5th October 2014 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

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

Weather Report

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

Last Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-

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

Morning and Evening Guided Walks:-

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

 

Great Bowerbird - at his bower

 

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

 

(The full morning walk species lists can be found on the Eremaea eBird site. Click on Explore Data then Hotspots and type in Kingfisher Park – you will then see the Lodge in the drop down menu. Click this on and a map will appear with two markers, click these and you can have access to all our records. It sounds long winded, but it is really easy. Alternatively you can click this link which will take you directly to Hotspots http://ebird.org/ebird/hotspots).

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

 

Centipede sp.

 
Other Birding Highlights:

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

Emerald Dove - juvenile

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

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

 

Graceful Honeyeater

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

Further Afield:-

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

 

Graceful Honeyeater Nest

Mistletoebird Nest - female still building

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

Reptiles and Mammals:-

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

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

Insects:-

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

 

Click Beetle sp. - on its back

Click Beetle sp. - right side up

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

Bee sp. (?)

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

Common Aeroplane (White-banded Plane)

Arachnid:-

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

Giant Silverback spider

 

Giant Silverback spider

Plant:-

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

 

 

Northern Pencil Orchid

29th June 2014 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Weather Report

The first week was rainy and overcast with 16.5mm of rain over 4 days, but by the end of the week it had improved with the second week being dry and sunny, fantastic weather! At last the Lodge was starting to dry out. Temperatures ranged from a low of 14.8ºC up to 23ºC, very pleasant, perfect birding weather.

Last Two Weeks Bird Sightings:-
The first week we recorded 98 species and the second week 101, these can be found on the Eremaea eBird site. 15th - 21st June and 22nd - 28th June

Birding Highlights:-

Wandering Whistling-Duck, Green Pygmy-goose, Pacific Black Duck, Australasian Grebe, Little Black and Little-Pied Cormorant and Great Egret were reported along McDougall Road in the lagoons. An Australian Pelican was flying over the Lodge one afternoon and a White-necked Heron was in a swampy patch of the adjacent cane paddock, this is an occasional visitor. Black-shouldered Kite, Swamp Harrier, Grey and Brown Goshawk, Black and Whistling Kite, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Nankeen Kestrel and Brown Falcon were the raptors seen. Red-necked Crake were heard, but not seen. Brown Cuckoo-Dove have been calling and feeding on fruiting trees in the rainforest. Fan-tailed Cuckoo have been calling every day along with the Little (Gould's) Bronze-Cuckoo and our bird guide neighbours Carol and Andrew had a Shining Bronze-Cuckoo in their garden, this is a winter visitor. Barn Owl are calling, but not always seen as they have changed their normal routine due to the start of the breeding season. The pair of Barking Owls have been around most nights calling incessantly and waking everyone up! A Lesser Sooty Owl was heard giving a single call on one night and that was all for the two weeks. Again four Papuan Frogmouth have been seen, one was perched over the road to reception whilst on a night walk. Rainbow Bee-eater are still with us, but their numbers appear to be decreasing so they may be moving off. Sulphur-crested Cockatoo have whinging youngsters with them and must be driving the parents crazy as the go all day. Double-eyed Fig-Parrot have only been seen as fly overs and Red-wing Parrot were seen near the Julatten School, just in our 1.5km radius Lodge bird list area. Noisy Pitta is still being seen, usually in the orchard or adjacent rainforest, but are not easy. Spotted Catbird are still coming to the feeder and also seen feeding with Victoria's Riflebird on the fallen fruit of a Spondias tree in the orchard.

Victoria's Riflebird - immature male

14 species of honeyeater were seen over the two weeks, the highlight was a Helmeted Friarbird which normally are common along the coast and up onto the great divide so to see one this far inland was very unusual. Graceful Honeyeater have also been calling and feeding on rainforest flowers as the one below is doing. This bird is stretching itself to get to the nectar and in doing so it is distorting the yellow ear patch so it does not look like the field guides show. The shape of the ear patch is naturally variable in Yellow-spotted and Graceful and the Lewin's Honeyeater this area have an ear patch which is not quite the defined crescent shape of the southern birds, which leads to more confusion in identification. Best bet is to learn the calls before you visit this region. 

Graceful Honeyeater

Graceful Honeyeater - close up of head and ear patch

We had the first sighting for the year of a Yellow-throated Scrubwren (male) in the Lodge grounds on the 27^th June. We usually get one or two birds coming off the higher mountains to visit us in the winter months which is good as they can cross the broken corridor between us and the mountain rainforest unlike some other species like Chowchilla. Yellow-breasted Boatbill have again been calling and showing well as have Pied Monarch.

