Weekends That Were - August 2025

1.8.25

Oxley

A grey, cloudy, cold morning – disappointing generally. The light was shit, the birds fairly plentiful, but muted and challenging to ID in the canopy, being mainly silhouetted.

I met Joan (BP from South Africa) at 7.15 and we walked the track to the ponds as usual. We didn’t climb the gate to check the flooded field so some species definitely overlooked.

The track was quite active with Lewin’s Honeyeaters aplenty, a smaller number of Brown Honeyeaters, scattered small groups of Rainbow and Scaly-breasted Lorikeets and one of Scarlet Honeyeaters. Not much else evident, but, as I mentioned, difficult to ID birds against the leaden sky.

Birds of the morning were probably a nice pair of Mistletoebirds showing well at the ponds and, in particular a perched up Brown Falcon on the dead tree on the island in Pelican Lagoon.

 

Brown Falcon

Bumped into Mike B on the return walk who pointed us in the direction of a (regularly) perched up Tawny Frogmouth.

Breakfast at Arte & Gusto - as usual when birding Oxley. 

                                                                           5.8.25

                                                                  Minnippi

On site at 7, a bright, sunny, clam, almost warm morning. 

All in all it was quite birdy, although the M1 track was, as usual, not busy. 

I walked the Airfield Track and, much to my surprise, turned up a single female Regent Bowerbird. I had assumed they had departed the area since it was a few weeks since I saw 3 together in, roughly, the same spot, with no records reported since. 

Further surprise, as I walked back along the cement bike path towards the bridge - hoping for either Superb Fairy Wren and/or Australian Magpie, neither of which I had recorded on my morning’s list - yet another bloody female Regent Bowerbird flew across and perched up! I can’t get away from them! 

I had hoped for a Fruit Dove sp, and had stood under the only fig tree with fruit that was infested with Australian Figbirds in that hope, but had failed to find any and fate dubiously rewarded me with yet another Regent Bowerbird…..

After a long 3 hour outing my morning’s list totalled an impressive (for me) 61 species - and I hadn't seen either the Superb FW or the Magpie!

(A rare occurrence – not getting Australian Magpie on my morning’s list - but checking my database it would appear that, according to my stats, there is only a 96% chance of this species in August! So it’s not unknown.)

                                                                                    7.8.25

                                                                           Oxley

On site at 7, a bright sunny, crisp morning to start with, but warming through my 4 hour visit (!) to a very pleasant morning.

The track was very birdy – lots of activity and with almost no non-combatants. I ended up with 60 species even though, once again, a couple of usual, ‘expected’ birds didn’t eventuate. I climbed the gate but the flooded field had few birds and the main ponds were almost completely deserted. I did find a recently deceased Water Rat Hydromys chrysogaster along the track beyond the gate, surprisingly large size and white-tipped tail were diagnostic.

The highlight of the morning was a small flock of 5 or 6 Scaly-breasted or Nutmeg Mannikins/Munias I found halfway along the main track. I spent the best part of half an hour trying to get something resembling a photo but was still unsure of the exact number of birds.

Scaly-breasted or Nutmeg Mannikin

Nearby a pair of White-browed Scrub Wrens were very busy collecting building material - so focused, in fact, they were oblivious to my presence - unusual for Scrub Wrens to be so 'easy'.

White-browed Scrub Wrens

On the way back I met Mike B and we spent 20 minutes or so chatting at the second causeway, during which a Keelback Tropidonophis mairii swam away again – probably the same individual I saw a couple of weeks ago.

Keelback Tropidonophis mairii

Further back along the track I bumped into 2 birders from Texas, USA and walked them back to show them the Tawny Frogmouth perched up on the side of the track.

All in all it was a big morning.

                                                                            10.8.25

                                          Sandy Camp Wetlands & Mangrove Boardwalk

Joan (BP, South Africa) and her granddaughter, Tess (10), arrived early at 6.45 and we drove to Sandy Camp.  A cloudy-with-sunny-spells kinda morning.

