Birding 2010

 16 - 17.1.10

Weekend Birding - Brisbane

Time for the quarterly survey of private property again. I picked R up at 5.45 and we met S at the Carina property at 6.00. We spent 20 minutes counting as many species as we could – this wasn’t difficult it was very quiet – and then the balance of the hour noting all other species. It’s a strange method, but whatever, there must be a reason for it!

There wasn’t a lot, but several close underside views of what turned out to be a Grey Goshawk was rewarding.

We headed off for breakfast afterwards and R and I brought S up to date on The trip. 

Then it was off to Manly Wader Roost for the king high tide at 10.00. There were the usual waders present – most obvious the Bar-tailed Godwits, Eastern Curlew, Grey-tailed Tattlers, Red-necked Stints etc and for the first time for us, a Sooty Oystercatcher. A Grey Plover was another nice bird to see here, although not the first.

It was very hot by the time we gave it away just after eleven and we headed home to seek the shade.

 

Sunday and a very early start – meet at Rob’s at 5.00. We were heading for the Lockyer Valley to track down a Pectoral Sandpiper that had been seen for several weeks at Jahnke’s Lagoon. The lagoon is more like a flooded field – the closest edge about 50 meters from the road, the further side, approx 200 and I was concerned that the distance would make it difficult to spot the bird.

We stopped for a $5.95 eggs, bacon, toast, hash brown and coffee breakfast at the Freedom service station – you can’t pass up a deal like that – on the way and arrived at the lagoon around 6.30. S and I started scope scanning the lagoon shoreline, carefully checking the Sharp-tailed Sandpipers. Gavin G was already there (we can’t go on meeting like this!) and had been unsuccessful so far. 30 minutes later, however, and Gavin thought he had it, a few minutes later and we were whistling for R to come back from chasing a Rufous Songlark so he could view the Pec and get his tick. 

Once spotted the bird was easy to differentiate from the Sharpies – it just meant getting your eye in and picking up the sharply demarcated breast band, orange coloured base of the bi-coloured bill and the streaked rather than chestnut crown. Its feeding ‘jizz’ was different too – repeated quick deep stabbing movements in each location, as opposed to the more random pecking of the surface by the Sharpies. Luckily it was on the close edge of the water so was only 50 meters away and spent its time there and on a small clay lump another 20 or 30 meters offshore. We eventually entered the field and walked to the lake’s edge to see it at that range, on the mud lump, which was excellent viewing.

Leaving the Pec to its own devices we went on to Adare rd and checked out the lake and roadside there – nothing much moving despite S’s repeated insistence that there had been Cotton Pygmy Geese, Restless Flycatchers and Brown-headed Honeyeaters earlier in the week – yeah, right, Stu. 

By this time a cold drink was in order so into Gatton for same. Then on the road back towards Brisbane and into the Uni and Lake Galletly. A Little Grassbird had been seen in the bush beside the lake and we heard it as soon as we stepped out of the car. We managed some excellent views along with Blue-billed Ducks displaying, the usual Geese and Whistle Ducks and a Buff-banded Rail wandered around the far end of the lake – a first here for me.

Again a very hot day and we deliberately arrived home at 11.15, again to avoid the main heat of the day.

18.3.10

Seawatching Pt Lookout

A casual email ‘conversation’ reminded me of the pleasure and excitement of land based seawatching and, as a result, we decided to take a trip to Point Lookout on North Stradbroke Island. The island lies across the mouth of Moreton Bay and has a local population, bitumen roads, camp sites, rental accommodation etc. Point Lookout is the headland poking out from the far side into the pacific at the end of a long sandy beach.

SE Qld is not the best place for land based sea watching – being low lying along the coast for the main part and the shelf lying some distance offshore. Most birders rely on the monthly pelagics out of Southport to catch up with sea birds – and excellent they can be too, if you have the stomach for it. I have decided – see previous blog – that, after a number of trips over a number of years, it isn’t for me. That has been a blow because seabirds are my favourite bird species – especially shearwaters. The concept of the freedom and strength, the individualism and perfection of living ones life soaring effortlessly over the wild ocean has always appealed to me. Many years ago (circa 2000) I borrowed a ‘scope and made the trek to Pt Lookout. I didn’t see much, it was a hot, calm day and the biggest excitement was watching Hump-backs breaching come distance off shore. For some reason I had never repeated the trip even though I now own a ‘scope and so the thought of returning for another go was quite exciting.

The weather was probably what settled the decision – windy and wet – and so on Saturday 6.3 Rob, Stu and I made our way to Cleveland with Chris Sanderson to take the 6.55am water taxi for the 20 min ($19 return) ride to Dunwich and then the bus ($9 return) round to Pt Lookout. 

The morning was very wet and we debated the wisdom of sitting on an exposed headland in the rain. However, it was all to work out OK, we had one 5 minute shower in the 4 hours we sea watched and, although the birds were not exceptional, it was great just to be seeing shearwaters (Wedge- tailed), Skuas (Arctic and Pomarine) and Noddies (both Common and Black) passing by, while Turtles (Loggerhead and Green) and Dolphins (Common) loitered around the rocks below us. Just to sit and watch the ocean and feel its strength and timelessness is a tonic for the soul. We also had a surprising number (7) Wandering Tattlers sheltering on the rocks below us for most of the morning.

We called the day a success even though we saw nothing new and enthusiastically discussed the possibilities at other times of the year – what petrels could pass by, would there be albatrosses in winter, what weather would be best? 

The next weekend we went again. We hadn’t planned to, but the weather got worse - or better, dependent on your personal view - and so we headed out again on Saturday 13.3 with even higher expectations as a cyclone had evolved over Fiji and the wind and waves were even bigger than the previous Saturday.

This time Stu and I alone headed out on the water taxi. We spent 7 hours on the headland and met two other birders who came out with similar hopes. Andy and Stuart P are both ex-pat UK birders and so have extensive experience in sea watching – its really something that Australian birders don’t appear to do a lot of, anywhere along the coast. The results of this weekend were not as positive as we had hoped. The birds were much the same – minus the Black Noddies and Arctic Skua – and most were further away. The seas were huge and the wind and rain more aggressive, no turtles or dolphins around the rocks this weekend. 

We left at 15.00 and all headed home together. No plans to repeat the exercise regularly – that will depend on the weather. However, that cyclone did hit Fiji and another one is developing off the north Qld coast even as I type so maybe this weekend (20 – 21.3) we will HAVE to go again? It seems a pity to waste this weather, it won’t always be like this. 

One thing about sea watching is - anything can turn up anytime. There are few ‘rules’ and the birds are so dependent on food supplies and the vagaries of the weather that one just never knows. Some info gained this week from a pioneer of Pt Lookout sea watching in the late 80s/early 90s suggests it’s best in the late afternoon – so maybe we have been mistaken in going early? That will definitely be given consideration in our planning the next trip whether it be this weekend or another, but I will definitely be going to Pt Lookout to watch the sea on a weather based/seasonal basis in the coming months. 

22 - 23.3.10

Birding - Brisbane

Moggill State Forest at 6.30 – Yellow Robins, White-throated Treecreepers, Large-billed Scrub-wrens, Brown Cuckoo Doves and a Wonga Pigeon calling in the background we walked quietly spread out along the track. A flicker of movement in a tangled section caught my eye. Raising the bins and focusing on the movement and a large brown shape appeared - a Powerful Owl at roost. We had long expected to see one here and had searched for and discussed the probability on every visit so the excitement was a little muted, however, just to see this species in a new location was good.

We walked on and came across a couple of Black-faced Monarch juveniles with the all grey head and 3 Shining Bronze Cuckoosshowed extreme interest in play back of their call. A single juvenile Spectacled Monarch showed briefly with the small black mark on its otherwise grey head – offering good comparison on site. 

The other ‘usual’ species were seen through the walk and the owl had turned to face us on our return showing its deep brown eyes and bright yellow talons as it pretended we couldn’t see it and we did too.

On the road out we had 2 female deer poised before disappearing into the bush and a Common Bronzewing rang along the tarmac like a Buttonquail before taking flight.

With the cyclone Ului threatening to cross the coast near Mackay it seemed a good idea to go for a seawatch so Stu and I made a dash for the water taxi and arrived on the point at 14.00.

The seas were actually lower than last weekend and the wind had dropped off – we sat until leaving at 17.00 to get the bus and had a couple of sharp intense rain squalls. In between we managed to see 4 Pom and 1 Arctic Skuas pass by, a number of Common Noddies and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters distantly off shore but a female Lesser Frigatebird was the highlight of our visit. She soared overhead a fairly low altitude giving a short but excellent view of her adult plumage.

We got off the island just as the rain became serious and arrived back at Cleveland at 18.30 in the dark.

 

Sunday morning – nothing organised, but decided to walk down to my very local patch – a small area of undeveloped rough ground along a creek bank a 5 minute walk from home. A pair of Dollarbirds soared overhead appearing to feed on insects which must have ‘risen’ from the damp ground in the warming sunshine. It was almost a display flight, but they remained silent throughout and I think it’s a bit late in the season fro breeding. I suspect they are on passage back north as I haven’t seen them here before and there are no obvious breeding sites available. 

A couple of small birds perched up on the long grass stems and I discovered they were Nutmeg Mannikins, which was really nice as they are not particularly common anymore. All of the birds on coastal Queensland are believed to be ‘escapes’ from private aviaries – maybe they are but its still nice to see them occasionally. I added a few more species to my day list and then turned for home. Looking up at the Dollarbirds again more shapes in the sky and 20 White-throated Needletails circled around showing well as they, too, fed on the invisible insects. I hurried home so I could watch them from my balcony and claim another species for that list. Good views from there as they came closer to head height, although photos were impossible, my camera just doesn’t focus quickly enough!

27 - 28.3.10

Manly wader roost

A bit of a quiet weekend – Rob and I went to manly to check the waders on Saturday. Always looking for the Dowitcher or unusual Stint, but nothing different yet again! Plenty of Bar-tailed Godwits, (1500) most very prettily coloured up and looking fit and fat and ready to fly back to the north to breed - they almost look horny! I wondered if the ones that are not coloured up at this stage of the season are going to stay over winter? Or will they, too, fly home and plumage-change there? If so does that put them at a disadvantage in the breeding stakes? Or is there an advantage in breeding later?

The usual Pied Oystercatchers (160) with one Sooty O again, Red-necked Stints (300) (these too getting ready to fly and breed), Lesser Sand(400), Greater Sand (10), Terek (50), Sharp-tailed (20) and Curlew (300) Sandpipers, Whimbrels (100) and Eastern Curlew (50), Great Knots(500) have increased in numbers recently as well as the apparently non-flocking Ruddy Turnstones (200). Approx 80 Little Terns roosted nervously, taking off to shrieks of delight at any opportunity. And one Osprey held vigil at the nest site. 

We met Stu and Della for a second breakfast after eating our fill at the Celtic corner in Manly.

Sunday I went to my local patch – Holland Park creek off Birdwood road – and for half an hour wandered around the small area recording the birds – this time the new bird was Double-barred Finch – a pair sitting quietly in the dead branches of a fallen bush. Other than that it was a quiet morning and I returned to breakfast at home and a day’s work on my unit.

2 - 5.4.10

Lockyer Valley

We all seemed to have something on this weekend and so agreed to meet for one day’s birding together. I had my kitchen to paint and my daughter to move and Sunday was the agreed day. We decided to make it an early one and a big one so it was off to Lockyer valley at 4.30. We headed out west of Gatton to a road in the middle of nowhere really where Su had had Red-backed Button-quail a few weeks previously. We arrived just after dawn and set up scopes to await any movement on the dirt road that stretched before us. We saw a selection of birds over and on the road – Whistling Kites, Brown Falcons, Pale-headed Rosellas, Galahs, 2 Little Corellas, a Pheasant Coucal, Superb and Red-backed Fairy-wrens, Yellow-rumped Thornbills, Tawny Grassbird and Golden-headed Cisticola, 1 Plum-headed Finch and a flock of Chestnut-breasted Mannikins, but the only Quail we saw were a pair of Brown that wandered out onto the road for a few seconds. We waited almost two hours then wandered around the nearby roads checking dams on private properties adding a few more common species to our list as well as Plumed and Wandering Whistle Duck, Magpie Geese and Grey-crowned Babbler. Gatton for breakfast and one of the hotels offered bacon, eggs, tomato and toast for $6 – not bad, basic with hash browns, but quite filling and good value. Then on to the sewage farm across the river and looking for White-backed Swallows – none. Yanke’s lagoon – Royal Spoonbills, Aust Shoveler, Egrets, Ibisies, Black Duck and Grey Teal and a Hobby showing well hunting from the top of the dead tree. Lake Clarendon, now holding a substantial amount of water and a walk out along the dam wall to view the grass and reed beds on the far side – Australian Grebes, Cormorants, Pelicans, more Egrets, Ibises, a Black Shouldered Kite and a Black Kite along the way. 

