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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19th October 2014 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Weather Report

One day we had 6.5mm in a short shower, this was the total rain fall for the last two weeks. With the humidity dipping down to 34% and lots of sunshine and temperatures reaching 32ºc which is unheard of for this time of year, the rain did little to settle the dust.

Last Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-

These can be found on the Eremaea eBird site. 5th- 11th October and 12th- 18th October The first week had 104 species recorded and the second week 110.

Morning and Evening Guided Walks:-

Morning bird walks produced between 54 and 66 species which was very good for 2½hrs. Highlights were two male Superb Fruit-Dove in a tree beside Bushy Creek, male Common Koel, male and female Double-eyed Fig-Parrot feeding in Cluster Fig and nesting nearby.

Double-eyed Fig-Parrot - female at nest

A Noisy Pitta was seen most mornings and two Great Bowerbird were attending a very well constructed bower. 

 

Great Bowerbird Bower

White-throated Honeyeater were building a nest and mating plus a Lemon-bellied Flycatcher was sitting on its tiny nest, the smallest of any bird in Australia. This one is about 10m off the ground.

Lemon-bellied Flycatcher - on nest

(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).

One highlight on a night walk was the eclipse of the moon, we watched it as we went spotlighting and ended up in Geraghty Park to have great views of the event as we listened to two Australian Owlet-nightjar calling to each other. 

Eclipse Of The Moon

Other good sightings were a very brief glimpse of a Lesser Sooty Owl as it flew over and away from us, Giant White Tree Rat, Green Ringtail Possum, Water Rat and three Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko on one night.

Other Birding Highlights:-

One Female Black-necked Stork in a lagoon behind Geraghty Park as well as two Latham's Snipe along the edge, both species not seen for many months. One Australian Pelican flew over the Lodge on the 17^th October, probably heading for one of the lagoons along McDougall Road. A Grey Goshawk was seen to fly into a tree, adjacent to the Lodge orchard, carrying an Eastern Water Dragon and luckily the camera was at hand to whiz off a couple of shots before it moved off clutching its meal.

Grey Goshawk with Eastern Water Dragon

Pacific Baza have been around but not regularly and a pair of Brown Goshawk were circling over the Lodge one morning. Red-necked Crake was seen briefly late one afternoon as it was getting dark at the Crake Pool, it was also heard on several occasions. Pigeons and doves have been around to take advantage of fruiting trees and vines; those seen were Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Wompoo Fruit-Dove, Superb Fruit-Dove, Torresian Imperial Pigeon and Topknot Pigeon plus the regular Emerald Dove, Bar-shouldered Dove and Peaceful Dove. Lesser Sooty Owl was seen about 4.00am perched in a tree near our bunkhouse and heard on numerous other occasions. Barking Owl have been vocal with one roosting high up in a eucalypt tree near the bunkhouse one afternoon. A pair of Papuan Frogmouth have made a nest in a fern on a tree branch at a nearby private property, they laid on the 10^th October and usually take about 40 days to incubate.

Papuan Frogmouth - female on nest

Dollarbird returned on 16^th October along with Brush Cuckoo. Also on this day the Cicadabird started calling. Lovely Fairy-Wren were seen by our neighbours Carol and Andrew Iles (our local bird guides) in their garden, they also saw a Red-necked Crake run under their veranda. Spotted Catbird have been coming to the feeder to gather fruit and head off with it so they maybe feeding young. 13 species of honeyeater were seen and Black-chinned heard. The Eastern Whipbird mentioned in the last blog is still hanging around the area calling whilst it visits all the adjoining rainforest habitats as well as the Lodge grounds. Barred Cuckoo-shrike have been visiting the fruiting trees in and around the Lodge, mainly Blue Quandong. Groups of Spangled Drongo have been passing through the area on their southern migration with up to 50+ seen at a time. Black-faced Monarch are around in increasing numbers and calling and a single female Leaden Flycatcher was heard and seen, the first for seven weeks. A few Pale-Yellow Robin have been seen feeding fledged young whilst others are still sitting on nests. A Bassian Thrush was still around the grounds in the first week but was not sighted in the second.

Further Afield:-

Mt. Lewis is still producing all the 12 “Wet Tropic” endemics but not all at once! One Blue-faced Parrot-Finch was seen near Abattoir Swamp but no reports of them up on Mt. Lewis yet. Maryfarms between Mt. Molloy and Mt. Carbine has displaying Australian Bustard, still at least eight Australian Pratincole and Carol Iles saw an injured Oriental Plover with the pratincole. Photo courtesy of Carol Iles.