Not a bad visit – nothing particularly outstanding, possibly a juvenile Nankeen Night Heron perched up and almost hidden was the bird of the morning. Good views of Comb-crested Jacana and Wandering Whistle Ducks were a bonus and a short view of a probable Baza over flight was a ‘most likely’ identification. 

At around 10 we left and headed down to the Mangrove Boardwalk. We got Torresian Kingfisher and Mangrove Gerygone fairly easily – and called in a pair of very active Striped Honeyeaters for good views.  Further on a Grey Goshawk put in a short, but good, close, sighting – this being a new bird for my North Wynnum site list. Could not get Mangrove Honeyeater despite having seen several a few weeks ago without any trouble. Ditto for Shining Flycatcher, but never have had that bird at this location before anyway. A passing birder advised that Noisy Pitta had been seen around the mangroves recently, but we didn’t see any sign of it.

Breakfasted at Stone’s Corner.

                                                                            12.8.25

                                            

                                                                           Minnippi

So, on the weekend there had been a report of Azure Kingfisher at Minnippi. A bit of investigation by Mr P elicited the information that the bird had been seen on the lake - at the boardwalk and then in a tree on the island. This would be the first record of the species at Minnippi.

Mr P tried on Sunday without success and then at 7.00 on Monday received advice from the original finder that the bird was ‘there again, diving repeatedly’. He called me and I dragged my rather reluctant ass out of my warm bed and met him, at around 7.30 at the water’s edge.

We couldn’t find the bird and discussed the possibility of needing to be on site at 6.30 as that was when it had been seen both times.

So….. 6.30am Tuesday I was on site. I marched out straight away to the lake’s edge and checked the boardwalk at distance – no bird. I scanned the island edge and noticed the Swan family were right under the tree the Kingfisher seemed to favour. As I scanned I saw the bird, face on, for about 3 seconds before it flew – and promptly disappeared. It didn’t seem to fly far, but despite scanning the island edge for another 20 minutes I could not re-locate the little bugger.

It is possible the bird has always been in that location. It would be easily overlooked and especially as this particular individual appears to be able to just vanish.

I carried on the usual walk. The M1 track was quiet apart from a few calling Lewin’s Honeyeaters, ditto a Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Eastern Yellow Robin and Olive-backed Oriole and a flock of 4 Little Friarbirds at canopy level.

I walked the Airfield Track and was rewarded with a perched up Wompoo Fruit Dove – only my second site record – but not much else.

Wompoo Fruit Dove

The 52 species list for the morning was a little lower than last week’s but not a bad morning’s birding.

                                                                                14.8.25

                                                                Mt Nebo & Mt Glorious

Mr D picked me up at 5.45; he had two bird guides with him – Andy W and Fraser, the former an old friend, the latter not having birded in Australia before. We stopped at Mackers at The Gap and grabbed coffee and assorted snacks. On site at the Bellbird Grove/Spotted Quail Thrush track at about 6.30.

It took us a while – we walked the entire track and down the Bellbird Grove access road for a couple of hundred meters and back again - before we finally found the target - Spotted Quail Thrush. We had a pair moving discreetly, as they do, through the scrubby grass but eventually we all got good views of this sometimes-difficult species.

Spotted Quail-thrush (female)

Spotted Quail-thrush (male)

 

Moving on we stopped next at Boombana, a ‘trailhead’ for a couple of tracks and a circuit. One track went south 4 kms to Jolly’s Lookout and the second went off north somewhere – we walked the Thylogale Circuit which for a couple of Ks circled around back to the carpark. 

It was quite birdy and in the carpark and along the walk we saw both Satin and Regent Bowerbirds, Green Catbird, Wompoo Fruit Dove, 3 species of Scrubwren, both Striated and Brown Thornbills, Australian Logrunner, Brown Gerygone, Spotted Pardalote, Eastern Yellow Robin, and heard a Noisy Pitta. We also had several Red-legged and a couple of Red-necked Pademelons at very close range. It seemed a good alternative for the Rainforest Walk on Mt Glorious and suggested possibilities for future spotlighting.

