Weekends That Were - October 2014

25.10.14

Lindum, Fuller & Sandy Camp wetlands

Yes, back here again, hoping for a good vagrant wader…..but not to be. Lindum almost dry, just a small smear of water out in the middle of the drying mud. I walked out and scoped 5 Sharp-tailed Sands for a few seconds before something flushed them and they left. 

There were only a few White-headed Stilts and I flushed one Latham’s Snipe. A small number of Magpie Geese were feeding with the horses on the Burnby rd end along with the usual Australian White and Straw-necked Ibis. Strangely enough there was a bit more water on the right of the grassy area, under the mangroves. I explored into this side for a bit as with the mud dry one could get further than normal – but nothing of great relevance resulted.

On to Fuller and the main pond/lake was completely dry – just a shallow channel running from the road along the edge of the grass. 2 Buff-banded Rails, a family party of 2 adult Wood Duck and their 9 young ducklings and a single White-headed Stilt poked around in the mud along the channel. Further out a Black-fronted Dotterel chick ran frantically for cover and a couple of Masked Lapwing chicks also trotted away to safety.

Sandy Camp and the morning was getting hot, even at 7.15. Approximately 8 Wandering Whistle Ducks, 2 Glossy Ibis and 2 Latham’s Snipe were the best birds over the next 2 hours. The third pond was completely dry, the middle pond more or less so and even the first pond was suffering drastically from the lack of rain. Large areas of mud surround the apparently diminishing water level, where Australian Grebes, Pacific Black Duck, Grey Teal, Australian Pelicans, Dusky Moorhens, Comb-crested Jacanas and various Egrets looked for food. Little Pied Cormorants had established a small nesting group and a single Nankeen Night Heron flew in at one point.

By 9.00 I’d more or less covered the area and so headed home for a late breakfast.

24.10.14

Oxley at night

18.30 Rob picked me up and we arrived on site 15 mins later. I had my new, just-arrived-today Led Lenser headtorch ready to burn the eyes out of anyone within 200 meters…..

Warm clear night, but a gusting breeze made it a little difficult to see movement in the canopy or hear distant calls. Within a couple of hundred meters we spotted a Brush-tailed Possum and over the course of the next hour and a half 3 more, at least. I was a bit surprised, given the almost complete lack of suitable breeding/sleeping trees along the creek bank.

We didn’t see anything else until half way back along the path when Rob hissed “Stop, stop” and I looked up to see a Tawny Frogmouth staring back at me from a low branch. It was promptly joined by a second, bigger bird and we all looked at each other for a few minutes before they decided we weren’t edible and moved off. A new site tick - but not unexpected. We had no response to Grass Owl or Southern Boobook, nothing calling at all. Home by 20.30.

18.10.14

Survey & Minnippi

Survey time in Rochedale again. The client was away and Rob declined my invitation so I had the place to myself. Parked up outside the gate and walked through the acreage, birding as I went. The small group of resident cows followed me for a while mooing hopefully. The usual birds were on site- nothing to get too excited about. A pair of White-throated Treecreepers was nice and I added Australian Darter and Pale-headed Rosella to the site list.

On to Minnippi, arriving around 7.15. Bright, warm and windy – not the best birding weather and the woodlands were as I would have expected, very quiet. On the way in I played Lewin’s Rail at the bridge over the Bulimba creek and got a response from the thick vegetation on the upriver side. 

The water level in the pond had shrunk even more, but the birds were pretty much the same, although Pacific Black Duck numbered 130+ which was a significant increase. 20 Wandering Whistle-ducks were nice to see, but there was no sign of any, more exotic, water birds.

In the M1 woodland the Oriental Dollarbird had returned – hopefully there is still a hole for them to breed in. Sacred Kingfishers zipped around in the mid canopy and I heard a distant Brush Cuckoo somewhere along the riverbank – Spring has sprung and Summer is coming, John Snow…..

On to the Airfield track  and it too was quiet, virtually nothing to report, ditto from the Raptor Look-out. So back along the lake side and a pair of Superb Fairy Wrens gave me an opportunity to photograph the male with his stunning facial feathering while the much less colourful female flitted around nervously. Further along the track and a previously unknown birder/photographer gave me vague directions for a Tawny Frogmouth nest. I found it, but it was very high in a tree in the grove near the bridge, so I took a photo for posterity and marked the tree with a piece of paper for others to find. I also videoed a Sulphur-crested Cockatoo calling and eating - just cause I could.          

Dollarbird

Superb Fairy-wren

Superb Fairy-wren

11 - 12.10.14

Border Ranges National Park, NSW

We set off at 5.00am, me driving, stopping for breakfast an hour later at Mackers in Beaudesert. Onward and upward to cross the NSW/Qld border and stopping for 30 minutes or so in the outlook car park where we looked, unsuccessfully, for the resident Bristlebird among the chiming Bell Miner colony. This was to set the tone for the weekend unfortunately.

