10th August 2014 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Weather Report

The first week had 9mm of rain which fell over three days, the second week had 17mm of rain over six days. Temperatures ranged from a cool low of 16.1ºC up to 23.6ºC which is about average for this time of year. Despite the drizzly rain there were plenty of opportunities to get some good birding in both during the day and night walks.

Last Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-

These can be found on the Eremaea eBird site. 27thJuly - 2nd August and 3rd- 9th August The first week had 94 sightings and the second week 97 .

Morning and Evening Guided Walks:-

Morning walks were very productive with numbers of species seen ranging from 51-55 apart from one day where the rain cut it short and only 43 species were seen. We had some good sightings including three Little Bronze-Cuckoo, Papuan Frogmouth, Double-eyed Fig-Parrot – one female was digging out a nest hollow in a tree, Noisy Pitta, Spotted Catbird, 11 species of honeyeater, Yellow-breasted Boatbill, male Cicadabird, Pied Monarch, Victoria's Riflebird and Lemon-bellied Flycatcher.

Night walks were also very good up to 11 Barn Owl seen as there are at least 3 nests around the Lodge area with juveniles. Other good bird sightings were a Brown Falcon flying over and calling, Barking Owl, Papuan Frogmouth and a pair of Blue-winged Kookaburra – one was calling. 

 

Papuan Frogmouth - female

Mammals seen were Giant White-tailed Rat which is a native tree rat,

Giant White-tailed Rat - male

Fawn-footed Melomys and Tree Mouse (prehensile-tailed Rat) both of whom were feeding in oranges as these two images show – quite amazing! 
 

Fawn-footed Melomys - tail

Tree Mouse

Others seen were Red-legged Pademelon, Striped and Green Ringtail Possum, Long-nosed and Northern Brown Bandicoot, plus Spectacled Flying-fox. This one was getting nectar from the blossom of a South American Sapote fruit tree.

 

Spectacled Flying-fox

Frogs seen were Jungguy Frog, White-lipped Tree Frog, Red Tree Frog, Roth's Tree Frog, Dainty Green Tree Frog, Cogger's Frog and Cane Toad, plus Platypus. Reptiles seen were Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko, Asian House Gecko and Australian Scrub Python high up in a tree.

Other Birding Highlights:-

A pair of Green Pygmy-goose were along McDougall Road along with White-faced and White-necked Heron. At least two juvenile Black-shouldered Kite were perched near Geraghty Park and a Swamp Harrier was over a paddock behind the nursing home. A Brown Goshawk came swooping into the reception area feeder scattering the Bar-shouldered Dove and Red-browed Finch, but it left empty handed after failing to catch anything. Black and Whistling Kite are mopping up road kills along the Rex Highway and a pair of White-bellied Sea-Eagle have been seen heading for the local fish farm. Red-necked Crake was heard, but not seen; they have not been easy lately. Up to 21 Topknot Pigeon have been seen flying over and landing in the Blue Quandong trees looking for the fruit which is still green and not the bright blue ripe fruit. Lesser Sooty Owl was heard once and Australian Owlet-nightjar was also heard, but neither species were seen. Rainbow and Scaly-breasted Lorikeet were both seen nesting in tree hollows. The male Yellow-throated Scrubwren previously reported in still being seen around the Lodge grounds and a brown Black Butcherbird has also been around. A couple of Bower's Shrike-thrush are still in the Lodge grounds along with a male Golden Whistler. Olive-backed Oriole have returned and are calling, not sure where they disappear to. A White-eared Monarch has been calling over the last two week, but was only seen on the 9^th August high in a tree beside Bushy Creek at the Platypus viewing area. Pied Monarch and Yellow-breasted Boatbill have both been calling well and being seen. 

Yellow-breasted Boatbill - female

The female and immature male Victoria's Riflebird previously reported are still with us and being seen in various parts of the grounds. A Golden-headed Cisticola was reported by our neighbours and bird guides Carol and Andrew Iles along Bushy Creek, this is a first sighting for many months. Up to five Blue-faced Parrot-Finch have been found near Abattoir Swamp.