Finally the uni and Lake Galletly (?) – 2 Blue-billed Duck still in residence, a few Geese and Plumed W-ducks but not as many as usual. The highlight was the usual but always nice to see Red-rumped Parrots along the sides of the road. No Pink-eared Duck present – which was unusual.

Then it was head for home, stopping off at Mackers for a coffee and ice cream.

10.4.10

Toorbull & Bribie Island

Rob was unavailable so Stu and I headed north for the high tide at Toorbul. Its been a while since I was here and the site has changed somewhat. There is now an area demarcated by an low earthen berm for the waders to actually come ashore at high tide. They are so used to people that parking just outside this area and standing by the car seemed to have little effect on the birds and provided an excellent opportunity for very close scrutiny.  The bird numbers were substantially lower than I had expected - Bar-tailed Godwits (100), Whimbrel being the outstanding bird with approx 300, Eastern Curlew (50), a good number of Common Greenshank (24), approx 100 Grey-tailed Tattlers, nervous as always and 10 Great Knot. The local birds were probably more interesting with Peaceful Dove, Pale-headed Rosella, Sacred Kings, Bee-eaters, Mangrove Gerygones and Honeyeaters, Noisy Friarbirds, Drongos in the trees behind and along the edge of the creek and a few White-breasted Wood Swallows on the wires.

A little disappointed we left the small roost and heading back towards the connection for Bribie Island stopped to investigate Bishop’s Marsh. I had never had much luck there but we turned off an unsealed (public) road and approx 300 meters in came across a [pair of Brolgas standing quietly about 80 meters from the car. This was a very nice reward for our efforts – only the second time I have seen Brolgas in SE Qld and the first time on the ground. And good views too! I took a couple of photos before we left them in peace and headed on to Bribie.

After breaking our fast at a Coffee Club (actually not too bad quality wise, but still over priced - $5 for a large coffee? Get your hand off it!) We tried at Kakadu – nothing. We went to Red Beach - basically nothing apart from one Black-faced Monarch. We went to Buckley’s Hole – nothing apart form the usual stuff and one Magpie Goose, which was a first for me there, a Wandering Whistle-duck shepherded her 13 chicks around and the only wader on the beach was a single lonely Whimbrel. 

We headed south, homewards, and stopped off at Tinchi Tamba to plant the final nail in an otherwise generally low day. Noisy Miners, Noisy Miners and more Noisy Miners and not much else for a 40 minute hot trudge thru the thin scrub and open grasslands.

Oh well, I guess all birding trips can’t be stupendous and we did have the Brolgas.

17.4.10

Survey

Once again Stu and Rob were unavailable – Stu on the Southport pelagic God help him.. as the regular quarterly survey is due next weekend I opted to do it this weekend with the possibility of going away next week. Prout Rd, 2 properties. Count everything for 20 minutes, then list everything for the next 40. Strange method, but that’s what they want so… arrived at no 115 at 6.10 and quietly walked into the property  - didn’t really want to talk to the owners and they had no outside dog so it wasn’t a big deal. Very quiet for the first 15 minutes then right at the back corner of the property – which backs on to a large expanse of State Forest – a movement low down caught my eye and revealed a Noisy Pitta hopping through the undergrowth apparently feeding unconcernedly. A nice 30 meter view of this colourful bird made the whole survey worthwhile. 

A mixed flock of birds arrived overhead at almost the same time distracting me from the Pitta – 2 Golden Whistlers, 2 Spangled Drongos, 4Rufous Whistlers, a Leaden Flycatcher and best of all, 2 immature Cicadabirds moved through the trees. By the time they had gone and I had recorded their presence the Pitta had disappeared so I headed on for no 114 across the road. A pair of Striated Pardalotes called stridently, 3 Bar-shouldered Doves posed theatrically, 2 Bee eaters swooped and dived, a couple more Golden Whistlers and a Grey Fantail (they must all be down from the higher ground for the winter already) and a Noisy Friarbird. Nothing major, but definite signs of seasonal movement - and an improvement on the last survey.

24 - 26.4.10

Mt Glorious & Pt Lookout

Another long weekend and again no plans to go anywhere – hopeless! Anyway we agreed to a rain forest morning and I suggested the West side track which leads off on the opposite side of the road from the main picnic area on Mt Glorious and zigzags down the steep slope then along for a kilometre or so before coming out onto a fire trail. Mostly thru heavy rainforest, not a regularly walked track by many people. 

We got there at 7 and headed in. As usual in rain forest it was quiet – there are rarely heaps of birds and one has to move quietly and watch carefully to pick up most species. We heard lots of stuff – Wonga Pigeons, Lewin’s Honeyeaters, Catbirds and Rose-crowned Fruit-doves that we never saw. We did have limited views of a Noisy Pitta, a Cicadabird and a couple of  Wompoo Fruit-doves along with Yellow Robins, all three scrub wrens, King Parrots, Crimson Rosellas, Brown Thornbills and Gerygones,  Golden Whistlers, Grey Fantails and 1 Pale Yellow Robin, which was the highlight for me. We walked back along the road from the fire trail seeing Spinebills and Red-browed Finches and went to have breakfast at the restaurant overlooking the valley only to find we were 5 minutes late and it was lunch service only…

We went back along the road to Ollie’s place and had a dining experience we will treasure for ever. Too hard to describe, but fascinating all the same – maybe you had to be there…

Being the long weekend we decided that a second birding trip would be acceptable and so on Sunday morning I picked Rob up at the ungodly hour of 5.10 and, arrived at Stu’s at 5.30 to change vehicles and head off for Cleveland to catch the 5.55 ferry to Stradbroke Island. There was something niggling at the back of my mind but I just couldn’t out my finger on it…. Until we arrived at Dunwich and disembarked to find, or rather not to find, any bus waiting… it was 6.25 and the next bus was not due until 7.25.. so THAT’s why we always got the later ferry….

Give the guys their due, they didn’t give me a hard time – maybe we were all too tired or they felt as guilty as I did…anyway we dragged all our gear up the road to find a café/bakery open where we managed to get pastries and doughnuts and coffee for an unplanned breakfast.

Then back down to the dock for the bus and eventually out to the point at 8.00.

It was very quiet out to sea. Clean looking, smooth with a sleek swell dashing itself to pieces on the rocks, little or no wind, clear sky – a lovely morning, but not exactly what one wants on a seawatch. We settled in and soon picked up a few distant Common Noddies, I saw a single Wedge-tailed Shearwater heading north. Lots of Pied cormorants feeding off shore which indicates how calm it was and then 3 big (2-3 meter) Leopard Sharks cruised slowly round the rocky point just below the surface. Dolphins schooled and occasionally jumped clear of the swell and a couple of small Green Turtles showed on the surface and could be seen as they descended again after breathing. A Brahminy Kite perched briefly below us and an Osprey scanned the ocean as it passed. We had been there about an hour and a half when Rob asked ‘what’s this thing?’ Stu and I got onto it straight away and our first impression was of a pelican coming head on towards us from the north east, gliding just above the water’s surface. It turned and was, of course, not a Pelican, but a Wandering Albatross! Probably about 2.5 kms distant, white head (Stu got a pink bill – he was on the scope straight away), underbelly and tail. White underwing with dark tip and trailing edge. Both Stu and I thought we saw black leading edge too, but this must have been a trick of the light as neither Wandering nor Royal have this and this bird could only be one of these given its gi-normous size. Upper wings dark flecked from tip to base with a lighter centre – obviously a juvenile. I guess it was only within view for about 20 seconds and heading out as it headed south but it was an exciting few seconds as we all tried to note details and Rob tried (unsuccessfully) for photographs. 

We sat on discussing the bird (as you do) until 11.00 and then decided to call it a day. Heading back up the road we had coffee at a restaurant/bar overlooking the ocean, albeit from the wrong side of the road and eventually agreed to get the bus back at 12.55, ferry at 13.20 and home again by 14.30. On our way to the bus we bumped into a local who, although apparently not a birder, certainly had enough knowledge to encourage us to come back – he talked about Giant Petrels and Prions, Shearwaters and Boobies…..

That’s the thing about seawatching I love – you just never know what will turn up.

Monday morning and down the road to my patch again – and lots of birds today! White-faced Heron, Little Pied Cormorant and Royal Spoonbill sifting the creek for food, an Intermediate Egret hunting grasshoppers in the field, both Superb and Red-backed Fairy Wren family parties, a female Scarlet Honeyeater, the usual Striated Pardalotes and my first Grey Fantail along with the commoner species and a large Eastern Water Dragon pretended to be invisible in a tree.

1 - 3.5.10

Weekend at Benarkin & Oxley

Another long weekend and both Girraween and Sundown camping areas completely booked out! Stu and I had considered going to both parks but had to abandon that idea.  Instead we decided to try an area we had never been to before, but had heard about - Yarraman and Benarkin State Forests around the small town of Blackbutt, home, we had heard, to Barking Owls….

As we were going away overnight we did not plan an early morning trip for a change but I went down the road to my local patch at 6.30 for a check up anyway.. 9 Dusky Moorhens! A Moorhen convention picking their way up the creek. A Black Duck with 3 ducklings in tow – wonder what happened to the rest of the brood? – normally would have 8 – 10 chicks. The Pheasant Coucal put in an appearance and 3 Scarlet Honeyeaters, 6 + Little and 1 Noisy Friarbirds and a single Yellow-faced Honeyeateralong with a Brown signalled the changing season.

Stu picked me up and we left home around 1pm for the drive out along the side of, and over the wall of, Wivenhoe dam, Brisbane’s biggest water supply catchment, then on thru Esk where we stopped for coffee (Take a number if you want to be served – in a take away shop that had 4 staff and 2 customers when we were there – they must get hellishly busy at times!) 

We arrived at Blackbutt at about 15.30 - well, I think we did, I blinked and missed it … not quite, but you get the picture. We decided to give Yarraman SF a go first and drove on out there to the ‘picnic’ ground. There were two advertised walking tracks from the picnic ground – we couldn’t find them despite the help of two aged pensioners sunning themselves outside their combie – and they came here ‘regularly’…. Jesus wept , why?

Anyway we poked around and finally found a track of sorts with some very fresh platelets – but no birds. Obviously Black-breasted Button-quail was the quarry here, but not today.

We elected to drive the fire trails and see what we could find. The forest is obviously very heavily logged and the track alternated between destroyed bare habitat and thicker more hopeful forest. We came across a few birds here and there and in one spot a massing of  Monarch butterflies – there were probably close to a hundred in a  very small area with clumps of them hanging on a particular plant. They didn’t seem to be doing anything much and were a little beyond reach to investigate any further. It reminded us of pictures we had seen of the Mexican location

We finally hit on a spot that offered more than most – 3 or 4 Satin Bowerbird females, half a dozen Dusky Wood Swallows, a couple of Yellow Robins, a Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Brown Thornbills, Red-browed Finches, both Whistlers and a Grey Fantail. 

We gave it away as things really started to shut down and cool off around 17.30 and headed back to Blackbutt. We had read that if one sat at the Hotel one could hear Barking Owls calling so we decided we would have something to eat and drink and put it to the test. 

We had potato wedges, chips and a toasted sandwich, a beer and a lemon lime and bitters, followed by coffee but we didn’t hear any Owls. 

We did see the Land Rover club on their outing and watched a girl in very tight jeans and high heeled boots negotiate the back stairs after a few drinks but we didn’t hear any Owls.

I dropped my wallet and it was returned by the waitress who called me John – don’t ask, I have no idea – but we didn‘t hear any Owls….

