A year birding Oz & NZ (1 Viewer)

Some photos from a gloomy Cairns:
1. Comb-crested Jacana (Cattana Wetlands)
2. pair of Green Pygmy-geese (also Cattana Wetlands)
3. a Red-capped Plover at the Esplanade
4. a tatty male Cairns Birdwing
5. a spectacular Zodiac Moth

16/04/12
Despite the terrifying experience of having a Kitten pounce on my head through the side of the tent, I managed to sleep quite well and was up nice and early. I set off cycling towards Emerald Creek Falls and apart from a few Red-winged Parrots, a covey of Brown Quail and some Agile Wallabies the ride over was fairly uneventful.
At the Falls I had two target species: Rufous Owl and White-browed Robin. The instructions for finding the owl are ‘search the trees on the other side of the creek’. However, as this was late in the wet season the creek had swollen and split into five separate torrents, which meant I was not sure where exactly I was supposed to be searching. I did have a paddle around in some of the streams to try and get a good look at all of the trees but there was no sign of the owl, and the main stream was much too deep and fast for me to cross so I may have missed the best area. Despite a spending a good amount of time looking, there was no sign of any White-browed Robins either. Flowering eucalypts had attracted a couple of Bridled Honeyeaters, which I hadn’t been expecting in this drier forest, but other than that the area was fairly quiet. At this point I was beginning to worry as I hadn’t found any of my target species and that would make things a lot trickier the next day. However, the cycle ride back to Mareeba turned out to be much more productive
Firstly, shortly after leaving the falls I came across a pair of Squatter Pigeons sat on the road, and I was able to sneak closer for some very good views. They’re attractive birds, and the field guides really don’t do them justice. Later on a flock of finches flew up from the grass by the road, and I paused to have a look through. At that point in the day I’d been getting a bit bored of scanning through the numerous Chestnut-breasted and Nutmeg Mannikins, and Double-barred Finches, but this time I finally struck lucky – Black-throated Finch! There were two of these stunning little finches in the flock of Double-barred, and although the views were brief I was very pleased to see them. All of the Aussie estrildid finches are nice, and this must be one of the best. Both Black-throated Finch and Squatter Pigeon are also Queensland endemics, so they’d been top priority for this part of the trip :t:
Further back towards Mareeba there were plenty of other nice birds around, including a pair of Great Bowerbirds and a Blue-winged Kookaburra. I then came across a field which was being ploughed, and as a result a large number of Black Kites (certainly over 100) had been drawn in to feed, making for an extremely impressive sight. Even better, striding along the far edge of the field was a huge Australian Bustard. Although distant I had good binocular views, and it was funny to watch him getting agitated every time a Black Kite came near him. Moving along the road a bit I saw that there was another individual much closer, and it was great to get such good views of this majestic birds. As a final bonus for the day, I had very good views of a Square-tailed Kite gliding low over the road close to Mareeba.
When I’d visited the area in December my four target species had been Black-throated Finch, Australian Bustard, Squatter Pigeon and Great Bowerbird. On that day I’d only managed to find one of the four species, but this day was pretty much exactly what I had in mind B

