10th July 2011 Report

After last weeks 20mm of rain we had none this week. The overnight temperatures were cooler than last weeks with a minimum of 12.2ºc and a slightly warmer maximum during the day of 20.9ºc. Again great birding weather.

Bird species recorded were 92 seen and 4 heard. Reptiles and mammals were 24 which was up on previous weeks and the best total for a while, due to greater observer effort over the week.

The weeks bird list is on the Eremaea Birds website.

The most bizzare record this week was a Cattle Egret in the mouth of a cow! This was reported by two of our guests, Marilyn and Rob, who saw this happening along the nearby McDougall Road. They said that the Cattle Egret was dead in the mouth of the cow when they arrived so they could not say whether the cow was responsible for killing it. The cow was holding the egret by the neck and shaking the egret from side to side before dropping it and repeating this several times over a couple of minutes. The cow then dropped the egret and a Whistling Kite, which was sitting in a nearby tree watching and waiting for its turn at the egret, pounced to get its share. Strange behaviour but maybe the cow was getting revenge on those pesky egrets that keep hanging around its feet!

The most unusual record was a Brolga circling over the Lodge grounds which was heard trumpeting but not seen, luckily Del Richards from Fine Feather Tours was present at the time to back us up on the call which is pretty distinctive anyway. This is only the second record of Brolga flying over the Lodge in six years. A Brolga was reported at Shannonvale, near Mossman, the same afternoon and could have been the same bird. Also unusual was a Royal Spoonbill flying over a cane paddock with a very large stick in its claw heading south-west. This would suggest it was building a nest in the area which would be very unusual, we have not heard of any nest building in our area and with all the rains and flooding in central areas of Australia we would have thought spoonbills would already have bred fairly recently. Normally they breed between September and March and in colonies with ibis, egrets and herons. The two lagoons along McDougall Road had a few more waterbirds on them this week, Magpie Goose, Wandering Whistling-Duck, Green Pygmy-goose, Pacific Black Duck, Australasian Grebe, Little Pied Cormorant and Comb-crested Jacana. 

Comb-crested Jacana

Three Brown Cuckoo-Dove have been around the Lodge and a lone Emerald Dove returned after a four week absence. Topknot Pigeon continue to overfly the Lodge as they have done for nearly a month now. The female Papuan Frogmouth, which was by the reception for a few days last week, disappeared towards weeks end and this week a female turned up roosting in a Mango Tree in our orchard and has been in the same spot all week. An Australian Owlet-nightjar was seen once at the beginning of the week peering out of its daytime roost and a Black-necked Stork flew over McDougall Road at the end of the week. A single White-necked Heron was seen perching in a tree across the Rex Highway opposite Geraghty Park and two White-faced Heron flew over Geraghty Park whilst we were on a morning walk, one was an adult and the other a juvenile. Australian White Ibis were seen several times flying over the Lodge and on the ground at the nearby Barramundi Farm where up to six birds were seen. White-bellied Sea-Eagle were still being harassed by Black-shouldered Kite and Whistling Kite. Black Kite numbers have increased as cane cutting gets under-way in the area. One Red-necked Crake was briefly seen scurrying across one of the roads in the camp ground on its way to the far side of Mt Kooyong Road. Sulphur-crested Cockatoo numbers have also increased as they like to get stuck into the cane stems along the edge of the plantings. Five Double-eyed Fig-Parrot flew out of a fig tree along Bushy Creek one morning and over the Lodge grounds. (Lesser) Sooty Owl was again heard on several occasions, usually giving one call and going quiet so we cannot track it down. Eastern Barn Owl were out in force with seven individuals seen on one night, one group was probably two adults and three juveniles. The following day one Eastern Barn Owl was found roosting 2m off the ground in a shrub on the edge of Geraghty Park, unable to find a roost hollow for the day. 

Eastern Barn Owl

Azure Kingfisher has been a regular at the Crake Pool all week but no sign of the Little Kingfisher which was frequenting this location. Spotted Catbird has been coming to the feeder again and also our neighbours feeder. A group of Red-backed Fairy-wren we in the same area as last weeks sighting behind the Geraghty Park Community Hall, this time there was a male with 4-5 female/juveniles. No Brown Gerygone this week so they might have moved on, yes we know we have said this before and they return the next week! Same 11 honeyeater species as the past five weeks but with more eucalypts flowering we are hopeful of a few more species turning up. Blue-faced Honeyeater was more noisy than normal a feeding in an Umbrella Tree.