Oriental Plover- broken wing

Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo were seen around the Mowbray National Park in Julatten on several occasions. Abattoir Swamp has been good for honeyeaters and White-browed Crake. Up to 12 Spotted Whistling-Duck have been reported at Keatings Lagoon near Cooktown, 2 hours north from the Lodge.

Reptiles and Mammals:-

The Water Rat seen in Bushy Creek whilst on a night walk was the most exciting mammal over the two weeks followed by the elusive Green Ringtail Possum seen once. Three Giant White-tail Rat were seen one night; they have not been seen much lately so must have woken up. Platypus have been very cooperative appearing in the morning and late afternoon with up to two. Boyd's Forest Dragon and Major Skink have also been appearing with the warmer weather. Several snakes have also woken up with sightings of Australian Scrub Python, Slaty Grey and Green Tree Snake – one in our downstairs toilet was a surprise. Just having a look around in the first photo before it retreated back inside. It eventually left by the window with a bit of encouragement and headed for the rainforest.

Green Tree Snake

Green Tree Snake

 

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. 

 

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.

20th September 2013 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge.

Weather Report

Warmer weather over the past two weeks with a few storms around but we missed most of them and only received 8.5mm rain. Temperatures ranged from15ºC to an extreme of 32ºC which is one of the highest temperatures we have recorded here. Along with this was extremely low humidity of 36% which is also a record. High temperatures and low humidity resulted in quite large bush fires in the area but not near us.

Past Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-

Bird sightings for the first week were 103, 95 seen and 8 heard, second week sightings were 98, 92 seen and 6 heard. The last two weeks bird lists can be found on the Eremaea Birds Website:- 6th - 12th October and 13th - 19th October.

Morning walks were between 42 and 54 species seen and heard, the lowest number was a photography walk.

Birding Highlights:-

A single male Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher was seen on the 16^th Oct, one day later than the earliest sighting we have had in eight years. One called on the 18^th and another sighting was had on the 19^th. So at least one has made its way back from the Fly River delta in Papua New Guinea, let hope his mates are not far behind.

Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher

Another excellent sighting was of a Lesser Sooty Owl perched above the road to reception on the 7^th October, which was 24 weeks since the last sighting. This was seen by two of our guests whilst they were spotlighting a White-tailed Rat and noticed something nearby, lucky them. Not heard or seen it since. At least two Red-tailed Black Cockatoo flew over the Lodge one evening at 6.30 calling. This is only the second record we have had here in eight years for October; we suspect they were attracted to the area by the bush fires as we have seen them feeding on burnt seeds previously. A Little Kingfisher was seen near the Crake Pool late one afternoon, the first for several months. A Cicadabird of the southern buzzy call race was in the orchard calling on the 9^th October, this is another first for the Lodge. Although this race is quite common in more open woodland areas such as Abattoir Swamp (6km away) we have not had it here, only had the coastal race which does not have the buzzy bit in its call.

Cicadabird - male

Birds reported building or carrying out nesting activities over the past two weeks were, Papuan Frogmouth which we suspect is nesting as the male has been the only bird seen over the past two weeks which would suggest that the female is sitting on a nest nearby during the day, as this is the normal breeding time. Sulphur-crested Cockatoo are continuing to sit on their nest in a tree hollow and Noisy Pitta was seen carrying nesting material, which is about a month earlier than normal. A White-throated Honeyeater was seen sitting on a nest, Macleay's Honeyeater carrying banana away from the feeder who is probably feeding young, Black-faced Monarch seen carrying nesting material, Pale-yellow Robin, one pair building nest and another pair feeding juveniles. The colony of Metallic Starling has increased in numbers with new arrivals building new nests alongside existing nests built by the early arrivals, who have already fledged the first clutch of the season and are adding to their nests. Plenty of immature birds from the first seasons clutches are helping out with the nest building. Olive-backed Sunbird have recently fledged nestlings and as ever the Red-browed Finch are busy building new nests. Quite a busy time of year.