Birds
415. Squatter Pigeon
416. Black-throated Finch
417. Australian Bustard

1 & 2. Squatter Pigeons
3. Australian Bustard

17/04/12 – A frilling encounter
On this day I had to choose between a bird, a mammal or a reptile, although I could’ve fitted them all in if I hadn’t messed up the bus journey up! In the end I decided to go for my reptilian target, so set off towards Mareeba Wetlands.
There wasn’t much to see on the ride over, but a juvenile Black-necked Stork in a pool by the road was nice. The entrance road to the wetlands turned out to be much more interesting though, starting with good views of a Wedge-tailed Eagle soaring over. There were a few Blue-winged Kookaburras around, and I could see the head of an Australian Bustard peering up from some long grass in one of the fields. Later I came across a two separate pairs of Black-throated Finches which gave me much better views than I’d had the previous day. Shortly afterwards I had four birds run across the road ahead of me. I had my suspicions about their identity, and these were confirmed shortly afterwards when two Pale-vented Bush-hens strolled back out onto the road and stood in the open looking at me – I’m still not exactly sure what these birds, which are notorious skulkers, were up to :t: When I’d visited the area in December the actual wetlands had been closed and I assumed that that might’ve been why I missed some of my targets, but frustratingly all of these birds were in bits that I’d walked along on that visit.
The reserve itself was quieter than the entrance road, but there were 3 Emus scratching around by the visitor centre and a further 3 Black-throated Finches were nice to see. I also came across the northern subspecies of Brown Treecreeper and Grey-crowned Babbler, both of which are distinctly different from their southern counterparts. A Peregrine flushed from a tree along the track, and I disturbed a snake which was probably a Red-bellied Black.
Back near the visitor centre I began to search around the trees for my main target and soon afterwards the chap working in the centre called me over to say that he’d spotted one – a Frilled Lizard! These are really cool reptiles, and I was able to get excellent views as it shifted around on the tree trunk it was clinging to. They are hardly ever seen during the dry season and I’d been worried that I would be visiting too late in the year to see them. Although we didn’t provoke it into its threat display it was still an extremely impressive lizard (in Australia, it could only be topped by a Thorny Devil in my opinion) and I was very happy to have seen one B
With my number one target seen I set off back towards Mareeba. The road out proved to be good once again with another 3 Black-throated Finches, and excellent views of Red-winged Parrot and Blue-winged Kookaburra. Back in town I found a shady spot in a park and sat down to consider my next move. I had two choices:
1. Granite Gorge, where I could relax with a cold drink and some cute little Mareeba Rock Wallabies, which would be guaranteed to give point blank views.
2. Nardello’s Lagoon, a site which I didn’t particularly know the location of where there was a slim chance of finding Cotton Pygmy-geese (a species which I’d had a very bad track record with).
At that point a man walked past and told me to “keep it simple, don’t over think things”. I’m not sure whether it was a sign, or whether he was drunk but either way I set off for Nardello’s Lagoon. Eventually I came across a patch of water on a side road, in roughly the place I was expecting the lagoon to be. It was frustratingly far away from the road, and there was a heat haze. On first glance I couldn’t see anything out on the water either so it was looking like yet another failed attempt to find those ducks. I set off further along the road to view it from a different angle and came across another Australian Bustard walking along a farm track. At this point a White-bellied Sea-eagle flew up from a tree by the lagoon, and flushed a group of four Pygmy-geese which flew off into a corner close to the road. I quickly cycled over, and after studying them for a while (because they were still very distant) was certain that I’d finally found my target – Cotton Pygmy-geese! Although the views were terrible It was great to see them, and this is another species which, in Australian terms, is virtually confined to Queensland.
Happy with the day’s sightings I headed off for the cycle back to Mareeba. A passing driver must’ve seen how knackered I looked, and very kindly strapped my bike into the back of his ute and gave me a lift back to town. It turned out that before moving to Australia he’d been running a game farm in Zimbabwe and he commented that wildlife-wise he found Australia unusually quiet - I’m not sure what he’d think of England

Birds
418. Cotton Pygmy-goose

Reptiles & Amphibians
31. Frilled Lizard

1. Frilly
2. Black-throated Finches
3. male Darter at Mareeba Wetlands
4. record shot of the Bush-hens (second bird by the grass on the right)

1. male Red-winged Parrot
2 & 3. Blue-winged Kookaburra
4. stunning shot of the Pygmy-geese

19/04/12 – Success!
I was really knackered after the cycling and early starts in Mareeba and I was tempted to lie in this morning, but I managed to dig myself out before sunrise for one final crack at the Red-necked Crakes. Between the December trip and this one I had spent a lot of time on the Centenary Lakes boardwalk searching for this species without success, and I really wasn’t expecting anything this time. Indeed, I was beginning to think that the claims from the locals, that this was a good spot for crakes, were just a ploy to keep the numerous, vicious mozzies along this track well fed on naive visiting birders

As usual, quietly walking the track hadn’t yielded any Crakes, so I set off back to the campsite disappointed. But then, just as I was getting to the end I had a small dark bird shoot off to the side of the track. I got my binoculars onto it, assuming that I’d get a view of an Australian Brush-turkey chick, but I was absolutely delighted to see that it was a stunning Red-necked Crake, finally! As I mentioned, crakes are one of my favourites and the fact that this is a beautiful species, which spends its time skulking around in dense rainforest, makes it particularly special in my opinion :t: It paused in view, looking at me, for a couple of seconds before dashing off into the undergrowth at which point I had to leave to pack up my tent.
Next I headed to the railway station, where I caught a train down to Innisfail. The plan here was to hire a bike for the 15ish-km ride to Etty Bay, but when I got to the cycle hire place I found out that all of their bikes were booked out. This meant that I had to get a taxi to the Bay instead, which worked out slightly more expensive, but was a bit less effort I suppose! When I reached Etty I headed to the camp site and set up my tent. For anyone staying here, it’s worth bearing in mind that there’s no camp kitchen. I’d brought food, and (sort of) managed to cook some pasta, in a frying pan full of water, on the free barbecues along the beach. There is a cafe which does food, but I was being stubborn.
At Etty Bay, searching for Cassowaries basically involves sitting, or walking along a beautiful sandy beach waiting for the birds to show up, which made a very nice change from the difficulties I’d had in Kuranda. To start with there was no sign of them, although I had a fellow camper repeatedly advise me that these are ‘big birds’, so at least now I knew what I was looking for