Further Afield:-

Banded Honeyeater was reported by Del Richards from Fine Feather Tours on 30^th July just north of Mt. Carbine, which is about two months earlier than previous years. A Wedge-tailed Eagle was soaring over Euluma Creek Road in Julatten, not common in our area. Just outside our 1.5km Lodge reporting area on the way to Mt. Molloy a Crested Pigeon was perched on a power line across the Rex Highway, this is the closest to the Lodge that we have seen this species. Mt. Lewis has been performing as usual with all 13 “Wet Tropic” endemics seen including male and female Golden Bowerbird. A trip to the Atherton Tableland allowed us to catch up with a few birds including these two, an Eastern Whipbird and a male Victoria's Riflebird.

 

Eastern Whipbird

Victoria's Riflebird - male

 

Reptiles and Mammals:-

Apart from the mammals reported on the night walks we have recorded Agile Wallaby, Eastern Horseshoe Bat, Large-footed Myotis (fish eating bat), Northern Broad-nosed Bat and Little Bent-wing Bat. Other reptiles seen were Boyd's Forest Dragon after a month long absence, Eastern Water Dragon and Green Tree Snake. 

Thanks to Carol and Andrew Iles for helping to compile the weekly bird lists, contact them if you need any bird guiding. 

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27th July 2014 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Weather Report

The first week was mainly dry and sunny' but 3.5mm of rain fell over two nights, the second week began dry before we had 4mm of rain which fell over two days. Temperatures ranged from a cool low of 11.5ºC up to 23ºC, very pleasant and great birding weather.

Last Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-

These can be found on the Eremaea eBird site. 13th - 19th July and 20th - 26th July

The first week has 98 sightings and the second week 109. Rainfall was 6.5mm over four days, much of this fell at night or was fine mist during the day. Overall it was great birding over the two weeks.

Birding Highlights:-

A few waterbirds were around in the local lagoons and Barramundi Farm; these included A couple of Green Pygmy-goose, Pacific Black Duck, Australasian Grebe, Little Black and Little Pied Cormorant, a single Australian Pelican, Great, Intermediate and Cattle Egret, White-faced Heron, Australian White and Straw-necked Ibis plus three Royal Spoonbill. Orange-footed Scrubfowl (they should be called orange-legged) have been very noisy calling day and night and chasing each other, they are quite comical to watch as they strut around.

Orange-footed Scrubfowl

 

Raptors were quite good with Black-shouldered Kite, Swamp and Spotted Harrier, Grey Goshawk, Collared Sparrowhawk, Black and Whistling Kite along with White-bellied Sea-Eagle. A Red-necked Crake was calling one evening but not seen. Brown Cuckoo-Dove have been taking advantage of several fruiting trees including Celerywood and a Strangler Fig with up to five seen at one time. Bar-shouldered Dove have been around the Lodge grounds and at the Barramundi Farm, they are a very attractive dove.

Bar-shouldered Dove

 

A single Wompoo Fruit-Dove has been around the Lodge grounds and calling. Not much cuckoo action with only a Fan-tailed Cuckoo heard and a Little Bronze-Cuckoo seen. Barn Owl have been noisy with one pair having three juveniles to feed and another pair with at least two chicks still in a nest. The two Barking Owl which have been around on and off for the last two years continue to be around, but not every night. Australian Owlet-nightjar has been heard on several nights, but not seen. Papuan Frogmouth numbers have increased to five in the immediate area with a male and female taking up residence in our orchard, so hopefully they will stay and breed here, welcome back! This picture shows three Papuan Frogmouth roosting during the day and pretending not to look like birds.