Wompoo and Superb Fruit-Dove have been around, mainly calling and rarely seen. Cattle Egret numbers have dropped and the odd Straw-necked and Australian White Ibis are still around. A pair of Pacific Baza showed for a day and promptly disappeared but both Whistling and Black Kite were ever present. Red-necked Crake was heard in the Lodge grounds but only seen a couple of times in our neighbours garden. Buff-banded Rail was seen foraging around the edge of Bushy Creek in the grass late one afternoon and a pair of Bush-stone Curlew are still looking after two youngsters which are growing up fast. Brush Cuckoo have really started to get excited at the prospect of rain and are calling every day now unlike the Barking Owl who have not been heard every evening. The have still been heard intermittently but don't seem to be spending as much time around the Lodge although one was found roosting adjacent to the orchard in the rainforest. Azure Kingfisher is regularly being seen flying along or perched in Bushy Creek. Lovely Fairy-wren have been seen in our neighbours garden but not in the Lodge grounds which they seem to avoid! Having said in the last blog that both Lewin's and Bridled Honeyeater had left they turned up the day after the blog was published. Only one Lewin's and a couple of Bridled have been around for a day or two. Blue-faced Honeyeater were seen noisily chasing a raptor off the premises one afternoon and again harassing two roosting Barking Owl across Mt. Kooyong Road. Barred Cuckoo-shrike are moving around the area in response to fruiting trees and have been seen around the Lodge several times. Grey Whistler, Yellow-breasted Boatbill and Pied Monarch have all been vocal but Grey Whistler has been hiding and not seen as often as the other two species. 

Pied Monarch

Spangled Drongo numbers have increased as they migrate through the area and a Northern Fantail has been heard on the edge of the rainforest and along Bushy Creek. 

Spangled Drongo

A few Grey-headed Robin are still around but most have moved back up onto the mountains behind us. A few Chestnut-breasted Mannikin have started to re-appear to join up with the flocks of Red-browed Finch.

Further Afield:-

Yellow-billed Spoonbill have been in the area with up to three on Lake Evan (Brady Road Swamp) 4km north of Marreba, also here were a Marsh Sandpiper and two Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. At last an excuse to put in a wader shot!

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

Another Yellow-billed Spoonbill was on a dam along the Kondaparinga Road north of Mt. Carbine in a dry woodland area. White-browed and Spotless Crake are still being seen at Abattoir Swamp (6km from Lodge). Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo were heard on the lower slopes of Mt. Lewis and Banded Honeyeater have been seen near Mt. Molloy. Mt. Lewis has sprung to life with a little bit of rain, most of the endemics have been seen over the last week including a female Golden Bowerbird and a Lesser Sooty Owl. A trip up Mt. Lewis one morning had to be cut short due to rain but we did see Chowchilla, Atherton Scrubwren and Grey Fantail, race keasti.

Reptiles and Mammals:

A Yellow-footed Antichinus was seen whilst on a morning walk scurrying around in the rainforest adjacent to the orchard. The Lace Monitor reported in the last blog has been seen regularly patrolling around the camping ground and units much to the delight of our guests. This one is about 1m long.

Lace Monitor

Lace Monitor

Up to five Red-legged Pademelon were seen one night browsing in the orchard which is good news as long as they don't nibble our rainforest plantings! Agile Wallaby have been around with one in our orchard and another four seen near a cane paddock. A fish eating bat Large-footed Myotis was roosting in our neighbours property. A large male Striped Possum was seen whilst on a spotlighting tour; this was the first seen in the Lodge for several weeks. A Platypus continues to be seen in Bushy Creek but few frogs have been tempted out after a few showers of rain. Those that have were Stoney Creek Frog (Litoria jungguy), Desert Tree Frog (Litoria rubella), Cogger's Frog (Mixophyes coggeri) and a few Cane Toad. A Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko was on the veranda outside one of our units early one evening and had to be rescued and released on a nearby tree in the rainforest. A great sight for our guests to see this magnificent creature who are masters of disguise.

Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko

Boyd's Rainforest Dragon have been around the unit with at least two and Major Skink are also moving around with at least five seen around the grounds. A green Tree Snake was seen disappearing into vegetation near one of our two bedroom units which made the occupying guests day.

Other Happenings:-

During the week we had the Australian Wildlife Sound Recordist Group (AWSRG) workshop for six days of talks and their AGM. We gave a presentation on the birds and other wildlife around the lodge, other talks were about the Fuscous and Yellow-tinted Honeyeater around the Herberton, Kaban and the Wondecla area as well as areas further north up onto Cape York. Quite a confusing story where these birds do not fit the species type but have subtle differences. Do we have 3 species/subspecies of Cicadabird was the subject of another talk. Again very interesting with birds from various regions of Australia having quite different calls. Insect calls and recent insect discoveries in our region was another interesting talk. Other speakers talked about the ways and means of recording wildlife sounds and preserving them into the future. It was a very social and interesting six days. If you are interested in sound recording we would urge you to join the group and check out their website.

AWSRG relaxing during a talk