We decided to give Yarraman another go as once we went into Benarkin, where we planned to camp – we wouldn’t come out again until morning. So back up the road again and we stopped at several locations but couldn’t stir anything up although we tried every possibility we could think of on the play back. Not a sound, not a flutter, full moon, clear sky, no wind, lovely evening, but…. nothing.

We headed back into town and wandered the streets around the hotel until I thought we might get arrested or at least tarred and feathered as being on the strange side … but we didn’t hear any Owls.

So, give it up and off to Benarkin. The first camp site (Clancy’s) at about the 5 km mark was, we knew, full, so we continued on. The EPA web site had told me there were still 61 places left at Emu Creek, 15 kms into the park, but it was only then, as we were driving in, I realised that as there were 200 camping sites in Emu Creek, that meant there were at least 131 sites already full. Given that each site would have to have an average of at least 2 people that meant we were heading for a campsite of minimum 260 campers…..…

As it turned out I reckon there were probably 560 people at least, but 554 of them were already sleep when we got there – the only 6 still awake were beside where we chose to camp, but they were fairly quiet and I couldn’t complain – we probably made more noise setting up and having coffee.

On the way in we drove slowly and were eventually rewarded with an owl!! Perched beside the track 3 or 4 meters in front of the car we figured it for Boobook, but, ever hopeful, played Barking .. just in case. It looked bored and showed no interest, so we played Boobook and…. instant response! It flew to a tree over the car and growled at us until we moved on.

A surprisingly warm night and up in the cool dawn, breath frosting, we broke camp immediately and, after a breakfast of poached eggs, crispy bacon on toasted Turkish bread and cups of coffee, headed off on the Silky Oak walk before the masses recovered from their Ugg -booted, dressing-gowned (why take a dressing gown camping – I’ve never got that?) early morning trips to the toilet. We walked downstream firstly to the open paddock thinking robins – but were disappointed, although we did hear a call we thought was either Red-tailed Black or possibly Glossy-black Cockatoo. Then we headed up stream passing the entire mass of sleeping, waking, stretching, farting, starting-to-cook-breakfasting crowd before they got onto us. The walk up river was surprisingly good – Bar-shouldered and Peaceful Doves, a King Parrot and, eventually, a single Red-tailed Black Cockatoo with a heard only Yellow-tailed Black too. A Fan-tailed and 2 Shining Bronze Cuckoos that responded well to play back, as they do. Crippling views of Azure Kingfisher – I’ve never been so close - both Pardalotes and 3 Rose Robins, one ‘brown’ bird, one pink-chested and one full blown male among other more common species.

We ended our walk when it reached the road and walked back via that medium. By which time the camp was in full swing and it was time to get the hell out of dodge!

We stopped in Esk for a better coffee at a coffee shop with a courtyard, then turned off and birded Hay’s Inlet at the back of Wivenhoe for a half an hour or so with minimal hopes of a good quail….The dam was very full – the water lapped the underside of the bridgework crossing the road to the Inlet – the chances of quail were virtually zero, but we did add some birds to our list for the area – Great Crested Grebes were in some numbers on the lake, viewable from the road, Little Black and Great Cormorants perched up in a dead tree, 2 Whistling Kites overhead, but at that time of day and in the hot sunshine most birds were hunkered down out of sight and sound.

We headed on home on the notorious Ipswich road arriving safely at 14.30.

Monday morning and alone I headed for Oxley. I hadn’t been for a while and felt like an easy walk with the possibility of good birding. It was a late start due to laziness and an inclination to stay in bed, but I left the car at 7.30 and started the walk out towards the ponds. The usual suspects along the track, nothing of particular excitement – did have 18 Magpies standing around whistling to me and each other for a few minutes while I attempted to whistle back. I think they were more amused at my attempts than interested - and I hoped no one came along – would have looked a little stupid…

As I approached the ponds I saw a pair of large herons lift off and circling into the sun head east away from me – they had looked ‘different’ and I wasn’t sure whether they were White-faced or not. Not long afterwards an older gentleman accompanied by a pair of older ladies all on bikes stopped and told me I had missed the two Pacific Herons but they ‘hadn’t chased them off, you know’! I assured them I had seen the two birds from a distance and continued on. The only other birds of interest were a female Chestnut Teal – not a common bird at Oxley, this was my first here - and three flocks of Little Corellas totalling 37 birds flying over the paddocks. 

On the way home I stopped off at my patch again – and probably due to the late time the numbers were low, but did include a Yellow-faced Honeyeater and 2 Grey Fantails which was nice.

8 - 9.5.10

Oxley

This weekend Stu was unavailable so Rob and I went to Oxley. Not the most exciting destination nor is it likely to turn up a new species for Australia, but it is an easy walk and the birds are usually quite obliging – and some good stuff has turned up there out of range if not exactly earth shattering.

And so it was to be – a pair of Black-shouldered Kites chasing above us was probably the highlight of our walk. Noting the Black Swans are nesting on one of the islands in Pelican Lagoon was… interesting, I guess. Anyway it was a pleasant way to spend a warm, bright Autumn morning and we went for breakfast at Tarragindi afterwards and renewed acquaintance with the international range of food….

Sunday and I ventured down the road again to my local patch…this time for two new birds – a Common Starling flew over and, more excitingly, an Eastern Spinebill preened briefly before being chased off site by a Brown Honeyeater! With a full blown male Rufous Whistler, a Grey Fantail, one each of Little and Noisy Friarbirds, a Scarlet Honeyeater and, recently, Yellow-faced, there is definite movement as winter approaches. 

14 - 16.5.10

Inskip Pt

Late decision – will I won’t I? I have things I could do, but now the thought is in my head…..started putting stuff together without really having made a decision, half watching TV, drinking coffee, but somehow the camping chair, table, stove, sleeping bag, sleeping mat, wash bag and clothes appeared in a heap near the front door and then, with a sigh of resignation almost, I had to go! What else could I do?

Left home at 20.15 and headed north. Stopped off only for fuel at Gympie and to collect water outside Rainbow Beach, I arrived at Inskip Point at 23.20. It was much busier than I had thought it would be, caravans, trailer tents, buses, boats, 4WDs, trailers, tarps, tents galore, I drove as quietly as I could around the camp sites looking for a space. Can’t expect much arriving at 11.30 at night I guess, but this was much busier than expected… finally found a space closer to the road than I would have liked, but at least a little distant from everyone else and, setting up camp, sat down to a welcome cup of coffee at 12.05.

Waking at 6.00 after a warm nights sleep and fuelled up on another coffee I headed down to the point. The first birds to hit me were Varied Trillers, 8 of them all in the trees at the entrance to the walk, Grey Fantails, Rufous Whistlers, a Bee Eater, White-browed Scrub-wrens, Little Shrike-thrushes, Brown, Yellow-faced, White-cheeked, Blue-faced and Mangrove Honeyeaters, Yellow Robins, Bar-shouldered Doves and Little Wattlebirds – there must have been 80, at least, calling, squabbling, chasing other birds off their patch - the point was heaving with birds!

I emerged on the beach at the end an hour later and slowly approached the large flock of Crested Terns roosting on the beach. Buses and 4WDs roared across the soft sand behind me to reach the barge point but the Terns didn’t seem too fussed. I scanned through the flock picking up about 20 Caspian Terns, 10 Common Terns and 2 Lesser Sand Plover mixed in with the (approx) 200 Crested.

I moved the scope and scanned the off shore sand island – Bar-tailed Godwits, Eastern Curlew, more Crested Terns and Pied Oystercatchers and, what’s that? A dark looking tern with a white face – it was a White-winged Black Tern in the middle of a moult. It stood nervously on the beach, picking at itself, being harassed by the bigger terns until eventually it lifted and circled overhead before putting down on the beach with the flock of terns in front of me. I manoeuvred around and managed to get it in the scope again – much better views, but it was still nervous and kept moving around until after about 5 minutes it lifted off again and flew out to sea.

Pleased with this sighting I turned my attention to the beach behind me and sought one of my weekend target birds – Sanderling. I have seen thousands of these in Ireland, but not in Australia in this lifetime (i.e. since 2000) I quickly spotted the scattered group of small waders scurrying around to avoid been run over by the Fraser island bound traffic. They were a mixed flock of about 40 birds – Double-banded Plovers from NZ, Red-capped Dotterel and 2 Sanderling! So grey and white and bigger than Stints they were relatively easy to see and quite confiding. It didn’t last long, though, a closer than usual 4WD passed by and they had had enough. They lifted off tohgether and flew out to a quieter roost on the sand island off shore.

I crossed the track to the sea side of the point and, entering a track into the bush, almost walking onto a covey of Black-breasted Button-quails. 4 in total, 2 of each sex, I had quite good views as they scurried through the grass and undergrowth. I crossed back to the main bush track and made my way back to my camp site, picking up another pair on the way, for a proper breakfast. While thus engaged a pink breasted Rose Robin and an inquisitive pair of Fairy Gerygones (both first timers for me at Inskip) put in an appearance overhead along with Brown Thornbills, Grey Fantails and more Varied Trillers – great company for poached eggs and toast!

I hung around through midday reading and almost snoozing until 2pm then took a walk up the inside of the point along behind the mangroves disturbing a magnificent pair of White-bellied Sea Eagles and a Collared Kingfisher along the way. There was not much else to see, although I watched a pair of Eastern Curlew for a while and counted their success rate catching yabbies – 1:12 ratio. I wonder has anyone ever done a study on the energy expended? 

After another sit at camp I headed down towards the point again seeing much the same birds, although they were a little quieter in the warmth of the afternoon. Added White-breasted Wood-swallow to my weekend list and had a fleeting glimpse of a Noisy Pitta which was a very pleasant surprise in this small, hammered patch of bush! It’s really amazing what can turn up at times.

I sat at the end of the bush looking over the great sandy strait at low tide for some time but there wasn’t much to see really so headed back yet again to camp. Another pair of Button-quail showed briefly and I added Variegated Fairy-wren onto my list.

Had an early tea, experimenting with previously cooked rice (it just happened in the microwave yesterday evening before I left, while I was still making the decision!) re-heated in a bag with chile heated in a separate pan – worked well and saved on water and washing up! 

Around 6 I headed off, in the dark, to Cooloola National Park and, parking up, tried play back for several species. I failed on Marbled (disappointing) and Tawny Frogmouth (surprising)and Masked Owl (worth the shot, but not unexpected) but was rewarded with a  curious Sooty Owl looking down from on high and at least 5 Owlet Nightjars none of which I saw, of course. In the distance a Southern Boobook called but didn’t respond to my ‘tape’. The battery on my iPod ran out and so I headed back to camp for a beer and an early night.

 

Sunday and up at dawn. Broke camp after a coffee and an egg jaffle, packed the car and drove to the car park at the tip. Walked down through the bush yet again and found the wader group back on the spit. Excellent prolonged views of the very elegantly feathered Sanderling again, only 1 this time, and an unwell looking Curlew Sand that held my attention for a while as it crouched low and appeared to be something else…

I headed back to the car fairly quickly, picking up a single female BBBQ on the way and drove back thru Rainbow Beach and on towards Gympie, turning off on the Cooloola way to the Ground Parrot and Emu-wren site.

I have never seen this place so dead! Quiet? QUIET? It was like it had been nuked. There was not a bird in sight in the bush or overhead in the huge expanse of sky. Nothing called, nothing stirred. I tried for Emu-wren – zero, zilch. I walked the track to the trees scanning ahead every few meters for the Parrot – nothing, nada. A Brown Honeyeater finally dared to fly overhead – it was so still and silent I could hear its wing beats!! 

Eventually I reached the bush and made my way to the creek, hung around a while, then walked back to the car. In all I had 1 Bar-shouldered Dove, 1 White-cheeked Honeyeater and 2 Brown and heard a Striated Pardalote in the distance – that’s it. Total. Unbelievable!

I returned to the main road, set the cruise control, put on The Coors and arrived back in Brisbane 3 hours later after an easy drive.

22 - 23.5.10

Local patch & Pt Lookout

Neither of the boyos were available this weekend for various reasons so I was left to my own devices. Tempted to a lie on Saturday I ended up just wandering down to my local patch at 7.00 – a pair of Dusky Moorhens heading back to the culvert under the road appeared to be nipping back to their own territory after invading the resident’s temporarily – the residents were further down the creek chucking away to each other. A plethora of Green Figbirds swarmed the trees as they built their winter flocks before heading north. The Spangled Drongo hunched quietly under the canopy at the west end of the area and a Grey Fantail, a pair of Willie Wagtails, Brown Honeyeaters and Silvereyes hunted food in a mixed flock nearby.