Pied Monarch

A female Bower's Shrike-thrush has been around the Lodge grounds late in the second week, again this is a winter visitor from higher grounds. Female Bower's have a bone bi-colour bill unlike the adult male who have an all dark bill. At least one male Golden Whistler (another winter visitor) is still around the grounds and has been calling well. A Yellow Oriole has been lurking around in the Lodge grounds, whilst they are common on the coast they have only started to appear here in the last 3-4 years.

Yellow Oriole

Willie Wagtail are interesting and a common bird, but not at the Lodge all year around. Whilst they are reported to be resident in many areas of Australia they also migrate out of some parts of Australia. Amazing how little we know about the movements of such a common bird. 

Willie Wagtail

A Tawny Grassbird was around the nearby cane paddock, a species we have not seen since September 2013. Chestnut-breasted Mannikin were foraging around the edge of the adjacent cane paddock one morning along with the regular Red-browed Finch.

Further Afield:-

Black-breasted Buzzard was seen at the Mt. Carbine Cemetery, Collared Sparrowhawk and Satin Flycatcher were at McLeod River north of Mt. Carbine. Pacific Baza was at the Mowbray National Park in Julatten, thanks to Jan England for these sightings. Little Kingfisher are being seen on the Daintree River and Australian Praticole were found on the Atherton Tableland behind the Shalee Strawberry Farm on the Gillies Highway (Yungaburra to Atherton Road) at the junction of Marks Lane. A female Double-eyed Fig-Parrot stunned itself on a window of our house in Julatten and after it was calmed down it was put on a tree branch in the shade where it sat until it recovered and flew away. It was looking rather sad when this photo was taken.

Double-eyed Fig-Parrot - female

Thanks to Carol and Andrew Iles for their sightings contributions. If you need any bird guiding contact Carol and Andrew.

Reptiles and Mammals:-

Top of the list this week goes to the Tree Mouse Pogonomys sp.(previously known as Prehensile-tailed Rat) which was running around on the edge of the rainforest near the reception area one evening. Two other Pogonomys species occur in New Guinea but the Australian one is thought to be an unnamed species as no taxonomic study has shown a definite link with the other two species. The Australian species was first recorded in 1974 at Lake Eacham on the Atherton Tableland when a cat bought one into the Lake Eacham Teahouse. This one stopped in the same position for over 10 minutes whilst it was photographed contrary to published reports that it runs around in a confused manner back and forth along tree branches when spotlighted. 

Tree Mouse

Other mammals seen were Fawn-footed Melomys, Yellow-footed Antichinus, Red-legged Pademelon, Agile Wallaby, Eastern Horseshoe Bat, Northern Tube-nosed Bat, Bush Rat, Giant White-tailed Rat, Striped Possum, Long-nosed and Northern Brown Bandicoot plus Spectacled Flying Fox. Once again we found several Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko, several of which were showing different colour variations depending on the tree bark colour they were on, great camouflage

Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko

Frogs were good for the first week when it was wet but only a couple of species ventured out in the second week, we recorded seven species including Striped Marsh Frog, Jungguy Frog, Dainty Green Tree Frog and Cogger's Frog. No Boyd's Forest Dragon and only one snake, an Australian Scrub Python, over the two weeks which probably means they have gone into hibernation or are less active in the cooler weather.

Fungi:-

This Bridal Veil fungi Phallus indusiatus popped up along the rainforest track to the orchard. It is pollinated by flies which are attracted to it by the smell, which is like rotting meat. The cap has a brown spore containing slime which is eaten by the flies who then disperse the spores. It is an edible fungus and is used in Chinese cooking as well as in medicines. If you want to find out more about this fungi follow this link.

Bridal Veil Fungi

New Books:-

Two new books were added to our shop this week, Finding Australian birds: a field guide to birding locations by Tim Dolby and Rohan Clarke. Had a quick browse through this book and it looks like the definitive guide to get you onto great birding locations and the birds you want to see. It is over 600 pages with plenty of maps. A bargain at $49.95.

The other book is A Guide To The Cockroaches of Australia by David Rentz who is well known to us as he lives nearby at Kuranda. This book describes comprehensively most of the 550 described species found in Australia, excellent descriptions, photos and maps. It is only when you see this field guide that you can appreciate the diversity of cockroaches in Australia, $49.95. 

 

Well done to Tim, Rohan and David for the work and dedication needed to bring such great books to us.

