4th September 2011 Report

We had 3mm of rain this week which did not even settle the dust! Overnight temperatures were warmer, only going down to16.9ºc which was 5.5ºc warmer than last weeks lowest temperature. The afternoon temperatures were up to 25.2ºc which was slightly warmer than last week.

Another good week for numbers of bird species with 104 seen, and 9 heard. Reptiles and mammals were good with 23 which was up on previous weeks due mainly to the drizzle and warmer weather bringing out reptiles and amphibians. 

The weeks bird list is on the Eremaea Birds website and morning walk lists can also be found at this link on Eremaea Birds.

The best records for the week were a Black-fronted Dotterel on the edge of one of the McDougall Road lagoons and the first recorded since August 2006. 

Black-fronted Dotterel

 
The first Pied Imperial Pigeon for the season was seen perched high up in a tree along Mt. Kooyong Road whilst on a morning walk and a Red-necked Crake was seen scurrying across Mt. Kooyong Road from the Lodge grounds into a patch of rainforest on the other side of the road late one evening. This was the first sighting for five weeks of the crake, lets hope it makes itself more visible.

Other sightings of interest:

McDougall Road lagoons still have many waterbirds including Green Pygmy-goose and two pairs of Cotton Pygmy-goose as well as Australasian Grebe and a Dusky Moorhen. Spotless Crake were again heard calling from a reed bed on the edge of one of the lagoons but did not make an appearance.

Brown Cuckoo-Dove numbers dropped off during the week with most of the Bleeding Heart trees they were feeding on having no fruit left. Topknot Pigeon numbers still appear to be increasing with thousands passing over in the morning and afternoon – 400 were counted in a 10 minute period one evening. Our female Papuan Frogmouth which had disappeared for a week and a half returned at the end of the week, it was heard calling on Friday and found roosting on Saturday in one of its old roost sites.

Papuan Frogmouth

Black-shouldered Kite was down McDougall Road and a pair of Pacific Baza were in the Lodge grounds. White-bellied Sea-Eagle was seen most days either perched beside Bushy Creek or flying over with a fresh fish from the local Barramundi Farm but once seen over the Lodge entrance with an unidentified prey item which did not look very tasty as it trailed out behind the bird. Both Whistling and Black Kite were foraging in cut cane paddocks and one Whistling Kite was seen flying over with nesting material. Nankeen Kestrel was also seen after an absence of a few weeks whilst an Australian Hobby was around for another week. 

Whistling Kite

 

Double-eyed Fig-Parrot was seen flying over and in our neighbours garden feeding on one of the few remaining fruits in a Bleeding Heart tree. Sooty Owl was heard at the end of the week calling during the night as well as pre-dawn before going to roost for the day and Eastern Barn Owl were proving hard to see in the week with only one seen once but several others were heard. Spotted Catbird continue to be active and seen in the orchard as well as attending the reception area feeder. Large-billed Scrubwren, which is the only species to occur in the Lodge grounds apart from very occasional visits by Yellow-throated Scrubwren, have been active in family groups. This one was is hopping up and down vines and branches and hanging upside down, which is their normal behaviour.

Large-billed Scrubwren

Honeyeaters were active in the flowering eucalypts with 12 species recorded, however they had to share the trees with flocks of Rainbow and Scaly-breasted Lorikeet. A Little Shrike-thrush was seen bashing a Dainty Green Tree Frog on the forest floor before eating it, hard life being a frog. An Olive-backed Oriole was lurking around on the edge of Geraghty Park one morning just long enough to get a few images of it; a difficult bird to photograph. 

Olive-backed Oriole

 
Two Black Butcherbird were calling and hanging around the rainforest for a couple of days then disappeared and the lone Spangled Drongo is spending more time at the feeder taking sugar water and mimicking Blue-faced Honeyeater, maybe he thinks he is one! The overwintering Black-faced Monarch was seen again as was Pied Monarch and Yellow-breasted Boatbill. A Pale-yellow Robin was making a nest on the edge of the orchard and being swooped on by a Macleay's Honeyeater but the robin got its revenge and chased the Macleay's off. Two immature Welcome Swallow were seeking shelter under the roof eves of the Geraghty Park Community Hall during a brief shower of rain. There were two Bassian Thrush at the beginning of the week commuting between our orchard and our neighbours garden but by the end of the week we could only locate one in the orchard.  Up to three Chestnut-breasted Mannikin are coming to the seed feeder all through the day now as the grass seed in the area is dying off.