 

Sunday and I headed off for Straddie alone. It was a warm morning but I wore long pants and took my Columbia jacket anyway and glad I was of it! The drive, boat and bus ride were uneventful but I found a very strong SE wind blowing cool across the headland straight into my face. 

The sea was choppy and mean looking and whitecaps increased throughout the 4 hours I spent there. Birds were a little thin on the sea to start with, but shortly a pair of immature Australian Gannets passed heading south and over the 4 hours I had regular passes by both immatures and adults in both directions totalling 26 birds. The only other species of any note were Common Noddies – a total of 14… the usual Common & Crested Terns, Silver Gulls and Pied Cormorants braved the wind and seas and a small pod of Dolphinsshowed several times. At one point out near the horizon a Hump-backed Whale passed determinedly north spouting several times. The spume was difficult to see as it was blown away very quickly and due to the nature of the water the footprint was not visible either. It’s possible that more whales passed during my stay in the heavy conditions.

Just after 12 a rain front began to move in and close down viz to about 1 km, steadily reducing. I packed up and spent the last half hour watching from the shelter of the main rock with bins only. Then it was back over the headland to the bus, boat and car home.

Not a particularly exciting visit, but it is another record and another month up to date.

29.5.10 - 5.6.10

Bowra

29.5.10            The ‘let’s-just-get-there-and-stop-stopping’ day

It was a wet, dark, cloud covered pre dawn morning when Stu arrived at 5.00. We offloaded and then uploaded his gear into my car in the driveway before storing his car in my garage and ‘hitting the road’. 

Heading west it seemed it would rain all the way to the end of the world. We stopped at the Independent garage after an hour for a cheap cooked breakfast. The price had increased from our last visit from $5.95 to $9.95 for bacon, eggs, hashbrown on toast and coffee, but we reckoned it was still a good deal.

Back in the car and a watery light was following us west – we started to see beyond the headlights and by the time we reached the top of the range at Toowoomba the sky was clearing. Rainy periods continued on and off through the morning as we passed Dalby (coffee at Mackers), then reached St George for lunch. Bakery stuff – pies and pastries eaten on the west side of the bridge, where, 2 years ago, I had had my first Chats. This time however, only a pair of Willy Wagtails and a couple of White-necked Herons showed.

Further on up the road as we passed between pine trees, presumably plantations of some sort, I noticed what appeared to be a number of large beetles crossing the road in front of our 110 km speeding front bumper. After a couple I stopped and U-tuned back to see what, exactly, they were. Large burrowing cockroaches in fact, between 5 and 8 cms in length and over the next few kilometres we saw hundreds crossing from one side to the other or stuck fast to the road following an unsuccessful interaction with a car tyre. Once the pine trees petered out, so did the beetles. We debated collecting some and selling them as pets, but then again…..

About 20 kms before Bollon a flock of pigeons circled above the road and we pulled up hastily thinking they may be Topknots, out of range for sure. However, identification was limited due to the short view we obtained and we left them as an unknown. Movement in the nearby bush attracted our attention and we spent a few minutes chasing a mixed flock of VARIED SITELLAS, a GOLDEN WHISTLER, INLAND THORNBILLS, STRIATED PARDALOTES, WHITE-PLUMED, YELLOW-FACED and STRIPED HONEYEATERS, GREY FANTAILS, and Stu’s first lifer for the trip – WESTERN GERYGONES.

Past Bollon and on to Cunnamulla – LITTLE CROWS, APOSTLEBIRDS AND WHITE-WINGED CHOUGHS along the road and then, just before the grasslands that surround the town, a pair of MAJOR MITCHELL or PINK COCKATOOS beside the bitumen feasting on bush melons, brought us to a screaming halt – well, not really – and a quiet reversal for wonderful views and Stu’s second trip tick.

In the grasslands themselves we stopped again for a small flock of WOODSWALLOWS which turned out to be BLACK-FACED, we also had WEDGE-TAILED EAGLES circling above. We topped up the tank in Cunnamulla and headed towards Bowra, the turn off a kilometre outside town and the property entrance 5 or 6 kms down the narrow road from there. A pair of BLUEBONNETS held us up temporarily but we arrived at the shearer’s shed camping site and immediately checked out the area in the late afternoon light. A pair of BROWN TREECREEPERS were immediately interested in the car and insisted on pecking at their own reflections in the side mirrors, a RED-WINGED PARROT circled with its tinkling call, while a HOBBY featured in the trees over the bore and harassed everything in sight. We started getting what we referred to as ‘tent ticks’ as the species we saw immediately around our camping spot increased – RESTLESS FLYCATCHERS, WHITE-PLUMED HONEYEATERS, BROWN FALCON along with more familiar birds. We set the tents up in the long grass behind the shearer’s hut and, after dark, had a dinner of steaks and a bottle of red before retiring relatively early for our first night of the trip with expectations high for the morrow.

 

30.5.10                  The ‘Yet-another-tick-fest-for-Stu’ day

Awake long before and out of bed at 6.00, still dark? Oh yeah, that’s right, we’re further west now so the sun will be up later! A hearty breakfast of savoury mince left us feeling like going back to bed cause it was still dark, but we persevered and poked around until it was light enough to see and then headed out into the property by the main track. 

We spent the morning visiting spots along the track, parking the car and walking through the scrub. Our list included MALLE RINGNECKS, SPOTTED BOWERBIRDS, YELLOW-THROATED MINERS, BLACK KITES, COLLARED SPARROWHAWK, HOODED ROBINS, JACKY WINTERS, RED-CAPPED ROBINS, SINGING HONEYEATERS, CHESTNUT-RUMPED THORNBILLS, SPINY-CHEEKED HONEYEATERS, SPLENDID FAIRY-WRENS, DIAMOND DOVES, PALLID AND HORSFIELD BRONZE CUCKOOS, a BLACK-EARED CUCKOO, CHESTNUT-BREASTED QUAIL-THRUSH, SOUTHERN WHITEFACE, HALL’S and CHESNUT-CROWNED BABBLERS and CRESTED BELLBIRDS. 

We returned to camp for lunch, tired and happy. I was happy for Stu ‘cause we had been so successful - I had been a little worried I wouldn’t be able to locate some of the birds - and Black-eared Cuckoo was a long sought after lifer for me. Stu was just happy! 

As I prepared lunch - being the kitchen bitch for the trip – Stu checked out the visitors to the bore and called out LITTLE WOODSWALLOW which had me diving for bins and the door simultaneously. There were about 10 of the birds circling the pond at low altitude, perching temporarily and gliding past providing excellent viewing opportunities for my second trip tick! Another long awaited species fell into my lap!

After eating I suggested we go the long circuit from the camp ground, south and so we headed off down the very wet track with me wondering if we’d make it back without getting bogged. 

About a hundred meters from the camp site I noticed something crawling across the track in front of the car and after I had passed over it stopped and went back to find an animal I had wanted to see for over 25 years – a CRUCIFIX FROG!! Wow! How exciting! Bright yellow with a bumply red cross on its back, it was smaller than I had imagined, but it was just so unreal and unexpected.

Heading further down the track and just before the first gate a family of 6 BROLGAS walked sedately, if a bit nervously, into view. They took off and flew to safety as we moved forward after photos and views had been taken and exhausted.

We drove on, meeting the only other human visitors (John and Ruth) coming the other way. We exchanged info re the condition of the track ahead and moved past each other. In a  couple of spots it was soft and the car slid a little, but there was no major 4WD required – it was just wet and messy. Unfortunately there weren’t a lot of birds in evidence either. A couple of close EMUS, running, as usual, across in front of the moving vehicle even though they had no need to. I think they take bets or dare each other to be as stupid as they can, ‘cause there’s no other explanation!

As we approached the last half kilometre of track before the camp site Stu spotted movement on a pile of dead timber and grass which eventuated into a flock of birds feeding on the ground and we had more lifer’s for Stu – BUDGERIGARS and (the only pair we saw of) BOURKE’S PARROT along with RUFOUS SONGLARK, PLUM-HEADED FINCHES, BLACK-FACED WOODSWALLOWS and WHITE-WINGED TRILLERS.

Back at camp and we decided we’d go spotlighting after dark – chile and potatoes for dinner, followed by choice of fruit and chocolate and then, when it was as dark as the inside of a cat’s guts, at 19.30 we headed out again. 

Up the track and a turn right towards Sawpits Waterhole, we spotted what could only have been an OWLET NIGHTJAR swooping past in the car headlights, then a bump in the road resolved itself too late, much to my chagrin, into a SPOTTED NIGHTJAR. I was so annoyed with myself – this may be the only Nightjar we see and I had blown the chance of seeing it well….

However, more driving out to Stony Lookout and back resulted in flushing 6 other birds off the track but 2 that sat tight and provided excellent close up views to satisfy even the most passionate observer.

A good day – Stu well satisfied with his haul and me with my two lifers, and new experiences to add to my previous visit, we crashed at about 21.30.

 

31.5.10                  The ‘It-all-caught-up-and-we-were-knackered’ day

Despite best intentions we were still awake at 6.00. It’s tough. It’s such a long night when you go to bed at 21.30, fall asleep and wake up at midnight thinking its all over…

The morning was cloudy and dull and it was even harder to get motivated, but out we got and out we headed after breakfast stopping off seeing very little until we reached the turnoff to location no 5, where Stu wandered off instead of opening the gate and I sat patiently waiting in the car, reluctant to get out unless necessary – it was just one of those mornings, you know what I mean.

Shortly thereafter he called WHITE-BROWED TREECREEPER and I followed him up the track to get brilliant views and (for me) excellent photos of a pair of very confiding birds, another one for Stu!

We still needed one small bird and it took a while but eventually we tracked down a RED-BROWED PARDALOTE, a single bird at the bottom of the Stony Lookout, called in on play back to make Stu really happy. 

Down to Gumholes waterhole and a wander around produced YELLOW-BILLED SPOONBILLS, DARTERS, LITTLE PIED and LITTLE BLACK CORMORANTS all nesting while WHISTLING KITES and a pair of LITTLE EAGLES hung around overhead.

A late lunch and an hour or so crashed out in various locations around the shed restored some vitality, but left us only a little daylight so we decided to go to the fields near the front gate and try for quail.

On the way we met Ian McLaren, the ex-owner now that the property has been sold to AWC, and chatted for a few minutes eliciting some very helpful information that would prove itself true the next morning.

We stopped about 200 meters short of the main gate and walked into the grass on the southern side of the road. To our surprise we almost immediately began flushing STUBBLE QUAIL and over the course of the next hour succeeded in seeing approximately 12 birds, all of which lifted and flew a fair distance before dropping dramatically back into the grass showing white leading edges to their wings. An identification point we could not find in the field guides. 

Excitedly we decided to return after dark and try spotlighting for a grounded bird and so after dinner back we went, torches and headlights ready. We set off south into the field in a sweep, about 30 meters apart walking in what we believed was a straight line watching the ground and grass ahead of us for movement. After a while Stu called that he had movement in the grass and I joined him to find a small quail sitting motionless in the torch light. At first we believed we had found our quarry, Stubble Quail, but assumption is always a risk and further examination proved we had a RED-CHESTED BUTTON-QUAIL at bay! Wow! A lifer for both of us and what a bird to see at such close range. Excellent, dude!

Realising we were completely disorientated and partially lost after that didn’t distract from the excitement of our find, but it did somewhat curtail our activities a little! A compass saved the day - or night - and we found the car, not where we had expected to but we did find it - and our way back, to finish the second bottle of red as a celebration of another spectacular day’s birding at Bowra.

 

1.6.10                     The ‘Wow-look-at-all-that-freaking-water’ day!!

We packed up all our stuff after breakfast and then headed out to follow up on Ian’s advice of yesterday. Parking at the tree marked END we headed up the hill to the right and within 10 minutes had found our quarry, in fact, 3 pairs of our quarry – REDTHROAT. This lovely songster had been one of my wish list birds for this trip and so it was a very satisfactory sighting, one, I again managed to get some quite acceptable photos of. 

