1st February 2015 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

THE LAST BLOG

Yes it is the last blog from Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge, number 264, before we hand over the Lodge after 9½ years. The new owners from the 4^th February are Carol and Andrew Iles who have bought the business and property. They have had a long association with the Lodge working as bird guides in 1999-2003 and again for the last four years working with us and running their own guiding business as well as helping out around the Lodge. It is good to know that the Lodge is going into their capable hands to continue on for future guests to enjoy. They will probably be posting interesting sightings on Facebook so keep an eye out for that. Please note that the Lodge is closed in February and the camp ground and bunkhouse will also be closed in March.

Weather Report

The weather has been extremely unpredictable over the last few weeks, it has been very hot, showery with thunderstorms and plenty of sunny days. This is more like the weather we would expect in November as the “Wet Season” approaches. It has been up to 34ºC and down to the low-mid 20ºC with humidity going from 35 to 100%. We have managed to miss most of the storms but we have had a couple of good downpours of 67mm and 71mm with a total of 223.5mm for the last three weeks.

Last Three Weeks Bird Sightings:-

These can be found on the Eremaea eBird site.11th- 17th January ,18th- 24th January and 25th- 31st January The first week had species recorded and the second week .

Birding Highlights:-

The last three weeks have been hectic with the transfer of the Lodge to the new owners so birding has taken a back seat. However we did host the BirdLife North Queensland's annual Australia Day weekend which saw three days of intensive birding in and around the Lodge. At least one Australian Brush-Turkey was trying to scrape up a nesting mound outside the accommodation units. This one was getting away from the wetter ground perching on a vine in the rainforest .

Australian Brush-Turkey

Waterbirds have been scattered with the onset of the wetter weather with only a few species seen including a few Wandering Whistling-Duck, Pacific Black-Duck, Grey Teal and Hardhead. One week saw a few Little Black and Pied Cormorant visit along with a single Australasian Darter. Others to appear briefly were Intermediate and Great Egret, a White-faced Heron, a Glossy Ibis and several Australian White Ibis. Raptors were also light with only Black and Whistling Kite, White-bellied Sea-Eagle and a single sighting of a Pacific Baza. Once again the pair of Red-necked Crake have been putting on a show for most of our guests both in the evening and morning at the Crake Pool. Pale-vented Bush-hen have also been showing around the roadsides and cane paddocks but patience is required to see them. Superb Fruit-Dove have been calling with good numbers around the Lodge and a pair of Torresian Imperial Pigeon were found nesting. Lesser Sooty Owl has been coming around once or twice a week and was seen one night flying around the Lodge hawking for insects. We have been hearing our one Papuan Frogmouth calling during the night and occasionally seeing it roosting in our orchard. Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher have been going in and out of their nests so we presume they are sitting on eggs. One pair near our cookshed have been performing well for our guests who have been able to relax in a chair and watch at a distance. Could not help but put another photo of these special birds into our last blog! 

 

Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher

Other good birds around include Noisy Pitta, Yellow-breasted Boatbill, Barred Cuckoo-shrike, Pied Monarch and nesting Olive-backed Sunbird.

Yellow-breasted Boatbill - male

Further Afield:-

Mt. Lewis is still accessible, but there is always the chance of a tree coming down on the road at this time of year. Blue-faced Parrot-Finch are being seen, but they are still in low numbers and elusive, most of the “Wet Tropic” endemics have been seen over the last few weeks. One surprise over the Australia day weekend was a Rose-crowned Fruit Dove calling not far from Abattoir Swamp, this is usually a bird of the coastal areas and offshore islands with very few sightings in our region. There has been large flocks of Pacific Swift (Fork-tailed) in the Julatten - Mt Molloy area, these have been reported on Eremaea e-Bird.

Reptiles and Mammals:-

28 mammals and reptiles were reported for the last three weeks including Green Ringtail Possum, Platypus, Boyd's Forest Dragon, Lace Monitor and Carpet Python. Frogs were vocal when the rain was coming down with nine species recorded.