Further afield White-headed Pigeon have been in the area with several seen along the highway towards Mt. Molloy and a pair of Superb Fruit-Dove were mating at Mowbray National Park. Wompoo Fruit-Dove were also seen mating and displaying on an afternoon boat trip on the Daintree River along with a Great-billed Heron, Azure and Little Kingfisher. A Wilson's Storm-Petrel was reported flying past Michaelmas Cay (Great Barrier Reef) by a visiting birder who dropped in on us but did not leave his name, this is a rarely reported species from this location. Also at Mowbray NP was Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo and Noisy Pitta. Eastern Koel was heard calling in Cairns  on 2nd September, which is the first we have heard about this season in our region; our earliest record at the Lodge is 13th September. Doug Herrington posted a couple of reports on Eremaea Birds, one of finding a dead Red-backed Button-quail at Shannonvale, near Mossman and another of a Banded Lapwing at Cooya Beach also near Mossman. There was a Banded Lapwing in this area during March-April 2009, maybe the same one?

Eastern Koel - male

  
Other good birds seen within 10km of Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge were Lovely Fairy-wren, Barred Cuckoo-shrike and Blue-faced Parrot-Finch.

It was a good week for reptiles and mammals as the warmer weather enticed two Boyd's Forest Dragon and an Amethystine Python to show themselves. A couple of Major Skink also appeared and the Eastern Water Dragon are becoming more active along Bushy Creek. Striped Possum was seen one night and two Green Ringtail Possum seen on another night. A few more frogs are also stirring with seven species this week including Jungguy Frog, three Roth's Tree Frog and Peter's Frog.

Peter's Frog - Litoria inermis

28th August 2011 Report

No rain to report this week but it did warm up towards the end of the week. The week started off with a cool morning down to 10.2ºc and warmed up in the afternoon to 24.5ºc by the end. Not unpleasant weather at all.

Another good week for numbers of bird species with 103 seen, and 4 heard. Reptiles and mammals were 17 which was one more than last week.

The weeks bird list is on the Eremaea Birds website and morning walk lists can also be found at this link on Eremaea Birds.

Their were some good records this week starting off with a Rufous Owl that was being mobbed by Blue-faced Honeyeaters near one of our units, this caused a stampede of 10 birders racing up the path from the orchard who reckoned the owl was a better option than waiting for the Platypus to arrive. More information can be found in the link to Wildiaries on the left of the page.

Rufous Owl

A Spotless Crake was actually seen in one of the nearby local lagoons, rather than heard as had been the case. Four Little Lorikeet were feeding on Eucalypt blossom in Geraghty Park mid-week and were the first seen here since 15^th July 2007 and only the second record in six years. They did not stay long before they flew off towards Mount Molloy but were seen again later in the week. Lovely Fairy-Wren were in the Lodge grounds which is only the 11^th sighting in six years despite them being resident in the area. Lovely Fair-wren seem to have much larger territories than the blue wrens further south which have quite small territories, sometimes only 300m. Black-chinned Honeyeater (Golden-backed Honeyeater Race laetoir) were in Geraghty Park with two adults feeding two immatures in a Queensland Blue Gum Eucalyptus tereticornis. They are uncommon in the area with few breeding records and are quite obviously larger than the White-throated Honeyeater with a bright yellow back. Barred Cuckoo-shrike were around calling and one was seen at the end of the week.

Other sightings of interest:

At least one pair of Cotton Pygmy-goose were still on McDougall Road lagoon along with six Hardhead. Superb Fruit-Dove were again heard but not seen and Topknot Pigeon continue to fly over in greater numbers. Our Papuan Frogmouth female was roosting in the orchard at the beginning of the week but by the end it had disappeared hopefully to find a mate. Australian Owlet-nightjar has been calling and seen peering out of its daytime roost several times. Believe us the stripy head at the bottom of the hole is an Australian Owlet-nightjar!

Australian Owlet-nightjar

One Eastern Great Egret was seen flying over a cut cane field heading toward the Barramundi Farm which is probably the only one we have seen around. Pacific Baza have been calling and flying around but still no sign of nesting in their normal tree. The cut cane paddocks have been attracting a few raptors with White-bellied Sea-Eagle and Wedge-tailed Eagle foraging on the ground and Whistling and Black Kite overhead. The Sea-eagles took o break from foraging to perch high up in the trees alongside Bushy Creek.

White-bellied Sea-Eagle

An Australian Hobby has been a regular throughout the week.

Scaly-breasted Lorikeet have been seen entering a new nest hole in a Queensland Blue Gum as well as the one reported last week. Sad news was that we found a dead Eastern Barn Owl under their daytime roost tree with a hole punctured in its breast, the good news was that we saw at least five other individuals in the same area. 13 species of honeyeater were taking advantage of the flowering gum trees as well as a few in the rainforest. Bridled Honeyeater was in one of our neighbours gardens feeding in a grevillea and enjoying the nectar. Plenty of manly male Scarlet Honeyeater were seen, which was not so surprising as they stand out more with their bright red head and upper breast unlike the females who are plain brown with a hint of red under the chin. Several immature White-throated Honeyeater were seen being fed by their parents including two on the ground who appeared to have fallen out of the nest. The dutiful parents were coming down to the ground to feed them, a good reason not to pick up baby birds on the ground unless absolutely certain the parents have abandoned them.