Finally:-
After months of roadworks along the Mt. Molloy to Mossman road near the Bushy Creek Bridge where we were delayed by traffic lights which took for ever to change, it has been finished. This is what it looks like now. Not sure about the speed limit!

Mt. Molloy to Mossman Road.

For Sale:-

Canon EOS 7D body + EF 100-400mm Lens. All in excellent condition with original boxes, Instruction manual. Great bird photography outfit - have upgraded. Only $1600.00 plus P & P. Email interest.

Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge Business and Property For Sale
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18th May 2014 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Weather Report

Mixed weather over the last two weeks, we have have some fantastic sunny days with temperatures only getting up to 24ºC. The first week was dry, but the second week some rain fell with 18mm on six rainy days, just enough to be annoying.

Birding Highlights:-

A pair of Cotton Pygmy-goose have been coming and going from one of the lagoons along McDougall Road, not a common species in our area. Bar-shouldered Dove have been displaying and calling, always nice to see this attractive dove even though it is very common.

Bar-shouldered Dove

A small flock of 8 Topknot Pigeon flew over the Lodge whilst we were on a morning walk; this is the first sighting for 13 weeks. A lone female Papuan Frogmouth showed up in the orchard for a day which was something for the Pale-yellow Robin to harass for most of the day, presumably the same bird was seen perching in front of the accommodation units on 17^th May. This bird was not one of the family of three which are still in the area and seen roosting away from the Lodge. A Great Cormorant turned up along McDougall Road, another uncommon bird in the area. A Black-breasted Buzzard was along Euluma Creek Road near the Julatten School and a Square-tailed Kite was seen to fly over the Lodge. White-bellied Sea-Eagle have been displaying and calling a lot and maybe going to nest nearby. Great to see a Spotted Harrier over a cane paddock whilst we were on a morning walk late in the second week as this is an uncommon visitor. A single Purple Swamphen was along McDougall Road, another uncommon visitor. Red-necked Crake have been seen both weeks, on one occasion an adult was seen with an immature, good to know at least one of the three chicks is surviving. A pair of Scaly-breasted Lorikeet appeared at the feeder one afternoon much to our surprise as we have only seen them here once in nine years. 

Scaly-breasted Lorikeet

Double-eyed Fig-Parrot have been taking advantage of a couple of fruiting fig trees, up to four have been regularly seen. On the same morning walk when the Spotted Harrier was seen a single male Australian King-Parrot flew across the Lodge grounds calling, this was a first sighting for the year at the Lodge. Barking Owl are still around and calling close to the reception area, one was seen perched in a Queensland Blue Gum near the entrance to the Lodge. Lesser Sooty Owl was seen in the Lodge grounds by Klaus Uhlenhut from Kirrama WildlifeTours and his guests late in the second week. Barn Owl, who are probably thinking of nesting by now, have been calling and seen. Azure Kingfisher have been along Bushy Creek and both Laughing and Blue-winged Kookaburra have been regularly seen. Noisy Pitta are around the Lodge grounds, but more often heard rather than seen; there was one sighting of two birds. Two Spotted Catbird have started to come to the feeder in the mornings to eat banana, better than eating baby birds! The same 12 species of honeyeater have been seen over the two weeks, these included Bridled and Scarlet Honeyeater who are not regulars. Barred Cuckoo-shrike have been lured back by the same fig trees that the Double-eyed Fig-Parrot have been in and have been joined by a couple of White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike. Of course there have also been 100's of Australasian Figbird fighting over the figs as well.

Australasian Figbird - male

A single male Golden Whistler was seen on the 6^th May, this was the first for two years as none came down off the mountains last year to visit the Lodge. Grey and Rufous Whistler have also been seen and are very vocal. A Yellow Oriole has been seen and heard over the past two weeks, they are not resident and presumably come up from the coast where they are very common. A Pied Currawong flew over the Lodge one morning and was seen by Carol Iles, bird guide. Rufous and Grey Fantail numbers continue to increase as southern migrants arrive. Pied Monarch and Yellow-breasted Boatbill have been calling and seen regularly, especially the boatbill. At least two female Victoria's Riflebird have been foraging in the Lodge grounds and coming to the bird baths in the afternoon. Silvereye have been around in small to large groups (50+), very busy birds as they move through the forest. 

Silvereye

Immature Metallic Starling are still around, which is very late for them, our birds have usually gone north by now.