Walking towards the rocks at the end of the beach I found a Pacific Reef Egret, and then noticed a couple of trawlers out to sea which were attracting a large number of birds. Looking through bins, these were mostly Crested Terns, but I was excited to see a few Frigatebirds soaring over the top of the flock. At that distance there was no chance of identifying them, but I was surprised when the Frigates began circling higher and moving in closer to the shore. I was very happy when they continued coming in until they were cruising over the rainforest behind the caravan park, and I was even happier to see that they had the little white ‘armpits’ of Lesser Frigatebirds, to go along with the Greater I’d seen down on Heron Island.

Pleased with that unexpected addition to the trip list, I dropped my bag in my tent and headed to the cafe to get a drink. As I was walking over I noticed a big dark shape near the entrance road. I immediately sprinted back to my tent, grabbed my bag and then quickly skirted around along the beach to find a male Southern Cassowary crouching under a tree - incredible :king: As I moved around the trees I noticed that there was a second Cassowary already sheltering in there, this one a huge female with a longer beak and thicker neck than the male, and a casque at least twice as tall and wide. In all honesty the male didn’t look particularly scary while he was sat there like that, but the second he stood up and started striding along the beach he was, quite simply, awesome. I walked parallel with him along the beach, and was able to watch him walking around and feeding near the car park for about 20 minutes. At times he seemed interested in me, and it’s an extremely special feeling when you have one of these beasts staring at you from a few feet away. He was never aggressive, despite the fact that another visitor called him over with squeaking noises a few times, which I would’ve found pretty irritating if I was a Cassowary – some people deserve to get kicked I’d hoped the female might come and join him but she remained under the trees, and eventually he rejoined her and they both stalked off into the forest.
Anyway, these are without doubt the best birds I’ve ever seen. Not the most beautiful, but just such special animals and the return trip to Cairns would’ve been worth it just to see these without any of the extra species. Extremely satisfied, I could now relax for the next couple of days B B B

Birds
419. Red-necked Crake
420. Lesser Frigatebird
421. Southern Cassowary

1. two reasons why you don't p*ss off a Cassowary
2. the bars behind are a gate, he wasn't caged
3. Cassowary on the beach
4. my tent - at its closest, the Cassowary was stood the other side of one of those concrete blocks eyeing me up
5. Etty Bay - angle carefully chosen to avoid the ugly stinger net in the middle of the beach

1 & 2. male and female Lesser Frigatebirds
Etty Bay had an amazing number of variety of butterflies and other insects, and while I was waiting for Cassowaries to appear I could spend a bit of time trying to get shots of them.
3. courting Cairns Birdwings
4. the spectacular Ulysse's Swallowtail - emblem of tourism for Far North Queensland
5. Blue Triangle

20/04/12 – 21/04/12
To ensure that I didn’t dip again, I’d booked to stay in Etty for 2 nights which gave me the best part of 3 days to see Cassowaries. However, as I’d seen them within a few hours of arrival the pressure was off for these next two days. Other birds in the area included Little Bronze-cuckoo, Olive-backed Sunbird, Yellow-spotted and Dusky Honeyeaters, Striated Heron, Eastern Osprey, and a Pied Imperial-pigeon went over with a flock of Topknot Pigeons. The feeding flock of Crested Terns remained well offshore with a few attendant Frigatebirds and at times they were joined by two White-bellied Sea Eagles, but the birds never came as close in as they did on that first day. I also had a young Brown Booby cruising just off the beach on a couple of occasions, although it didn’t stick around for long. A White-lipped Tree Frog was on the wall of the toilet one morning, and there were some huge Lace Monitors around to add to the 'lost world' feel given by the Cassowaries.