Two White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike have been foraging in Geraghty Park and neighbours gardens and don't have the pure white breasts of the northern Australian form but slightly darker breast plumage. Birds in the north have the pure white bellies but this becomes progressively darker in sub-species the further south they occur. There are other differences between the sub-species as well, bill and tail length being just two of them. We are situated in an intergrade zone between two races Coracina papuensis oriomo to the north and Coracina papuensis artamoides to the south (info: The Directory of Australian Birds – Schodde & Mason 1999). The taxonomy of White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike is very complex with 14 sub-species of which 5 occur in Australia, identification is further complicated by seasonal movements. No wonder some of our guests are puzzled by their appearance!

A Cicadabird was heard again for the second week in succession, unless it was another bird mimicking Cicadabird which we think is unlikely. A Bleeding Heart tree in our neighbours garden was attracting White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike, Australasian Figbird, Olive-backed Oriole, female Victoria's Riflebird, Metallic Starling and Brown Cuckoo-Dove who have now cleaned up all the green berries available.

Black-faced Monarch has again been seen as well as an immature Spectacled Monarch. Magpie-lark have also arrived to take advantage of the insects in the cut sugar cane with a party of 20 foraging together.

Magpie-lark - female

Pied Monarch have been coming down to ground level and showing well rather than staying up high as they usually do. Lemon-bellied Flycatcher have been very active with at least eight seen at one time. A pair of Golden-headed Cisticola were feeding on sugar cane seeds and an Australian Red-Warbler was heard foraging in the same patch of cane but not showing itself which is quite normal! The adult and juvenile Bassian Thrush have been around again this week but commuting between the neighbours garden and our orchard. This one was having a rest in a mango tree after a session of drilling holes in our grassy understory and being very successful at finding worms. 

Bassian Thrush - juvenile

Red-browed Finch were observed building a nest/roost with several adults involved in its construction.

Further afield Golden Bowerbird was seen several times during the week flying across and perching alongside a walking track on Mt. Lewis. White-browed Robin were again seen at Big Mitchell Creek on the eastern side of the highway which has now been burnt to match the western side. Four Australian Bustard were at Biboora near Mareeba and closer to home Mowbray National Park had some good birds including a mating pair of Superb Fruit-Dove, several sightings of Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo, Noisy Pitta and both male and female Victoria's Riflebird. Lake Mitchell, between Mount Molloy and Mareeba, had plenty of waterbirds on it including Cotton Pygmy-goose and Black-necked Stork whilst in the adjacent woodland White-winged Triller were seen.

The warmer weather encouraged the reptiles to become active with a large Eastern Water Dragon in Bushy Creek and a Major Skink was around for the second week after being absent for many months. 

Eastern Water Dragon

Several Agile Wallaby were displaced by cane cutting operations and a few found their way into our orchard at night. Both Green Ringtail Possum and Striped Possum were seen on nightwalks, the striped was feeding in a Candlenut Tree high up but gave us good views, enough to see it was a male! Frogs were still quiet due to the dry weather, with only three species seen. Giant White-tailed Rat has also been in one of the Candlenut trees as well as coming down to the feeder for the first time for a few months.

Well that's it for another week, with the weather warming up we look forward to a change in bird species and in their behavior as well as some more reptiles becoming active.

21st August 2011 Report

Last weeks dramas of trying to post the blog have been fixed, turned out security program started blocking cookies. which denied us access to our account.

Yet another fantastic week of great weather with only a brief shower bringing 1.5mm of rain, then more cool mornings down to 10.3ºc and very pleasant afternoon temperatures of up to 22.7ºc, almost the same as last week.

Another good week for numbers of bird species with 106 seen, and 4 heard. Reptiles and mammals were only 16 which was down on previous weeks due mainly to lack of frog sightings as a result of the dry conditions.

The weeks bird list is on the Eremaea Birds website and morning walk lists can also be found at this link on Eremaea Birds.

Best record for the week was a Great-billed Heron which flushed from grass along Bushy Creek at the end of the week when our water pump was started up, it flew off downstream and could not be relocated. August is the time we normally start seeing the odd one or two Great-billed Heron in Bushy Creek. The general consensus amongst the local birdos is that these birds travel down the rivers and creeks from the Gulf of Carpentaria, to our north west and end up in Rifle Creek (near Mt. Molloy) where they are known to breed. Also several Superb Fruit-Dove were heard calling around the immediate vicinity of the Lodge and in the Lodge orchard which were the first for quite sometime, unfortunately they were not seen despite some intensive searches. Two Spotless Crake were heard in long grass at the edge of one of the McDougall Road lagoons but despite seeing the grass move they did not emerge to be seen.