Back to camp, pack all into the car and we turned our backs on Bowra temporarily and headed further west. We stopped at Eulo bore – for no other reason except we could, cause it’s virtually bird less and I can’t see why anyone would bother nowadays. 

On to Eulo itself and a stop for a wander through the general store that sells everything. We had to wait for the coffee machine to heat up and saw NOISY and LITTLE FRIARBIRDS in a flowering tree over the toilets behind the hall, which we thought was pretty much the edge of their range? The coffee wasn’t worth the wait and we headed on west to reach lake Bindegolly around 16.00. Whata a big change from my last visit in 2008 when Rob and I had to trudge about 2 kilometres across the dry dust bowl to reach the shallow duck-infested, orange chat-surrounded pool of water. Now it was right up to the road, over the vehicle access track and our previous campsite on the southern side of the road. There were COMMON, GULL-BILLED, CASPIAN and WHISKERED TERNS, SILVER GULLS, PELICANS, 2 species of GREBES, BLACK DUCK, PINK-EARED DUCK, ROYAL SPOONBILLS, 3 species of CORMORANTS, SWANS, COOTS, a solitary SHOVELER and a SPOTTED HARRIER.

We camped on the southern side of the road in the ‘bush camping area’ just up the hill from our 2008 site and overlooking the lake. As darkness fell we built a fire and cooked marshmallows as we chatted after dinner until it was time to crash at about 20.30…. ridiculously early, but what do you do? 

 

 

 

2.6.10       The ‘I-should-have-checked-my-boots-before-putting-them-on’ or 

                           ‘how-to-squash-a-frog-without-meaning-to’ day.

Woke early having listened to a LITTLE GRASSBIRD singing all night, which sounds very ‘Irish’ but it was one of those nights where you drift and dream and don’t really sleep – or so it seems. Waking beside a lake for a change was very pleasant and it was a cool, but comfortable morning – very still and cloudy so the light was soft. I prepared breakfast, as you do, as kitchen bitch, and while sitting around after breakfast a BROLGA flew past as we watched a MUSK DUCK paddle by and later identified a juvenile BLUE-BILLED DUCK just off shore.

We packed everything into the car and drove back to the road to leave the car at the ‘information’ booth before heading down to the lake’s edge prepared to walk. Unfortunately a family beat us to it by about 5 minutes and we followed them round to the first low peninsula. They didn’t have any direct effect on the birds, although we had feared they might – the birds were just too scattered and too few. We set up the scopes and scanned the distant dots finding 3 HOARY-HEADED GREBES and a flock of PLUMED WHISTLING DUCK. There really wasn’t much point in continuing around the lake behind the family so we headed back to the car and turned west again. 

After about 10 kms with the lake still partially in view to our right three birds flew up from the side of the road and we both said ‘what were they? - as you do. Turning back we managed to find them 3 GROUND CUCKOO-SHRIKES who then obligingly flew across the road and perched up again for excellent scope views. Heading on we reached Thargomindah uneventfully, fuelled ($1.51/litre) and coked up and headed out on the long straight road towards the Noccundra Hotel and, eventually, Innamincka. We had instructions for a site at Cooper’s Creek Crossing, a flood plain area on the road before Innamincka where we hoped to find Grey Grasswren. The road west from Thargomindah is all bitumen – one lane only, so when one sees a road train coming the other way, one just gets off the road and stops as the edge of the road is, for the most part, narrow, stony and perilous for driving. Thankfully this only happened on one or two occasions on the 3 hour drive. What did amaze us was how green everything looked – rolling hills covered in what appeared to be grass, green and healthy – until one looked closely and realised it was clover and it was only a relatively thin covering as a result of the recent rains and flooding. The road had some of the longest straights with no traffic I have ever seen – some up to 10 kms and it seemed time stood still as we dreamily crossed the open, virtually treeless plains, under the wide, blue sky. We reached the turnoff to the Adventure way as it is called after 120 kms and then realised the spot we anted was a further 85 kms – we hadn’t realised how far from the turnoff it was so decided to play it safe and top off the fuel tank at Noccundra before continuing. It was a 26 kms drive to the Hotel and we had a pie (very poor) and a coke in one of the oldest and, quite frankly, disappointing, buildings in SW Qld. The tanks topped up ($1.75/litre) we headed won to the waterhole disturbing the clouds of STRAW-NECKED IBIS and BLACK KITES feasting on the grasshopper plague. The waterhole itself was not very attractive either – steep sided, muddy brown waters, dusty banks, not somewhere I would rush back to. However, we had heard vague reports of Grey Grasswren being seen in the lignum around its banks, so we wandered around for a while playing Grasswren calls but getting no response. We did have a few moments of excitement but it was only VARIEGATED FAIRY-WRENS before Stu waved me over – and, pointing at a flood ravaged tree, whispered CHIRRUPING WEDGEBILL. This was a new bird for me and we had acceptable views, through the debris, of three birds discreetly moving around the far side before vanishing, literally, into a thicker patch of bush and lignum. We also had several NANKEEN NIGHT and WHITE-NECKED HERONS, LITTLE BLACK CORMORANTS and a party of PLUMED WHISTLING-DUCK, RUFOUS WHISTLERS and BLACK-FACED CUCKOO-SHRKES, one LITTLE FRIARBIRD, BROWN FALCONS, a KESTREL and BROWN and WHITE-PLUMED HONEYEATERS. 

26 kms back to the ‘main’ road and then 85 kms to the Cooper’s Creek crossing. Oil and gas fields dotted the road and most of the vehicles we saw related to those industries. We came to the last 14 kms and hit the flood plain, a long straight stretch of road noticeably flatter and lower than the surrounding country. Almost lush vegetation in the fields along the road – lignum in patches, green and healthy looking, BLACK-TAILED NATIVE HENS scurried off the road and a pair of BANDED LAPWINGS chased something in front of the car. It all looked very good for our quarry.

We drove to the end of the flood plain and parked near the final bridge, then walked the road searching and listening for the thin squeaky calls we hoped to hear. We had WHITE-WINGED FAIRY-WREN, normally a species we would have been delighted to see, now relegated to “just another F/%#@ white-winged….” We did have two birds that flew low across the road with a party of the aforementioned F/%#@ white-winged, and they certainly appeared to be different birds, but the view was too short and no follow up available as they disappeared into the lignum. I am almost positive they were Grey Grasswrens, but won’t be claiming the sighting. The area was very bird active with thousands of MARTINS and KITES overhead, SPOONBILLS, NIGHT HERONS, IBISIES, including 20 GLOSSY, RUFOUS and BROWN SONGLARKS, PIPITS, WILLY WAGTAILS and a surprising number of GREY SHRIKE THRUSHES.

We tried to dusk, then gave it away and, searching for a camp site, decided on a rocky ridge over-looking Cooper’s Creek, off the flood way (in case it rained) and with a view over the surrounding country. We needed to clear the rocks away before pitching our tents and settled in for a cold clear night with heavens full of stars that went on for ever - and Spaghetti Bolognese for dinner. Crashing at about 21.00 I discovered a green tree frog, who had obviously thought my right boot a fitting place to sleep last night, had not evacuated in time and so had met a sorry end squashed in the toe of my boot. My boots rested inside my tent tonight.

 

3.6.10                     The ‘where-the-hell-are-these-grasswrens-anyway’ day?

The coldest morning of the trip, our breath hung in the air as we had breakfast, packed up and returned to the road. Four hours and many pairs of VARIEGATED and WHITE-WINGED FAIRY-WRENS later and we decided enough was enough. We had not connected with anything that suggested Grey Grasswrens, although we had had some anxious moments staring at clumps of lignum or swamp grass until we imagined faces in the stems and shapes appeared where nothing existed. We had chased plenty of phantoms up and down the road, in and out of the paddocks but all to no avail, so we turned and retraced our steps back to Thargomindah, refuelled and on to Lake Bindegolly where we stopped for lunch, then on again to Cunnamulla, refuelled and 400 kms later, back in Bowra. 

After dinner of savoury mince on toast we went spotlighting for quail again – this time on the right hand side of the road as the fence line 300 meters in controlled our wanderings – sort of… I had the compass handy anyway and watched Stu crisscross the field following his head torch beam. We did flush a few quail – probably about 10 birds and presumably all Stubble – the views were poor, but didn’t manage to connect with any sitting birds. 

Crashed around 21.30.

 

4.6.10                     The ‘it’s-a-bit-quiet-but-at-least-we-got-Mulga-Parrot’ day

Our target on our last day’s birding was Mulga Parrot – we’d both had them before, but Stu wanted a better look so we had decided that was the bird we wanted. 

We got it almost immediately outside the shed, perched up over the bore and ‘scoped a male in close until even Stu was happy.

Drove the track again but nothing new showed – in fact it was very quiet, although the sky was bright and the wind was soft. We did flush two SPOTTED NIGHTJARS which caused a bit of excitement for 10 or 15 minutes, but we were unable to re-locate them on the ground.

Back to the shed, met Ian McLaren on the track and got some info re a Painted Honeyeater sighting 10 days previously. Three other birders/photographers/sound recordists arrived as we chatted with Julie McLaren, they regaled us with tales of Birdsville and their attempts to get to Goyder’s lagoon before we had lunch and then paid a visit to Cunnamulla for some supplies including a $22 bottle of NZ red worth about $10 in real terms, but beggars can’t be choosers!

 We headed out to the first turn off to Gumholes Waterhole and searched in vain for the Honeyeater. We did see the breeding LITTLE BLACK CORMORANTS, DARTERS and SPOONBILLS around the waterhole and a single WHITE-BELLIED CUCKOO-SHRIKE nearby and returned to camp after a long winding drive through almost birdless country. 

We had dinner and decided against another spotlighting trip, consuming, instead, the bottle from Cunnamulla.

 

5.6.10                     The ‘long-drive-home’ day aka ‘will-this-never-end’ day

Up at 7.00, packed up after a leisurely breakfast and left Bowra at 8.30. Fuelled up in Cunnamulla ($1.42/litre) and 300 kms later at St George ($1.31/litre) where we had coffee at the Riversands Winery. Although it was only plunger coffee, despite our expectations of Skinny Flat Whites and Lattes, it was served by a very attractive Dutch girl on a 3 month holiday visit to the area, a welcome pleasure after a week of looking at Stu….. 

On to Dalby, stopping off at Lake Broadwater for a quick recee – lots of water and ‘common’ birds – nothing unusual in sight - and more fuel ($1.21/litre). A final coffee stop at Toowoomba where we enjoyed a ‘proper’ coffee – back in Brisbane at 19.30 - another successful trip over.

19 - 20.6.10

Noosa

“It can’t be!” 

“Why would a non-migratory plover, which is in critically endangered numbers already, whose closest breeding ground is 1500 kms south, turn up at the mouth of the Noosa River when there has been no severe weather systems, cyclones or any other conceivable reason to push it north? I want to see the photos!”

So spake yours truly on Friday 18.6, when the news first filtered in via email. 

Then the photos arrives by the same medium… and, although the questions still remained, the facts existed - a Hooded Plover had turned up 1500 kms away from its residential beach in either southern NSW, Victoria, Tasmania or South Australia at the mouth of the Noosa river, 1.5 - 2 hours drive north of Brisbane….

Even more amazing the original observer had also found and photographed an adult breeding Arctic Tern at the same location within the same half hour!

A round of telephone calls, organisation and decision making and we were off at 8.00 on Saturday morning. Rob and I in his car to Stu’s - with a long metal pole poking through from the boot and resting in my lap so Rob could complete some renovations the next day – then in Stu’s over the gateway and north.

Arriving at the river mouth at 9.45 we set up scopes and scanned the far shore. High tide was not due until 14.00 or thereabouts but we were prepared to stick it out to see this rare arrival. Although we had all seen the bird before at various locations in the southern states, this is the only record of this species in Qld in the last 20 years and, possibly, only the second Qld record ever.

Within 10 minutes Stu announced that he had ‘Hooded Plover, Hooded Plover in the scope’ and I quickly picked up the rather plump, very pale, immature bird trundling around on the sand bank opposite our stand point. We watched it on and off for an hour or so, also noting a pair of Beach Stone Curlew, Double-banded Plovers and immature Australian Gannets while scanning every small flock of Terns that flew up river or roosted on the sand banks within view. No Arctic unfortunately, a bird that would, in fact, have been a better ‘tick’ (Australian for Stu and I, lifer for Rob) than the Plover, but definitely more understandable and expected!