Further Afield:-

A flock of 8 Topknot Pigeon were seen flying over Euluma Creek Road, Julatten at the beginning of May. Also along Euluma Creek Road was Eastern Yellow Robin (uncommon) and a Buff-banded Rail which appear to be becoming scarce in our area. A Sacred Kingfisher was seen in Mount Molloy (uncommon) and Maryfarms north of Mount Molloy had some Black-faced Woodswallow and White-winged Triller. Mt. Lewis continues to be good for birds with Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo heard on the lower slopes along with one Blue-faced Parrot-Finch. Higher up the mountain a male Golden Bowerbird was seen in company with a brown immature/female bird. One of our herpetologist friends in Julatten, Grant, sent us this photo of a Large-tailed Nightjar perching in a tree along his driveway at the end of April. This record is interesting as there are very few records around here in April and this species is not often seen perching in trees. We have never seen one  in a tree and local ornithologist Lloyd Nielsen said he had only seen it once although he had seen them on fence posts. They are normally ground dwellers.

Large-tailed Nightjar

Thanks to Carol and Andrew Iles our local bird guiding neighbours for contributing to the bird lists. Please email Carol if you need any local guiding.

Reptiles and Mammals:-

Fawn-footed Melomys have been visiting our neighbours, Carol and Andrew, whilst a Yellow-footed Antichinus was visiting us in our office. Red-legged Pademelon have established themselves in the Lodge grounds and can usually be seen early morning or at night foraging in the orchard area. One of our guests, Adrian, put out a camera overnight at the feeder to see what came in. Most action occurred in the early hours of the morning when Bush Rat and White-tailed Rat showed at the feeder. Northern Brown Bandicoot have started to re-appear and a juvenile Striped Possum was seen on a night walk. Several Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko have been seen around the rainforest and only one snake seen when our neighbours disturbed a Small-eyed Snake. 
 

Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko

Boyd's Forest Dragon returned to the reception area after being away for about 10 days and got straight into the banana on the feeder. Frogs have been a bit scarce with the drier weather but we have seen Jungguy Frog, White-lipped Tree Frog, Dainty Green Tree Frog as well as these Desert (Red) Tree Frog who were trying to get into a hole in the amenities wall. This species is also known as Naked Frog for obvious reasons!

Desert Tree Frog

Also seen was this Roth's (Laughing) Tree Frog, which was found in the reception area covered in fluff and cleaned off before being released outside.

 

Roth's Tree Frog

Bats:-
Two of our guests Paul and David spent a few hours during the night chasing bats on Mt. Lewis, these are the ones they identified.

Eastern Long-eared Bat Nyctophilus bifax
Eastern Forest Bat Vespadelus pumilus
Little Bent-winged Bat Miniopterus australis
Eastern Horseshoe Bat Rhinolophus megaphyllus
Eastern Blossom Bat Syconicteris australis
Flute-nosed Bat Murina florium

 Go Gunners! Sat up and watched Arsenal win the FA Cup - about time.

Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge Business and Property For Sale
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15th July 2012 Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

The first week was dry, no rainfall to record and the second week was wet with annoying drizzle and some heavier falls resulting in 34.5mm. The top temperature was 24.0ºC and the minimum was 11.3ºC but most mornings had higher minimums of up to 21ºC. The humidity was high up to 98% and down to 73%.

Bird sightings for the first week were a high 100 seen plus 6 heard only. The second week had slightly less sightings due mainly to the inclement weather, 96 seen plus 5 heard. Mammal and reptile species were slightly more than the last two weeks – 28 species were seen over the two weeks. 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:

A Pacific Baza eating a White-lipped Green Tree Frog (not a highlight for the poor old frog!) outside the rear of the reception area, this was the first baza we have seen for a month. 

 

Pacific Baza - eating frog

A Little Kingfisher was along Bushy Creek Saturday afternoon of the second week which was a good sighting for one of our guests. At least four Barred Cuckoo-shrike were feeding in a fruiting fig tree beside the Rex Highway whilst on a morning walk. The morning walk was also a highlight with 61 species, the most recorded this year for a walk. An Australian Reed-Warbler was heard in a cane paddock, near our neighbours house, before being seen foraging amongst the cane. Not a common species here with only a few sightings each year.

Other sightings:

Waterbird numbers and species continue to fluctuate with Magpie Goose, Wandering Whistling-Duck, Hardhead and Royal Spoonbill being the most un-predictable in the area. A few juvenile Emerald Dove are around with this one coming to the feeder and chasing off the adults, in between times it stops to have a drink but not before walking around the bowl! 