 

Papuan Frogmouth

 

Rainbow Bee-eater are still with us, but only about 12 have been recorded which is a decrease in numbers over the last few weeks. Up to six Double-eyed Fig-Parrot have been coming to a fruiting Cluster Fig to feed on the green fruits. At least two pairs of Spotted Catbird are in the Lodge grounds and our neighbours Carol and Andrew's garden. This one was queuing up for a free feed at their bird feeder.

Spotted Catbird

Our single Noisy Pitta continues to make appearances in our orchard to the delight of our guests. 15 species of honeyeater were recorded including at least two Black-chinned (Golden-backed Form) were are still around. A single male Yellow-throated Scrubwren is still with us after first being sighted a month ago, an altitudinal migrant from the mountains behind us. Yellow-breasted Boatbill have been showing well and coming down to lower levels in the rainforest for good views as have the Pied Monarch. A male Common Cicadabird was seen on a couple of morning walks, which was the first sightings for this year.

Common Cicadabird - male

 

A couple of Bower's Shrike-thrush are still around and showing well. Australasian Figbird have been scarce over the last few weeks, but towards the end of the second week they re-appeared in flocks of 30-40. These males are eating the fruits of an Umbrella Tree in front of our units.

 

Australasian Figbird - male

 

A female Shining Flycatcher flew through our neighbours garden whilst it was cutting a corner on a bend in Bushy Creek; we only see this species occasionally throughout the year. Another occasional visitor was a Tawny Grassbird foraging near the entrance to the Lodge and darting into the adjacent cane paddock. A few Chestnut-breasted Mannikin were also foraging alongside the cane paddock.

Further Afield:-

Numbers of Blue-faced Parrot-Finch near Abattoir Swamp have increased from the two reported last blog to at least five, but they are very difficult to locate. At Abattoir Swamp our neighbour Andrew Iles (bird guide) had Varied Sitella, which is uncommon at that location. Mt. Lewis is still the place to find the 13 “Wet Tropic” endemics with all being seen in the last two weeks – not on the same day though! At least three Lesser Sooty Owl were seen one evening. Just outside our 1.5km Lodge reporting area were five Purple Swamphen foraging alongside the Rex Highway which is not a good idea! Hopefully they will learn the error of their ways and relocate to the nearest wetland. Square-tailed Kite has been reported in Mt. Molloy and further north at Maryfarms. Hasties Swamp, near Atherton, has been turning up some good waterbirds including Freckled Duck and Glossy Ibis. A Brown Goshawk was around Euluma Creek road in Julatten one afternoon, always nice to see this species.

Reptiles and Mammals:-

The last few weeks have been extremely good for our night walks with plenty to see. One of the highlights was a Short-beaked Echidna which was the first we have seen this year. Other species seen were Striped and Green Ringtail Possum, Northern Brown and Long-nosed Bandicoot, Fawn-footed Melomys feeding on the fruit of an orange tree in our orchard, a brief glimpse of a Platypus in Bushy Creek and Several Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko. A few frogs were also spotlighted – Jungguy Frog, White-lipped Tree Frog, Roth's (Laughing) Frog, Desert Tree Frog, Dainty Green Tree Frog, Cogger's Frog and one small Cane Toad. Apart from those seen on the night walks we also had Bush Rat, Giant White-tailed Rat, Eastern Horseshoe and Northern Broad-nosed Bat, Spectacled Flying Fox a couple of Australian Scrub Python. A large Carpet Python was over the road in the Geraghty Park hall during a residence meeting.

Thanks to our guests for reporting sightings and to Carol and Andrew Iles our roving bird guides for their input into this weeks blog.If you need bird guiding click on their link and send an email.

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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.

23rd September 2012 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Over the past two weeks we have once again had stunning weather with no rain, cool mornings and warm days. The minimum temperature over the two weeks was 15.5ºC which was slightly more than the previous two weeks. The maximum temperature was 26.4ºC, which was slightly higher than the previous two weeks. The humidity was still high, up to 94% and a very extreme low for us of 42%.