The McDougall Road lagoons still have a good variety of waterbirds including four Cotton Pygmy-goose. A pair of Australian Wood Duck were calling as they flew across a paddock opposite Geraghty Park late in the week. Their was also two Spotless Crake heard calling in long grass at edge of one of the McDougall Road lagoons, despite seeing movement in the grass and a clear patch in the middle they did not show themselves.

Australian Wood Duck - male

Parties of Topknot Pigeon continue to overfly the area in the morning but amongst them were two White-headed Pigeon on one occasion. Brown Cuckoo-Dove continued to feast on the fruits of the Bleeding Heart trees but by the end of the week had just about exhausted the supply. Emerald Dove continued to increase their numbers over the last few weeks and there must be more around the Lodge than there was before they disappeared a month or so ago. Our female Papuan Frogmouth moved from her daytime roost for three days in the middle of the week but was heard calling in the evening, hopefully to attract a mate. Australian Owlet-nightjar was calling and seen at its daytime roost once during the week. A White-necked Heron was seen along McDougall Road along with a single Eastern Great Egret and a Royal Spoonbill flew over Mt. Kooyong Road, this species has not been sighted for the last five weeks.

Also one of the Black-shouldered Kite juveniles was found along McDougall Road on the verge half eaten which was bad news. A White-belied Sea-Eagle was escorted past the entrance to the Lodge grounds by a Black-shouldered Kite whilst we were on a morning walk and the local pair of Pacific Baza were flying around the Lodge as well as perching and calling but only once in the week. Australian Hobby has been around again this week and usually seen whizzing over the cut cane paddocks.

Katie the Buff-banded Rail has been assisting in cleaning up the guest rooms by seeking out the spiders and any other insects around in hard to get places as well as eating any crumbs on the floor, she has not learnt how to make beds yet but we are working on it! 
 

Scaly-breasted Lorikeet were seen entering a hollow in a Queensland Blue Gum but were quickly chased off by a Common Myna who also was seen entering a nearby hollow. The lorikeets were also seen in the flowering Callistemon (Bottlebrush) in Geraghty Park getting stuck into the nectar. The (Lesser) Sooty Owl was calling during the week on a couple of nights but again eluded the spotlighters unlike the Eastern Barn Owl who were seen on several occasions with at least three juvenile and two adult birds from two different pairs. Laughing Kookaburra and Blue-winged Kookaburra were both very vocal during the week and at least two disputes took place on the edge of their territorial boundary along Mt. Kooyong Road, the two species certainly do not like each other. Two Spotted Catbird have been coming to the feeder and calling in the rainforest where they are being seen regularly.

The previously mentioned Callistemon in Geraghty Park has passed its best and now has fewer flowers attracting fewer numbers of birds but there has been Yellow-spotted, Graceful, Yellow, Brown-backed, Dusky, Scarlet and Macleay's Honeyeater feeding in it. 

Graceful Honeyeater

Brown-backed Honeyeater

Scarlet Honeyeater - male

Bridled Honeyeater have been in our neighbours garden feeding in Grevillea sp. and Calistemon sp. for some of the week. We managed 13 species of honeyeater this week which is pretty good. One or two Barred Cuckoo-shrike have been around but with nothing in fruit to attract them they have not stayed. Our lone Spangled Drongo is still coming to the feeder to get some sugar water but is keeping a low profile away from here with no other sightings. No Grey Fantail sightings this week but Rufous and Northern Fantail are still around. An overwintering Black-faced Monarch was seen late on Saturday afternoon foraging in the camping area high up in a eucalypt. Both Pied Monarch and Yellow-breasted Boatbill have been calling and showing well all week. A female Victoria's Riflebird showed up in the camping area towards the end of the week, the first for a few weeks. Two Bassian Thrush are regulars in the orchard this week usually early morning and late afternoon, an adult and a juvenile who forage together. Metallic Starling are starting to build their communal nests and are busy flying around and stealing each others nesting material.

Further afield Cotton Pygmy-goose have been on Lake Mitchell (between Mareeba and Mt. Molloy), Rufous Owl was at Davis Creek between Mareeba and Kuranda, White-browed Robin has been seen at Big Mitchell Creek on the eastern side, the western side has been badly burnt. Del Richards from Fine Feather Tours reported a Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo at Julatten sitting on a fence post and pouncing down onto the ground and picking up a few grubs. The Pickford Road turnoff from the Peninsula Road at Biboora, near Mareeba, played host to two Australian Bustard for a couple of days.

Mammal and reptile numbers were down this week but their were some good sightings. A Major Skink made a brief appearance after many months of absence, a Fawn-footed Melomys was heard chewing on a nut whilst on a nightwalk. We eventually tracked down the melomys sitting in a crack in a tree about a 1.5m off the ground. 