Blue-faced Honeyeater

White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike have been very active as have Varied Triller. Yellow Oriole are still with us and actually showing well this week, Olive-backed Oriole were only heard. Several sightings of Black Butcherbird, one a brown bird and the other a black bird skulking around in the rainforest. There only seems to be one Spangled Drongo around at the moment which is roosting behind the units and makes sure everyone knows he is there by making a lot of noise on dusk. Northern Fantail has again been in the Lodge grounds and a male Leaden Flycatcher has been around Geraghty Park. An adult Black-faced Monarch was foraging in the rainforest near the crake pool and is one of the few which overwinter instead of returning to Papua New Guinea to the north. A pair of Pied Monarch have been around the Lodge as have several Yellow-breasted Boatbill calling most mornings. This one was showing very well.

Yellow-breasted Boatbill

The female Victoria's Riflebird reported over the last few weeks has been around the edge of Geraghty Park and in the Lodge grounds. Just a single Bassian Thrush seen this week after having four the week before.

It was a great week for mammals and reptiles/amphibians as we did several spotlighting trips in ideal conditions and ended up with 25 species. Our South American Sapote tree started flowering and attracted Spectacled Flying Fox, Tree Mouse and two adult Striped Possum. A juvenile Striped Possum was also seen in the rainforest which was good news. 

Striped Possum - in sapote

 
A Platypus was seen in Bushy Creek late one afternoon and a Feather-tail Glider was seen climbing up a Coconut Palm one evening. Despite the dry weather we saw 9 frog species including Roth's Tree Frog, Cogger's Frog, Jungguy Frog and Peter's Frog. One large 4m+ Amethystine Python was in our neighbours garden and the first one seen for a few weeks. A Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko has been showing well over the last two weeks and this image shows what masters of disguise they are.

Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko

Further afield Blue-faced Parrot-Finch have appeared in the last week in the area with a maximum of five birds reported on private property. David “Chook” Crawford from Close Up Birding Adventures reported fluffy Magpie Goose chicks at Lake Mitchell (other names: Quaid's Dam or Southedge Lake) which is a late breeding record, he also had two Banded Honeyeater at Mt. Molloy. Banded Honeyeater have turned up at Mt. Molloy most years following the flowering gums. Squatter Pigeon have been regularly seen in Mt. Molloy and Black-throated Finch were along Quaid's Road opposite Lake Mitchell. A Barking Owl was heard calling near Abattoir Swamp which was the first we have heard of this close to the Lodge (6km) in 17 months, also in this area was an immature Black-faced Monarch, which must have been a result of late breeding. White-cheeked Honeyeater were also seen near Abattoir Swamp feeding in flowering eucalypts.

White-cheeked Honeyeater

Victoria's Riflebird has been along McDougall Road feeding on Tulipwood seeds, this image illustrated the pendulous nature of the seed pods.

Tulipwood  Harpullia rhyticarpa

Only a mother could like this youngster! Guess what it is, not too difficult!

Guess who I am

Answer next week.





 

19th June 2011 Report

The weather remained sunny and cooler this week with a minimum of 9.7ºc and maximum of 20.3ºc and 1mm in the rain gauge at the beginning of the week. Absolutely brilliant birding weather.

Bird species recorded were 100 seen and 5 heard, reptiles and mammals were 13 seen which was fewer than normal, probably due to the even colder weather this week and only one spotlighting trip. The weeks bird list is on the Eremaea Birds website.

The most surprising bird to turn up this week was an Australian Reed-Warbler in a patch of cane near the front entrance to the Lodge grounds. Previously we had four records in the last six years all in June to October 2007. Other sightings of reed warblers recently have been in more likely places such as Abattoir Swamp. However we know that reed warblers utilise cane fields to migrate through as we have helped in studies around Tully (south of Cairns) many years ago to check the movements of them passing through. Unfortunately this weeks bird stayed in the cane field and did not pop out for a good image,  however this image does give an idea of what they look like.