We moved on, then, to Mt Glorious and decided to have a late breakfast/early lunch in the café. We sat out on the back deck and birded while we ate good quality food delivered to our table with amazing speed! 

A surprise, at least to me, were 3 Little Wattlebirds feeding in a Banksia tree nearby – this was a new species for any of my site lists in D’Aguilar NP. We also had fleeting views of a male Paradise Riflebird and close ups of Laughing Kookaburra, Lewin’s Honeyeater and Pied Currawong who all wanted a share of our food.

We hung around the picnic area at the start of the Rainforest Walk for a while watching a half a dozen Green Catbirds and a couple of Satin Bowerbirds before walking in. I taped a male Satin Bowerbird perched up a tree - a call we didn't recognise, repeated for some time and loaded it on Xeno-canto.

                                                                XC1028864

We didn’t walk the complete track – only the upper length to Brown’s Rd. We had one of our two targets there – Pale Yellow Robin – and a Topknot Pigeon and a Wompoo Fruit Dove. We walked back to the road and carpark via Brown’s Road without further excitement. 

There had been reports of Powerful Owl at Kumbartcho Reserve at Eaton’s Hill and the boys decided to try for it – mainly for Fraser’s benefit. We found our way there and walked the reserve but didn’t find the Owls, but we did have Fan-tailed Cuckoo and Shining Bronze Cuckoo as compensation.

Driving home from there at 15.15 was a nightmare and Mr D dropped me off at 16.35. It had been a big day.

                                                                15.8.25

                                      Enoggera Reservoir - Araucaria Walk

I met Joan (BP, South Africa) at 6.45 and we walked the usual track beside and around the dam. It had been 5 years since I had birded this site and I knew why…. bloody runners on the track. I fail to understand the attraction of running on a rough, ankle-twisting track ignoring any scenery or wildlife when you could run in a playing field or public park without risk to life and limb and leave the track for walkers and people to enjoy the peace and wildlife.

Possibly, as a result, the bird life was pretty quiet. We did have a small colony of Bell Miners with several seen quite well and a pair of Brown Cuckoo Doves ditto, a juvenile Black-faced Monarch seen poorly and a few other basic species but overall it was a rather disappointing morning totaling 32 bird species and a Water Rat.

Yellow-faced Honeyeater

We had breakfast in the café attached to the information center with a rather poor breakfast menu. 

                                                                        19.8.25

                                                                       Minnippi    

On site at 7, another dull, cloudy, still, muted kind of morning, threatening rain which didn’t develop. Despite the conditions it was quite birdy. I didn’t walk the Airfield Track, being a bit short of time dependent on a prearranged appointment, but did achieve a list of 50 species. Nothing outstanding – 26 Australian Magpies on the Airfield and 19 Little Black Cormorants perched on the island were probably unusual numbers and a hovering Black-shouldered Kite over the carpark when I was leaving was a nice finale.

Weekends That Were - July 2025

 10.7.25

Oxley

On site at 7.30, a dull cloudy morning to start with that quickly brightened to a warmer, sunny morning. The track was very busy with Lewin’sand Blue-faced Honeyeaters in number in a minimum few trees with the remains of flowers. Nothing exceptional, but not a bad morning with 48 species recorded.

Met a pair of genuine birders who knew what they were talking about, but also passed a couple of groups of retirees who had spent their retirement funds on flash cameras and huge lenses, but not one of them had invested in a pair of bins.

I didn’t climb the fence and walk to the flooded field as there were several cattle just inside the gate and I didn’t want to disturb them, but from the platform near the carpark I did see a few White-headed Stilts and a Black-fronted Dotterel that was flushed as I scanned.

Messed around with the (new) camera in a variety of situations, checking its performance and trying to understand what was happening..... I was reasonably happy I had finally got it to do what I wanted it to do. Only 1 photograph was, in my opinion, worth keeping..