Fawn-footed Melomys

A Long-nosed Bandicoot, which looked like an immature, appeared at the feeder on Saturday night. This is unusual as they normally stay in the rainforest or venture out onto the grassy areas of the orchard, this is only the second one we have seen here. The Northern Brown Bandicoot are different as up to six come to the feeder every night before they return to digging up our grassy areas! 

Long-nosed Bandicoot

Platypus have again been regularly seen in the early morning and late evening and once on a nightwalk. A few more Spectacled Flying Fox have turned up at night to get into the Blue Quondong fruits which are just getting ripe, hopefully a few fruit-doves should come in as well.

14th August 2011 Report

Firstly apologies for late posting this week but we have been unable to login to our blogger account on our main computer so have had to use an alternative computer. No idea what has happen on the main one yet despite a day and a half trying to find out! Anyway on with this weeks report - hope you all enjoy.

What a fantastic week of great weather, a couple of showers at the beginning bought 3mm of rain, then it was cool mornings down to 10.2ºc and very pleasant afternoon temperatures of up to 22.9ºc. Perfect birding conditions.

Another good week for numbers of bird species with 104 seen, and 3 heard. Reptiles and mammals were 21 which was pretty good despite the drier cool weather keeping the frogs quiet and out of sight. The weeks bird list is on the Eremaea Birds website.

Best record for the week was probably an Australian Hobby perched high in a tree on a morning walk, whilst they are in the area they don't get recorded too often. Five Barred Cuckoo-shrike were a welcome sight after proving difficult to find over the last month or so, however they were only seen on one day before disappearing again. A Cicadabird called late Saturday afternoon, which is unusual as they are not normally here or calling at this time of year.

Barred Cuckoo-shrike

Waterbirds were again increasing in numbers along McDougall Road with Magpie Goose, Wandering Whistling-Duck, Australian Wood Duck, Green Pygmy-goose and a high of four Cotton Pygmy-goose, Pacific Black Duck, Hardhead and Australasian Grebe. Also present at the lagoons were Australian Darter, Little Pied and Little Black Cormorant, Eastern Great , Intermediate and Cattle Egret and Dusky Moorhen. Brown Cuckoo-Dove were again in good numbers (20+) around the Lodge foraging on the fruits of the Bleeding Heart tree Homalanthus populifolius, along with Great Bowerbird, Lewin's Honeyeater, Australasian Figbird, Silvereye and Metallic Starling. 

Brown Cuckoo-Dove

  
Some of the over flying Topknot Pigeon have decided to land in a few of the local trees but have not yet been seen feeding on any fruits. Our female Papuan Frogmouth has been in the same roost spot all week but not seen on any night walks. Two juvenile Black-shouldered Kite have been in trees opposite Geraghty Park all week crying out for food and a pair of Brown Goshawk were in Geraghty Park chasing each other around one morning.

Unfortunately our tame Buff-banded Rails have had to be split up with William proving to be a nuisance with the guests, attacking them and drawing blood and complaints so he has been relocated to a nice area along a creek well away from any human contact. He was becoming more and more independent and not coming for food as often as he used to so hopefully he will survive in the big wide world. Katie, the other one, is so far behaving herself and not attacking anyone but if she does she will be off to join William.

Our Eastern Barn Owl numbers dropped this week with only four seen, hopefully some of the juveniles have moved off to find new territories. Azure Kingfisher has been at the Crake Pool and along Bushy Creek whilst a Blue-winged Kookaburra was seen entering a tree hollow along the Rex Highway. The flowering Callistemon in Geraghty Park that has been attracting many honeyeaters has quietened down this week but has still attracted a few new birds to it including Bridled Honeyeater and Mistletoebird. A pair of White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike have been foraging around in Geraghty Park all week and were visiting the fruiting Bleeding Heart tree but not appearing to eat the fruits. 

White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike

 
An adult Black Butcherbird has been around the Lodge grounds and was seen at the end of the week near the main entrance to the Lodge lurking around in the edge of the rainforest. Spangled Drongo has been coming to the feeder to get some sugar water and Northern Fantail are still around the grounds. Black-faced Monarch was again around this week and seems to favour the area of rainforest near the main entrance to the Lodge. Pied Monarch and male Yellow-breasted Boatbill continue to call and be seen regularly. A female Victoria's Riflebird was seen once foraging high in the rainforest canopy one day and Lemon-bellied Flycatcher are perching on fences and in trees at Geraghty Park. Welcome Swallow numbers have increased over the last week and the two Bassian Thrush continue to forage in the orchard. Metallic Starling numbers have also increased and they have started to investigate their nesting tree in Geraghty Park but have not started to build yet. A few Chestnut-breasted Mannikin continue to come to the seed feeder at first light to join the Red-browed Finch. This Red-browed Finch was displaying with a grass seed head in its bill whilst it hopped sideways along a branch and vertically up and down this vine.