Australian Reed-Warbler

 

Also of note was four Australian King-Parrot flying over Geraghty Park; in the last six years this is the second sighting we have had in June, the other was in 2007. This sighting is the 20^th in six years with May being the most frequent with six sightings and January, February and November the only months with no sightings.

What else happened over the week? Orange-footed Scrubfowl have been noisier than normal and have been seen on their nest mound but no sign of digging.

Orange-footed Scrubfowl

Two Australian Wood Duck were sitting at the edge of drying ponding opposite Geraghty Park and the first seen here this year and a flock of Wandering Whistling-Duck flew over whilst on a spotlighting trip. Three White-headed Pigeon flew over Geraghty Park heading south and small flocks of Topknot Pigeon continue to fly over the Lodge grounds but not stopping. Peaceful Dove were seen mating, probably not surprising as they are always at it! However there were no Emerald Dove seen during the week. The dry weather has obviously driven them off to find wetter areas but where? Australian Owlet-nightjar was seen several times peering out of its daytime roost enjoying the sun.

A White-bellied Sea-Eagle was making its usual way back from taking a fish from the local Barramundi Farm when it was ambushed by three kites, Black-shouldered, Whistling and Black who dive bombed it in the air space opposite Geraghty Park. A Nankeen Kestrel heading in the opposite direction took no notice of this commotion but had been harassing the Sea-Eagle last week. A pair of Brown Falcon have been along McDougall Road for a while now and maybe breeding somewhere in the vicinity. A Red-necked Crake was seen bathing at the Crake Pool late Saturday afternoon by one of our guests who photographed it, hopefully it will become more regular here as it is drying out elsewhere. This image is one we took several years ago.

Red-necked Crake

Our neighbours have hand reared two Buff-banded Rail who were abandoned and are now six weeks old.They are now roaming free and becoming more independent, as well as looking more like adults day by day. 

 

Buff-banded Rail - 6 weeks old

There have been four Bush Stone-curlew roosting during the day in the nursing home grounds under the shade of some bushes. Not sure if they ever sleep as they are out all night calling and foraging.
 

Bush Stone-curlew (4)

Scaly-breasted Lorikeet have been increasing in numbers with small flocks noisily flying around enjoying the flowering eucalypts. Shining and Little Bronze-cuckoo have been calling well as has the (Lesser) Sooty Owl but none have been seen. Eastern Barn Owl have been seen coming out of both roost and nest hollows so we are still not sure if they are actually nesting. Azure Kingfisher has been perched along Bushy Creek several times during the week, once with a fish in its bill. Spotted Catbird is still coming to the feeder and polishing of grapes and banana. Striated Pardalote was actually seen this week whilst we were on a morning walk. It was foraging around in a Queensland Blue Gum quite low down in full sunlight for excellent views, great little birds. Eleven Honeyeater species during the week with Yellow and Scarlet showing well in the early morning sun. 

Yellow Honeyeater

 
Cicadabird was only heard at the beginning of the week so they might have moved on. Black Butcherbird was still around the Lodge grounds as was a Spangled Drongo who was foraging for insects well after dark one evening. Northern Fantail was foraging in the orchard on one occasion and both Grey and Rufous Fantail were seen often in small foraging parties. One Black-faced Monarch was seen again this week and Pied Monarch has been active near the Crake Pool all week. Female Victoria's Riflebird has been visiting the feeder whilst an immature male has been foraging around the grounds. Up to six Lemon-bellied Flycatcher have been getting around together in Geraghty Park foraging from ground level up to 20+m in the Queensland Blue Gum. Quite large flocks (50+) of Fairy Martin plus a few Tree Martin have been over the Lodge and the 1^st year Bassian Thrush is still doing the rounds of the grounds. A single Chestnut-breasted Mannikin appeared at the seed feeder once and promptly disappeared.

Mammals were pretty quiet with the cool weather, one spotlighting trip failed to find any possums but as one of their favourite trees is about to come into flower we hope they will be more regular over the coming weeks. One Yellow-footed Antechinus was around along with the regular Fawn-footed Melomys and some rather large Bush Rat. Both Brown and Long-nosed Bandicoot have increased in numbers but the cooler dry weather has caused the frogs to go into hiding. We did see one Peters Frog Litoria inermis and the usual White-lipped Tree Frog who are doing much as the image below shows, just hanging about! A Green Tree Snake was in our neighbours garden and the only reptile seen during the week.