After a while we left him/her to its nervous scurrying and headed up river to check out other sand banks – with no success. We had lunch at the Moondoggy bar/restaurant (disappointingly lacking in flavour) and then returned once more to the car park and the Hoodie. Another look and then we packed uo and headed south and home. 

We stopped at Maroochy River mouth – nothing of interest, Point Cartwright (Fairy Gerygone on the headland in the trees from the car park) and Caloundra, checking for terns, but no outcomes apart from the usual species.

Back home at 17.30 it had been a big driving day, but well worth the new addition top our Queensland lists and confirmation that the completely unexpected CAN happen!

20.6.10 Down to the local creek on a very still, quiet, misty sort of morning. All was quiet and I only recorded 8 species of birds where I usually average around 20. The most interesting was a flock of 12 Fairy Martins and a nice male Scarlet Honeyeater. 

Postscript: the Arctic Tern has not been relocated as to date – 28.6.10. The Hooded Plover continued to be seen well into last week.

26 - 27.6.10

Weekend Birding

Stu was knackered after travelling all week and Rob had wall paper to remove so I was on my own on Saturday morning heading out to Anstead in the western suburbs - a few days over the year since we had been in on the discovery of a Regents Honeyeater at the same location.

It was very still, an almost heavy atmosphere. Mist and/or fog clouded the road in the dips and at any creek crossings. I was glad I hadn’t made it a very early start - not getting to the car park until 7.00. The sun, trying to penetrate the mist, created a strong white background light to the west. It was as if the birds were reluctant to move around – maybe their feathers were damp - but there was only limited activity. However, a few birds called in the eucalypts beside the car park and after some discussions with a pair of very confiding Magpies, I set the scope up and checked them out. Noisy Friarbirds and Rainbow Lorikeets – then a pair of parrot like birds sitting quietly grooming close beside each other revealed themselves as my target bird for the morning – Musk Lorikeets. Not the best of views given the lousy light – I was looking SW and they were almost silhouetted - but the red ear coverts and face pattern were obvious and striking.

I wandered off across the grass and up the hill to the lookout – no view, completely ‘socked’ in – and on down the trail to the quarry, then eventually across the top of the woodland and back to the car – nothing much of interest. A small covey of Brown Quail flushed on one part of the track and a dead fox, looking like it had been baited, was a minor surprise. Not because it was there, but because it was lying in the open, looking quite healthy and apparently unharmed.

I headed home after a couple of hours, happy with the Muskies.

I had arranged with Andy J, a fellow birder, to txt me from Point Lookout, where he was from 8.00am, so we could assess whether it was worth going for a seawatch and, sure enough, not long after I got home, he advised that he had had ‘4 Yellow-nosed Albs, Common Noddies, Gannets, but it had gone quiet since earlier in the morning’. I contacted Stu and we made the decision to go anyway – another albert is always welcome!

Stu’s place by 12.25, Cleveland by 12.50, the 12.55 ferry left on time, met the bus at the wharf and at 14.00 we marched out to the lookout that had become so familiar over the last few weeks.

Andy was perched on the rock looking cold and hungry. Since we had ‘spoken’ he had had another 3 Yellow-nosed Albs and heaps more Gannets and Noddies – it had picked up. 

Sure enough within 20 minutes or so, Stu had an Albatross in his scope. It circled a couple of kms off shore before finally settling down on the water where it remained for the next hour or so. The yellow edge to its bill clearly visible in the sun, it was surprisingly clear even at that range. Gannetscontinued to fly past, mainly north and mostly adult, as we checked for any sign of Boobies. Noddies further out to sea, occasionally picked up, passing either way.  Crowds gathered and changed as Hump-backed Whales thrilled the punters, dolphins swam around upside down and flirted with each other in full view of the adoring public – I swear both cetaceans know that people are watching – they just perform so readily right on cue! 

We copped the usual ‘what are you looking at’ or ‘ where are the whales? mister’ and responded accordingly – if they were female and pretty they got to look through the scope and their questions were answered before they were even asked. If they were male, they got single syllable answers from one of us only – hey, we might watch birds but we’re normal guys otherwise!

A second Albert was picked up by Andy – way further south - and appeared to show a pale bill (Black-browed maybe?) we decided it was too far to call and let it go. 2 hours and there was no further excitement. I had a commitment and needed to be home by about 6 – Stu wanted to hang on until dark - just in case – so did I, but….

We agreed to get the 16.20 bus for the 16.55 ferry and so made our way back to the stop. Descending from the bus at the ferry terminal we could hear the lorikeets flying to roost in the eucalypts around the car park. Scanning, I spotted a couple of smaller birds which turned out to be …. Muskies! I could have saved myself the trip to Anstead and had a lie in or watched the World Cup, but still 2 views of a good Lorikeet and a new Queensland tick was OK for the day!

27.6.10 Sunday morning and a trip, once again, to the local creek – again a very quiet still morning, birds again very subdued. No major excitements here this morning – just the usual species with an Intermediate Egret thrown in for good measure. Haven’t seen any Fairy-wrens for a few weeks now and my Moorhens appeared to have disappeared, but I am sure it is just temporary - the weather maybe – and they will re-appear soon.

3.7.10

Stradbroke Is again

Rob had a weekend at the coast so Stu and I headed off for a planned day long seawatch at Pt Lookout. The weather was not particularly exciting or different – calm, cool, no radical patterns off the coast, no high winds predicted, but after last weekend’s Alberts we were ever hopeful.

The usual 6.55 ferry from Cleveland, bus to Pt Lookout and we settled in at 8.00. 

Gannets, Gannets and more Gannets – 95 before 10.00, but among them a new bird for us for the island – Brown Booby, just the one swinging away south, looking initially like an immature Gannet…

Things started to quieten down and then Stu mumbled as he peered through his scope – ‘I think they’re Prions” Not thinking I’d heard him right I told him what he could do with his tripod – in a friendly way – but he persisted and eventually talked me into focusing on a line on the ocean about two kilometres out to sea. Sure enough, after a few minutes I had to retract  the suggestion which would have made his tripod difficult to use as I too, saw a small grey bird hopping along above the water, very like a storm petrel, but a light grey on the upperparts and white underneath. As it swung and sheared between ‘walks’ a black marking could be seen across the open wings – but apart from that there was little to identify the species – but it was a Prion!! Yahooooo – a first for both of us, now if only we can get one closer!

Stu continued to watch the birds – there were several – along the same current line and eventually a couple started to head in towards the shore. It took a while but they passed the headland about a kilometre away – still too far to identify the individual species, but a better overall view.

A few minutes alter and suddenly Stu is calling ‘Prion on the water, just in front – down there in front of the rocks’ – a mad scramble to get the scopes turned round and down and then getting the bird into the frame and zooming in – I managed to achieve it quickly and enjoyed great views at 40X of a Fairy Prion feeding on the gentle swell about 150 meters away. Behind me Stu struggled to get the bird in the scope – it can be quite difficult when the bird is close actually, - and he resorted to his bins and then eventually got it in the scope moments before it started to move back out and away. 

This was brilliant!! I had not thought we would get these birds so close on such a calm day. I thought we would need near cyclonic conditions and a beach wreck to see them clearly and identify the individuals – Prions are very hard to tell apart unless a good view is established.

This buoyed us up for another hour or so until we decided to take a break and head over to the café for a plate of beer battered chips and coffee..

11.7.10

Stradbroke Island yet again

Due to family commitments, Stu was not free on Saturday – and I was on standby, so only a good report would get me to go to Stradbroke as it’s a little out of range when one is on standby…. We kept Sunday open as a possibility dependent on reports from others who were there on Saturday –and those reports came in positive. Giant Petrels, Prion sp., 20, 20!! Yellow-nosed Albatrosses, Fluttering Shearwaters etc etc… the higher than average winds of Thursday and Friday appeared to have done their work so we prepared to go. Sue had agreed to take standby for me for the day – which was very decent of her – and so at 6.00 I headed for Stu’s. Rob had decided to come too, but was unsure how long he would stick it out so we agreed to meet him at Cleveland, then he would have his car at the ferry terminal if he chose to come back earlier.

The morning started well for me – a Koala humped across in front of me on Tilley Rd. In the pre-dawn light I wondered where he was going, it has all become very built up around there recently – they’re can’t be much safety or food.

Picked up Stu, made the ferry in plenty of time, met Rob, arrived at Dunwich at 7.25, bus dropped us off at 7.50 and we sat down on the headland at 8.00.

A quiet start with plenty of Gannets, adult and immature, moving past, mainly heading south (right). Not long after we started Stu picked up a small Shearwater flying rapidly by at relatively close range – we scoped it and agreed on Hutton’s Shearwater, the commonest ‘black and white’ shearwater off the Qld coast. Difficult to tell at range from Fluttering, but this one clearly showed very dusky ‘armpits’ and underwing and we were happy with our call – even though it was not a new bird for any of us.

Common Noddys put in an appearance shortly afterwards, flying steadily by along a current line some distance from the headland. We also had more Hutton’s/Fluttering sp – too far to identify and several Prion sp also at a long distance. 

It was relatively quiet on the whole and I was beginning to wonder if we’d see anything of substance after all when I spotted a large dark brown bird flying low over the water – chunky body, typically Skua, white wing flashes top and bottom. Stu and I got it in the scopes, while Rob got it on camera – a Brown Skua – new bird for Stu and I and an Australian tick for Rob!! Brilliant! 

Another quiet couple of hours and then Stu did it again – a Fairy Prion close to the headland! Rob managed to get some shots of his first ever Prion and Stu and I enjoyed seeing yet another of these pelagic birds up close.

That was really it for most of the rest of the afternoon – no albatrosses or Giant Petrels which was a little disappointing, but some good birds none the less, finished of with a  Masked Booby at 15.50, just before we left, spotted by Rob, virtually overhead! An Australian Pelican flew past as well - must have been a little lost - and the usual Brahminy Kites, Osprey and White-bellied Sea Eagles passed by or hung around.

The Hump-backed Whales and Bottle-nosed Dolphins had kept us and the visitors happy all day as we answered their questions and assured them we were not looking at whales…..

When we got back to the ferry terminal we found the boat was delayed by a half an hour so we enjoyed a beautiful sunset to finish our day.

July 2010 Wrap-up

July developed into a not-very-exciting-month after the excitement of June. We went to Point Lookout on the 17^th and 31^st in the hopes of cracking something exceptional – but the weather calmed and the birds didn’t eventuate. Not to say we didn’t have some nice stuff…

 

17^th – heaps of Gannets and 2 Brown Boobies, 3 distant unidentified albatross sp, same with 4 Pterodroma and 8 Prion sp. We also had a large no (60+) of very distant Fluttering/Hutton’s type shearwaters.

 

31^st – 8 close shearwaters over an 8 hour period supported identification of 6 Fluttering and 2 Hutton’s, while another 100+ passed way in the distance. Gannet numbers dropped dramatically to (approx) 120. The best birds were probably the dark phase Eastern Reef Egret that flew past the headland twice and the single Sooty Oystercatcher piping from the rocks below us.

 

24^th – Survey weekend. First we (Rob, Stu and I) went to Manly to meet the high tide. 62 Pied Oystercatchers, 32 Black-winged Stilts, 18 Pacific Golden Plovers, 26 Double-banded Plovers, 120 Bar-tailed Godwits, 42 Eastern Curlew, 3 Greenshank, 70 Grey-tailed Tattlers, 60 Red-necked Stints, 2 Curlew Sands and 8 Gull-billed, 5 Caspian, 1 Crested and 5 lesser Crested Terns. Typical winter numbers. The survey uncovered nothing new – the highlight being a Fan-tailed Cuckoo. This species seems to be over wintering more and more – or is it just that we are noticing them more?

 

18^th, 28^th and 31^st – I visited my ‘patch’ at Norman Creek beside Birdwood rd. Intermediate Egret on two occasions, Moorhens put in a reappearance and all the expected species turned up during the period.

 

That was about it for July – turned out to be the coldest period of a very mild winter.

