A year birding Oz & NZ (1 Viewer)

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24/10/11
As buses stop quite early, I walked up to Mt Coot-tha to do a bit of spot lighting in the evening. I hung out in the JC Slaughter Falls car park, and was eventually put off by some dodgy looking cars showing up around 9pm, and then rapidly speeding off when they saw me...
I heard both Southern Boobook and White-throated Nightjar (although I didn’t know it at the time – I was expecting a call vaguely similar to European Nightjars, but they sounded more like Kookaburras) which would’ve been new species, and I did have very good views of a couple of Tawny Frogmouths. There were a few Common Brushtail Possums around too, and on the walk back through town I saw a Common Ringtail Possum working its way along a telephone wire.

29/10/11
I bit of twitching took me to a new spot, Minippi Parklands. There are a couple of large lakes here, as well as a nicely vegetated creek. It’s possible to get reasonably close by bus, but it still requires a bit of walking to get to the site.

Along the entrance road there was a Forest Kingfisher, and on the Lakes there were a couple of Comb-crested Jacanas among the usual waterbirds. I could hear an Australian Koel calling from some dense scrub, but I didn’t get to see it despite waiting around for a while. I’d been hearing them quite frequently in Brisbane over the previous few weeks, but they were invariably calling from cover in people’s front gardens, which meant I couldn’t really stake them out without looking suspicious! Other summer visitors included Channel-billed Cuckoo and Dollarbird and I also found an Eastern Blue-tongue basking by a patch of long grass.

Getting back to the lake I started looking for my main targets, and after hearing a sharp ticking noise coming from the grass at the water’s edge I got very good, although fairly brief views of a Spotless Crake. Shortly afterwards there was another individual further along the same bank, and then my second target appeared, as a Baillon’s Crake wandered out from the bank over some water lilies. The Baillon’s Crake continued walking towards me until it was actually underneath the viewing platform that I was sat on, a really nice little bird.

02/11/11
A visit to Oxley Creek Common brought me my first Painted Button-quail.
There was also an Eastern Osprey fishing over the lake, giving excellent views. This apparently upset one of the local White-bellied Sea Eagles, which appeared from nowhere to launch itself at the Osprey before chasing it around for a while. The Eagle was easily outmanoeuvred though, so eventually got bored and left.

Birds
242. Spotless Crake
243. Baillon’s Crake
244. Painted Button-quail

Mammals
19. Common Ringtail Possum

 

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1 & 2. Baillon's Crake at Minippi Parklands
and from Oxley Creek Common:
3 & 4. Eastern Osprey
5. Yellow-rumped Thornbill

 

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04/11/11 – wild Pygmy-goose chase
I got a bus over to the uni’s Gatton campus which is about an hour inland in the Lockyer Valley. Although it’s close to Brisbane, there are a number of species here which are rare or absent from the coastal areas.
Gatton also has a couple of good lakes, with a completely different suite of species to the St Lucia campus. Plumed Whistling-duck and Magpie Goose were common, and there were also a few Pink-eared Ducks as well as the scarce (particularly in Queensland) Blue-billed Duck. My first Little Grassbirds, along with some Superb Fairy-wrens, were in the scrub around the lake and there was a colony of Eastern Cattle Egrets in the trees here.
Birds of prey were also fairly obvious, and as well as Brown Falcon, Nankeen Kestrel, Whistling Kite and Black-shouldered Kite I had very good views of a Black Falcon gliding low over my head – this is another scarce bird so it was very pleased to see it.
After spending a bit of time on the campus, I decided to walk to Lake Clarendon in the hope of finding Cotton Pygmy-geese, which had been reported from there recently. The lake was a lot further away than I’d realised, and on reaching it I found that there weren’t any drinking fountains (at many Aussie sites there are), and as I was just about out of water I didn't get to spend too much time there before heading back towards campus. The perimeter of the lake was mainly fenced off too, so there was no opportunity to walk round and get closer to the birds. There were some big rafts of ducks out on the water, but they were very distant and there was a strong heat haze, which meant that picking out, and positively identifying, one of the smallest ducks in the world was not going to be possible. Whiskered Terns were nice to see though, and as I started walking back a couple of Cockatiels flew over. After walking for a while, a chap pulled over and kindly offered me a lift back near to the campus.