White-lipped Tree Frog

Further afield along Euluma Creek Road in Julatten we had a bird wave with 15 species in it – Lovely Fairy-wren, Graceful Honeyeater, Yellow-spotted Honeyeater, Macleay's Honeyeater, Fairy Gerygone, Large-billed Gerygone, Varied Triller, Grey Whistler, Little Shrike-thrush, Grey and Rufous Fantail, Spectacled and White-eared Monarch, Silvereye and Red-browed Finch. Best birds were the Lovely Fairy-wren with at least two males in the party and a single White-eared Monarch. Another image with a bird hiding in the undergrowth, this time with a stick in front of it but hey it is such a great bird it had to be in the blog!

Lovely Fairy-wren - male

Lake Mitchell between Mt. Molloy and Mareeba appears to be getting a few more waterbirds over the last week including a flock of Comb-crested Jacana which lifted off together and flew a short distance before landing on the water. Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo was seen along Churchill Creek Road (off Mt. Lewis Road). 
 

29th May 2011 Report

Before we get into this week blog you will notice that we have embedded our Wildiaries reports into the blog side column which will give access to more images and specific trip reports – hope you enjoy them.

Cooler weather this week with a minimum of 11.4ºC and maximum of 24.3ºC, one day we had only a maximum of 18.0ºC, which is pretty cold for us.

Bird species recorded were 99 seen and 5 heard, reptiles and mammals were 14 seen which was fewer than normal, probably due to the colder weather and only one spotlighting trip. The weeks bird list is on the Eremaea Birds website.

Best sightings around the Lodge grounds were a Black Bittern along Bushy Creek at the Platypus viewing area and two sightings of an adult Little Kingfisher at the Crake Pool. We have had 4 previous records at the Lodge of Black Bittern, two in January and two in June. The Kingfisher was first seen late one afternoon, then next morning by Lindsay. These are the first sighting here since December 2008. Previous records at the Lodge going back to 2005 were one record December 2005, one record in January 2006 and 6 records in 2007 for April (2 sightings), June, July, August and October. These are the first sightings for May.

Little Kingfisher

The female Papuan Frogmouth spent most of the week outside the reception area but no sightings of the male roosting, one female was seen perched low down in a tree on the edge of the orchard whilst spotlighting. Australian Owlet-nightjar was heard one night but not seen and an Australian Darter was again along McDougall Road. An Intermediate Egret was fishing at the Barramundi Farm and was the first since November 2010. Six Straw-necked Ibis were circling over the Lodge grounds one afternoon, the most we have seen in the area this year. Pacific Baza was calling over a few days and perching around the grounds and a Grey Goshawk was perching alongside Bushy Creek on a morning walk. A Wedge-tailed Eagle was seen soaring over the Lodge grounds once and a Nankeen Kestrel was perched in a tree it has used for the last three years to nest in; maybe claiming it for this years breeding season. 

Nankeen Kestrel

A single Dusky Moorhen was foraging around in one of the McDougall Road swamps and is only the second record from this area, the last was in August 2010. The juvenile Eastern Koel that has been hanging around a fruiting palm has now exhausted the food supply and moved on mid-week and Channel-billed Cuckoo were heard along Bushy Creek. (Lesser) Sooty Owl has been calling again this week both early evening and pre-dawn (not sure about the night as we have been asleep!), but not seen. Three Eastern Barn Owl were seen but not at the nest tree, two came out of daytime roost and another was sitting up in a Queensland Blue Gum tree. Azure Kingfisher has been fishing in a drying wet season lagoon on the edge of the orchard as well as flying up and down Bushy Creek.

Brown Gerygone have been coming down lower in the vegetation to forage during the cold weather but Fairy Gerygone have been staying up high in the canopy. Twelve Honeyeater species this week; the only one not seen regularly over the last few weeks was Scarlet Honeyeater which was calling at the end of the week. Barred Cuckoo-shrike have again been along Bushy Creek with Topknot Pigeon and Australasian Figbird. 

