2014 - Can I see 1000 species? (1 Viewer)

[chowchilla]

I don't want to steal Jon's thunder as he hasn't finished posting what we saw, but I was disappointed with the rainforest birding. Harder than usual and things almost had to be teased into showing. I guess it's the time of year and I don't recall being up there in March before so it was interesting to see the contrast with other times of year with far fewer birds calling than usual.

We didn't get the Shrike Tits as you can see either Dom.

There were some real highlights however: White-throated Honeyeater feeding on a low shrub for a full minute in excellent light instead of flitting through the tree tops as usual; Black-throated Finch at the same random roadside site before Mareeba. We'd only stopped as we'd spotted a Wedgie in a tree!

The Honeyeater haul was impressive all told; 13 species in total.

 

[chowchilla]

Btw Jon, the Rufous Fantails (which literally played around near our feet) were at Hypipamee. We saw our fist Grey there too.

 

[Jon Turner]

I thought some were out of sequence, it always difficult when you see many birds to keep the tally, and we kept remembering stuff later on...

More when we get to Brisbane, or praps at Cairns Airport if their Wifi is working....

Oh, and I added two more this morning, on a nauseatingly sun filled walk to the beach

 

[chowchilla]

Oh, and I added two more this morning, on a nauseatingly sun filled walk to the beach

I know it's tough isn't it?

Glorious weather today and pretty good yesterday too. The Sun Gods were kind to us yesterday, it could've been pissing down seeing as it's March!

 

[chowchilla]

Pied and Little Black Cormorants,

I've just spotted this. Just to be sure: have you got Little Pied Cormorant for the year because that's what we saw, not Pied.

 

[Jon Turner]

wow, that's great B . I've just looked at the range map in P & K, and it's a long way out off. Apologies for questioning you there Jon.

And I have photographic evidence Larry! We only saw one.

 

[Jon Turner]

I've just spotted this. Just to be sure: have you got Little Pied Cormorant for the year because that's what we saw, not Pied.

I'm currently wearing beer goggles, so not sure, must remember to check.

And after NZ, I'm sure I've seen plenty of Shag and Cormorants.

 

[Jon Turner]

The eagle-eyed amongst you will notice that 377 and 403 are both Yellow Honeyeater. So we'll make
403 ) MACLEAY'S HONEYEATER

 

[Jon Turner]

On leaving Hastie we went over to the amazing Curtain Fig tree, where a small party of
446) LARGE-BILLED SCRUBWREN but not much else available.
So to the lovely Lake Barrine, where we drank coffee and counted lots of Great-crested Grebes, then took a walk through the forest and added:
447) SPECTACLED MONARCH
448) LITTLE SHRIKE THRUSH
449) RIFLEBIRD
And then Chowchilla, after diligent searching, found three
450) CHOWCHILLA
451) BROWN CUCKOO DOVE
So off towards Granite Canyon, and on the way a few species of Wallaby/Kangaroo and
452) GREAT BOWERBIRD
453) DOUBLE-BARRED FINCH
At the canyon as well as some delightful Rock Wallabies,
454) SQUATTER PIGEON
And the amazing
456) TAWNY FROGMOUTH!
We then headed off to finish the day at the Mareeba Wetlands, but missed the turn-off, which turned out to be the best mistake of the day, as a few miles down the wrong road, we had a pair of
457) AUSTRALIAN BUSTARD right by the road!
On the entry road to Mareeba wetlands we added
458) JABIRU or BLACK-NECKED STORK
459) PALE-HEADED ROSELLA
460) AUSTRALIAN HOBBY
461) Dollarbird
Sadly at the gate it said Closed for the wet season, so missing a few extras I suspect.
We recorded 124 species during the day of which I failed to see the Bee-eater, and another 8 were heard-only, which in my rules don't count. A truly memorable day and my sincere thanks to Chowchilla for putting together such an itinerary and helping me to 9 of the local endemics. Did I say that I drove 510 kms from Pt Douglas to Pt Douglas.
Come to think of it Chow, didn't we record Noisy Friarbird on the stop near Granite Canyon?

 

[Jon Turner]

Slack day today, but an earlyish walk to the beach caught me up with the glaring omission from yesterday when a pair of
462) RAINBOW BEE-EATER showed well by the road.
Driving out of Brisbane not long out of the airport, a fine
463) Brahminy Kite
And from our hosts garden later 2
464) KING PARROT
One or two others are under investigation, but hope for a few more here in the next few days.

 

[chowchilla]

I think I can squeeze a few more birds out of the day for you Jon:

We did indeed see several Noisy Friarbird near Granite Gorge.

We had Yellow-throated Scrubwren as we walked down the path away from the Car Park. I can't remember whether you saw it or not.

The Black-shouldered Kite we saw definitely counts. IOC split the Aussie one from ones elsewhere. Oddly enough they call it by the same name and call the one in the rest of the Old World Black-winged Kite.

We had an Australian Goshawk at Mareeba upsetting the local Pale-headed Rosellas. Not sure if you've seen that one as yet.

FTR 'heard onlys' for the day were: Striated Pardalote, Australian Koel, Grey Whistler, Dusky Honeyeater, Golden-headed Cisticola, Black-faced and White-eared Monarchs, Golden Whistler, Scrub Fowl, and Silvereye. We also of course saw quite a lot of stuff that wasn't new.

 

[Jon Turner]

I think I can squeeze a few more birds out of the day for you Jon:

We did indeed see several Noisy Friarbird near Granite Gorge.

We had Yellow-throated Scrubwren as we walked down the path away from the Car Park. I can't remember whether you saw it or not.

The Black-shouldered Kite we saw definitely counts. IOC split the Aussie one from ones elsewhere. Oddly enough they call it by the same name and call the one in the rest of the Old World Black-winged Kite.

