I read this report on an Australian birding site and loved it so much that i decided to copy it here for all to enjoy. it is written by a wildlife tour operator on the Atherton Tableland, North Queensland. It sound a great place, so must try to get there sometime. :clap:
> Rain fell, but not much, on about half the days in May so the forest
> remained wet and the track for the nocturnal tours was still muddy until mid
> June. The creeks and rivers are running at levels that were only seen during
> rain events in the previous two years. Last weekend we had winter with three
> or four ground frosts in a row. I did not get out of bed early enough on the
> first morning to be sure. Cool weather has caused a severe drop in sightings
> of geckos since the second of June. Accommodation houses with open fire
> places have been very popular with visitors from the coast. The village is
> preparing for 'Yuletide in July' when the restaurants will have European
> Christmas menus running.
>
> Perhaps because of the good wet in their breeding grounds the cranes were
> rather late returning this year but are now back in good numbers and more
> are returning each week. Both Brolgas and Sarus Cranes are best found in
> paddocks with stubble and light grass cover within a few kilometres of the
> Barron River.
>
> Also along the river, a very light Little Eagle has been seen on a number of
> occasions between the Jim Chapman Bridge and Lavender Hill B&B, where the
> river runs into Lake Tinaroo which is still full. This Little Eagle is
> perhaps the bird which had a red body last year and gave me quite a fright
> when it flew across the windscreen of the car. My first impression was of a
> Red Goshawk. Brown Falcons are around in reasonable numbers and most are
> dark birds. Last year we had all the colour morphs present. There has been a
> possible sighting of a Black Falcon which would be a little early. A lone
> Square-tailed Kite has been seen in the village on a number of occasions.
> One lucky guest saw eleven raptors in a morning but missed out on the two he
> wanted most. That is how it goes sometimes!
>
> As there is not much mud around the edges of Lake Tinaroo or Hasties Swamp,
> few waders are evident just yet. A dozen Australian Pratincoles were flying
> over our heads as we watched the Sarus Cranes dancing. Half a kilometre
> behind us were nine Australian Bustards. An odd Pink-eared Duck has been
> seen at Hasties Swamp where there are more than a thousand Plumed Whistling
> Ducks, a few Wandering Whistling Ducks, a dozen or so each of Hardheads and
> Grey Teal along with fifty or so Black Duck. Most of the adult Jacanas seem
> to have left but there are numerous young ones. Buff-banded Land Rails are
> the only rails which are being regularly seem. Black Bitterns have been more
> obvious at Hasties Swamp and around the edge of Tinaroo than I can ever
> remember. White-breasted Sea-Eagles and Wedge-tail Eagles are around in
> reasonable numbers.
>
> A pair of Wompoo Fruit-doves visited a nest which was built last December
> but never used. Both birds were calling but one stayed on for some time not
> making its full call. The bird was standing in the nest reaching up and
> forward making strangled, 'Wock, ock, ock,' calls. The whole impression was
> that the bird was in danger of choking and trying to vomit as it bent its
> head down to the edge of the nest.
>
> On the inner Tablelands around Atherton, Yungaburra, Malanda, Sacred
> Kingfishers are usually autumn and spring visitors but this year a few birds
> are still being seen in mid June. There is one which has taken up residence
> in our garden. Talking of our garden, we had our first record of a Pallid
> Cuckoo early in June. A pair of Oriental Cuckoos flew over the Curtain
> Figtree forest in June which is very late in the season for them.
>
> Azure and Little Kingfishers have been seen in Yungaburra along Petersen
> Creek. The former commonly but the latter infrequently. Up to six Forest
> Kingfishers have been roosting together over the track we use at night.
> Another change of season migrant in this area is the Cicadabird but a
> beautiful male is hanging around in the eucalypt forest above Williams Weir.
> The southern birds have come north with the tourists. A flock of at least 60
> Silver-eyes came through my yard yesterday and the winter visiting pale Grey
> Fantail is back. As predicted, the flowering of the blue gums is bringing an
> influx of honeyeaters to the village. Yellow, White-cheeked, White-throated
> and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters are not common in Yungaburra for most of the
> year but along Petersen Creek are now being seen often.
>
> The number of large spectacular butterflies is diminishing with the colder
> weather but there has been a return of yellow, white and small blue
> butterflies. Skippers are fairly common but not like in the spring when they
> are everywhere. We saw a very large, dark and velvety Miskin's Swift today.
> Steady on you birders it is a butterfly! It is the first I have recorded in
> the garden. Also a first for the garden was a Black and White Tiger, another
> butterfly! It is common enough on the coast anywhere there is salt marsh but
> up here at 750metres is a strange sight.
