chowchilla
Well-known member
The Atherton Tablelands lie to the immediate interior of Cairns and are accessible from the city via switch-back roads into the mountains. At this time of year, Cairns is hot and steamy and quite unpleasant thus getting away to the Tablelands for a bit of respite is something that a lot of locals do. It is also where all of the Wet Tropics endemics are found and a whole heap of other good birds too!
Thus it was that at 05.30am with the horizon paling with dawn that I was picked up outside my apartment by BF member Dom F, recently resettled in Cairns from Darwin. One of our aims for the day was to try and get Dom some lifers. As he was relatively new to Cairns, this shouldn't prove too difficult.
As we drove south towards the Gillies Highway I remarked that on a good day we should get 100 species without really trying. Cairns had been unusually dry lately (though it's raining whilst I type this!) and some species (such as some of the Honeyeaters, especially the usually abundant Brown Honeyeater) had fled the city for different pastures. It's an interesting feature of Aussie birding that many species are highly nomadic, being abundant one year and entirely absent the next. Honeyeaters tend to follow the flowering trees for example. Actually, that's just conjured up an image in my head of trees hitching up their roots and legging it down the road!
Anyway...I decided to keep a day list of all birds seen and heard just out of idle curiosity to see if we would make the 100. As we drove through Cairns' southern suburbs, we kicked off the day with common Cairns residents such as Australian White Ibis and Straw-necked Ibis, Laughing Kookaburra, Rainbow Lorikeet, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Metallic Starling and the ubiquitous Common Myna. Everything counted today, including these 'trash' birds...
We stopped briefly at the turf farm in the Goldsboro Valley at the foot of the Gillies. Just before pulling over, Dom spotted an Emerald Dove by the side of the road. The Turf farm itself yielded Australian Pipits, this being a good spot for them. These were joined on the turf by a number of Masked Lapwings. Several Chestnut-breasted Mannikins were feeding in long grass near the road. In the distance I found a Forest Kingfisher perched on a post. Cicadabirds were chasing each other through the trees and the fly-by Welcome Swallows were joined by a few Tree Martins and White-breasted Woodswallows. Little Bronze Cuckoo, Yellow Oriole, Black Butcherbird, Yellow-spotted Honeyeater, Orange-footed Scrub Fowl, Varied Triller, Spangled Drongo and Fig Parrot were all heard. Finally Willie Wagtail and Magpie Lark rounded off the birds for this spot.
On the way up the Gillies, a Pheasant Coucal flew off the road and Dom spotted a Buff-banded Rail by the roadside. Eventually we got to the top of this very squiggly road and the vista opened up on to the Tablelands proper; first stop: Lake Barrine.
Barrine is one of two crater lakes, formed in the calderas of extinct volcanoes. The two lakes (the other is Eacham) are surrounded by dense rainforest, in stark contrast to most of the tablelands which have been completely cleared to grow a huge variety of crops in the rich volcanic soil. It was still very early and as we got out of the car, I could appreciate once more just how different the forest is up here from the lowlands and how much richer in birds.
Brush Turkey had been added on the approach drive (I get those around my apartment!) but the other birds we were now hearing and would eventually see (mostly) were stuff that you come to the hills to experience. White-throated Treecreepers were calling loudly all around. These were soon joined by Lewin's Honeyeaters which would eventually show well in the surrounding bushes and trees. Added to the chorus were Dusky Honeyeaters, Macleay's Honeyeater,Brown Gerygone, Brown Cuckoo Dove, Superb Fruit Dove and mewling Spotted Catbirds. We would eventually get good views of most of these, though some remained stubbornly hidden. We heard Superb Fruit Dove a number of times but unfortunately didn't get on to any of these gorgeous birds. Rather better however were two Brown Cuckoo Doves that landed in a low tree only a few metres away seemingly completely unconcerned by our presence. Crippling views of these beautiful birds (certainly not just brown, but all sorts of rich chestnuts, russets and lilacs) are all too rare and what one usually sees is them bombing over the tree tops at speed. This was to set the trend for the day however as 'crippling views' became the order of the day for a surprising number of species!
Whilst wandering about the small garden behind the lakeside restaurant our day list continued to grow rapidly. A Grey-headed Robin hopped on to the lawn to give Dom one of several lifers for the day. This is one of our local endemics; only being found in a tiny range of high-altitude rainforest near Cairns and nowhere else. It's an easy bird to find however and very confiding as was this bird. We heard its monotonous call all day. Grey breasted Silvereyes moved in numbers through the shrubbery; Mistletoebirds gave unusually good views in the tops of the shrubs; a Red-browed Firetail popped out on to the lawn giving similarly stunning views.