 

Northern Sedge Frog

Dainty Green Tree Frog

 Had to put in an image of our favourite frog at the Lodge!

White-lipped Tree Frog

Insects:-
The rain also triggered the termites to swarm out of some nests, the flying ones descended on us in their thousands dropping wings everywhere. These ones were not coming out of one of the mounds but a log on the ground.
 

 

Termite sp.

Termite sp.

Fungi:-

The wetter conditions certainly encouraged the fungi to pop up everywhere, here is a selection of some of them.

Unidentified fungus - complete with Wolf Spider

Unidentified fungus

Unidentified fungus

Unidentified fungus

Unidentified fungus

Unidentified fungus

Unidentified fungus

Unidentified fungus

Unidentified fungus

Unidentified fungus

Unidentified fungus

Unidentified fungus

Unidentified fungus

Unidentified fungus

Unidentified fungus

Finally we would like to thank all those people who have supported us during our time at the Lodge and those who followed our blog. We have had over a thousand guests staying each year for the last ten years with many regulars and have met some wonderful people. Thank you to Carol and Andrew for helping with the weekly sightings and also for taking on the Lodge to continue to offer a great wildlife experience for guests. We are retiring to our home in Julatten and look forward to some travel over the next few years.
Keith & Lindsay.

We have had many emails from guests over the years, but this one from a Japanese gentleman remains our favourite.

Thank you very much for your full attention shown to me. Three days flew like an arrow as every moment I experienced there was woderful. Thanks to your help, I am very happy to have taken nice photos, specially kingfisher. These photos goes with nightcap before falling into sleep, taking the place of bankbook of no more balance. Thanks again for your kindness.

 

The End.

2nd March 2014 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Weather Report

Not quite as much rain over the last two weeks as the previous two weeks but still a healthy 249.5mm (10 inches). This was enough to flood the road from Mt. Molloy for a few days.

 Bushy Creek - about 600mm over the main road

The wet weather softened up the ground and a few trees fell down including this one along the path from the orchard to Bushy Creek, which took down three other trees. Quite a mess and a lot of clearing required to open the path again.

Path from Orchard to Bushy Creek

The overcast and rainy weather kept the temperatures down highs around 28ºC and down to 22ºC. The second week saw most of the rain clear away and sunny days re-appear to help dry out the soggy grounds.

Past Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-

The first week was quite wet and restricted birding with only 86 species heard and seen but the second week was much better with 102 seen and heard.The complete lists can be found on the Eremaea eBird site. 16th - 22nd February and 23rdFebruary - 1st March

Birding Highlights:-

The pair of Pacific Baza nesting on the edge of the Lodge grounds have successfully fledged two youngsters who have been around begging for food but have now left the Lodge after being harassed by a gang of Sulphur-crested Cockatoo. The family of Pale-vented Bush-hen previously reported still have five surviving juveniles who are growing rapidly, this image shows one about 22 days old.

Pale-vented Bush-hen - 22 days old

This image shows one of the adults.
 

Pale-vented Bush-hen - Adult

Waterbirds have been few and far between with all the rain providing plenty of alternative habitats, there was one White-faced Heron seen flying over the Lodge which was a first sighting for this year. Late in the second week a few more waterbirds showed up including two Black Bittern, Great, Intermediate and Little Egret, Spotless Crake, White-browed Crake, plus a single Comb-crested Jacana. All these sightings were along McDougall Road in and around the wetlands. Black-shouldered Kite also nested along McDougall Road. Other raptors around were White-bellied Sea-Eagle (2), Whistling and Black Kite, plus Brown Falcon. Red-tailed Black Cockatoo continue to fly over the Lodge every few days as do Double-eyed Fig-Parrot. Cuckoo's are calling well with Pheasant Coucal, Eastern Koel (male & female), Channel-billed Cuckoo, both Little and Gould's Bronze-Cuckoo plus Brush Cuckoo. Barn Owl are around and calling as was a Lesser Sooty Owl on one occasion. The adult Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher are still flying around and perching for photos. The juveniles are becoming more obvious and are coming down to lower levels from high in the canopy. Three juveniles were seen in the same area together but it was not known if they were all from the same nest. Other juveniles seen have mainly been on their own apart from two perched on the clothes line! This Juvenile Forest Kingfisher took advantage of an old chair in Geraghty Park for where it pounced onto the ground for worms. 

