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Yorkeys Knob...The Return! (1 Viewer)

Dom F

Well-known member
After a brief ten month sojourn in Caravonica, a suburb south of Yorkeys, we returned to Yorkeys this month so I though I would restart a thread about my daily(ish) observations in the 'Burbs north of Cairns - although I do not "list" as such. A quick introduction to Yorkeys is in order though - it is a relatively quiet coastal community of about 2800 people; surrounded by a mixture of sugar cane fields, wet paperbark swamp, mangroves and sandy beaches. There are several nice green areas within Yorkeys including the Golf Course at the north end - I live at the southern end and my garden backs onto wet paperbark swamp. In addition to just the bird life I am particularly interested in the moth fauna of the area so no doubt some non-birdy photos and records will creep in.
The first couple of weeks have been spent unpacking and getting the house sorted - my wife being an on-call midwife is in and out at any time of day or night so the majority of this fell to me - so between work and unpacking there has been little free time to go birding in the local area. One feature that is different to my previous stay in Yorkeys is that we are now close to the Magpie Goose roost so our morning alarm call is now comprised of their calls as they leave the roost combined with Laughing Kookaburras and Orange-footed Scrubfowl. One of the biggest surprises though has been having two Striped Possums in the garden - a species I normally associate with higher altitudes on the Atherton Tablelands.
Photos:
My garden from our deck looking towards the paperbark swamp
Striped Possum in the garden
Male Double-eyed Fig Parrot investigating potential nesting sites
 

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It is winter over here now and although it doesn't get properly cold it is noticeably cooler with night temperatures dropping last night to 16 degrees and diurnal temperatures of 26-28 oC. The has an obvious impact on bird activity with the numbers of several resident species augmented by migrants from further south in Australia. An example of this is the Spangled Drongo, there are a couple of resident pairs around the house but this morning when having a coffee on the deck there were probably closer to 35 knocking around in the trees.
The cooler temperatures also slows down insect activity although there are always a few goodies to find
Spangled Drongo and male Donuca castalia
 

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The school winter holidays have started this week so there is more noise and activity in the garden which does not help it does not seem to have put off the male Leaden Flycatcher that has been hanging around for the last couple of weeks. Although they are resident in the general area I only see them in the garden during the winter month. The biggest surprise though came in the shape of two Brolga that joined the Magpie Goose roost behind the house over the weekend.
 

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As this is on a List thread thought I had better include some list stats, my Yorkeys List currently stands at 149 species and my 2015 list at a meager 68 species - and as I missed cyclone season this year I suspect that I ill struggle to break the 100 mark.
A new addition this week to my Yorkeys list was this obliging Olive-backed Oriole that hung around the garden for a couple of day
 

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After a busy couple of days its always nice to sit on the deck on a Sunday morning with a cup of coffee and watch the world go by. All the Melalucas in the garden are flowering which means there is a huge amount of nectar available for both the day and night shifts. During the night large numbers of Spectacled Flying Foxes descend and spend the night chattering away (and leaving a trail of devestation on the lawn...). This morning the trees were alive with over 20 Hornbill Friarbirds and bigger numbers of Rainbow Lorikeets.
In tropical terms it is rather cold at the moment with the night temperatures dropping to around 18oC so it was quite a surprise to find this large Saturniid at the moth trap - it is one of the Syntherata species - I think it is S.leonae as it does not look right for S.janetta, both of which are very variable and occur here...
 

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The weather the last few days has not been very nice, windy, light rain and cold (colder still to come with night time temperatures due to drop to low teens......). Most of the trees in the gardens nearby are in flower or fruit at the moment which has meant there has been a lot of activity, very frustratingly the birds have been usually out of camera range. The highlight has been a couple of Scaly-breasted Lorikeets but I still have not managed to get any photos of them - they are regular in small numbers but are the exact opposite of photogenic.. Laughing Kookaburras on the other hand have been very obliging, in fact kingfishers in general have been good this week with four species in and around Yorkeys (Sacred, Forest and Azure Kingfisher as well as the kookies). Other wildlife highlights included my second Saturniidae species of the week - Syntherata janetta.
 

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Well the weather this week has been anything but Tropical, night time temperatures into single digits....
There are still lots of flowers on some trees and many of the palms are fruiting so the honeyeaters and other fruit eating birds are not finding this cold snap too difficult, the insectivorous birds though are struggling as there are far fewer potential prey items on the wing and very little is flying around until late morning when it was warmed up. This Rainbow Bee-eater was soaking up the sun on the power lines this morning, and the local Bush Stone-Curlews were huddling together in the sun as well, there was one group of over 40 birds!
Although due to the cold I have not put the moth trap out for several days a late night check round the garden revealed two species of possum, my local Striped Possum was busy ripping the bark off a dead branch looking for grubs and high in a flowering palm there was a very shy Common Ringtail Possum - unfortunately did not manage any photos of the Ringtail but hopefully it will come closer
 

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One of the features of winter on the coastal plain is that Leaden Flycatchers appear in my garden. This winter has been no exception and we have had one hanging around for the last few weeks, although normally he stays out of photo range. This morning I had to go back in side to grab my camera as a Brahminy Kite circled low over the house, unfortunately by the time I got outside it was well above tree top level but all was not lost as the flycatcher came out and sat on a palm no more than 10 foot away, although still in shade which was a shame.
 