All the time, these sightings were augmented by birds calling in the surrounding forest: the loud hiss of Queen Victoria's Riflebird was close-by, we eventually saw a female low in a tree; Yellow-breasted Boatbills and best of all White-eared Monarchs were also calling nearby. We would eventually get ridiculously good views of the former on more than one occasion showing off their rich yellow plumage and absurd bills. Sadly but not surprisingly however, we didn't see the latter. WE Monarchs are buggers to see; they are very small and restless and are nearly always at the very tops of very tall rainforest trees. So a good view of their arse is about the best you can usually hope for. We didn't even get that.
The birds kept on showing: Little Shrike Thrush, Olive-backed Sunbird, Bridled Honeyeater, Pale Yellow Robin and eventually the much hoped for Eastern Spinebill, this being a very reliable spot for them. This wander about the garden also produced quite stunning views of a Black-faced Monarch, lovely birds...
A quick scan of the lake added Little Black Cormorant, Hardhead, Pacific Black Duck, Australian Pelican, Great-crested Grebe, Australian Dabchick and Eurasian Coot to the day list. There was also a Great Cormorant here which was a surprise as they are by no means common in this area.
Finally we plunged into the forest. A Large-billed Scrubwren greeted us near the entrance track. An Eastern Whipbird pottered about amongst fallen logs and leaf litter giving good views of this notorious skulker. A group of Spectacled Monarchs foraged through the branches at head height. A Grey Whistler briefly showed up on a branch above our heads. We added Fernwren to the day list by the call, but an altogether much louder and stranger series of calls was heard further off. A Tooth-billed Bowerbird was regaling us with a range of clicks, whirrs, buzzes and whistles, as well as only half-convincing impressions of other birds. As we got closer, we headed off the trail and eventually Dom spotted the bird calling from quite high in the canopy. I didn't get good views before it flew off, but not to worry because further down the trail we had ridiculously good close-up views of two more singing males, more typically at head height. We even spotted the bower of one of them. Both Rufous and Grey Fantail were fanning their tails at us further along the trail. Eventually we emerged back on to the entrance road and walked back to the car. It was about 8.00 am and we had already see and heard nearly 70 species of birds. Not bad at all!
Lake Eacham was our next stop. It was warming up quite a bit and the birds were getting less active but nonetheless we still added birds. In a roadside fruiting tree we had excellent views of several Yellow-eyed Cuckoo Shrikes and a rather obliging Wompoo Fruit Dove. A calling Superb Fruit Dove still stubbornly refused to show however. After a long walk up the road towards Chambers Wildlife Lodge and back didn't produce much (although another Yellow-breasted Boatbill was very obliging), we eventually moved on.
We added Black Kite to the day list from the car and according to my notebook White-bellied Sea Eagle which I remember seeing but can't for the life of me remember where. A brief stop at the stunning Curtain Fig Tree yielded excellent views of Bower's Shrike Thrush (this is a good spot for them) and fly over Scaly-breasted Lorikeets. The place was heaving with tourists being a Sunday, so without much else to add, we headed off.
As we drove through the town of Atherton, Crested Pigeons appeared on the wires. This was a major surprise for me as they normally don't occur that often around here. There had clearly been quite an influx as we saw loads! A couple of Bar-shouldered Dove later on as we came back this way, was less of a surprise. Australian Magpie was also added in town. This bird, so common in the cities down south, is not that common up here and indeed completely absent in Cairns.
We eventually arrived at Hasties Swamp. Clearly the drought had taken its toll as it was almost completely dry. This was disappointing but not all that surprising. Disappointingly, Neither Brolga nor Sarus Crane were about. A few birds were however: Glossy Ibis, Cattle Egret and a solitary Royal Spoonbill stood around the shrinking puddle. Several desultory Purple Swamphens wandered about on the grass. That was it for here however. On a good day, this place is teeming with thousands of wildfowl and often a good selection of waders as well, but no chance of that today...
In Atherton we stopped for lunch, adding House Sparrow to the day list. Driving north towards Mareeba, we had Torresian Crow, Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike, Nankeen Kestrel and several Dollarbirds from the car. On a passing waterhole I saw a number of Magpie Geese. We would stop off at this waterhole later in the day on the way back and give it a more thorough perusal. It proved to be heaving with birds and we quickly added numbers of Plumed Whistling Duck, Grey Teal, Wood Duck and Black-winged Stilts. So this is where some of the birds from Hasties had ended up then...