Red-browed Finch

15.7.25

Minnippi

On site at 7.30 to a bright, sunny, cool to cold morning – cool in the shade, warmer in the sun. The M1 track was a bit birdier than previous visits but with virtually no trees in flower it was still pretty quiet.

The lake, too, was pretty dead. I noted only 2 goslings with the adult Black Swans, appeared they have lost one in the last few weeks. 6 Magpie Geese sat on the grass in front of the platform – the park was generally quiet so far as citizens were concerned too, so I assumed the Geese had roosted on the grass and not being disturbed.

I sat for a few minutes in the Raptor Lookout then dragged my sorry ass over the hill to walk the Airfield Track. I hadn’t been down this track for a long time, possibly years, and found it as Mr P had recently described it – overgrown and a few small trees down across it. In fact it was so overgrown it was more my residual memory of where the track went that got me through in places.

Halfway along I stopped to try for White-eared Monarch, the only one, I think, recorded on this site by myself 12 years previous.

As I stood and watched I noticed a medium sized bird in a nearby gum. I binned it and found it to be a female Regent Bowerbird! Eventually there were 3 birds in the same tree feeding on, I assumed, caterpillars or some, invisible to me, grubs. There may have been more than 3, but I could only confirm at least three in the tree at the one time. There was some coming and going from the tree so doubt remained regarding the total number.

 

Regent Bowerbird (female)

While I watched the Bowerbirds a Collared Sparrowhawk glided by overhead – looked like a smaller male – and a White-throated Gerygone came close by to investigate.

 

White-throated Gerygone

All in all it wasn’t a bad morning with an end list of 51 species.

17.7.25

Anstead & Moggill Pocket Swamp

I picked up Joan (Birding Pal) in Belbowrie at 7.15, on site 10 minutes later. A bright, sunny, clear, still morning – pretty close to perfect birding weather – but the birds didn’t come to the party.

Overall a disappointing morning despite a lengthy use of encouragement on the bitumen track – the only ‘result’ being a single Shining Bronze Cuckoo despite trying for 8 different species. There really wasn’t anything to write home about at all, possibly 2 Red-necked Wallabys seen very well but other than that I did manage to get a couple of Eastern Whipbirds up so that Joan got a lifer (plenty heard, none seen previously) and 2 Brown Quail flew in very close, but vanished immediately into the long grass.

We drove out to Moggill Pocket Swamp for a brief overview but nothing remarkable there either so we returned to West Vets for breakfast before I dropped Joan home.

20.7.25

Minnippi and a short visit to Mt Gravatt Lookout

Birding Pal Joan and her 10 year old granddaughter, Tess, met me at my place at 6.45 and we picked up Mr P at 7, on site a few minutes later. A calm, bright, sunny morning, cool, but not cold.

We walked the usual tracks – pond, M1 track, The Avenue and eventually down the Airfield Track. Mr P was keen to try for the Regent Bowerbirds I had seen the previous Tuesday but they failed to show. Presumably they had cleaned the tree of the ‘lerps’ they had been feeding on and had moved on, regardless, it was a very good morning at Minnippi.

We had 59 species altogether, the highlights…

A White-throated Gerygone at the start of the Airfield Track.

A Little Shrikethrush along that track and several male Australian Golden Whistlers.

A White-headed Pigeon perched up halfway back along the cement path.

 

White-headed Pigeon

A Black-shouldered Kite from the Raptor Lookout.

A pair of closely perched up Pacific Bazas near the car park.

 

Pacific Baza

 

We spent 3 hours on site in total and dropped Mr P home before the three of us headed off for breakfast at Mt Gravatt Lookout, stopping on the way to see a perched up Square-tailed Kite at the nest site and a nearby Koala pointed out to us by a photographer chasing the Kites.

 

Square-tailed Kite

Tess also saw a Pale-headed Rosella and a King Parrot that we missed, but I had no doubt on her identification skills.