August 2010

We waited for the August winds – they came but from the wrong direction! N and NE winds prevailed through the month so seawatching was not very profitable. In fact we only went on one occasion – Stu and I on 14^th. Medium numbers of Gannets (~300 in 4 hours) and similar nos of medium distant Fluttering/Hutton’s (300+) but nothing else. Disappointing, although there is still something majestic and gripping in the glide of an adult Gannet across the ocean.

 

On 7^th Stu and I visited the cemetery at Samsonvale for very little apart from the usual winter birds. The highlight of the morning was probably breakfast at the Flying Nun in Samford village - the service is lousy, but the pancakes are delightful!

 

On 8^th I went to Manly and Wynnum North alone – Manly much the same as last month, but smaller numbers in general. I am sure there is another roost that we are not seeing as the waders species are not going to migrate between July and August - they must be somewhere nearby. Possibly on the islands and only coming to Manly on very high tides?

Wynnum north was a bit depressing really. The flooded field was well watered, but very overgrown with lilies, hence very little exposed water surface. 8 Glossy Ibis in the far background were good to see, but very little else of notice.

 

Wednesday 11^th - Ekka public holiday, ridiculous excuse for a day off, but anyway… weather cool and windy. Stu reserving his energies for the Princess Parrot search, I went down the road to my patch again – 3 White-faced Heron were nice, but otherwise pretty average.

15^th and 22^nd were similar in numbers and species too. The 29^th however, I totalled 29 species in 30 minutes which was a record and included a second visit from a Grey Goshawk. The 22^nd saw a new bird for the patch – Sacred Kingfisher, seen subsequently on the 29th. I also had two male Superb Fairy Wrens hanging around together like brothers in their full splendour which was pretty cute.

 

21.8 Rob and I went to Oxley for a bit of a stroll - the birds were average again. A single Leaden Flycatcher was fun and a pair ofLong-billed Corellas flying over were a first for the location for us. 

 

28.8 Andy J suggested a trip for the scrub bird at Binna Burra so Stu and I met him at Chandler and we arrived at the top of the mountain at 7.30. We headed straight in intending to make the scrub bird the target for the day. The forest was very quiet anyway so there were few interruptions. Arriving at the spot there were at least three Noisy Scrub-birds in two locations that we could hear, but even using play back we failed to get a sighting. 

After about 3 hours we headed back out listing only 2 Brown Cuckoo-doves, 2 Wonga Pigeons, ~6 Crimson Rosellas, we heard one Albert’s Lyrebird deep in the forest rattling away and a Riflebird called once, we had 2 Pale Yellow and 1 (yes, 1 only) Eastern Yellow Robin, all 3 Scrub-wrens in small numbers, Brown Gerygone and Thornbill, a couple of Golden Whistlers, 1 Red-browed Finch and a Fan-tailed Cuckoo called as we arrived in the car park. The creeks were quite dry – no water flowing despite recent rain, the coffee and cake at the restaurant were some compensation for a long tiring day.

 

So - August was not a particularly awe inspiring month! The very end of the month saw a warming of the weather and resulting reports of early migrant returns. Maybe Spring will bring some new stuff in!

September 2010 - to 11.9.10

4^th winds no good – too light and wrong direction so Straddie was out. Anstead was a good option so we all three headed out there on Saturday morning. The trees were quieter than previous visits – not so much flowering at present. Heading up through the trees we picked up the usual assortment of local birds. Then at the top as we searched hopefully through the Scaly-breasted and Rainbow Lorikeets for Swift parrots a pair of Cockatiels flew over. Unusual species this close to the coast and a pair of escapees? Possible?

Wandering on down the bitumen track a raptor appeared low overhead. I called it for a Whistler, but Rob and subsequent further thought confirmed it as a Square-tailed Kite – and a very good view of it too! A couple of White-bellied Cuckoo-shrikes completed the ‘special’ birds for the day and we retired to Kenmore for breakfast to be defeated by a gas problem at the usual eatery and, travelling further afield, waited ages for an acceptable bacon and eggs but terrible coffee at a second and a never-to-be-returned-to choice….

 

11^th and Stu and I went to Straddie. I want to visit at least once a month and although the winds were light and favoured a westerly aspect, we went anyway. We weren’t disappointed. By 10.00 we were wondering if there were any birds off the coast at all. We had a few (~20) Gannets, 2 Wedge-tailed and ~20 Fluttering/Hutton’s (8 definitely identified) and that was it! The birds just stopped coming altogether. 

It was a lovely morning, although it was surprisingly cold in the shade thrown by the trees and the breeze from the south and 6 Manta Rays provided some entertainment as they circled off the rocks. There wee several turtles – Loggerhead and Green – off the point and the Hump-backs passed by out to sea, the occasional distant breach or tail wave attracting some attention, but they remained fairly distant and really I’m over the whale thing now. They would virtually have to write my name in spray from their blows to get me excited anymore! We gave it away at midday and got home around 3.

25 & 26.9.10

Stu and I were on the 6.55 water taxi again on Saturday (25.9), as usual the Kiwi bus driver welcomed us aboard his bus for our $9 (return today?) round trip fare. We arrived on the point at 8.00 and a cloudy, overcast morning presented itself. As we set up the ocean looked empty – grey, lifeless, an almost non-existent swell building, only occasionally, into a creaming breaker onto the rocks below, while a brisk ENE breeze kept the temperature lower. 

Gannets were the first birds to ‘appear’, and only a few of them, however, very quickly after that we spotted our first Wedge-tailed Shearwaters of the day. All heading north, along a current line we could only guess at in ones and twos, about 40 birds passed in the first hour. At 9.00 I completed a 15 minute count for 19 birds = 76 per hour. This was to rapidly reduce to nothing within the next hour, suggesting possibly feeding birds moving north from their night roost/breeding ground, maybe at Cook island off the Tweed coast? 9.55 and I spotted a darker bird heading south, medium distance, not shearing, wider pointed wings, appeared to have a head pattern… Bridled Tern. Not a new one for either of us, but a new one for us at Point Lookout. Another, or the same bird, turned up a couple of hours later heading north this time and taking a long time about it as it swooped and dipped above the swells.

While we sat a number of people came to the headland, as they do, looking for whales etc. One visitor, a South African, claimed to have seen a White-tailed Tropic-bird fly over the headland behind us as he had walked out. No way of knowing if this was a fact – but he certainly sounded like he knew what he was talking about.

Hump backs continued to plough south, a few tail waves, a few distant breaches – not the best performances for the school holiday crowds.

We hung out till 13.00 hoping for a change in fortune, but, our hopes dashed, we caught the 13.50 bus, followed by the 14.25 taxi back to Cleveland.

Stu had found a couple of Rajah Shelducks at the Manly wader roost the day before and although I had seen them before in SE Qld I was keen to see them at closer range so we drove straight there after the taxi. As we walked out Stu noticed a swirl in the water a few meters off the rocks and a second later a Dugong surfaced, about 35 meters away! There were three altogether and they swam slowly surfacing regularly out further into the bay. It was the closest I have seen them and was a wonderful sight. The Shelducks were almost an anti-climax afterwards, but there they were, looking like they had it all under control – as Shelducks do, paddling and waddling around in such an unlikely habitat.

 

Sunday 26.9 Holland Park again and two new birds for the area list – Rainbow Bee Eaters and Pale-headed Rosella – the latter a single bird flying away, but the 3 Bee Eaters were close and low and stunningly beautiful.

October 2010

Apart from seawatching at Pt Lookout in October we did some other birding! 

On the 15^th the quarterly survey rolled around again and so Prout rd was my target. There wasn’t much going on – I added a couple of new birds to the list, but nothing to write home about – LITTLE PIED CORMORANT and AUSTRALIAN IBIS on the dam, DOLLARBIRD and PALE-HEADED ROSELLA in No 114.

I managed to visit my own small patch in Holland Park on 15^th, 17^th and 29^th - again nothing outstanding, the biggest excitement was a pair of BLACK DUCKS with 5 chicks, but it was good to see the usual birds remaining constant despite the very wet conditions through the month. The river flooded several times and swept the banks clean - probably annihilating any chance the Moorhens would breed successfully and I don’t know how it affected the Duck family. I haven’t seen the chicks since 17^th.

On the 16^th Rob, Stu and I went to Samsonvale cemetery to find it full to the brim, almost overflowing, such a contrast to a year ago. GREAT CRESTED GREBES patrolled just off shore, while WHISTLING KITES and SEA EAGLES covered the air space, 4 CRESTED and 1 COMMON TERN flew past on the hunt. In the forest WHITE-THROATED GERYGONES sang enthusiastically and a small selection of the usual honeyeaters showed themselves. Best birds – 2 WHITE-BELLIED CUCKOO-SHRIKES and a CICADABIRD, 3 LEADEN FLYS, but none of the hoped for fruit doves in the fig trees.

Being at a loose end on Sunday mornings I spent two (24^th and 31^st) at Murarrie swamp crossing the ‘death bridge’ along the railway line. Although the reed beds have recovered well and there was plenty of water apparently offering huge potential the turn out was disappointing. I took play back in the second morning but despite repeated efforts at several spots only managed to see a BUFF-BANDED RAIL. I did ‘run across’ security in the form of a guy in a 4wd utility who warned about snakes and, strangely, about the security personnel from another company who have interests in the area. 

On the 23^rd Rob, Stu and I went to Wynnum north to look for crakes etc in the reed beds off Sandy camp rd – it was pretty quiet. The pond/flooded area at Fuller’s Oval was covered with water lilies and very few birds were present. 6 MAGPIE GEESE flew overhead, but didn’t land, a JACANA with two chicks wandered around the pads while in the reedbeds and waterways the usual Honeyeaters, Fairy-wrens, finches showed. A plethora of AUSTRALIAN REED WARBLERS and TAWNY GRASSBIRDS were singing and song-flighting and one LEADEN FLY offered some interest, but we couldn’t turn it into a Satin….

To finish the month I visited the Manly wader roost on 30th after a morning on Straddie - and bumped into the bird ringing group who had just finished cannon netting. There were a large number of birds on the roost due in part to the very high tide and also probably to the weather on the islands. The usual BAR-TAILED GODWITS, GREAT KNOT, WHIMBREL, EASTERN CURLEW, GREENSHANKS, TATTLERS, TEREK, CURLEW and SHARP-TAILED SANDPIPERS, RED-NECKED STINTS and RED-CAPPED DOTTERELS and 141 LITTLE TERNS braved the interruptions to their sleep.

The wettest October in living memory – or something like that, the dams are full, the grass is green and all is well – so the birds move out and off! 

October Pt Lookout overview

There were some unspoken expectations for October. Based on pelagic records out of Southport, October is the most productive month in terms of species – it is way and above any other month of the year, in fact, so hopes were high for a bonanza. Unfortunately this did not occur and the month proved to be disappointing in some respects.

Four seawatches were conducted – on the second, the ninth, the sixteenth and the thirtieth. Stu W, Chris S and myself had the best of the month on 2.10 on a wet and windy Saturday. With winds gusting to 20+ knots, rain showers forcing us to cover up and peer through fogged lenses we watched as (approx) 7,000 Short and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters streamed south. Two Flesh-footed Shearwaters and a Pomarine Skua, a single Gannet and a Brown Booby were also seen but, more excitingly, a Wandering Albatross put in a very unexpected appearance and although distant was definitely the bird of the day.

During the week the weather worsened - or improved depending on your point of view! Stu W and I decided we would make a repeat visit and met Rob M, who had made a similar weather analysis, at the point. The wind was now gusting in excess of 30 knots, rain lashed in from the south-east and the ‘scopes trembled on their tripods. Despite the ‘perfect’ conditions the birds were fewer and of less variety. Wedgies and Short-tailed still drifted past but in much smaller numbers. It is likely they were steering well east of the coast but the following week’s media reports of the numbers of dying birds scattered along the beaches told its own story.  We stuck it out until 1.30 enjoying several flyby views of a Brown Booby and one hurrying Pomarine Skua heading north. Again, unexpectedly, 5 Common Noddies passed by, mostly at distance, among the shearwaters.

Stu P went over on the sixteenth and reported few birds apart from the odd Gannet and scattered shearwaters. During the week the weather had eased off and the winds dropped in intensity.

On the thirtieth I travelled over alone as the (very successful as it turned out) Southport pelagic claimed other interested parties. 