Bird sightings for the first week were 107 seen plus 7 heard. The second week had slightly more sightings due mainly to the continuing great weather and arriving migrant species, 114 seen plus 7 heard. Mammal and reptile species were down on the previous two weeks due to the warmer dry weather keeping frog species hidden, 19 species were seen. The last two weeks bird lists are on the Eremaea Birds Website for Week1 and Week2 plus morning walk lists can also be found at this link on Eremaea Birds

Birding Highlights:

Returning migrants have been in evidence over the last two weeks with Pied Imperial Pigeon returning on the 14th, Eastern Koel on the 17th, Channel-billed Cuckoo on the 14th and Black-faced Monarch on the 18th.  

 

 

Eastern Koel - male

 

A Great Cormorant is an uncommon visitor to our area but one was present along McDougall road in one of the lagoons; the nearest they are usually found is at Lake Mitchell between Mt. Molloy and Mareeba. An Eastern Osprey was fishing at the Barramundi Farm which is unusual in the area with the last sighting being on the 29th October 2011. A Barking Owl was sitting low down in a Poinciana tree at the front entrance to the Lodge one evening giving good views for everyone then 10 minutes later a Sooty Owl flew up from low down in the rainforest behind the units and perched on a vine for excellent views. Unfortunately none of the guests saw the sooty as it flew off before they arrived but it did call a couple of times just to prove it was around. This is only the third sighting this year, the other two were in the first week of January. Two Latham's Snipe were in a drain running through a cane paddock near the local nursing home and another was along Bushy Creek near the Platypus viewing area. Several Australian King Parrot were heard one afternoon calling from the rainforest near the office, this is a very occasional visitor to the Lodge.

Other sightings:

Australian Brush-turkey numbers have dropped but a few are still around and attaining breeding plumage, this one was scavenging in the orchard and had its photo taken to celebrate getting our regular camera equipment back from a service. It has an empty half nut in its beak, not sure what it was thinking!

Australian Brush-turkey

 
Wompoo Fruit-Dove made an appearance on the 14th in the rainforest near our orchard. Superb Fruit-Dove has been in the same area for the past two weeks but only seen twice. Over the two weeks we had eight out of a possible nine pigeon and doves recorded at the Lodge seen, only Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove was not in our 1.5Km Lodge radius but one was seen just outside this area. Papuan Frogmouth has been making spasmodic appearances in the orchard and once outside the reception area, but has been hiding for 3-4 days at a time. Australian Owlet-nightjar was seen once in its' daytime roost and heard several times at night in the Lodge grounds. A White-necked Heron was along McDougall Road along with a single female Green Pygmy-goose. Australian White Ibis numbers increased to a maximum of 23 seen perched near Geraghty Park or flying off towards the Barramundi Farm. Pacific Baza have been around calling but have made no progress with their nest for the last two weeks. A tatty looking Wedge-tailed Eagle was soaring over the Lodge once with the Black and Whistling Kite, this is another casual visitor for us. Bush Stone-curlew have fired up and making a lot of noise calling at night, one pair was seen with a half grown juvenile. A Black-fronted Dotterel was at the local Barramundi Farm. Eastern Barn Owl numbers have dropped off with only a couple being seen on night walks which means the juvenile birds in the area have moved on. The Little Kingfisher, previously reported, has not been seen around the Lodge grounds so it may have moved on as well but, a pair of Azure Kingfisher have been regular along Bushy Creek.

Azure Kingfisher

15 species of honeyeater were seen with another heard which is a very high number. One outstanding sighting was a Helmeted Friarbird, in our neighbours garden; this is a bird normally found on the coast and up onto the top of the ranges on the edge of Julatten to the east of us. Other good sightings were Bridled Honeyeater and White-cheeked Honeyeater. Both Graceful and Yellow-spotted Honeyeater have been nesting. Graceful has been sitting on a nest which looks very uncomfortable; the beak is just visible sticking over the edge of the nest opposite the tail pointing in the air. 