We set up camp in the Forest Tops campsite after paying the exorbitant fee of $7 for a day visitor and $10 to camp. Don’t mind paying for camping – even though there are basically no facilities apart from drop toilets, you even have to bring your own water, firewood etc - but don’t we pay enough taxes without having to pay as a day visitor too? Come on Eileen……

We set off down a track from the back of the campsite and wandered along a fire break for a distance. Birds were thin on the ground in general and not very confiding. We heard more than we saw – or at least Rob did…… Even I could hear the single Noisy Pitta and we identified Rufous and Grey Fantails, Yellow-throated and White-browed Scrub-wrens, an Australian Logrunner, Brown Thornbills and dozens of Brown Gerygones until it became “just another f……g Brown Gerygone”……it was that kind of morning.

Back at the campsite we had coffee and biscuits and our lazy morning turned into an early lunch of canned stuffed olive leaves and cheese. Mmmmmmmmm, maybe not my favourite.

After lunch Rob went for a stroll up and down the road past the camp site while I read and then nodded off. He had brief views of the arse end of a couple of Albert’s Lyrebirds and was convinced he heard a Scrub bird but apart from that nothing to write home about.

We decided to walk down to Brindle Creek in the hope of seeing birds along the road – and catching up with Rufous Scrub Bird at the creek – our main target this weekend. It was about 2.5 ks and we might as well have driven as there was bugger all along the road. Walking in the tracks beside the creek we saw or heard very little – apart from a couple of Wompoo Fruit Doves grumbling about their ‘bollocks’ high in the canopy - and sat down outside on a picnic bench for a few minutes.

Rob suddenly cocked his ears like a spaniel and with a ‘there it is’ was gone in a puff of dust…..well not quite, but you get the picture. He had heard a scrub bird calling and we returned up the track to try to get a view. However it gradually moved away further and further up the slope and there was no way we would see it. Meanwhile thunder rumbled overhead and we decided to head back to camp before dark. The return walk was mostly up hill and although only a couple of Ks was quite tiring.

We cooked (re-heated) a boil-in-the-bag curry each and then settled down to look at photos of Rob’s South American trip, during which we heard a Tawny Frogmouth and a Southern Boobook. Crashed at 20.30.

Up at 5.15 and out on the road – once again thought we heard scrub bird nearby but failed to elicit a response via playback. Cooked breakfast - mushrooms and destroyed fried eggs on Turkish – and then broke camp, packed up and drove down to Brindle Creek for another go. Nothing calling – well nothing I could hear. We gave it an hour or so then called it quits.

Our conclusion? We are too late in the season. Reckon between mid-August and mid-September is probably the best time – when the birds are establishing territory. Once they have done so and settled down to nest they don’t call as much or show as easily. Next year……..maybe.

We stopped off in the lower camp site and wandered around the main track – found a Koala and got some shots of Striated Thornbills. Seemed to be a lot more birds hanging around – maybe because it’s the forest edge, more than the middle?

We stopped off again at the outlook near the border in the hopes of rescuing something from the weekend – but again, only the Bell Miners were calling. 

Striated Thornbill

Bell Miners calling - nothing to see, except a distant Rob.

4.10.14

Oxley

                                                                                         

I picked himself up at 5.45 and we arrived on site at 6.00. The sun was already up, but it was a cool morning and quite pleasant. Down at the boat ramp we had, surprisingly, 2 Pacific Bazas or Crested Hawks perched up on opposite sides of the creek. Strange to see this forest bird over a flowing creek and a first on site for us, although there have been scattered reports previously.

On out the track and the usual birds showed themselves. Nothing radical or noteworthy just a good solid mornings birding. We ended up with another three raptor species – a pair of Black-shouldered kites in their usual tree, a perched up Australian Hobby posed for photos on the wire over the pond and a rear end view of a White-bellied Sea Eagle as we returned to the car. The Hobby was quite a big bird and from the back we considered Peregrine at first – presumably a female.

We debated breakfast but decided once again on……….Belesis and the usual.

3.10.14

Minnippi at night

                                                                         

Stu and I had kicked around the idea a couple of weeks ago and Rob had agreed to join us and we arrived at the outskirts of the park at 19.30 – full dark. Walking in we stirred up a couple of Masked Lapwings but otherwise it was quiet and still – a perfect night for owling actually. 

Unfortunately there weren’t any – Owls that is. There were a number of Brush-tailed and Ring-tailed Possums and one Squirrel Glider which was really nice, but no owls. None calling, none seen. No Owlet-Nightjars either, which surprised us. We did have two separate Tawny Frogmouths but as we had all seen this species already in daylight it wasn’t new for the site or anything. 

Rob speculated that the absence of owls (Powerful Owl in particular) led to the high number of possums which ultimately resulted in the decimation of Owlet Nightjars – always a possibility? Anyway, despite playback of various species we retired owl-less to Stu’s place for a cuppa before heading home.