>
> Following on from my spider rave last newsletter I must admit that I have
> seen a few gravid Golden Orb Spiders with males still in the web. Recently
> at a friend's house we saw about 800 square metres of lawn covered in spider
> web. The spiders were very small and varied in density from 50 to 1 000 per
> square metre. The web was very fine and formed a mat except were the breeze
> had lifted it off the grass and rolled thicker threads. In the evening light
> it was amazing to watch the diaphanous material rippling waves of light
> across the lawn.
>
> Many of the Golden Pendas which flowered in the early part of the year did
> so again in May. White and Red Cedars are shedding their leaves. Last year
> those from my Tree-roo site were months behind other places but seem to be
> back in step this year. The orange-gold flowers of the Pink Myrtle are only
> a week or two from opening. Roly-Poly Satinash and many others in the family
> Myrtaceae put on a great show of their new leaves a few times a year. Some
> of these tress have small white flowers but great flushes of new growth.
> Pink, red and gold are common in the rainforest right now and at higher
> elevations maroon, purple and bronze splashes catch one's eye as you drive
> or view the forest from a lookout. Scrub Daphne smells a little like some of
> the coconut oil cosmetics and suntan lotions. Soon the four centimetre long
> tubular white flowers will be followed by the brilliant red and highly
> poisonous fruit. New growth on this rainforest shrub is purple, black.
>
> Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroo sightings have continued at a record level. Dorothy
> 's young has not been seen for some time and nor has old Bear. Grandma's
> young has been named Chris. It was seen regularly for a while, not far from
> home in Bear's territory but not for a few weeks now. Amanda is a newly
> named female with a large joey. She has taken up residence near the turn to
> the house and dairy. Amanda had been moving about a bit, turning up in the
> territories of other females. Perhaps this is why we saw Jill south of her
> home country it the big Milkwoods commonly used by Rex. He has been doing
> his duty, visiting all his ladies and even continues to be seen with Jack
> which is now almost mature. This is a strange relationship as Jack is not
> his offspring and could be a threat were it not for their difference in
> size. These animals are not as stroppy as zoo-keepers would have us believe.
>
> The Coppery Brushtail Possums have been feeding heavily on Turbina vine.
> Green Ringtail Possums have been seen feeding very low in a couple of fig
> species. On one occasion a male and female were on nearby branches feeding
> quietly within a metre of each other.
> Rain fell, but not much, on about half the days in May so the forest
> remained wet and the track for the nocturnal tours was still muddy until mid
> June. The creeks and rivers are running at levels that were only seen during
> rain events in the previous two years. Last weekend we had winter with three
> or four ground frosts in a row. I did not get out of bed early enough on the
> first morning to be sure. Cool weather has caused a severe drop in sightings
> of geckos since the second of June. Accommodation houses with open fire
> places have been very popular with visitors from the coast. The village is
> preparing for 'Yuletide in July' when the restaurants will have European
> Christmas menus running.
>
> Perhaps because of the good wet in their breeding grounds the cranes were
> rather late returning this year but are now back in good numbers and more
> are returning each week. Both Brolgas and Sarus Cranes are best found in
> paddocks with stubble and light grass cover within a few kilometres of the
> Barron River.
>
> Also along the river, a very light Little Eagle has been seen on a number of
> occasions between the Jim Chapman Bridge and Lavender Hill B&B, where the
> river runs into Lake Tinaroo which is still full. This Little Eagle is
> perhaps the bird which had a red body last year and gave me quite a fright
> when it flew across the windscreen of the car. My first impression was of a
> Red Goshawk. Brown Falcons are around in reasonable numbers and most are
> dark birds. Last year we had all the colour morphs present. There has been a
> possible sighting of a Black Falcon which would be a little early. A lone
> Square-tailed Kite has been seen in the village on a number of occasions.
> One lucky guest saw eleven raptors in a morning but missed out on the two he
> wanted most. That is how it goes sometimes!
>
> As there is not much mud around the edges of Lake Tinaroo or Hasties Swamp,
> few waders are evident just yet. A dozen Australian Pratincoles were flying
> over our heads as we watched the Sarus Cranes dancing. Half a kilometre
> behind us were nine Australian Bustards. An odd Pink-eared Duck has been
> seen at Hasties Swamp where there are more than a thousand Plumed Whistling
> Ducks, a few Wandering Whistling Ducks, a dozen or so each of Hardheads and
> Grey Teal along with fifty or so Black Duck. Most of the adult Jacanas seem
> to have left but there are numerous young ones. Buff-banded Land Rails are
> the only rails which are being regularly seem. Black Bitterns have been more
> obvious at Hasties Swamp and around the edge of Tinaroo than I can ever
> remember. White-breasted Sea-Eagles and Wedge-tail Eagles are around in
> reasonable numbers.