On the 20th I met a chap who was visiting specifically to try and see Cassowaries, having failed to see them up in the Daintree area. He was a keen naturalist, and kindly pointed me in the direction of an impressive Hercules Moth resting by his caravan. I was fortunate to have had that encounter with the Cassowaries on the previous day, as on this day they didn’t come down to the beach at all and I only had one brief glimpse of the male as I went back along the road to get phone signal to make some arrangements for my final day in Cairns.
The Cassowary man had to leave in the afternoon on the 21st having not seen any sign of the birds, and I really felt for him as I know how painful it is to dip Cassowaries :-C He was planning on stopping at Mission Beach on his way South, so fingers crossed he got to see them there. Unfortunately, just an hour after he’d left the male Cassowary appeared by the cafe. Three journalists (one from the Cornell Lab, one from Birdlife Australia and one from the UK’s Bird Watching magazine) appeared at that point, timing their visit perfectly! As it was a Saturday the beach was a lot busier, and we were only able to get fairly brief views of the Cassowary until he was essentially hounded back in to the forest by some clueless beach-goers.
I got talking to the journalists for a while, and it turned out that they were basically on a guided tour of the North Queensland birding hotspots - it’s alright for some They were all great guys, and gave me some useful advice to help out with my final day plans. They then had to set off to their next destination, and I had a walk along the beach which was a lot quieter by this point. I hadn’t got very far when the male Cassowary strolled out from the forest in front of me, and started stalking along the beach. I dashed back to let the journalists know, and we were then all able to enjoy excellent views as he moved along the beach, pausing to drink from a stream for a while. I had to go and pack up my tent soon after that so that I was ready to catch the taxi to Innisfail, but I left with the Cassowary resting under the same tree that I’d first seen him – a perfect end to the Etty part of the trip B

After getting back to Innisfail I hopped on my train back up to Cairns. For my final day I’d had two choices: head out to the Barrier Reef, or hire a car and try and track down some more of the Atherton endemics. In the end I decided on the hire car option, for a few reasons. Firstly, I really like Estrildid Finches and I really like Bowerbirds, and in the rainforest I would have the possibility of seeing very nice species of each. Secondly, Lesser Frigatebird would’ve been one of the main target species on the Barrier Reef, and as I’d stumbled across them at Etty that only left Sooty Tern and Common Noddy as likely new species for that trip.
I was getting back to Cairns late so the hire car places in town would be closed, but I managed to book my return shuttle bus to the airport for that evening where I’d be able to get a car. At the kiosk I went for the cheapest car available, before the chap at the counter mentioned something about upgrading to another vehicle for an extra $8. I don’t think I hid my intentions very well when I asked “sorry, did you say that that one’s a 4x4?” as he very quickly responded “yes, although obviously you still have to stick to sealed roads” I smiled, agreed, and said I’d take that option then set off to pick up my car. After getting to grips with the automatic gearbox, I set off up north until I got to the free camping area outside of Mount Molloy where I parked up and slept in the car for the night.

Reptiles & Amphibians
32. White-lipped Tree Frog

1 & 2. the male Cassowary
3. Lace Monitor
4 & 5. White-lipped Tree Frog - this is the world's largest Tree Frog although this individual wasn't particularly big

1. tatty, but spectacular Hercules Moth, one of the largest in the world (the Aussie 50 cent is bigger than a UK 50p ) - a giant moth to go with the giant birds, giant lizards, giant tree frogs and giant butterflies at Etty :t:
2. Green-banded Line-blue
3 & 4. Blue Tiger
5. Creatonotos gangis - I did not see it doing this crazy pheromone thing http://i.imgur.com/Y3ySJ56.jpg

22/04/11
After a bit of sleep I headed in the direction of Julatten, stopping off at Abattoir Swamp on the way. The flowering trees had attracted a nice selection of honeyeaters, including Brown, Yellow, Yellow-faced, Scarlet, White-throated and Macleay’s. From the boardwalk in the swampy area I could hear some sharp, crakey calls coming from the long grass, and after a short wait I had excellent views of a White-browed Crake as it strolled past, before disappearing back into the vegetation.
Walking back to the car park I stumbled across my target species, a Northern Fantail. They’re not the most colourful birds, but it’s impossible not to like Fantails and, like the Rufous and Grey Fantails, this charismatic little bird proved to be very entertaining to watch as it flitted around the trees. A Lemon-bellied Flycatcher in the same area was a bonus, and as it was not long after sunrise I decided I’d set off to my next location before returning here later in the day to try for some photos.