As we drove up the entrance track for Mareeba Wetlands a Yellow Honeyeater flew into a low roadside bush. This is normally a common Cairns bird, but they've disappeared completely from around my place. Lots of Glossy Ibis were feeding in a roadside ditch. A White-faced Heron watched us from the top of a tree (silly thing thought it was an eagle). Speaking of BOPs, we also added Whistling Kite and Black-shouldered Kite from the car. Best of all here however was two Australian Pratincoles which flew across the road and landed in the paddock to our left. We would get really close to these fantastic looking birds later on. We also added Little Egret to the day list at this point but I've no memory of seeing it. Much more memorable however were an Australian Bustard and its half-grown chick walking across in front of us as we drove along the track. We pulled up to where they had gone into the grass and they were still pretty close to the road. Always good birds to see!
Mareeba Wetlands was closed for 'environmental work' or something so we could only get as far as the entrance gate. This was really annoying as the track gets a lot better once in the reserve. We did add however Red-backed Fairy Wren showing ridiculously well and at long last Rainbow Bee eater. A pair of Pale-headed Rosellas fled on our approach and Golden-headed Cisticolas called from the roadside. I could also hear distant calling Blue-winged Kookaburras.
The bird of the day however would save itself to the very end... As we drove back towards the main road, we paused briefly by a creek that still held water. Dom suddenly spotted something: what should emerge right by the car in the heat of the day was not one, but two Pale-vented Bush Hens! We had crippling views of these two birds for the better part of a minute. It took me years to even get half decent views of this notorious skulker and here they were putting on a show! Ridiculous...
It was early afternoon and we were both pretty flaked. It was now very hot though nowhere near as steamy as Cairns. We did make an attempt on White-browed Robin for Dom's life list at Big Mitchell Creek but without luck. A combination of the heat and our fatigue saw us calling it a day shortly thereafter. I reckon if we'd been a bit more 'hardcore' and kept going, with stops at Lake Mitchell, Bromfield Crater and Kuranda on the way back, we could easily have added a number of more birds. Had we gone north to Mount Molloy and Kingfisher Park, even more so! But we weren't on holiday and on a tight schedule. Dom was happy to wait till another time to catch up with these places and rightly so. We'd had our 'ton' and Dom had had at least 10 lifers. In fact I make it 107 species for the day; all see and heard at a leisurely pace. This was no Bird Race...
A big thanks to BF member Dom who was great company throughout the day and in my opinion has just the right relaxed attitude to birding. With his sharp eyes and my sharp ears we made the perfect team.
Cheers!B:t:
Thus it was that at 05.30am with the horizon paling with dawn that I was picked up outside my apartment by BF member Dom F, recently resettled in Cairns from Darwin. One of our aims for the day was to try and get Dom some lifers. As he was relatively new to Cairns, this shouldn't prove too difficult.
As we drove south towards the Gillies Highway I remarked that on a good day we should get 100 species without really trying. Cairns had been unusually dry lately (though it's raining whilst I type this!) and some species (such as some of the Honeyeaters, especially the usually abundant Brown Honeyeater) had fled the city for different pastures. It's an interesting feature of Aussie birding that many species are highly nomadic, being abundant one year and entirely absent the next. Honeyeaters tend to follow the flowering trees for example. Actually, that's just conjured up an image in my head of trees hitching up their roots and legging it down the road!
Anyway...I decided to keep a day list of all birds seen and heard just out of idle curiosity to see if we would make the 100. As we drove through Cairns' southern suburbs, we kicked off the day with common Cairns residents such as Australian White Ibis and Straw-necked Ibis, Laughing Kookaburra, Rainbow Lorikeet, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Metallic Starling and the ubiquitous Common Myna. Everything counted today, including these 'trash' birds...
We stopped briefly at the turf farm in the Goldsboro Valley at the foot of the Gillies. Just before pulling over, Dom spotted an Emerald Dove by the side of the road. The Turf farm itself yielded Australian Pipits, this being a good spot for them. These were joined on the turf by a number of Masked Lapwings. Several Chestnut-breasted Mannikins were feeding in long grass near the road. In the distance I found a Forest Kingfisher perched on a post. Cicadabirds were chasing each other through the trees and the fly-by Welcome Swallows were joined by a few Tree Martins and White-breasted Woodswallows. Little Bronze Cuckoo, Yellow Oriole, Black Butcherbird, Yellow-spotted Honeyeater, Orange-footed Scrub Fowl, Varied Triller, Spangled Drongo and Fig Parrot were all heard. Finally Willie Wagtail and Magpie Lark rounded off the birds for this spot.