>
> A pair of Wompoo Fruit-doves visited a nest which was built last December
> but never used. Both birds were calling but one stayed on for some time not
> making its full call. The bird was standing in the nest reaching up and
> forward making strangled, 'Wock, ock, ock,' calls. The whole impression was
> that the bird was in danger of choking and trying to vomit as it bent its
> head down to the edge of the nest.
>
> On the inner Tablelands around Atherton, Yungaburra, Malanda, Sacred
> Kingfishers are usually autumn and spring visitors but this year a few birds
> are still being seen in mid June. There is one which has taken up residence
> in our garden. Talking of our garden, we had our first record of a Pallid
> Cuckoo early in June. A pair of Oriental Cuckoos flew over the Curtain
> Figtree forest in June which is very late in the season for them.
>
> Azure and Little Kingfishers have been seen in Yungaburra along Petersen
> Creek. The former commonly but the latter infrequently. Up to six Forest
> Kingfishers have been roosting together over the track we use at night.
> Another change of season migrant in this area is the Cicadabird but a
> beautiful male is hanging around in the eucalypt forest above Williams Weir.
> The southern birds have come north with the tourists. A flock of at least 60
> Silver-eyes came through my yard yesterday and the winter visiting pale Grey
> Fantail is back. As predicted, the flowering of the blue gums is bringing an
> influx of honeyeaters to the village. Yellow, White-cheeked, White-throated
> and Yellow-faced Honeyeaters are not common in Yungaburra for most of the
> year but along Petersen Creek are now being seen often.
>
> The number of large spectacular butterflies is diminishing with the colder
> weather but there has been a return of yellow, white and small blue
> butterflies. Skippers are fairly common but not like in the spring when they
> are everywhere. We saw a very large, dark and velvety Miskin's Swift today.
> Steady on you birders it is a butterfly! It is the first I have recorded in
> the garden. Also a first for the garden was a Black and White Tiger, another
> butterfly! It is common enough on the coast anywhere there is salt marsh but
> up here at 750metres is a strange sight.
>
> Following on from my spider rave last newsletter I must admit that I have
> seen a few gravid Golden Orb Spiders with males still in the web. Recently
> at a friend's house we saw about 800 square metres of lawn covered in spider
> web. The spiders were very small and varied in density from 50 to 1 000 per
> square metre. The web was very fine and formed a mat except were the breeze
> had lifted it off the grass and rolled thicker threads. In the evening light
> it was amazing to watch the diaphanous material rippling waves of light
> across the lawn.
>
> Many of the Golden Pendas which flowered in the early part of the year did
> so again in May. White and Red Cedars are shedding their leaves. Last year
> those from my Tree-roo site were months behind other places but seem to be
> back in step this year. The orange-gold flowers of the Pink Myrtle are only
> a week or two from opening. Roly-Poly Satinash and many others in the family
> Myrtaceae put on a great show of their new leaves a few times a year. Some
> of these tress have small white flowers but great flushes of new growth.
> Pink, red and gold are common in the rainforest right now and at higher
> elevations maroon, purple and bronze splashes catch one's eye as you drive
> or view the forest from a lookout. Scrub Daphne smells a little like some of
> the coconut oil cosmetics and suntan lotions. Soon the four centimetre long
> tubular white flowers will be followed by the brilliant red and highly
> poisonous fruit. New growth on this rainforest shrub is purple, black.
>
> Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroo sightings have continued at a record level. Dorothy
> 's young has not been seen for some time and nor has old Bear. Grandma's
> young has been named Chris. It was seen regularly for a while, not far from
> home in Bear's territory but not for a few weeks now. Amanda is a newly
> named female with a large joey. She has taken up residence near the turn to
> the house and dairy. Amanda had been moving about a bit, turning up in the
> territories of other females. Perhaps this is why we saw Jill south of her
> home country it the big Milkwoods commonly used by Rex. He has been doing
> his duty, visiting all his ladies and even continues to be seen with Jack
> which is now almost mature. This is a strange relationship as Jack is not
> his offspring and could be a threat were it not for their difference in
> size. These animals are not as stroppy as zoo-keepers would have us believe.
>
> The Coppery Brushtail Possums have been feeding heavily on Turbina vine.
> Green Ringtail Possums have been seen feeding very low in a couple of fig
> species. On one occasion a male and female were on nearby branches feeding
> quietly within a metre of each other.