 

Forest Kingfisher - juvenile

Dollarbird are still around with adults and juveniles seen. Noisy Pitta have been difficult to see as they are keeping to the rainforest and quite often high in the trees. A pair of Great Bowerbird were in a neighbours garden one morning polishing off some palm tree fruits. Thirteen species of honeyeater over the two weeks with Scarlet Honeyeater returning after being away for at least two months. Black Butcherbird have two well grown brown juveniles hunting around the grounds, Australasian Figbird are feeding young as are Leaden Flycatcher. A female Victoria's Riflebird has been coming to our neighbours feeder and was seen in the Lodge grounds on the edge of the orchard. Red-browed Finch are constantly building nests for  most of the year but we have never seen one like this, a hanging one. Normally they are supported by tree branches and quite well hidden in the foliage.

Red-browed Finch Nest

Further Afield:-

An estimated 300 Black Kite were circling over the Mulligan Highway north of Mareeba on the 26^th February, which is very unusual to have such a high number at this time of year. A Spotted Harrier was along Wetherby Road, Julatten as was a Black Bittern and a Horsfield's Bushlark. Mt. Lewis is still performing with most of the endemic species seen apart from Golden Bowerbird and Lesser Sooty Owl. Blue-faced Parrot-Finch are still up on the mountain but two were lower down at the end of McDougall Road late in the second week. The road has been closed on several occasions by falling trees but the local Mareeba Shire Council have been quick in responding to our reports and have cleared the road, thanks to them. Carol Iles our out and about bird guide reported a Grey Shrike-thrush at Abattoir Swamp, which is not common. They are regularly at nearby Wessel Road but don't come across to the swamp very often. Lloyd Nielsen reported a Shining Flycatcher on a nest along Bushy Creek between Julatten and Mt. Molloy which is one of a very few recorded in this area. A Torresian Crow was flying eastward towards the coast, over the Great Diving Range in Julatten late one afternoon, unusual as not many have been seen this year.
 

Reptiles and Mammals:-

24 reptiles and mammals were seen over the past two weeks. A yellow-footed Antichinus was hiding under one of our chair covers along the veranda one morning, luckily nobody sat on it! Red-legged Pademelon have been out the front of our units as well as in the orchard area rainforest. Striped Possum have been seen a few times but no sign of any Green Ringtail Possum. Platypus was seen, when Bushy Creek was in flood, swimming along the rock wall by the viewing area. Seven species of frog were seen and Roth's (Laughing) Tree Frog heard. An Australian Scrub Python was on our neighbours veranda one night and this Brown Tree Snake decided to curl up in the peg basket in the camp laundry. It was removed and put outside where it climbed a tree which was much more like its natural habitat! 

 

Brown Tree Snake

Insects:-

A few moths have been around including this unusual one which we have never seen here before.

Moth sp.

Butterflies have also been around, this Blue-Triangle found something of interest on the yard broom.

 Blue Triangle Butterfly

Fungi:-  
The wet weather has also triggered off lots of different species of fungi like this one growing at the foot of a Queensland Blue Gum (Forest Red Gum) Eucalyptus tereticornis.

Fungi sp.

Could be Panellus ligulatus ?

We will be having a break from the blog until the end of March, we might be posting a few snippets so keep looking!