(The camera settings threw a very heavy blue cast on the photos and it took some manipulation to remove it. I think I have it fixed now by raising the 'temperature' on the settings but it didn't help the results)

22.7.25

Oxley

On site just after 7 – a dull, cloudy morning spitting rain on and off for the first 20 minutes but brightening into a sunny morning after 8.

Usual stuff, nothing to write home about, apart, maybe, from a single Sacred Kingfisher at the second culvert which was my first in several weeks, possibly a returning bird? 

The track was very quiet with almost no non-combatants, but quite birdy and active and, due to the lack of walkey talkeys, both Red-backedand Superb Fairy Wrens performed well in the open near the lake while a larger than normal number (15) of Purple Swamphens stalked around in front of me. 

I did climb the gate and checked the ‘flooded field’ area – Australian Grebes, Black-fronted Dotterels, Pied Stilts and Grey Teal were present – it appeared to be a much more attractive area than the other ponds, which were almost deserted.

A 46 species morning with several key species not observed so could easily have been 50+ with better weather.

24.7.25

Minnippi

A cool, increasingly windy, bright morning at 7.15. The westerly wind increased during my time on site and was quite cold.

Usual stuff. I walked the Airfield Track again but found no sign of the Bowerbirds of last week. A 43 species morning – significantly down on the 59 species of 4 days previous. But still quite birdy in spots.

28.7.25

Oxley

A bright sunny clear morning, only a gusty breeze challenging easy birding along the track.

It was a good morning with almost no non-combatants along the track – only one skinny female jogger whose unleashed dogs rushed past me and chased a Bush Turkey up into a tree. I yelled at the dogs and then gave her a piece of what remains of my mind while she, belatedly, put the dogs back on a leash.

Total list was 64 species with several key birds not recorded at all – Eastern Whipbird, Grey Shrike Thrush and both Whistler sp being the most obvious on the missing persons list.

Started off with a Striated Heron perched up above the creek, from the pontoon. 

Striated Heron

The track was quite birdy with lots of things calling, maybe the slightly warmer weather was having an effect.

The surprise of the day was a flock of approx 30 Chestnut-breasted Mannikins feeding on the track coming back from the ponds. This was the biggest flock of Mannikins I had seen in years. They used to be much more common at Oxley – and Minnippi – but in recent times had almost vanished.

I climbed the gate and checked the ‘flooded field’ adding Pied Stilt, Black-fronted Dotterel and Grey Teal to the morning’s list. The main ponds were almost completely deserted.

The Sacred Kingfisher was back at the second culvert and a one meter Keelback Tropidonophis mairii swam away while I stood there.

All in all a good morning’s birding.

Keelback Tropidonophis mairii

29.7.25

Sandy Camp

When I arrived at 7.30 it was warm and sunny, but it clouded over after a short while and remained cool.

It was surprisingly quiet, human-wise, with only a couple of non-combatants exercising their dogs and one photographer dude - unusual for this site, usually overflowing with camera-carriers and twitch seekers.

Overall a disappointing morning, although it started out well at the immediate entrance, but basically went to shit as my two hour visit continued. I ended up with only 41 species with a lot of key birds missing. The only item of interest was a juvenile Osprey trying to fish on the large lake out back, I wasn’t 100% sure what it was initially but it became clear once it perched up.

The Bittern Pond was still covered with Salvina although the previously sprayed part had cleared somewhat there didn't appear to be any effort to take the treatment further.

Weekends That Were - June 2025

 3.6.25

Minnippi

On site at 7.30 to a bright, warmer–than-expected sunny morning. Still very wet underfoot – probably a lack of drainage more than continuous rainfall.

The M1 track was, again, fairly quiet, with just the Eastern Yellow Robin banging away in the undergrowth with the same rather monotonous call. There were also 2 Fan-tailed Cuckoos calling and one flew across and landed briefly near the track.