On the way up the Gillies, a Pheasant Coucal flew off the road and Dom spotted a Buff-banded Rail by the roadside. Eventually we got to the top of this very squiggly road and the vista opened up on to the Tablelands proper; first stop: Lake Barrine.
Barrine is one of two crater lakes, formed in the calderas of extinct volcanoes. The two lakes (the other is Eacham) are surrounded by dense rainforest, in stark contrast to most of the tablelands which have been completely cleared to grow a huge variety of crops in the rich volcanic soil. It was still very early and as we got out of the car, I could appreciate once more just how different the forest is up here from the lowlands and how much richer in birds.
Brush Turkey had been added on the approach drive (I get those around my apartment!) but the other birds we were now hearing and would eventually see (mostly) were stuff that you come to the hills to experience. White-throated Treecreepers were calling loudly all around. These were soon joined by Lewin's Honeyeaters which would eventually show well in the surrounding bushes and trees. Added to the chorus were Dusky Honeyeaters, Macleay's Honeyeater,Brown Gerygone, Brown Cuckoo Dove, Superb Fruit Dove and mewling Spotted Catbirds. We would eventually get good views of most of these, though some remained stubbornly hidden. We heard Superb Fruit Dove a number of times but unfortunately didn't get on to any of these gorgeous birds. Rather better however were two Brown Cuckoo Doves that landed in a low tree only a few metres away seemingly completely unconcerned by our presence. Crippling views of these beautiful birds (certainly not just brown, but all sorts of rich chestnuts, russets and lilacs) are all too rare and what one usually sees is them bombing over the tree tops at speed. This was to set the trend for the day however as 'crippling views' became the order of the day for a surprising number of species!
Whilst wandering about the small garden behind the lakeside restaurant our day list continued to grow rapidly. A Grey-headed Robin hopped on to the lawn to give Dom one of several lifers for the day. This is one of our local endemics; only being found in a tiny range of high-altitude rainforest near Cairns and nowhere else. It's an easy bird to find however and very confiding as was this bird. We heard its monotonous call all day. Grey breasted Silvereyes moved in numbers through the shrubbery; Mistletoebirds gave unusually good views in the tops of the shrubs; a Red-browed Firetail popped out on to the lawn giving similarly stunning views.
All the time, these sightings were augmented by birds calling in the surrounding forest: the loud hiss of Queen Victoria's Riflebird was close-by, we eventually saw a female low in a tree; Yellow-breasted Boatbills and best of all White-eared Monarchs were also calling nearby. We would eventually get ridiculously good views of the former on more than one occasion showing off their rich yellow plumage and absurd bills. Sadly but not surprisingly however, we didn't see the latter. WE Monarchs are buggers to see; they are very small and restless and are nearly always at the very tops of very tall rainforest trees. So a good view of their arse is about the best you can usually hope for. We didn't even get that.
The birds kept on showing: Little Shrike Thrush, Olive-backed Sunbird, Bridled Honeyeater, Pale Yellow Robin and eventually the much hoped for Eastern Spinebill, this being a very reliable spot for them. This wander about the garden also produced quite stunning views of a Black-faced Monarch, lovely birds...
A quick scan of the lake added Little Black Cormorant, Hardhead, Pacific Black Duck, Australian Pelican, Great-crested Grebe, Australian Dabchick and Eurasian Coot to the day list. There was also a Great Cormorant here which was a surprise as they are by no means common in this area.
Finally we plunged into the forest. A Large-billed Scrubwren greeted us near the entrance track. An Eastern Whipbird pottered about amongst fallen logs and leaf litter giving good views of this notorious skulker. A group of Spectacled Monarchs foraged through the branches at head height. A Grey Whistler briefly showed up on a branch above our heads. We added Fernwren to the day list by the call, but an altogether much louder and stranger series of calls was heard further off. A Tooth-billed Bowerbird was regaling us with a range of clicks, whirrs, buzzes and whistles, as well as only half-convincing impressions of other birds. As we got closer, we headed off the trail and eventually Dom spotted the bird calling from quite high in the canopy. I didn't get good views before it flew off, but not to worry because further down the trail we had ridiculously good close-up views of two more singing males, more typically at head height. We even spotted the bower of one of them. Both Rufous and Grey Fantail were fanning their tails at us further along the trail. Eventually we emerged back on to the entrance road and walked back to the car. It was about 8.00 am and we had already see and heard nearly 70 species of birds. Not bad at all!
Lake Eacham was our next stop. It was warming up quite a bit and the birds were getting less active but nonetheless we still added birds. In a roadside fruiting tree we had excellent views of several Yellow-eyed Cuckoo Shrikes and a rather obliging Wompoo Fruit Dove. A calling Superb Fruit Dove still stubbornly refused to show however. After a long walk up the road towards Chambers Wildlife Lodge and back didn't produce much (although another Yellow-breasted Boatbill was very obliging), we eventually moved on.