18th December 2011 Report

The weeks rainfall was 47mm with 28mm falling Friday and overnight into Saturday.

Maximum temperatures were slightly higher than last week, getting up to 33.6ºc and the minimum was only down to 22.8ºc. Humidity ranged from a low of 59% and a high of 94%

There were more birds recorded this week than last with 108 seen and 4 heard. 25 mammal and reptile species were seen, two more than last week. The weeks bird list is on the Eremaea Birds website and morning walk lists can also be found at this link on Eremaea Birds.

Highlights:

Actually seeing a female Superb Fruit-Dove, the few other sightings have been of males. Also two Pale-vented Bush-hen were seen by our neighbours in the gully between their garden and the Crake Pool on at least two occasions; many more are calling but not being seen. The return of Lemon-bellied Flycatcher to Geraghty Park after an absence of 10 weeks, where do they go?

Other sightings:

Good numbers of Magpie Goose continue to frequent the lagoons along McDougall Road with 50-60 present late in the week along with Wandering Whistling-Duck, a single Green Pygmy-goose, 15-20 Hardhead and two Australasian Grebe.

Australasian Grebe

A few Emerald Dove have been showing and calling throughout the week after being absent for a few weeks, one even came to the feeder by reception. Wompoo Fruit-Dove also returned after a month and were seen as well as heard. Pied Imperial Pigeon continue to hang around Geraghty Park but no sign of nesting yet and a few Topknot Pigeon are still showing intermittently. The female Papuan Frogmouth was outside the reception area on the Sunday which made two consecutive days in this location but then she disappeared for the rest of the week. Australian Owlet-nightjar was seen it its daytime roost several times and also heard calling during the day. Both White-throated Needletail and Fork-tailed Swift were around on several days mid-week. There were more Fork-tailed Swift with up to 60est. than White-throated Needletail which numbered up to 20est. Cattle Egrets in breeding condition were still around with at least eight left and four Australian White Ibis were spending their days at the Barramundi Farm. Raptor numbers have been down over the last few weeks but there were a few more sightings this week; a single Whistling Kite was over Geraghty Park, two immature and one adult White-bellied Sea-Eagle across the Rex Highway over cow paddocks, a Brahminy Kite feeding on a road kill near the Barramundi Farm, one Grey Goshawk, one Nankeen Kestrel and and adult and two juvenile Brown Falcon along McDougall Road. Two Red-necked Crake have been seen regularly most days, either at the Crake Pool or traversing the forest. They have also been calling more frequently both during the day and at night. No sign of “Katie” the Buff-banded Rail who seems to have eloped with “Pete” her new partner, maybe they will come back with a family! Bush Stone-curlew have continued to come into the Lodge grounds at night and surprise the guests with their wailing calls. 

Bush Stone-curlew

 
A single Comb-crested Jacana was along McDougall Road on one of the lagoons. Scaly-breasted Lorikeet numbers dropped during the week with only a small flock of about eight seen and Double-eyed Fig-Parrot continue to be seen flying over with no local fig trees in fruit at the moment, several have unripe fruits appearing. Cuckoos have again been calling and seen, those seen were Pheasant Coucal, Channel-billed Cuckoo, Little (Gould's) Bronze-Cuckoo and Brush Cuckoo, Eastern Koel was only heard. (Lesser) Sooty Owl was heard throughout the week and seen once high in a tree in our neighbours garden. Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher are still calling, chasing each other and perching out in the open for good views. Blue-winged Kookaburra are also showing well in Geraghty Park, usually early in the morning. Two Noisy Pitta are still around the orchard area collecting food for their three hungry nestlings and can be seen most times of the day. Spotted Catbird are lurking around in the forest looking for baby birds to prey on, unfortunately they took the two Olive-backed Sunbird chicks within a few minutes of them fledging from their nest in our neighbours garden. The parents are now looking at nesting again, hard life being a small bird. Fairy Gerygone are still around and calling, this female is posing slightly better than last weeks one!