Barred Cuckoo-shrike

 
Have only seen the male Cicadabird this week which has been foraging in the same Poinciana Tree as last week. A Yellow Oriole called at the end of the week which was the only record. A couple of sightings of Grey Fantail but no sign of the main pack returning from southern areas of Australia. Northern Fantail returned to the rainforest this week after a few weeks away and was seen bathing in one of the bird baths. Shining Flycatcher was heard along Bushy Creek but not seen. Pied Monarch and Yellow-breasted Boatbill continue to call and be seen regularly. A female Victoria's Riflebird was seen once coming down to ponding on the edge of the orchard to bathe. Lemon-bellied Flycatcher are still very active in Geraghty Park and coming down low for photo opportunities.

Lemon-bellied Flycatcher

The juvenile Bassian Thrush continues to forage out in the open on grassy areas in front of the cookshed and units. This image was taken when a Pacific Baza started to call and the thrush froze in this position for several minutes. It is highly unlikely that the baza would attack the thrush but how does the thrush know it is a predator calling? 

Bassian Thrush - juvenile

 

Spotlighting turned up a Tree Mouse (Prehensile-tailed Rat) foraging in a Coconut Palm and several Long-nosed Bandicoot including a female with a very large pouch. A few frogs braved the cold, Bumpy Rocket Frog, Rocket Frog, Northern Dwarf Tree Frog and Desert Frog but all the White-lipped Tree Frog stayed indoors.

Further afield our reports for the Cooktown sojourn last weekend are on the Wildiaries site, link on the side column. Best bird sightings were White-streaked Honeyeater in the Endeavour River National Park and a Radjah Shelduck perched on a dead tree in a swamp between the East and West Normanby Rivers along the main road from Cooktown to Lakeland Downs. This Intermediate Egret was on a swamp along the road to Hopevale, from Cooktown moving between the water lilies. 

Intermediate Egret

There were also some Comb-crested Jacana on the swamp, a family of two adults, two juveniles and two small fluffy black chicks all getting around together. We thought this was an unusual family group to have juveniles and chicks together. Dragonfly highlight was this Rosy Skimmer.

Rosy Skimmer

One reptile was seen, it was a Rusty Monitor which was lying across the track in the Endeavour National Park and not looking too well.

Rusty Monitor - Varanus semiremex

Elsewhere both male and female Golden Bowerbird were reported from Mt. Lewis by Del Richards from Fine Feather Tours and another male was seen at The Crater (Mt. Hypipamee), near Atherton by one of our guests. If you are in Cairns keep a look out for a Pied Imperial Pigeon reported early last week, a late stayer. A Blue-billed Duck was reported at Hasties Swamp near Atherton, a long way north of normal range.

17th April 2011 Report

 

Wow what a week of fantastic weather! The best we have had all year with beautiful sunny dry days and a temperature range of 17.2ºC to 26.5ºC, ideal. At last it has started to dry out with only 2.5mm of rain at the beginning of the week. This means we have been able to open up the camp ground but unfortunately the bunkhouse is still closed with renovations required to get it back up and running. Bird species recorded were 98 seen and 4 heard, reptiles and mammals were 16 seen.

The weeks bird list is on the Eremaea Birds site.

Victoria's Riflebird - female

This week certainly saw a movement in bird species with a first for the Lodge grounds, a Northern Fantail was foraging around in the rainforest! Normally an open forest dweller in the dryer areas out towards Abattoir Swamp and occasionally in Geraghty Park. An Eastern Osprey was reported near the Barramundi Farm, this species was fairly regularly seen in the area up until about 6-7 years ago but no sightings since then until this one. The Bower's Shrike-thrush reported in Geraghty Park two weeks ago was seen there again this week. A V-formation of Ibis flew high over the Lodge grounds towards the coast, whilst we were looking at a Pacific Baza which was perched on top of the rainforest canopy. The formation consisted of 12 Australian White Ibis and two Straw-necked Ibis, the first we have seen this year. In fact Ibis have been few and far between this year as presumably they have been inland breeding in the flooded wetlands. A female Victoria's Riflebird was pulling back bark on a rainforest tree whilst we were looking at the Northern Fantail, thanks to David and Michael for drawing our attention to the fantail. A Tawny Grassbird was heard in the cane field near the Mt. Kooyong Nursing Home and was the first for the year.