Up The Avenue and back across towards the lake and a Black-shouldered Kite landed on the nearest pylon. This was my first observation since January 2020 of this bird on this site.

Back at the lake and two adult Black Swans protected 3 young goslings on the bank, obviously a successful nesting effort by all involved. 

In the tree on the island there were 7 Magpie Geese, 5 Little Black Cormorants and 2 Great Cormorants while in the usual Cormorant tree on the opposite side of the lake there were no birds perched. Then I saw why – a decent sized Carpet Python lay along one of the branches in that tree sunning itself. 

The Raptor Lookout produced nothing of interest and I headed back along the cement. A busy bush had me checking through a flock of Silvereyes when a female Rufous Whistler pooped up, followed by a Varied Triller and, while trying to get photos of that, a Shining Bronze Cuckoo put in an appearance.

Shining Bronze Cuckoo

That was about it for the morning, a low count with only 40 species, but not bad value overall.

6.6.25

Oxley

I met Joan in the car park at 7.30. A beautiful, sunny, calm Queensland winter morning. Unfortunately the birds weren’t exactly cooperating. All in all a quiet morning with a final list of 35 species, despite the conditions and the fact the birds were quite active. 

I managed to get a couple of Striped Honeyeaters in view, but failed similarly with any cuckoos.

No raptors or finches and a minimum of fairy wrens.

We had breakfast afterwards at Arte & Gusto.

8.6.25

Oxley again

Mr D picked me up at 6.30, on site 15 minutes later – a chilly, bright, calm, misty morning that warmed up somewhat as time passed.

Having been on site just two days previously I was interested in seeing how the morning’s list would vary. In the end we had 45 species, 10 more than the previous visit. We did have such birds as Black-shouldered Kite, a brief male Collared Sparrowhawk and a perched up Australian Hobby which I would not have missed previously, but Mr D’s ears picked up White-throated Gerygone and White-browed Scrub-wren which I probably would have overlooked. It was a more active morning, but mostly the same species other than those mentioned. 

We had breakfast at Arte & Gusto as usual.

10.6.25

Minnippi

On site at 7.15 to a cold, calm, bright morning – and at 9C supposedly the coldest morning of the year so far. 

It was, overall, pretty quiet. Two invisible Eastern Yellow Robins banging away on the M1 track was about it for there, The Avenue was dead apart from a small mixed flock of Silvereyes and Gray Fantails. The adult Black Swans still had the 3 cygnets in tow – I avoided the family group on the bank as a childhood experience in Devon, UK when I was attacked by a Black Swan still hangs in my subconscious as a frightening experience. 

There were about 40 Welcome Swallows feeding low across parts of the lake and foreshore and I picked out a handful of Fairy Martins among them. There may well have been Tree Martins too, but I didn’t specifically ID any at distance.

Nothing on The Airfield – did not walk the track – and back along the Back Track a couple of trees in flower only had, again, mixed flocks of Brown Honeyeaters, Gray Fantails and Silvereyes making up the bulk.

A 38 species morning with nothing of exception for my 71^st Winter visit to Minnippi, my 323^rd recorded visit since 2001 and my site list stands at 173.

18.6.25

Oxley

On site at 7.30 to a cold, grey, dull morning. The sun did appear around 9am, but the intervening time was very ‘wintry’. 

And the resulting morning’s list reflected that weather. Apart from Brown and Lewin’s Honeyeaters, which were very active, it was very quiet on the walk out. The only Silvereye I saw was a freshly dead one I found near the second culvert – no apparent damage, it was like it had just dropped dead. The ponds were very quiet too (fed up using that word, but can’t think of a better description). I walked in to the flooded field after climbing the gate and added a few water species to the list – Australian Grebes and White-headed Stilts of note – and on the return walk came across a small bird wave in which I found the only Gray Fantail of the morning and a Varied Triller. I also saw at least 8 White-breasted Wood Swallows in a pepper bush. It appeared they were eating the berries, but at some distance it was difficult to be sure. They may have been picking insects off the leaves, but it was a behaviour I had never seen this species indulge in before.

