green Tree Frog, Roth's (Laughing) Frog, Desert (Red) Tree Frog, Dainty Green Tree Frog and a large Cane Toad. Northern Leaf-tail Gecko have re-appeared as mention in the night walk report as have Major Skink who have been anticipating warmer weather. The Australian Scrub Python mentioned last blog left it's tree trunk home at the end of the second week and has not been relocated.

Thanks to Carol and Andrew Iles our roving bird guides for helping with the bird lists and area sightings. If you need any guiding in our local area contact us and we can put you in touch with them, contact through our secure bookings and enquiries web page.

Insects:-

A clicking sound was heard in the office one morning which was traced to a Click Beetle. It was relocated outside and continued clicking as it bounced into the air. This clicking and bouncing into the air is mainly used to avoid predation, but as this one was doing trying to right itself after in fell onto its back. The violent "click" that bounced the beetle into the air is caused by a spine which is snapped into a corresponding notch on the beetle. A further more explicit explanation of how this works can be found on the Wikipedia site. 

 

Click Beetle sp. - on its back

Click Beetle sp. - right side up

A Mango tree which is covered in flowers at the moment is attracting hoards of bees to the pollen. Not sure of the species of bee but have been told previously that we have Italian Honey Bees here. This species of bee was introduced into Brisbane in 1880.

Bee sp. (?)

Butterflies are not easy to photograph as they fold their wings when landing unlike moths which generally hold them open. We have a good variety of butterfly and moth in the Lodge grounds but many of them are confined to the canopy of the rainforest which also makes it difficult to photograph them let alone see them. However this Common Aeroplane (White-banded Plane) Phaedyma shepherdi was very co-operative. A full list of species recorded at the Lodge can be found on our website.

Common Aeroplane (White-banded Plane)

Arachnid:-

The Giant Silverback spider or Brush-footed trapdoor spider(Genus Idiommata, family Barychelidae) has featured in the blog before, at the beginning of 2014. It is only the second one we have found here, this one was smaller than the previous one, but still very impressive. They are not aggressive but can inflict a nasty bite so best to steer clear of them!

Giant Silverback spider

 

Giant Silverback spider

Plant:-

The Northern Pencil Orchid – Dockrillia calamiformis was formerly known as Dendrobium calamiforme and Dendrobium teretifolium var. fasciculatum is an epiphytic or lithophytic (A plant that grows on rock and derives its nourishment chiefly from the atmosphere), orchid which occurs in rainforest and humid open forest in Cape York and North eastern Queensland. In our area it is mainly seen hanging off the trunks or branches of trees, this one was on a Mango fruit tree. The flowers, which appear in August through to November, are fragrant and pollinated by small bees.

 

 

Northern Pencil Orchid

Kingfisher Birdwatchers Lodge 21st September Report

21^st 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 again, just wall to wall sunshine, cool temperatures down to 11.1ºC and much warmer than previous months, up to 27.3ºC, great conditions. Temperatures in the morning have been about 4ºC below the average for this time of year.

Last Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-

These can be found on the Eremaea eBird site. 7th - 13th September and 14th- 20th September The first week had 105 species recorded and the second week 103.

Morning and Evening Guided Walks:-

Morning walks produced between 44 and 55 species, some of the highlights were Pacific Baza foraging in the camp ground, two Blue-winged Kookaburra, Double-eyed Fig-Parrot, Noisy Pitta in the orchard hopping around us for over 10 minutes whilst we were watching a pair of roosting Papuan Frogmouth, Great Bowerbird performing at its bower, a pair of Yellow-faced Honeyeater on a nest, a male Fairy Gerygone foraging on the ground (usually high up in the rainforest) and a pair of Pale Yellow Robin attending a nest. Also a Platypus was seen twice on one morning walk at two different locations and once on a night walk. 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.

Evening walk highlights were Barn Owl, Papuan Frogmouth, Red-legged Pademelon, Striped Possum, Platypus, four different frog species, despite the dry weather, Boyd's Forest Dragon which had re-appeared with the warmer weather, Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko and two Australian Scrub Python. A surprise one night was a roosting Pacific Baza high up in a rainforest tree, a first for a night walk.

Other Birding Highlights:-

An immature Orange-footed Scrubfowl has been around the edge of the orchard foraging in the rainforest and trying to get out of the way of the adults who harass it at every opportunity. Here it is intently looking for food as it scratches away.

 

Orange-footed Scrubfowl

 

Red-necked Crake have been regularly coming to the Crake Pool late evenings with one or two seen, one was also seen in the garden in front of the units. A Comb-crested Jacana was in one of the McDougall Road lagoons, this was a first for many months. A pair of Wompoo Fruit-Dove were in the trees around the Crake Pool on the edge of the orchard and a pair of Torresian Imperial-Pigeon flew over Geraghty Park. The Torresian Imperial-Pigeon are recent arrivals to our part of the inland only having been around for the last four years. Small flocks of Topknot Pigeon are still flying over, nine being the most at any one time. Channel-billed Cuckoo have been scarce with only one seen over the last two weeks and several other calling. Papuan Frogmouth have been roosting in the area including these three.

 

Papuan Frogmouth

 

Again Australian Owlet-nightjar has been heard, but not seen, very frustrating. Rainbow Lorikeet have been seen nesting as have Double-eyed Fig-Parrot. Bridled Honeyeater have moved into the area and two uncommon Black-chinned Honeyeater were seen in Geraghty Park. The Blue-faced Honeyeater which occurs around the Lodge is in a zone integration between the nominate race Entomyon cyanotis cyanotis from eastern Australia and Entomyon cyanotis griseigularis, the sub-species from Cape York. The one pictured here is an immature bird foraging on a Grevillea in a neighbours garden adjacent to Geraghty Park.