The fruiting palm tree in our neighbours garden reported last week was still attracting good birds including a Superb Fruit-Dove. A lone Papuan Frogmouth was seen once in the orchard perched at the edge of the rainforest. The regular pair of White-bellied Sea-Eagle were seen flying past with a fish from the Barramundi Farm early one morning before perching in a tree across the Rex Highway and devouring it. A Grey Goshawk was around at the end of the week in our neighbours garden. Red-necked Crake and Pale-vented Bush-hen were heard but not seen. The female Eastern Koel reported last week in a palm tree on Mt. Kooyong Road stayed there until the end of the week when the supply of fruits was exhausted. The (Lesser) Sooty Owl continued calling well over the week but again not seen and a quick check of the Eastern Barn Owl in Geraghty Park found what looked like a juvenile barn owl perched on the edge of the roost tree. This bird had a very dark facial disc but was too small to consider Masked Owl. We are not sure if the barn owl are using the roost tree at the moment as a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo was peering out of the hole one morning with a second bird perched nearby, we will try and check it out one evening in the coming week. An Azure Kingfisher was foraging in a small pond on the edge of the orchard and flew past within 1m. The last sighting of a Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher was on the 14^th when an adult flew across the road at the rear of the bunkhouse. A Sacred Kingfisher was in Geraghty Park for one morning and could have been the one reported last week from nearby McDougall Road. This Rainbow Bee-eater was foraging from a barbed wire fence adjacent to the neighboring cane field in the late afternoon and was joined by several others before heading off to roost for the night. 

Rainbow Bee-eater - female

Still at least one Dollarbird around during the week and a Noisy Pitta was seen once in the Lodge grounds as well as being heard on several occasions. Brown Gerygone continue to stay in the Lodge grounds and hopefully will become resident. Eleven species of honeyeater this week including this Yellow Honeyeater in one of the African Tulip trees in Geraghty Park. Note that the bird has pierced the base of the flower to get the nectar out.

Yellow Honeyeater

At least two Bridled Honeyeater continue to seek nectar in the tulip trees. A pair of White-throated Honeyeater were seen pulling pieces of bark of a paperbark tree in Geraghty Park and flying off with it, presumably building a nest nearby. A Yellow Oriole was heard and seen foraging along the edge of Geraghty Park and in the Lodge grounds. Rufous Fantail numbers appear to have increased during the week with several pairs seen in the rainforest of the Lodge grounds. A male Leaden Flycatcher was foraging along the edge of the neighboring cane field and perching in the cane.

Leaden Flycatcher - male

A very juvenile Grey-headed Robin was foraging on the road into the Lodge before flying back into the rainforest one afternoon. 

Grey-headed Robin - juvenile

   
The African Tulip trees in Geraghty Park were also attracting a pair of Olive-backed Sunbird and both Red-browed Finch and Chestnut-breasted Mannikin were seen carrying nesting material.

Olive-backed Sunbird

 

A Long-nosed Bandicootrainforest after raiding one of the fruit trees in the orchard. A least three Boyd's Rainforest Dragon have been around the units; one has taken a liking to eating banana. Major Skink are being seen infrequently with one appearing to be living under the eating area decking.

Further afield an overnight stay on a property along Euluma Creek Road, Julatten proved very rewarding with species seen including a family of Lovely Fairy-wren, one male and at least four female/immature male foraging through the undergrowth. 

Lovely Fairy-wren - male

  
Above them were a couple of Black-faced Monarch foraging through the mid-upper canopy. 

Black-faced Monarch

A full species list can be found on the Eremaea Birds website. At the end of the week a Large-tailed Nightjar was heard on this property making its distinct chop-chop call, first heard for the season. A male Golden Bowerbird flew across the Mt. Lewis road about 14km from Bushy Creek, this has become a rare sighting over the last few years. Two Spinifex Pigeon were seen at Granite Gorge Nature Park 12km west of Mareeba on 7th April, this record with image can be seen on the Eremaea Birds website. This is the most easterly record we have heard of, the closest they normally occur is further west in the Mt. Surprise-Georgetown region.

Dragonflies were again spotted around the district, two shown below are a Blue Skimmer and a Sapphire Flutterer which is normally seen fluttering around the upper canopy, this one was enjoying the sunny weather.

Blue Skimmer

Sapphire Flutterer