I had brought my new camera with me - a slightly upgraded version of my old Panasonic Lumix FZ80. It had been a necessary purchase as I had had to use a pair of pliers on the weekend to get the SD card out of the old camera, somehow the card ‘slot’ had ceased to function. It was a bit sad as that camera had travelled with me to all my adventures over the last 10 or so years; from the Arctic to the Antarctic, all over Europe, North America and Australia, Japan in -25C and Costa Rica in 150% humidity among the more challenging conditions. However it was a no-choice situation and a $619 cost after I bargained JB HiFi down from $678 based on the price quoted by Amazon.

I was standing on the track fiddling with the settings, struggling at times to understand what it was I had changed and HTF I could change it back, when 6 Brown Quail broke cover and fluttered, as they do, one by one, across the track a few meters away - the first I had seen here for months.

20.6.25

Sandy Camp & Mangrove Boardwalk

Joan (from South Africa) met me at my place before 7 and arrived at Sandy Camp at 7.15. A grey, dull, cool morning that never really lightened. The light was very poor making birding against the sky difficult.

It wasn’t a bad morning, mostly the expected birds with a number of ‘new’ species for Joan. Some clown in the BCC had arranged for all the grass/reeds along the track between the ponds to be mown to ground level which removed the cover for walkers/birders along that track and reduced the habitat for small passerines along same – pathetic. Who makes decisions like this?

We spent a couple of hours walking the usual tracks around the ponds and met up with a group of contractors who denied knowledge of the reed cutting, but were present to spray the invasive Salvinia on the ‘Bittern’ pond which had completely covered the water’s surface. It would be great to see it removed, but I had some doubts about putting more toxins into the environment, although they assured me they were harmless to anything else.

We moved on to the Mangrove Boardwalk and had great success with a pair of Torresian Kingfishers and several Mangrove Gerygones which responded very well. At the end of the walk it was low tide and, while we checked the White-faced Herons (~20) and a couple more Kingfishers on the mud among other bits and pieces, a call behind me had me playing for Mangrove Honeyeater and approximately 8 birds responded heartily. I think this may be my first record of this species on the boardwalk although I have seen them at the nearby Port mangroves.

Walking back we bumped into Tom T with a group of Chinese/Taiwan birders and we chatted for a few minutes. He told me of a roosting Nankeen Night Heron I had missed near the beginning of the Boardwalk and we picked it up on our way out along with a pair of Chestnut Teal right below our feet, the first I had seen in several months.

We had breakfast at Mt Gravatt Lookout and then went to check on the Australian Boobook that had been roosting in Toohey Forest. It appeared it had moved on and we were unsuccessful.

I dropped Joan back to her car parked outside my place and she headed home.

26.6.25

Birding Pal stuff, Day 1 with Shereen

I picked up Shereen from Toronto via Kazakhstan from Lylo in the Valley at 7 and we headed directly out to Sandy Camp. It was quite a birdy morning with some, minor, surprises – Leaden Flycatcher, a Forest Kingfisher and both Teal sp were all a little ‘unexpected’.

There were a larger-than-normal number of birders hanging around, apparently a Superb Fruit Dove had (again) been seen and we were shown photos one guy took, although he didn’t seem to know what he was looking at. The claim was that ‘it’ was hanging around with a couple of Rose-crowned and, given the photo I saw was an immature bird, I wondered if 'it' could also be an immature Rose-crowned? I didn’t get ‘Superb’ from the photos but then again, I have no personal experience with immature Fruit Doves, hopefully someone who does has identified the bird. Anyway we didn’t see it so….

We actually spent 3 hours on site which was a much longer time than normal, but it was an active morning with plenty to check out.

On then to the Mangrove Boardwalk where, once again, I managed to pull Torresian Kingfisher and Mangrove Gerygone out of thin air. We also had at least 3 Mangrove Honeyeaters along the Boardwalk among other commoner species.