The sea was very calm, the winds light from the SE, but I was rewarded for my efforts with very close Short-tailed Shearwaters rafting just off the rocks, squabbling and appearing to be feeding and resting while further out a small number of Wedgies and Short-tailed passed. Two Brown Boobies and 2 Gannets were the highlight of my morning before I gave it away and headed back to the mainland.

 

So – the hoped for variety of species during the month didn’t eventuate, maybe the weather was too wild in the early part and too calm the latter? Or maybe it was too wild too close to the coast? The Short-tailed passage, although brief in its magnitude was, as migrations always are, incredible to witness and a couple of oddities kept our interest alive and did nothing to dissuade us from further visits.

The Pt Lookout Experiment

Seawatching has always been a favourite past-time of mine. Ever since I first made the journey via train, bus and boat to Cape Clear Island in West Cork off the Irish coast I have been smitten. To see the migrating streams of birds passing the headland with nothing between them and the Antarctic, skimming above the heaving Atlantic in weather that would curl your toes… well, it touched something inside me that has never left me. 

In those days it was Manx Shearwaters by the thousand, Cory’s, Great and Balearic Shearwaters in smaller numbers, occasional Sabine’s Gulls and Grey Phalaropes, racing Puffins, Guillemots and Razorbills, threatening Bonxies (Great Skuas), Arctic and Pomarine Skuas. I spent many a happy hour on the razor sharp rocks counting the birds passing, in a constant expectation of the unknown - because that is what is really exciting about seawatching – you never know when something unusual will turn up! 

 

Coming to Australia, and eventually Queensland, I felt left in a bit of a hole so far as seawatching was concerned. Where to seawatch? The obvious answer was Pt Lookout and I spent a few weekends camping on the island with my newly wed wife in the early 80s looking out to sea. I did not, unfortunately, have a ‘scope and between that, the relative difficulty of getting there and the expense back then, my interest waned. 

 

In 2000 I borrowed a ‘scope, kindly loaned by Marie Tarrant, and spent a morning in the hot January sun looking east, cursing the glare and the distant shearwaters crossing the limpid, flat ocean. Once again - no ‘scope, no point!

 

This year I started to hear reports of birders seawatching and my interest reignited and so the Pt Lookout Experiment was born.

I make no claim to being a pioneer – others have gone before. Tom Tarrant and Chris Corben - to name drop - have provided advice and memories (thanks, guys). I am sure there are others and apologise in advance for not recognising you! 

 

It’s not rocket science! I have set a goal to gather as much information relative to seawatching from Point Lookout as we can. I plan to conduct at least one seawatch per month regardless of the weather and more often whenever it looks promising. My aim is to establish a database of species v numbers v weather patterns v time of day.

Along with my usual birding partners – Stuart Warren and Rob Dougherty – we have kept to those targets each month since April and have been supported by visits and data from Andy Jensen, Stuart Pickering and Chris Sanderson. I have created an Excel spreadsheet into which all relevant information is poured, analysed and compared. 

Our seawatches usually commence at 8.00 as that is the earliest we can get to the point via water taxi from Cleveland to Dunwich ($19 return, cheaper if you buy a 10 trip ticket) and bus ($9 return).

We attempt to complete hourly counts of any obvious movement - we do this by counting for 15, or even only 10, minutes and extrapolate the data out to the hour, each hour. 

We try to ensure someone is ‘scoping while the other is using bins or just watching the immediate area – we have had Lesser Frigate Bird, Fairy Prion and Masked Booby well inside scope range and would have missed them otherwise. 

The seawatches usually last at least 4 hours, regularly 6, occasionally 8, sometimes we stop for a coffee and walk back to the headland cafes for a well earned brew, but we are usually keen to get back to it… you never know what you might miss!

 

The Birds

I cannot give an overall annual view as we have only collected stats since late March with a couple of records from January, however, some of the most memorable ones….

2 Wandering Albatross on different days – magic! 

Single Fairy Prions within a couple of hundred meters of the point – unbelievable!  

Several Yellow-nosed Albatrosses at once, skimming across the ocean, their yellow edged bills in full view – brilliant! 

1800 Wedge and Short-tailed Shearwaters per hour for 8 hours – unreal! 

We’ve had Brown and Masked Boobies, Fluttering and Hutton’s Shearwaters, Arctic, Pomarine and Brown Skua (one only of the latter so far) Black and Common Noddys and Bridled Terns. I have personally missed Giant Petrel and Flesh-footed Shearwatersbut it’s only a matter of time; even watching a flight of Gannets crossing the ocean is an awe inspiring sight. 

 

The thing is – you never know what might turn up on a seawatch!

 

Other sightings

There are always Dolphins hanging around the point – Bottle-nosed with the occasional few Hump-backed. Turtles too, are a regular feature – Green and Loggerhead – and we have seen Manta Rays, Leopard Sharks, Eagle Rays and, once, a Black-tipped Reef Shark. Hump-backed Whales are, of course, the big drawcard from May – October and thousands of visitors assume we are whale watching and ask the question. We take it in turn to answer and patiently describe what we are doing and what we expect to see. Brahminy Kites, White-bellied Sea Eagles and Ospreys are also seen, along with Wandering Tattlers and Sooty Oystercatcherson the rocks below. There’s always something to keep you interested!

 

The Down side

Admittedly, most of the birds are distant – we accept that - and if your desire is to see them closer (plus other species, of course) then the monthly Southport pelagic trips with Paul Walbridge is the way to go. (Email paul_walbridge@health.qld.gov.au for details). At Pt Lookout you really do need a ‘scope to fully appreciate the passing birds.

 

There is a relatively short time to find, see and identify the birds. In some cases they do hang around a while, but most are picked up coming in, pass by and are gone in less than a minute. It can be frustrating as a glimpse between wave crests can be tantalizing and re-finding the bird unsuccessful, leaving one with an impression rather than an identification…

November 2010

A month for re-visiting local spots that have been overlooked in the main due to the sea watch addiction! Went to Minnippi on 7^th for an easy stroll around the lake and a try for Rails or Crakes under the boardwalk… Successful with Spotless, energetic peeping and partial glimpses of legs and feet and head in the dark recesses of the undergrowth, also 2 Brush Cuckoos and 15 White-throated Needletails, my first for the season – stunning birds. Had planned on going further to other spots but suddenly didn’t feel up to it and spent the rest of the day couch potato-ing it. Returned in better form with Stu on 13^th and had success this time with Lewin’s Rail – no real view, but calling enthusiastically back. We went on to Bulimba Creek and had at least two pairs of Bush Hens calling around the river bank, with views of a single bird twice on the track. Heading on to the Metroplex complex we tried at several locations before finally getting a response on the upper lake which resulted in crippling views of a Lewin’s Rail in the open at about 3 meters range – brilliant! Pretty outstanding day, actually, considering we had seen and heard two of the hardest birds in SE Qld fairly easily before breakfast at Hansen’s nursery!

On Sunday 14^th I wandered along Oxley Creek and out to Pelican Lagoon. Usual birds on site – most excitement involved a Hobbytaking a Welcome Swallow, then having to defend its kill against two Toressian Crows.

I also visited my own patch at Holland Park on 14^th and again on 28^th – same individuals (probably!) noted with the addition to the area list of Grey Shrike Thrush, which was nice.

On 20^th the tides were right so I headed down to Manly wader roost. A very high tide it was too, so the roost was pretty busy. Busy with birders too – Laurie K and Stu P put in an appearance and we searched for that elusive rare wader together. Nothing doing although we did have 2 Red Knot and (approx) 55 Black-tailed Godwits – neither bird ‘common’ at Manly. The Sooty Oystercatcher put in an appearance as well – showing his preference for the rocky edge rather than the open sand of the roost.

After leaving Manly I gave the mangroves at Lota Creek a whirl for Shining Flycatcher, but no reaction to playback from the causeway or the road. I need to bring the kayak down and try properly - maybe over Christmas when I have nothing else to do!

Pt Lookout - November 2010

It was probably expected that November would be a quiet month, especially after the below expectations October just past. The weather looked promising on several weekends with strong winds from both the NE and SE at different times.

Three seawatches were conducted during the month for a total of 18.5 hours – really just scratching the surface when taken in terms of a month!

On the 6^th a very steady visible flow of Short-tailed Shearwaters interspersed with Wedge-tailed at a ratio of about 4:1 continued their southern migration begun in October. Not long after Stu W and myself had settled in a pale, washed out medium sized shearwater passed north at relatively close range, allowing limited views considering we were late picking it up. Our first Streaked Shearwater - a bird we had been expecting for some time. A small number of Short-tails hung around just off shore rafting and squabbling and we held hopes for attracting other birds in close to shore. Eventually this was successful and luckily we picked up the Buller’s Shearwater early and had terrific views as it too headed north at binocular distance. One Australian Gannet, a very distant Fluttering/Hutton’s type shearwater and a Pomarine Skua completed the day.

The 20^th produced both Short and Wedge-tailed Shears again, but in lower numbers. Skuas were more evident with a total of 8 – including 4 definite Poms and 2 possible Long-tailed Skuas. The latter passed quite close to the headland reducing dramatically our time to see them and confirm critical features and so they must remain unidentified. A small number of Common and Little Ternshappened by just before we left the headland.

The final visit for the month on 27^th resulted in smaller numbers again of the two commonest shearwaters and only 1 Skua, a dark phase Arctic this time, again at close range, barrelling south in the strong NE wind.

Wandering Tattlers put in an appearance - 2, 1 and 4 respectively for each date – and, while the usual Bottle-nosed Dolphins, Greenand Loggerhead Turtles and Manta Rays hung around the point, the Hump-backs dropped off  - we only recorded 5 heading south on the first seawatch of the month.

December 2010

A bit of a mixed bag for December – very dependent on the weather. They had predicted a wet summer and we had the wettest December for a number of years especially around Christmas. Coupled with both Rob and Stu being overseas during the month I was a little unenthusiastic. However I did manage to get to Stradbroke twice, Stu and I met up with Chris S and we went to Anstead for a big cuckoo and cuckoo-shrike day and I also got to Manly wader roost, Oxley and my local patch at Holland Park.

Anstead (4^th) – we had Fan-tailed, Little Bronze, Shining Bronze and Channel-billed Cuckoos and 2 Australian Koels, we saw Black-bellied, White-bellied, Black-faced and a single Barred Cuckoo-shrike and a pair of Cicadabirds. A Brown Thornbill was a little less common and a flock of low flying White-throated Needletails an inspiring sight.

I ran into Andy J at Manly wader roost on the 19^th and we searched for that elusive rarity once again – unsuccessfully. 160 Little Ternswere the most significant birds at the roost and a flock of 40 Needletails heading east out to the bay was noteworthy. 

My ‘patch’ at Holland Park on the 28^th following three days of heavy rain and the river bed was devastated. The Black Ducks, however, had survived with 4 well developed ducklings as evidence of a successful breeding season, although only 1 Dusky Moorhen put in an appearance.

Oxley on 30^th and 60 Little Black Cormorants, 6 Royal Spoonbills, 55 White Ibis, 3 Darters, 5 Pelicans, 3 White-faced Herons, 1 Little, 3 Great and 6 Intermediate Egrets must have been taking advantage of an increase in fish numbers due to the flooding. (Unbeknown to us Oxley would go completely under water within a few days as the Brisbane river and surrounding suburbs flooded for the first time in 30 years) Compared to those numbers the passerines were quite quiet! A covey of Brown Quail trotted undisturbed down a fence line – 2 adults and 3 frisky chicks provided entertaining vision for a few minutes and 2 Yellow-rumped Thornbills was a nice irregular addition to the day list. Several Chestnut-breasted Mannikins all carrying building material completed the interest for the morning – it is unlikely any of their nests survived the raising waters a week or so later.

Stu and I got to Stradbroke Island on the 11^th and I went alone on the 29^th. Passage on 11^th was quieter than expected – a small number of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters and an even smaller number of Short-tailed moved generally south. The 29^th proved to be the better of the two days with 1 distant Buller’s Shearwater and 2 Brown Boobies, 3 Pomarine and 2 Artic Skuas, and a Bridled Ternand 2 Common Noddys in a feeding flock close to the rocks with Common Terns and a few shearwaters.

All in all a disappointing month with few real highlights.