My next destination was the famous Mount Lewis, one of the best birding locations in Australia and also one of few places where all 12 Atherton endemics occur. To get to the best bit you need to travel along 11km of unsealed road which can apparently be impassable in the wet season. The journalists I’d met in Etty Bay had visited the site a few days before and assured me that the road was in good shape, and I didn’t have any problems getting up to ‘the clearing’. A 2wd car probably would’ve coped perfectly well, but as it was a rental I felt a bit happier doing it in a 4wd. There were many small birds by the side of the road on the drive up, most disappeared before I got a chance to check them out but the ones I could identify included Brown Gerygone, Pale-yellow Robin and Yellow-throated Scrubwren. At one point, I was forced to wait as an Emerald Dove wandered around on the road ahead of me before moving off into the forest.

I reached the clearing and parked up, finding a nice White-cheeked Honeyeater and a couple of Eastern Spinebills feeding in the surrounding trees. I quickly came across one my ‘missing’ endemics too, as a group of Mountain Thornbills worked their way through the bushes. Wandering through the clearing I found numerous Red-browed Finches feeding in the grass, and I didn’t have to wait long until one of my main target species appeared, as two stunning Blue-faced Parrot-finches flew down to join them. In the dry season these birds move up into the canopy and are then pretty much impossible to see. I thought April may be too late for them, and my decision to try Mount Lewis was basically made when the journalists mentioned that they’d seen them on their visit. I was able to get excellent views of these beautiful birds before they flew up into the trees, and at that point I decided to head into the rainforest. Walking back, there was a Bridled Honeyeater feeding in the tree that the White-cheeked had been in, and Macleay’s Honeyeaters were in the same area.
The other possible species here were Fernwren and Golden Bowerbird, but as the journalists had failed to see either on their guided visit to the Mountain I wasn’t holding out much hope. The forest was absolutely buzzing with bird activity though, and the list of endemics rapidly grew as I wandered along with Atherton Scrubwren, Bower’s Shrike-thrush, Grey-headed Robin, female Victoria’s Riflebird, and numerous brilliant Chowchillas foraging by the path. Other nice birds included Yellow-throated Scrubwren, Black-faced Monarch, Pale-yellow Robin and Bassian Thrush. Further on a fruiting tree had attracted a couple of Spotted Catbirds, and a Tooth-billed Bowerbird flew in to join them as I watched.
Shortly after this a couple of dark birds flew up from the side of the path. It took me a while to see where they’d gone in the gloomy understorey but eventually I managed to get my bins on them – Fernwrens! These cracking little birds are one of the more ‘different’ Atherton endemics, with nothing particularly similar in Australia or elsewhere and I was delighted to have seen them. A little further along the track the day got even better, when a flit in the tree above me turned out to be a female Golden Bowerbird feeding on berries – awesome :t: These extremely special birds are the trickiest of the Atherton endemics, and also the most beautiful (well, the males are at least). It turned out that there were two females in the same tree, and I really couldn’t believe how lucky I’d been to find these birds. That was 11/12 of the Atherton endemics wrapped up in just over an hour, and it will rank as one of the best morning’s birding I’ve ever had B
I stayed at the site for a while longer in the hope that I might find a male Golden Bowerbird, but I didn’t have any success with that mission. I didn’t manage to make it a full set of endemics for the day either as there was no sign of Pied Monarch, but at least I’d seen those in December. Eventually I headed back to the car park where a few Australian King Parrots flew over. It’s safe to say that Mount Lewis had impressed me - what an amazing site :t:
The rest of the day wasn’t as successful and I should perhaps have stuck with Mount Lewis, but thought I should try for some more new species. The Northern Fantails and Lemon-bellied Flycatchers performed well at Abattoir Swamp, and this time I was able to get a few photos. In the afternoon I decided to check out Big Mitchell Creek in the hope of finding White-browed Robins without success.
Back in Cairns I had one final search around Centenary Lakes for Papuan Frogmouths and Little Kingfisher, also without success. Still, I suppose it’s good to have some things left to look for if I ever return to Cairns, which hopefully I will. After dropping the car off, I had a night in the airport before returning to Brisbane early the next day.
As it happens, Golden Bowerbird was the 400th new species I’d seen in Oz - not a bad bird to mark that milestone with B

Birds
422. Northern Fantail
423. Mountain Thornbill
424. Blue-faced Parrot-finch
425. Fernwren
426. Golden Bowerbird

1. Blue-faced Parrot-finch
2. Fernwren - extremely poor photo, but it'll do as proof
3 & 4. female Golden Bowerbird
5. Emerald Dove

1. Northern Fantail, showing off his catch
2 & 3. Lemon-bellied Flycatcher
4. Magpie Goose at Centenary Lakes
5. Tailed Emperor at Mount Lewis

goodies still coming thick and fast. Glad you saw the Cassowary, surely one of the world's biggest heart-racing 'must sees'.