Fairy Gerygone - female

One Lewin's Honeyeater returned after a five week absence and was both seen and heard; most of the population is normally at higher altitudes at this time of year breeding. A few Barred Cuckoo-shrike were seen around the Lodge grounds and in Geraghty Park. Cicadabird continues to call with a few sightings again in the Lodge grounds. 

Cicadabird - male

An immature brown Black Butcherbird has been around the rainforest areas throughout the week and several Spangled Drongo have been seen in nests. Torresian Crow have been calling whilst perched on power poles along the Rex Highway near the entrance to the Lodge. Pied Monarch and Yellow-breasted Boatbill have been seen a few times in the grounds but not calling making tracking them down a bit harder. Mistletoebird are nesting in our neighbours garden, lets hope they can avoid the Spotted Catbird.

Further Afield:-

A Pied Heron was reported from the small wetland 4km north of Mareeba where the Eastern Yellow Wagtail was seen early November. It was a pretty scruffy individual and may have been a moulting juvenile. A Wedge-tailed Eagle was soaring over Pinnacle Road, Julatten (the road leading to Mowbray National Park). A Black-shouldered Kite was seen at Craglie, near Port Douglas and the first reported in the area for sometime. They have not been around Julatten for at least five weeks. A flock of Red-tailed Black Cockatoo were feeding in the heart of Port Douglas along Macrossan Street, the main road through town. Red-tailed Black Cockatoo have been reported along the coast for at least the past six months from Cairns north to at least Wonga Beach north of Mossman. Australian Bustard are showing well at Maryfarms north of Mt. Molloy with at least six adults and a juvenile seen one afternoon.

Australian Bustard

Reptiles and Mammals:-

Good numbers this week with 25 species recorded. Fawn-footed Melomys were not seen this week but they got into our car and chewed up some of the wiring rendering the airbag inoperable, this is the second time they have chewed this wire; anyway a repair sorted out the wiring. A Red-legged Pademelon (small Kangaroo) was seen drinking at the Crake Pool before being spotlighted the next night. A Tree Mouse (Prehensile-tailed Rat) was seen emerging from its daytime hideout at the back of the cook shed one evening. A Green Ringtail Possum was also seen on a night walk and a Striped Possum was in our neighbours garden. Platypus have been seen most days but the heavy rain late in the week made the water murky and hard to see, this will soon clear up when the rain stops. Seven species of frogs this week with the rain bringing a few elusive species such as Peter's Frog Litoria inermis out to join the White-lipped Tree Frog, Northern Dwarf Tree Frog, Jungguy Frog and Cogger's Frog. 

  Jungguy Frog

  
Boyd's Forest Dragon are being seen running across the rainforest floor and clinging to the sides of trees whilst some large (245mm) Eastern Water Dragon have been sitting along Bushy Creek. A 3m Amethystine Python was spotted on the ground under a Lychee Tree in the orchard during a night walk and a Brown Tree Snake was in our neighbours garden.

Other Interesting Sightings:

Fungi again dominate this section, not sure of any ID's but working on them! The first image is of fungi growing on the same log as the Dead Man's Fingers in the second image, it looked similar but not as advanced.

  Dead Man's Fingers Xylaria aff. Polymorpha (?)

 Dead Man's Fingers Xylaria aff. Polymorpha (?)

 Microporus sp. (?)

 Jelly Fungi (?)

 Mycena (?)

11th December 2011 Report

The weeks rainfall was 20.5mm, 16mm came in one storm accompanied by thunder and lightning.

Maximum temperatures were slightly higher than last week, getting up to 32.2ºc and the minimum was down to 21.2ºc. Humidity ranged from a low of 57% and a high of 95%

There were less birds recorded this week than last with 96 seen and 7 heard, too many sitting on nests! 23 mammal and reptile species were seen. The weeks bird list is on the Eremaea Birds website and morning walk lists can also be found at this link on Eremaea Birds.