Graceful Honeyeater - sitting in nest

 
A Yellow-spotted Honeyeater started to build a nest in a palm in a pot on our units veranda but appeared to abandon the attempt as it has not added to it for four days, it might have been put off by a Macleay's Honeyeater who regularly roosts in the same palm.

Yellow-spotted Honeyeater nest - partially built

This Yellow-faced Honeyeater was one of three foraging on and near the ground in a patch of grass collecting and eating small butterflies and caterpillars.

Yellow-faced Honeyeater

Barred Cuckoo-shrike have been coming and going with small flocks of up to 8 on fruiting trees. Golden Whistler is still around the Lodge grounds with a female seen on several occasions, no sign of a male, also Bower's Shrike-thrush has been making the odd appearance. Olive-backed Oriole have been calling and seen feeding with Australasian Figbird in a few fruiting fig trees around the edge of the Lodge. Northern Fantail are still about but seem to spend more time in our neighbours garden with rare forays into the orchard area. Pied Monarch and Yellow-breasted Boatbill are still calling with at least one pair of boatbill nesting. Metallic Starling are as busy as ever collecting nesting material around the grounds and flying over to Geraghty Park where construction is taking place, usually very noisily as they try and steal each others nests. The female Olive-backed Sunbird, previously reported, has been seen in it's nest in Geraghty Park on the 22nd so hopefully success this time.

Further Afield:-

A Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove was seen just outside our 1.5Km radius from the Lodge, in Carr Road; this fruit-dove is more common on the coast and on the islands of the Great Barrier Reef. A Sacred Kingfisher was seen at Mt. Molloy which is not a common species in our area. A Female Eastern Koel and a Channel-billed Cuckoo were along the Daintree River. Lake Mitchell (between Mt. Molloy and Mareeba) had two pairs of Brolga, a flock of 23 Comb-crested Jacana and nearby a Square-tailed Kite. Cicadabird was calling along Euluma Creek Road on 21st which was the first heard this season in the Julatten area by us. 

Cicadabird - male

Mt. Lewis has been turning up the usual endemics with one visit turning up three brown female/immature male Golden Bowerbird, birds but no adult males, 24 Chowchilla in about eight family groups, Fernwren and five Atherton Scrubwren – full list on the Eremaea Birds site. The numbers of Diamond Dove at Maryfarms (north of Mt. Molloy) keep fluctuating and increasing with over 200 present on the 21st which is the largest recorded here so far.

Reptiles and Mammals:-

The stars at the moment are the Platypus in Bushy Creek which have been performing at our viewing area. Still two adults and a juvenile showing in the morning and evening swimming up and down the creek foraging. One morning one of the adults was climbing over a sandbar and another time two adults were climbing onto rocks out of the water much to the delight of several guests who thought getting out of bed at 6.00 was worth the effort! Major Skink have woken up as the weather has started to warm up with a few sightings in the last week, also at least one Boyd's Forest Dragon has been appearing. 

Major Skink

 
A Green Tree Snake was coiled up one morning alongside Mt. Kooyong Road and was reluctant to move so it had a bit of help and was relocated further away from the perils of the road. 

Green Tree Snake

Australian Scrub Python (ex. Amethystine Python) was seen in the Lodge grounds once. Frogs have been quiet but a few individuals have been showing on night walks with four species plus Cane Toad seen. One Red-legged Pademelon (small wallaby) was seen in the orchard on a night walk and several Agile Wallaby have also been seen here.

Other Happenings:-

Less than two months now until we experience the Total Eclipse of the Sun which passes directly over Julatten at around 6.40am on the 14th November. Our accommodation has been booked out for the last few years, however, over the last month we have had some cancellations so now have three self-contained units available for the nights of the 13th & 14th and a few camp sites too. Let us know if you would like to stay and experience this amazing event. (Minimum two-night bookings apply).

Mystery Bird:-

Quite an easy one but a very unusual angle! Answer next blog.