Larry Sweetland said:

goodies still coming thick and fast. Glad you saw the Cassowary, surely one of the world's biggest heart-racing 'must sees'.

Click to expand...

Agreed, I'd say that these should be an absolute top priority for anyone visiting Oz :t:

05/05/12 - wrapping things up in Brisbane
I was left with limited options for new species in the Brisbane area, but on this day I decided to have a crack at Spotted Quail-thrush in Brisbane Forest Park. After getting a bus to Enoggera Reservoir it's possible to walk uphill along a slightly dodgy road until you get to Bellbird Grove which is a good spot for this species. I failed in my attempts to find it, probably because bus times meant that I couldn't spend much time there, but I still had a good day's birding.

I came across a few nice species which I hadn't previously seen in Brisbane, including Buff-rumped Thornbill, Brown Cuckoo-dove and Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo, while Australian King Parrot, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Grey Goshawk and Spotted Pardalote were also good to see. I had brief views of a heron which flushed from a creek, and although I couldn't confirm the identity it really reminded me of Black Bittern which would've been a pretty good record for South-east Queensland.
The highlight of the day was the Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoo encounter. After hearing them wailing in the distance throughout the walk, the three birds suddenly appeared in the forest next to me. I then had amazing views as they settled in some low trees and proceeded to annihilate them - ripping off bark and snipping of branches with ease. Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoos are such charismatic birds, and they're definitely one of my favourites. Getting to spend a good amount of time up close with these birds was pretty special :t:

12/05/12
A walk up Mount Coot-tha produced two Tawny Frogmouths roosting by the JC Slaughter Falls car park. I also heard Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoos away off in the forest - great to have these birds so close to the city centre, and a 10 minute walk from my house.

05/06/12
I saw a number of nice species at Oxley Creek Common, including my first White-throated Gerygone for Brisbane. Among the other species were two White-bellied Sea Eagles, an Australian Hobby hawking by the lake, Black-fronted Dotterel and some Mistletoebirds.

09/06/12
Mount Coot-tha was turning out to be a really nice little local patch, and this visit produced my first Eastern Spinebills in the Brisbane area. As usual I couldn't find the Powerful Owl, but other nice species included plenty of Australian King Parrots, Rainbow Bee-eaters, a pair of Brown Cuckoo-doves and a Pacific Baza.

18/06/12
As mentioned previously, Golden Bowerbird was my 400th new species in Australia. However, at this point in the year, due to some bad record keeping, I thought that I was on 399. This meant that I was quite keen to track down another new species, as 400 seemed like a nice milestone to reach.
Anyway, I'd found myself a target - Speckled Warbler, and set off to Anstead Bushland to try and track one down. It's a shame I discovered this site late in the year as it is a cracking spot and this visit produced plenty of good birds, including a pair of Pacific Bazas, a nice male Rose Robin, White-throated Gerygones, Shining Bronze-cuckoo, a covey of Brown Quail, a Brown Goshawk, numerous Noisy and Little Friarbirds, Red-browed Finches and a Painted Button-quail.
However, after a few laps of the main walking track I still hadn't found any Speckled Warblers, so had to set off back towards the nearest bus stop slightly disappointed. Then, as I was leaving the site I came across a honeyeater which seemed slightly different to the usual Browns. It was making things tricky by staying high up, but after studying it carefully for a while I could confirm that it was a Fuscous Honeyeater - an unexpected bonus :t:

So with that, I'd unwittingly made it past the 400 new species mark for the trip. Next stop - New Zealand.

Birds
427. Fuscous Honeyeater

From Bellbird Grove
1-4. the brilliant Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoos (1 is a male)
5. Small Green-banded Blue

From Anstead Bushland:
1. number 400 (and one...) - Fuscous Honeyeater
2. Pacific Baza
3. male Rose Robin

And from Mount Coot-tha:
4. Tawny Frogmouths - the 'pretending to be a log' thing doesn't work as well if you then roost on a tiny branch!
5. Noisy Miner

As I was running out of time in Oz I tried to get better shots of a few of the common species I'd been taking for granted:

From Oxley Creek Common:
1. Magpie-lark
2. Fan-tailed Cuckoo
3. Straw-necked Ibis

From Mount Coot-tha Botanic Gardens:
4. Australasian Grebe
5. Australian White Ibis