Highlights:

Again Red-necked Crake appeared at the Crake Pool, this time at 8.20 one morning and also one evening on the opposite bank of Bushy Creek to the Platypus viewing area where two showed. One was also seen heading off into the rainforest early one morning and two ran across the grassy area of the orchard one evening. A Noisy Pitta was seen foraging in the adjacent cane field early one morning  – an unusual location. Other Noisy Pitta were showing well in the orchard collecting worms, and heading off to their nest to feed the three chicks which are in it. Whilst checking termite mounds for signs of Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher nesting activity a Noisy Pitta nest was found by accident, a couple of quick shots were taken before vacating the area and watching from a distance to see the adult return to feed the chicks. This image shows an open entrance to the nest with three bright red gapes of the chicks, a previous nest observed had a cover over the front entrance which hid the contents. This image was taken at a safe distance to cause minimal disturbance to the nest and then severely cropped to show contents.

Noisy Pitta

 

Other sightings:

Up to 100 Magpie Goose were along McDougall Road early in the week with a few Green Pygmy-goose and Hardhead. Emerald Dove was around at the beginning of the week but by mid-week had disappeared for the second time this year. At least six Superb Fruit-Dove were calling around the orchard with the only sighting being one fly over. Pied Imperial Pigeon are still around but not so obvious and Topknot Pigeon were another species to disappear mid-week. Our female Papuan Frogmouth proved elusive during the week with her only appearance outside the reception area late on Saturday morning – again found by the Pale-yellow Robin who caused her to become alert before settling down and begin to preen.

Papuan Frogmouth

Australian Owlet-nightjar was seen once in its regular daytime roost and heard calling during the evening and early morning, it was in a different daytime roost from the regular one when it was calling early morning. Australian Darter, Little Pied Cormorant and Little Black Cormorant plus Australian White Ibis were all seen flying over heading towards the Barramundi Farm which now has some of its ponds netted. A few Cattle Egret in breeding plumage still remain and one White-faced Heron was in a small pond along McDougall Road. Raptors have been scarce this week with only White-bellied Sea-Eagle and Whistling Kite seen. “Katie” our Buff-banded Rail has been coming around less frequently and was seen with her love interest “Pete” foraging around the cook shed for the first time, they then headed off to the rainforest and have not been seen for four days. This was one of the last images taken of "Katie" when she came around to have an extended bath and did a lot of fluffing of feathers and wing stretching as she is doing here.

"Katie" Buff-banded Rail

Pale-vented Bush-Hen continue to call along Bushy Creek with at least three pairs heard. A couple were seen to fly across the creek near the Platypus viewing area which was the only sighting. Bush Stone-curlew have been coming into the Lodge grounds around the cook shed and reception area at night to ensure they wake everyone up with their wailing calls. Masked Lapwing have been flying around the cane fields in flocks of up to 33 calling and chasing off any intruders who come to close. Sulphur-crested Cockatoo numbers have increased as has their chainsaw activities of chewing off small branches for amusement. Double-eyed Fig-Parrot were only seen flying over when two went over Mt. Kooyong Road early one morning. Cuckoos continue to call with Channel-billed Cuckoo, Little Bronze Cuckoo and Brush Cuckoo seen. Sooty Owl was only heard several times both in the evening and in the morning. At least four Eastern Barn Owl were seen in Geraghty Park and several more heard calling. Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher continue to call and fly around as well as perching out in the open for great views. A check of the termite mounds found only one which had been newly excavated and several others from last year looking like they had been refurbished as there was bits of white tail feathers at the entrances. We will not be sure of exact numbers until they start sitting. Both Laughing and Blue-winged Kookaburra have been calling and showing well and Forest Kingfisher continue to feed chicks in at least one nest. Several Rainbow Bee-Eater were seen along McDougall Road but none have come the short distance to the Lodge grounds yet. Spotted Catbird have been getting a hard time from other birds such as Pale-yellow Robin and Spectacled Monarch who have been chasing them away from their nests. Fairy Gerygone have started to come down lower and provide an opportunity to photograph them or so I thought. They don't stay still for a millisecond and the best I could do was this shot which I've included to prove not every shot can be a winner!