Emerald Dove - juvenile

Wompoo Fruit-Dove were heard and a few Topknot Pigeon have been seen flying over. The female Papuan Frogmouth continues to play hide and seek but was in its usual on a few occasions, once after overnight rain it was very bedraggled and hardly recognisable as a bird! Australian Owlet-nightjar appeared at its daytime roost a couple of times and heard calling from the edge of the Lodge grounds mid-morning one day from a different area to the daytime roost. Australian Swiftlet have been aerial foraging low over cut cane paddocks along with Fairy Martin. Black-necked Stork are still around making appearances at Barramundi Gardens fish farm and along McDougall Road. Both Whistling and Black Kite have been foraging on the cut cane paddocks with up to 18 sighted at one time. A pair of Whistling Kite have been aerial displaying over the cane paddocks and maybe the pair which regularly nest near the Lodge getting ready for this years nesting cycle. Both Brown Goshawk and Collared Sparrowhawk have been in the area, usually along McDougall Road. One Nankeen Kestrel was on a power pole along the Rex Highway one day and an Australian Hobby was sitting at the top of a dead tree along Mt. Kooyong Road opposite the Lodge one afternoon. Double-eyed Fig-Parrot continue to fly over in ones and twos but not stopping as only one of the fig trees in the immediate area have ripe fruit on them at the moment with no sign of fig-parrots on it. A Pheasant Coucal was disturbed at the side of the Rex Highway whilst on a morning walk and a first for five weeks. The pair of Barking Owl reported previously are still with us and can be heard most evenings and early mornings calling. Noisy Pitta was around the feeder during the dry days but went back into the rainforest when the rain came. The feeder with the banana was still an attraction for the pitta as this photo shows.

Noisy Pitta - at feeder

 
Two Spotted Catbird were also coming in for banana and up to four Great Bowerbird were at the lone fruiting fig tree along with 50+ Australasian Figbird, a few White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike and the previously mentioned Barred Cuckoo-shrike. Lovely Fairy-wren were again heard in our neighbours garden late afternoon and appear to be roosting in a patch of bamboo alongside Bushy Creek. 12 honeyeater species around which are the same ones for the last month. Pied Monarch have been busy with one showing up one morning in a patch of rainforest next to the units foraging low down for good views. Grey-headed Robin have been regulars in the orchard and in the rainforest but this one has taken up residence in front of the units and around the feeder, very cute!

Grey-headed Robin

A pair of Olive-backed Sunbird have a nest in Geraghty Park which was constructed in a week by the female, male was supervising! They have not started using it yet.

Further Afield:-

Previous reports of 40+ Diamond Dove at Maryfarms near Mt. Carbine were eclipsed this week with 135 reported from the same location by Del Richards from Fine Feather Tours. Where and why are they coming in such large numbers this far east? A White-necked Heron was foraging at the side of the Rex Highway about 2km from Mount Molloy towards Julatten, an uncommon bird in the area. Also along this road on the same day were two Wedge-tailed Eagle soaring near Abattoir Swamp, another uncommon bird which was probably attracted by the cane harvesting. A pair of Fernwren collecting nesting material at Mowbray National Park (about 450m), Julatten, was an unusual record. They are normally found above 600m although they come down to almost sea level in Mossman Gorge National Park and normally nest around October - February but have been found breeding in July-August. A few sightings have been made of Blue-faced Parrot-Finch near Abattoir Swamp but only small numbers of less than five.

Reptiles and Mammals:-

It has been a few good weeks for mammal and reptile sightings with a couple of night walks being exceptional, even in the drizzly rain. One night walk produced Fawn-footed Melomys, Diadem Leaf-nosed Bat, Bush Rat, Giant White-tailed Rat, Green Ringtail Possum, Striped Possum, Long-nosed and Northern Brown Bandicoot, Spectacled Flying Fox, Jungguy Frog, White-lipped Tree Frog, Desert Tree Frog, Dainty Green Tree Frog, Cogger's Frog, Cane Toad, two Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko including one on the ground with its tail in the air and Boyd's Rainforest Dragon. Wish all night walks were like that one! 

Jungguy Frog

Platypus was seen in Bushy Creek one evening and a Yellow-footed Antichinus was coming to the feeder for banana when the pitta wasn't there.

Yellow-footed Antichinus

 

Yellow-footed Antichinus

A 3m Australian Scrub Python was seen crossing the road near our two bed-roomed units one evening. Late in the week three Red-legged Pademelon were seen in the orchard, which is great as we have only been seeing the occasional one. 10 - 20 years ago they were common in the orchard but disappeared for many years.