Red-browed Finch - displaying

A different mix of reptiles and mammals this week with two snakes seen, Green Tree Snake and Amethystine Python the first for several weeks. A Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko was seen once, this was the first for three weeks as was a Tree Mouse Pogonomys sp. which was seen high up in a coconut palm checking out the flowers, this is a difficult species to find. The Water Rat in Bushy Creek was seen regularly at night and the Platypus has been seen most days, early morning and late afternoon, one afternoon at 5.15 the Platypus put on a show for about 20 minutes. Bush Rat Ratus fuscipes numbers increased this week with at least eight appearing at the feeder, not quite plague proportions yet!

Bush Rat

Further afield male Golden Bowerbird were seen on Mt. Lewis in two different locations, one in a restricted area. White-browed Robin was reported from Big Mitchell Creek, which is a well known location but in recent times it has not been reported here. Atherton Scrubwren was reported from Julatten at an unusually low altitude of around 450m, they are normally above 600m. One fruiting fig tree in Julatten has been attracting many Double-eyed Fig-Parrot, Australasian Figbird and Metallic Starling. Blue-faced Parrot-Finch and Lovely Fairy-wren were also around the Julatten area. Del Richards from Fine Feather Tours reported Latham's Snipe around Port Douglas which is an early return.

7th August Report 2011

The week started off with fine sunny conditions but gradually the cloud came in and by the end of the week there was rain and drizzle, not a lot with only 8.5mm spread over 3 days. The temperatures felt colder due to a wind chill factor with the lowest 13.7ºc overnight getting up to a high of 21.9ºc during the day.

Another good week for numbers of bird species with 111 seen, five more than last week and a further 3 heard. Reptiles and mammals were 20 which was pretty good, this was mainly due to the wet weather bringing out a few more frogs. The weeks bird list is on the Eremaea Birds website.
Morning birdwalk lists are also on the Eremaea Birds site.

The most surprising record for the week was 35-40 Red-tailed Black Cockatoo flying over the Rex Highway heading towards Mount Molloy on the evening of the 6th. This is only the second record in August in six years with most of the previous 23 records being in December to March.

Four Brown Quail were seen crossing the Rex Highway line astern and five over flying Magpie Goose were doing the same. The two male and one female Cotton Pygmy-goose are still along McDougall Road as are Wandering Whistling-Duck, Australian Wood Duck, Pacific Black Duck and a Hardhead. Brown Cuckoo-Dove were out in force in our neighbours garden with up to twelve foraging on green fruits on a small tree. Emerald Dove numbers are back to the level they were at before they disappeared a month ago with at least ten individuals. A Wompoo Fruit-Dove was foraging in a fruiting tree at the entrance to the Lodge grounds late in the week with at least two others heard calling. 

Wompoo Fruit-Dove

Our female Papuan Frogmouth was roosting in the orchard for most of the week but disappeared at the end and probably moved into the rainforest due to the rain. An Australian Owlet-nightjar was seen only once peering out of its daytime roost and a rarity around here at the moment, an Eastern Great Egret was seen several times along McDougall Road and overflying the Lodge. Four Australian White Ibis were flying over heading to the local Barramundi Farm and a lone Straw-necked Ibis was foraging in a paddock along Mt. Kooyong Road just across from the Lodge. A pair of Pacific Baza obligingly perched low down in trees near the entrance to the Lodge whilst on a morning walk, one flew towards Geraghty Park and perched in full sun for excellent views. A Wedge-tailed Eagle was again seen soaring over the area surrounding the Lodge and a Nankeen Kestrel was again guarding it's nesting tree. Katie and William the Buff-banded Rail who are just over three months old now are continuing to keep our guests entertained. An Australian Bustard was behind the Julatten School one morning, not common around the Lodge area with only one other sighting over the last six years.

Scaly-breasted Lorikeet were seen entering a nest hollow in a Queensland Blue Gum and Double-eyed Fig-Parrot were in a tree along McDougall Road at the beginning of the week. Eastern Barn Owl were again seen on nightwalks with up to six perched and flying around. Three Spotted Catbird were chasing and calling at the end of the week in the rainforest at the rear of our units and also visiting the feeder spasmodically. Fairy Gerygone were coming down lower in the rainforest than normal allowing a photo of this immature male (?).

Fairy Gerygone - immature male (?)

Great Bowerbird was again in Geraghty Park feeding on the small bush mentioned last week. The adjacent Callistemon was also attracting eleven species of honeyeater – Lewin's, Graceful, Yellow-faced, Yellow, Brown-backed, Dusky, Scarlet, Brown, White-throated, Blue-faced and Macleay's. Several people have asked who Macleay's Honeyeater was named after, well it was named after Sir William John Macleay (1820-1891) Scottish/Australian politician and naturalist.