We had an Australian Goshawk at Mareeba upsetting the local Pale-headed Rosellas. Not sure if you've seen that one as yet.

FTR 'heard onlys' for the day were: Striated Pardalote, Australian Koel, Grey Whistler, Dusky Honeyeater, Golden-headed Cisticola, Black-faced and White-eared Monarchs, Golden Whistler, Scrub Fowl, and Silvereye. We also of course saw quite a lot of stuff that wasn't new.

Excellent, I knew we'd seen others, but it became a blur with all that new stuff!

462) NOISY FRIARBIRD
463) BLACK-SHOUlDERED KITE - also seen at Werribee
464) YELLOW-THROATED SCRUBWREN
465) AUSTRALIAN GOSHAWK

 

[Jon Turner]

Recorded a few species around the 5-acre property where we are staying now on the very western outskirts of Brisbane, near the village of Samford. In the garden, Nankeen and White-faced Heron, Red-browed Firetail, Dusky Moorhen, Pacific Black Duck, Grey Butcherbird, Magpie Lark, Oz Magpie Torresian Crow, Lewin's Honeyeater and Wallaby (Red-necked). Nearby, Eastern Yellow Robin, Rufous Whistler, Bar-shouldered, and Peaceful Doves, Willie Wagtail, Spangled Drongo, Laughing Kookaburra (Laughing too!) Eastern Cattle Egret, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Figbird, and a few others. We went up to Noosa, which is delightful, and on the way, Sacred Kingfisher, and over picnic lunch at the mouth of the river Noosa, Osprey, Great-crested, Common and Little Terns, Brahminy Kite, Pacific Golden Plover, Brush Stone Curlew, Silver Gull, Noisy Friarbird and Noisy Miner, Pied Currawong and Red-capped Plover. On the way back south we stopped for a swim at Peregian beach a fly-by Lesser Frigate-bird. Quite a few flyby White Ibis and Magpie Geese during the drive. Also 2 flyover Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos.

466) Sacred Kingfisher - in Fiji, I saw a Kingfisher called Sacred, but think this is different, although it looks similar..
467) RED-CAPPED PLOVER
468) Lesser Frigatebird
469) YELLOW-TAILED BLACK COCKATOO

 

[Edward]

Recorded a few species around the 5-acre property where we are staying now on the very western outskirts of Brisbane, near the village of Samford. In the garden, Nankeen and White-faced Heron, Red-browed Firetail, Dusky Moorhen, Pacific Black Duck, Grey Butcherbird, Magpie Lark, Oz Magpie Torresian Crow, Lewin's Honeyeater and Wallaby (Red-necked). Nearby, Eastern Yellow Robin, Rufous Whistler, Bar-shouldered, and Peaceful Doves, Willie Wagtail, Spangled Drongo, Laughing Kookaburra (Laughing too!) Eastern Cattle Egret, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Figbird, and a few others. We went up to Noosa, which is delightful, and on the way, Sacred Kingfisher, and over picnic lunch at the mouth of the river Noosa, Osprey, Great-crested, Common and Little Terns, Brahminy Kite, Pacific Golden Plover, Brush Stone Curlew, Silver Gull, Noisy Friarbird and Noisy Miner, Pied Currawong and Red-capped Plover. On the way back south we stopped for a swim at Peregian beach a fly-by Lesser Frigate-bird. Quite a few flyby White Ibis and Magpie Geese during the drive. Also 2 flyover Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos.

466) Sacred Kingfisher - in Fiji, I saw a Kingfisher called Sacred, but think this is different, although it looks similar..
467) RED-CAPPED PLOVER
468) Lesser Frigatebird
469) YELLOW-TAILED BLACK COCKATOO

Samford is a great area for birding, I'll be there for 4 weeks this summer visiting my brother who lives there. The rainforest at Maiala (Mt. Glorious) is great for things like Logrunner, Satin Bowerbird, Green Catbird, Russet-tailed Thrush.

E

 

[Allen S. Moore]

466) Sacred Kingfisher - in Fiji, I saw a Kingfisher called Sacred, but think this is different, although it looks similar..

Didn't you see this species in NZ?

 

[Jon Turner]

Samford is a great arnightea for birding, I'll be there for 4 weeks this summer visiting my brother who lives there. The rainforest at Maiala (Mt. Glorious) is great for things like Logrunner, Satin Bowerbird, Green Catbird, Russet-tailed Thrush.

E

Thanks Edward, I hope to get there tomorrow.... followed by a late afternoon cruise up the Brisbane river. Any exact site details?

 

[Jon Turner]

Didn't you see this species in NZ?

The NZ Kingfisher is Halcyon Sancta
The OZ Sacred Kingfisher is Todiramphus Sancta

I'm in the confused camp.... As usual!

 

[davercox]

Well, IOC gives only Todiramphus sanctus, occurring in both Oz and NZ.
And Avibase also gives this species for Fiji.

 

[Edward]

Thanks Edward, I hope to get there tomorrow.... followed by a late afternoon cruise up the Brisbane river. Any exact site details?

For Maiala there is a car park on the right and you just walk the marked trails through the forest. I saw Satin Bowerbird and Wonga Pigeon as soon as I got out of the car. Logrunner was the species I wanted to see most and they were easy to see there, just have to listen out for the scratching noises on the forest floor. Eastern Whipbird was easy there too (as it was in most of Samford actually).

 

[Jon Turner]

Well, IOC gives only Todiramphus sanctus, occurring in both Oz and NZ.
And Avibase also gives this species for Fiji.

Right, thanks all, I'll replace it with:
466) EASTERN WHIPBIRD, which I now realise is another bird I saw on my morning walk. And also heard with Chow up on the tablelands on Saturday.