Fairy Gerygone - female

Honeyeater numbers were down this week with only nine species seen, must be better offerings elsewhere! A single Scarlet Honeyeater was in the orchard foraging on some mistletoe trying to look like a Mistletoebird, well they both have bright red in their plumage. Barred Cuckoo-shrike have been eluding the binoculars but have been heard and Cicadabird are still calling as well as being seen. Spangled Drongo have been first in the morning chorus making sure everyone else is awake. Two Spectacled Monarch nests were seen during the week, one with a lot more decoration on it than the other. 


 

Spectacled Monarch - nest with little decoration

 Spectacled Monarch - nest with more decoration


Pied Monarch and Yellow-breasted Boatbill have been showing occasionally and calling infrequently, possibly they are nesting. More egg shells have been found under the nesting colony of the Metallic Starling, these are from the second broods. The nests are continually added to and become heavier and heavier until some snap off the branch they are attached to and fall to the ground. Here you can see a juvenile bird, white streaked breast, having a rest from collecting material whilst below is an all black adult doing the same.

Metallic Starling - immature and adult at nests

Olive-backed Sunbird continue to nest and there was even a report of them nesting in the Lodge grounds but we have not seen this yet.

Further Afield:-

No reports of White-streaked Honeyeater from Mt. Molloy or Abattoir Swamp this week despite several searches. Abattoir Swamp still has a few flowering Melaleuca and Grevillea but only a few species of honeyeater recorded, Yellow, Brown-backed, Brown and White-throated. Mt. Lewis continues to be good with Fernwren and Atherton Scrubwren seen at nests. Blue-faced Parrot-Finch have been a challenge to find with no more than four seen so far (reported to us). Out at Mt. Carbine to the north west there were Galah and Red-tailed Black Cockatoo.

Reptiles and Mammals:-

Highlight here was the appearance of a Tree Mouse Pogonomys sp. out of a tree hollow beside the cookshed, where they have been seen before but not for at least six months. This Australian species was formerly thought to be one of two species occurring in New Guinea but current thinking is that is an unnamed species. This species is restricted to the rainforests of Cape York Peninsula and the Wet Tropics region (where we are). It was first recorded in the Wet Tropics at Lake Barrine in 1974 and only two specimens have been collected on Cape York an Iron Range in 1977. Giant White-tailed Rat have been feasting on fallen fruit from a tree called Steelbutt Endiandra impressicosta (thanks to Rupert Russell and Peter Stanton for identifying the tree), which have been raining down onto our restaurant deck for the past month. Both Green Ringtail and Striped Possum have been seen this week as well as Long-nosed and Northern Brown Bandicoot. Platypus have been showing most days in Bushy Creek and Spectacled Flying Fox have been raiding the Lychee's in the orchard. Still not much action with the frogs despite some rain, plenty of calling but few showing themselves. Two Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko were found high up on the trunks of trees one night and not found again. Up to three Boyd's Forest Dragon have been coming in around the restaurant area and entertaining the tour groups. 

Boyd's Forest Dragon

Several Major Skink have been making appearances on the veranda and one tried to come into the office but lost traction on the floor of the reception area and retreated! An Amethystine Python was seen one night crossing the orchard and was the first seen for seven weeks.

Other Interesting Sightings:

Fungi continue to pop up all over the forest floor, here are a few more.

Fungi sp.

Fungi sp.

 
Also honeybees are around at the moment, this one, a Blue-banded Honeybee (thanks for ID Snail) was on a flower.

Blue-banded Honeybee