The Callistemon was also attracting many insects including the bee shown below loaded down with pollen. Also couldn't resist another Scarlet Honeyeater photo as they are such stunning birds plus the Yellow-faced Honeyeater managed to stop chasing each other around long enough for a photo.

Bee sp.

Scarlet Honeyeater - male

Yellow-faced Honeyeater

In addition Spangled Drongo and Varied Triller were also feeding in the Callistemon. 

A few Barred Cuckoo-shrike are still being seen but they are still scarce in the area. Australasian Figbird were around in small flocks. We thought this bird below was an immature male figbird at first but one anonymous reader suggested it was an Olive-backed Oriole. We reviewed the image and agreed with this ID. We had looked at the plate in HANZAB which did not show the immature as in this image but upon reading the text more closely we realised it fitted the oriole. Always willing to be corrected! So it now has the correct ID.

Olive-backed Oriole - immature

Still only a few Spangled Drongo around with one coming into the feeder and making quite a noise, calling as it tries to get stuck into the nectar feeder. Northern Fantail continues to hang around the edge of the rainforest whilst there have been Grey Fantail along McDougall Road. 

Northern Fantail

The Black-faced Monarch previously mentioned overwintering around the Lodge is still with us and Pied Monarch has been showing well with one seen on a morning walk about 1m off the ground foraging on a tree trunk. An Australian Reed-Warbler was heard and seen along Bushy Creek in some of the last remaining patches of grass since the cane farmer mowed right down to the creek edge. Bassian Thrush have again been in our neighbours garden preferring it to our orchard where they had been. Metallic Starling numbers have built up over the week with a flock of at least 20 seen foraging in the Lodge. Chestnut-breasted Mannikin have started to re-appear at the seed feeder since the return of the rain with at least three visiting.

Reptiles and mammals were good this week with frog species bolstering the numbers, seven species were seen – Jungguy Frog, White-lipped Tree Frog, Northern Dwarf Tree Frog, Roth's Tree Frog, Dessert Tree Frog, Juvenile Cogger's Frog and Cane Toad. A Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko was found at the end of the week after nearly three weeks absence. Northern Blossom Bat and Spectacled Flying Fox were in the orchard along with Green Ringtail and Striped Possum.

Jungguy Frog

   

Striped Possum

Water Rat was again in Bushy Creek along with several sightings of Platypus which was active during the day. This is not the normal behaviour of our Platypus in the fast flowing creek, they are usually about early morning and early evening/night but have been seen in the afternoon between 2.00-3.30, once two were seen together. It maybe coincidence but the sightings of Platypus during the day have coincided with the appearance of the Water Rat during the night who may be spooking the Platypus.

Further afield Squatter Pigeon was in Mount Molloy as were Pied Currawong who were seen at the end of the week - it is most unusual to find them at this location, they only turn up here every 3-4 years (pers. comm Lloyd Nielsen).  Flowering eucalypts were attracting White-cheeked and Bridled Honeyeater as well as a large flock (up to 100) Double-eyed Fig-Parrot along the highway towards Mount Molloy. Square-tailed Kite have been seen in the Julatten area once last week. 


 

31st July 2011 Report

Cloudy conditions and sunshine were with us all week with only 1.5mm of rain, hardly worth mentioning! The overnight temperatures were slightly warmer this week, the lowest being 11.1ºc overnight and highest 22ºc during the day.

Another good week for numbers of bird species with 106 seen and a further 5 heard. Reptiles and mammals were 20 which was pretty good as frog numbers were well down with the dry weather. The weeks bird list is on the Eremaea Birds website.

The first Metallic Starling were seen for the season when 3 flew over the entrance to the Lodge on the 26^th July heading towards Geraghty Park, they normally arrive in August, however they arrived on 11th July last year which was the earliest we have in six years. Welcome back!

Metallic Starling

McDougall Road Lagoons again turned up the waterbirds with three Cotton Pygmy-goose present at the beginning, then they disappeared until the end of the week when a male and female were seen. Magpie Goose moved in and were probably the same ones reported previously in a nearby swamp which is drying up. Wandering Whistling-Duck, Green Pygmy-goose, Hardhead and Australasian Grebe were in the lagoons in small numbers. Brown Cuckoo-Dove numbers were increasing during the week due to the availability of a few more fruiting trees and we still only have 2-3 Emerald Dove around the Lodge grounds where we normally have 10-20. Wompoo and Superb Fruit-Dove were both heard but not seen. Our female Papuan Frogmouth has been behaving this week and could be found roosting in the same place for most of the week. Australian Owlet-nightjar was seen several times peering out of its daytime roost but not calling this week. A Black-necked Stork was soaring over the cane field behind the Mt. Kooyong nursing home one afternoon and a single Intermediate Egret was flying over Geraghty Park. Cattle Egret numbers have increased dramatically at their roost site along McDougall Road with over 2000 counted one night, quite a spectacle seeing them coming in to roost.