We added Black Kite to the day list from the car and according to my notebook White-bellied Sea Eagle which I remember seeing but can't for the life of me remember where. A brief stop at the stunning Curtain Fig Tree yielded excellent views of Bower's Shrike Thrush (this is a good spot for them) and fly over Scaly-breasted Lorikeets. The place was heaving with tourists being a Sunday, so without much else to add, we headed off.
As we drove through the town of Atherton, Crested Pigeons appeared on the wires. This was a major surprise for me as they normally don't occur that often around here. There had clearly been quite an influx as we saw loads! A couple of Bar-shouldered Dove later on as we came back this way, was less of a surprise. Australian Magpie was also added in town. This bird, so common in the cities down south, is not that common up here and indeed completely absent in Cairns.
We eventually arrived at Hasties Swamp. Clearly the drought had taken its toll as it was almost completely dry. This was disappointing but not all that surprising. Disappointingly, Neither Brolga nor Sarus Crane were about. A few birds were however: Glossy Ibis, Cattle Egret and a solitary Royal Spoonbill stood around the shrinking puddle. Several desultory Purple Swamphens wandered about on the grass. That was it for here however. On a good day, this place is teeming with thousands of wildfowl and often a good selection of waders as well, but no chance of that today...
In Atherton we stopped for lunch, adding House Sparrow to the day list. Driving north towards Mareeba, we had Torresian Crow, Black-faced Cuckoo Shrike, Nankeen Kestrel and several Dollarbirds from the car. On a passing waterhole I saw a number of Magpie Geese. We would stop off at this waterhole later in the day on the way back and give it a more thorough perusal. It proved to be heaving with birds and we quickly added numbers of Plumed Whistling Duck, Grey Teal, Wood Duck and Black-winged Stilts. So this is where some of the birds from Hasties had ended up then...
As we drove up the entrance track for Mareeba Wetlands a Yellow Honeyeater flew into a low roadside bush. This is normally a common Cairns bird, but they've disappeared completely from around my place. Lots of Glossy Ibis were feeding in a roadside ditch. A White-faced Heron watched us from the top of a tree (silly thing thought it was an eagle). Speaking of BOPs, we also added Whistling Kite and Black-shouldered Kite from the car. Best of all here however was two Australian Pratincoles which flew across the road and landed in the paddock to our left. We would get really close to these fantastic looking birds later on. We also added Little Egret to the day list at this point but I've no memory of seeing it. Much more memorable however were an Australian Bustard and its half-grown chick walking across in front of us as we drove along the track. We pulled up to where they had gone into the grass and they were still pretty close to the road. Always good birds to see!
Mareeba Wetlands was closed for 'environmental work' or something so we could only get as far as the entrance gate. This was really annoying as the track gets a lot better once in the reserve. We did add however Red-backed Fairy Wren showing ridiculously well and at long last Rainbow Bee eater. A pair of Pale-headed Rosellas fled on our approach and Golden-headed Cisticolas called from the roadside. I could also hear distant calling Blue-winged Kookaburras.
The bird of the day however would save itself to the very end... As we drove back towards the main road, we paused briefly by a creek that still held water. Dom suddenly spotted something: what should emerge right by the car in the heat of the day was not one, but two Pale-vented Bush Hens! We had crippling views of these two birds for the better part of a minute. It took me years to even get half decent views of this notorious skulker and here they were putting on a show! Ridiculous...
It was early afternoon and we were both pretty flaked. It was now very hot though nowhere near as steamy as Cairns. We did make an attempt on White-browed Robin for Dom's life list at Big Mitchell Creek but without luck. A combination of the heat and our fatigue saw us calling it a day shortly thereafter. I reckon if we'd been a bit more 'hardcore' and kept going, with stops at Lake Mitchell, Bromfield Crater and Kuranda on the way back, we could easily have added a number of more birds. Had we gone north to Mount Molloy and Kingfisher Park, even more so! But we weren't on holiday and on a tight schedule. Dom was happy to wait till another time to catch up with these places and rightly so. We'd had our 'ton' and Dom had had at least 10 lifers. In fact I make it 107 species for the day; all see and heard at a leisurely pace. This was no Bird Race...
A big thanks to BF member Dom who was great company throughout the day and in my opinion has just the right relaxed attitude to birding. With his sharp eyes and my sharp ears we made the perfect team.
Cheers!B
:t:
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