 

Blue-faced Honeyeater - immature

Yellow-breasted Boatbill have been active and calling as well as showing well. A few Barred Cuckoo-shrike are around the lodge grounds, but proving difficult to see. Northern Fantail have also returned to the fringes of the Lodge grounds and have been heard calling well. Pied Monarch are also around,

Pied Monarch

as is at least one immature male Victoria's Riflebird. 

 

Victoria's Riflebird - immature male

 

Metallic Starling are slowly making nests, but quite a few have fallen to the ground which is not good for their breeding season. Male Mistletoebird have been calling and showing well, but no sign of nesting yet.

Further Afield:-

An unconfirmed report of vagrant Northern Pintail at Hasties Swamp, only seen once and not relocated again despite several visits to look for them. More information can be found on Eremaea Birds website. Mt. Lewis continues to be the place to see the “Wet Tropic” endemics with all but the Lesser Sooty Owl seen over the last two weeks, even a couple of male Golden Bowerbird were found by our roving bird guides Carol and Andrew Iles, can't beat local knowledge! Carol also reported Spotted Harrier, Dusky Moorhen, Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo, Blue-faced Parrot-Finch, White-eared Monarch and the first reported Black-faced Monarch for the season around the Julatten area plus she had up to eight Australian Pratincole along West Maryfarms Road between Mt. Molloy and Mt. Carbine off the Peninsula Road. The first Large-tailed Nightjar for the season was heard calling in Julatten (by us) on the 21st September, at the same time a Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo was calling! Flowering Grass Tree spikes in Julatten have been attracting many honeyeaters including, Brown, Scarlet and Dusky. This Dusky was on a flower spike and the Brown Honeyeater was waiting his turn.

Dusky Honeyeater

Brown Honeyeater

Rufous Owl is still being reported along the Cairns Esplanade.

Barn Owl Display, Julatten, Far North Queensland

Geraghty Park, Julatten is home to two pairs of Barn Owl which have bred here every year since at least 1995. The nests of these two pairs and a third pair across the adjacent Rex Highway are within 300m of each other. Most years these three pairs have had three young each. In 2014 the two pairs in Geraghty Park had a brood of three and the third nest had four, all of which left their nests and the area by the end of August. On the 3^rd September 2014 a visit to one nest site in Geraghty Park was rewarded by a very unusual display by the adult male towards the adult female of the pair. The male was first seen with just its head peering out of a hollow in a Queensland Blue Gum Eucalyptus tereticornis which is its daytime roost/nest tree. After about 5 minutes the adult female appeared at a different tree hollow approximately 2m below the one the male was in, here it perched. Shortly after this the male moved out of its hollow onto an adjacent branch where it was seen to adopt a hunched posture looking down at the female, it then outstretched its wings and began crouching down and raising itself several times before rocking from side to side (wing waving) with its tail raised. It continued this display for approximately 1 minute. The female meanwhile was looking away and taking no notice of the male. The male then folded its wings but continued in the hunched position looking down for approximately 30 seconds before again outstretching its wings and beginning the rocking motion again, this time the female looked up and watched the display. The male continued for another minute, at which time the female flew to a nearby branch. The male continued to stay in a hunched position looking down until it flew to join the female after 2 minutes. Both birds were perched next to each other facing different directions for about three minutes before the male turned around. Both birds then moved close to each other and started allopreening for at least two minutes. This behaviour of allopreening often precedes mating which takes place in the nest (Debus 2009). During the whole period of the display both birds remained silent. We then considered that the birds had been disturbed enough by our presence and we left. It was not know whether the birds did return to the nest to mate. A short video of part of the display taken by Mr. Ota Yu, Japanese tour guide based in Cairns can be found on You Tube . The background noise is excited Japanese taking plenty of photos!

Stephen Debus says that this behaviour has been recorded in Masked Owl but as far as he is aware not in Barn Owl. Thanks for your input Stephen.

The following night we had another look at what the owls were doing but they did not put on a display like they did the previous night. The adult male and female came out of their daytime roost to perch on the branches.

 

Barn Owl - male on right female on left

 

After they sat on the branch for a while the male started to outstretch his wings and did a brief wing waving display. The female was not interested as you can see!

 

Barn Owl - male on right female on left

 

Both birds flew to different perches and the female started to take notice of the male but he had given up by now and was just perching quietly.

 

Barn Owl

Reptiles and Mammals:- 

Fawn-footed Melomys and Bush Rat have been coming to the reception area feeder at night along with up to six Northern Brown Bandicoot which is the most we have seen all year. A Yellow-footed Antichinus was heard scratching in a dead tree before it came out to run up and down the outside and disappear into the tree before coming out of a different hole, this activity continued for well over five minutes. Here it is seen peering out of one of the holes.

Yellow-footed Antichinus

 

At least two Platypus have been showing well in Bushy Creek in the late evening and early morning  much to the delight of our guests. One of our guests observed an Eastern Water Dragon along Bushy Creek catch a Little Shrike-thrush and eat it; we've seen them raiding nests, but not take an adult bird. The Australian Scrub Python we have living in a large log can often be seen coiled up inside it, this is what you see.

Australian Scrub Python