Pacific Baza was around the Lodge at the beginning of the week picking insects and frogs from the tops of trees but had vanished by the end of the week, still with no sign of nesting yet. Two Whistling Kite were soaring over Geraghty Park trying to chase off a Black Kite who refused to leave the Whistling Kite territory wanting to enjoy the same thermal they were riding. A Wedge-tailed Eagle was seen overhead near McDougall Road and a Nankeen Kestrel has taken up guard duties at the top of a eucalypt near its nest site. 

Nankeen Kestrel

 

The two Buff-banded Rail who were raised by our next door neighbours have taken up residence in the Lodge grounds, Katie made her own way here but her brother William came via the Mt. Kooyong Nursing home where he had ended up. He was becoming a nuisance hopping up onto beds and getting under peoples feet. Now they are here acquainting themselves with our guests by getting into their caravans and having a communal shower with the campers! 

Little Bronze-Cuckoo was showing well in Geraghty Park as it collected caterpillars from the trees, the upper rufous neck band identified it as race (Gould's Bronze-Cuckoo). (Lesser) Sooty Owl was only heard this week on at least 3 days but the Eastern Barn Owl were out in force with at least seven individuals seen. Two Great Bowerbird were seen on a morning walk foraging in a small bush with orange fruits in Geraghty Park. Adjacent to this bush a flowering Callistemon, mentioned last week, had ten different species of honeyeater in it during the week, they were Graceful, Yellow, Brown-backed, Dusky, Scarlet, Brown, Black-chinned (Golden-backed form), White-throated, Blue-faced and Macleay's. The images below show a few of them.

Brown-backed Honeyeater

Macleay's Honeyeater

Scarlet Honeyeater-male

Barred Cuckoo-shrike were heard but not seen as was Cicadabird on two occasions which was a surprise as they are not normally here at this time of year and certainly not calling. A single Spangled Drongo has been coming to the feeder and is probably the same one who has been coming for the last few years, no other Spangled Drongo has been seen in the area. Northern Fantail has been around the grounds, especially in the orchard and many Rufous Fantails have been active chasing each other around the rainforest areas. Pied Monarch have been around like the Yellow-breasted Boatbill but both have been hard to see. Tree Martin which are not common around our area now were over the cane fields behind the nursing home in small numbers. The Bassian Thrush which were in the Lodge grounds a few weeks ago have resurfaced in our neighbours garden with two, an adult and a juvenile, spending most of the week in their front garden. A couple of Chestnut-breasted Mannikin have been making an appearance early morning in the seed feeder by the reception area.

Reptiles and mammals were quite good considering the dry weather restricting frog sightings. An Amethystine Python around 3.5m was seen in the orchard one morning and is the first seen in the Lodge grounds for nearly a month. The South American Sapote tree was still attracting Striped Possum with two in it one night, this obviously male one was in it on another night with a large tick on the side of its neck - it looked like it has three eyes at first! The tick looked like the same ones that the bandicoot get from time to time.

Striped Possum - male

Other species seen in the tree were Spectacled Flying-Fox and Northern Blossom Bat. Twice we saw Water Rat Hydromys chrysogaster in Bushy Creek swimming along before climbing up onto the bank, this is a species we have not seen since November 2010. Platypus was seen a few times, mainly in the morning between 6.30-7.00am. Six species of bat were identified, Eastern Horseshoe (flying along the units veranda), Diadem Leaf-nosed Bat (along Bushy Creek), Northern Broad-nosed Bat (under neighbours house), Little Bentwing Bat (roosting in our electrical shed) and the previously mentioned Blosson Bat and Flying-fox.

Further afield there were two possible Elegant Imperial Pigeon sightings which came to our notice via Queensland National Parks staff, one was on 1^st February 2011 at Mt. Molloy and the other on 5th February 2011 in the Kennedy Valley near Cardwell a day after Cyclone Yasi. Neither of these sightings has been verified but the possibility of them turning up must not be discounted. This species has turned up in Australia as a vagrant in Darwin. Another vagrant from the north, Collared Imperial Pigeon has also been recorded on Fantome Island south of Cardwell on 27^th January 2001. Mt. Lewis has again been showing off the “Wet Tropic” endemics apart from the Golden Bowerbird.

Whatever you do round here, you seem to end up birdwatching, which can't be bad. A visit one morning to the Mount Molloy Service Center to have a new battery fitted ended up with a list of 18 species and that was without binoculars! A row of flowering grevillea and callistemon at the entrance was a hive of activity with nine species of honeyeaters seen. 15 Red-tailed Black Cockatoo also flew over. Mount Molloy is a very small township of about 300, but has a varied habitat which attracts many species of birds in particular Great Bowerbird and Squatter Pigeon. Bird list is on the Eremaea Birds site.

Great Bowerbird - at bower