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With Friday being a public holiday in Cairns I had planned on a family trip 5 hours south west of Cairns where I could chase a species that I have failed to see in FNQ the Spinifex Pigeon (seen them in the NT and central Qld but not locally), unfortunately the vagaries of being married to a midwife meant that those plans were shelved as instead of having three days off my wife has worked the last 48 hours! It was not a total waste though as have had two new for Yorkeys for the year in the form of a Brown Goshawk and White-necked Heron
 

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If the increase in night time temperatures was not a big enough indicator for me that winter was ending - I know compared to many places a Cairns winter is hardly a hardship with night temperatures dropping to single digits but when you are used to night temperatures of over 20 degrees a temperature of 9 is exceedingly cold - the appearence of the first Torresian Imperial Pigeons for a couple of months was a very strong clue! When we first moved to Cairns Little Corella were quite a notable bird on the coastal plain now, whilst they are not common by any means, they are a species I see at least monthly and this month there has been four flying around the house regularly.
The non-avian highlights have included my regular Striped Possum showing every couple of days; and a marked increase in the number of moths at the traps including this superb Geometriinae - Uliocnemis biplagiata.
Keeping with the listing theme, my Yorkeys bird list is now at 149, I wonder what species 150 will be......
 

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Two nice occasional visitors to the garden yesterday despite the increasing wind and scattered showers. The first gave away its presence with its distinctive "pee tchew" call - which caused me to grab my camera and look up as a Pacific Baza flew over - undoubtedly my favourite Australian raptor (although that may change if I ever manage to find a Letter-winged Kite!). Whilst I was watching the Baza I noticed a kookie sitting quietly in one of the paperbark trees and on closer inspection it was clearly not the usual Laughing Kookie rather a Blue-winged Kookaburra a species more normally found on the drier areas of the Tablelands although they are becoming more common on the coastal plain
 

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Well I didn't have long to wait for species 150 for Yorkeys as this morning there is an immature Spectacled Monarch calling from the swampy area at the end of the garden. Other than that the last few days have been relatively quiet with all the normal suspects hanging around. we are coming out of winter though so hopefully there may be a bit more movement over the next few weeks
 
After yesterdays addition to my Yorkeys list I was certainly not expecting another this week...this one was more expected though in the form of Australasian Grebe - was quite surprised when I realised I had not seen one here before given that I check the pool it was on several times each week as it is the best place to see Salties!
 

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Well the good birds keep on coming. My walk with the dog this morning fond nothing new, the Aus Grebe was still present along with a couple of Pacific Black Ducks that are new for year purely because had not noticed them! The excitement came in a short burst in the afternoon when the third new species for Yorkeys this week appeared in the form of an Emerald Dove that shot through the garden being closely followed by a stunning Grey Goshawk - I see Grey Goshawk about once per year in the garden as they don't nest here in Yorkeys. Needless to say I did not manage to get any photos of them so will just have to post a couple of my local Rainbow Bee-eaters that are chattering away at the moment outside the front door
 

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Birding wise it has been more of the same the last few days - there is now an adult [B[Spectacled Monarch/B] hanging around but still not being very obliging although managed a shot that is at least recognisable! Winter returned over the weekend with night time temperatures dropping to single digits although slowly warming up again now. Despite the cooler temperatures spring is definitely coming as several species such as Mistletoebird and Little Bronze Cuckoo are all singing away in the mornings now.
A very poor shot of the monarc
 

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Having mentioned Mistletoebird earlier this week the garden has come alive with them - there are probably 8 individuals calling / flying around as I write this. Of course non of them have stopped long enough for any decent photos, these are the best that I have managed.
They are an odd bird as sometimes they are common and I see them everywhere and then at others they just vanish!
 

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Another new species for Yorkeys in the form of a Brown Falcon, oddly I have seen the much rarer Black Falcon in Yorkeys in the past but this is the first Brown Falcon making an impressive 18 species of raptor seen in Yorkeys in the last three years
 
It has been an interesting couple of days in the garden - unfortunately no pictures due to an unforeseen camera malfunction......well some idiot forgot to put his camera battery on charge............ My wife was called in to work at 0400 yesterday which meant I was up having a cup of coffee on the deck rather early - the benefit was that I was paying more attention to the dawn chorus than I might otherwise have been. It turned into a three cuckoo day with Little Bronze, Brush and Fan-tailed Cuckoo all calling away. The Fan-tailed was new for Yorkeys and despite a couple of fleeting glimpses just would not show itself properly. Whilst trying to find the Fan-tail I found a stunning male Cicadabird - a species that I have only seen once previously in Yorkeys. The final goodie for the day was aCollared Sparrowhawk which chased a group of Rainbow Lorikeets through the garden
 
Following my camera malfunction earlier in the week I was very pleased to find the male Cicadabird hanging around and being reasonably obliging. Other than that the onset of spring has started to encourage a few more moths to appear, although a little bit of rain would be helpful
 

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Heard a Papuan Frogmouth from the garden last night - surprisingly this was the first I have had in Yorkeys, apparently they used to be quite a common sight around the lights at the boat ramp but they have certainly not been there since I have lived here
 
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