Deciding on lunch we drove back to Mt Gravatt Lookout and had lunch in Lovewell, then walked the top track for about 200 meters looking, unsuccessfully, for Koala.

By this time it was after 14.00 so I decided to pass on Minnippi and go instead straight to Oxley. We walked the track from 15.00 to 16.45 and didn’t see a hell of a lot but did get a family of Red-backed Fairy Wrens to complete the set for Shereen for the day – the male showed reasonably well.

Then it was just a slog of a drive back to the Valley to drop her off at 17.30.

27.6.25

Birding Pal stuff, Day 2 with Shereen

I picked Ms Khan up from the Valley again at 7 and we were on site at Anstead by 7.30. The site was pretty quiet overall but we managed to get some good birds – Varied Sitella headed the list for me, we also had White-bellied Cuckooshrike, Chestnut-breasted Mannikins and Shining Bronze Cuckoos. We were there for 3 hours, then went for a quick visit to Moggill Pocket Swamp to try for Buff-banded Rail, but none were evident. 

Back to West Vets for breakfast/lunch then a long haul to Mt Nebo to try for Spotted Quail -Thrush, without success. On up through Mt Nebo village where we stopped briefly in the hope of Bell Miner and where Shereen went in search of a toilet at the shop/café only to be aggressively abused by the owner as he had just closed up. Almost a violent confrontation given he threw one of his light aluminum chairs in my general direction and threatened to punch me. We moved on and arrived on site at the Rainforest loop around 13.30.

We spent an hour walking that loop seeing only a few Yellow-throated Scrubwrens and an Eastern Yellow Robin or two. Shereen did manage to find a Green Catbird on the forest floor and we had a couple of Red-necked Pademelons too.

We decided to walk the Green’s Falls walk and did – as far as the second boardwalk by which time it was getting very dark and cold so we headed back up to Brown’s Rd. However, along that track we had several Large-billed Scrubwrens, Brown Gerygones, a Rufous or Little Shrike Thrush and Shereen had an Eastern Shriketit that I couldn’t get onto. Back at the car park a half a dozen Satin Bowerbirds flew into a nearby dead tree obviously on their way to roost.

And that was it for the day, I dropped her back to Lylo and headed home.

28.6.25

Fruit Dove Twitch @ Sandy Camp

Mr D picked me up at 6.45 and Mr P drove us from his place, on site at 7.15. We were chasing Fruit Doves previously reported and twitched as I mentioned a few days earlier. There were a load of birders and (mostly) photographers wandering around looking a bit lost, all waiting for someone to find the birds for them, most carrying only cameras, no bins.

We hung out for a while around the area the birds had been reported from and Mr D was the first to break the anticipation with two birds flying in to a nearby tree. One was, apparently, visible, but I failed to get onto it before it moved again. It was called as an immature Rose-crowned.

A short waiting period later and someone else found an adult female Superb Fruit Dove in a difficult-to-see position, against the sky half obscured by intervening vegetation. We all clustered around the viewing spot and eventually everyone got a look.

 

Superb Fruit Dove (female)

A little while later and someone else found an immature bird which, after viewing my poor photos I would call as an immature Rose-crowned, but when we eventually left the jury was still out on identification.

 

(Probable) Rose-crowned Fruit Dove (Imm)

We ‘bumped into’ Paul & Brian from the Southport pelagic circus and Nickolas turned up with a deceased Keelback which he kindly gave to me.

During all this ‘excitement’ I wandered to one side to take a phone call and, while on the phone, saw a Lewin’s Rail fly from one spot to another across thick bushy growth. The three of us also went for a wander between fruit dove sightings and had a Swamp Harrier fly past and circle nearby – not a common bird, only being my second record at this site (as was the Lewin’s Rail incidentally).

When we left we had an Australian Hobby perched up on the wires on the way out so it turned into an interesting morning all told.

We had breakfast, as usual, in Stones Corner.