Birds
245. Plumed Whistling-duck
246. Blue-billed Duck
247. Little Grassbird
248. Black Falcon

 

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1. Magpie Goose
2. male Blue-billed Duck
3. Eastern Cattle Egret in breeding plumage
4. male Superb Fairy-wren
5. Brown Falcon

 

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11/11/11
On this day I finally managed to find my own Koalas! It turns out that the key to success is wandering around built up areas, rather than visiting nice pristine eucalypt forest...
I took the train down to Cleveland, where the Stradbroke ferries leave from, and within an hour of walking the streets I came across a mother Koala with a small juvenile in a small park. They were both fairly low down in a large eucalyptus tree, and as it was the middle of the day I was able to get a much better look than with my previous night-time sighting. I thought that living in a Koala hotspot would mean that sightings like this were pretty common for the locals, but everyone walking past seemed to be extremely excited to see them. After enjoying these awesome mammals for a while I got the train back home, stopping briefly at Wynnum where my first Greenshanks of the trip were out on the mudflats.

13/11/11
Another visit to Kedron Brook Wetlands once again yielded plenty of birds of prey, including my main target – a juvenile Swamp Harrier. There were also 2 Eastern Ospreys fishing over the lake, as well as the usual Whistling, Brahminy and Black-shouldered Kites. Higher water levels meant that the waders were closer to the path, giving me better looks at the Red-necked Avocets and Red-kneed Dotterels, as well as my first Sharp-tailed Sandpipers.
However, the highlight came further along the track where a rustling noise alerted me to something moving in the bushes. Eventually I managed to see what it was, and realised it was a Northern Brown Bandicoot. Stumbling across an unusual, unexpected marsupial in the middle of the day was pretty exciting, and although it stayed in dense undergrowth it didn’t seem at all concerned by my presence.

Birds
249. Greenshank
250. Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
251. Swamp Harrier

Mammals
20. Northern Brown Bandicoot

 

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1 & 2. mother Koala
3. baby Koala
4. you may have to use your imagination, but it's a Bandicoot, I promise
5. Blue-tongue at Kedron, showing how it got its name

 

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20/11/11
After a few previous attempts, I finally managed to track down a Powerful Owl during an afternoon walk up Mt Coot-tha. I stumbled across the huge bird sat on a low branch, and after watching it for a while I headed to the JC Slaughter Falls picnic area. Annoyingly, as I wasn’t expecting to be successful I didn’t bring a camera...
There were a few good birds around while I waited for sunset, including Little Lorikeets, Australian King Parrots, and what looked like a Square-tailed Kite going high overhead. Once it got dark my second target appeared as a large, dark White-throated Nightjar cruised through the clearing like a stealth bomber before moving off to feed elsewhere. Walking back down I once again saw some Tawny Frogmouths and a few Common Brushtail Possums.

21/11/11
I returned to Mt Coot-tha by day in the hope that the owl might be in the same spot, but unfortunately it must’ve chosen a different roosting site so no chance of getting any photos. A Little Shrike-thrush was a first for me, and a big Wedge-tailed Eagle soaring above was only the second I’d seen.

Birds
252. Powerful Owl
253. White-throated Nightjar
254. Little Shrike-thrush

 

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22/11/11 – Blue Mountains
I flew down to Sydney to meet up with my parents, who’d come out for a 3 week visit. This meant I had a few weeks of travelling a bit more comfortably than I had been, staying in motels and being driven rather than using public transport.
To start with we were staying with some relatives who live just by the Blue Mountains at Wallacia. I arrived fairly late in the day, but a walk down to a river by their house gave me views of my first White-throated Gerygones as well as a few Satin Bowerbirds, and the dam there had an Australian Pelican and a White-bellied Sea Eagle among others. While sat on their veranda in the evening, a few beautiful Eastern Rosellas flew up to roost in a large tree, and a Red Fox trotted around the dam below.

24/11/11
Many honeyeaters were being attracted to some flowering Eucalypts by the house, and as well as Yellow-faced and Scarlet there were a few White-naped Honeyeaters, a first for me. A Red-whiskered Bulbul also showed up in the garden, and some Yellow-tailed Black-cockatoos went over.
During the day we visited the nearby Bent’s Basin Reserve. I visited this spot again in January, and despite noticing the nice sandstone outcrops on both occasions I didn’t think Rock Warbler would be there as it’s just a small local reserve which I hadn’t heard of previously. It turns out that this is a top site for the species, and if I’d put in a bit of effort I probably could’ve found them fairly easily – I wish I’d done some research!
It still turned out to be a really good area, with Eastern Spinebill, Yellow (which were actually yellow, unlike the buffy outback birds) and Striated Thornbill, Satin Bowerbird and White-throated Treecreeper being seen soon after we’d arrived. A call, described perfectly in the fieldguide as a monotonous whooping, lead me to my first Wonga Pigeon sat high in a tree. We also had distant views of a White-headed Pigeon, and there were a few Common Bronzewings around.
Eastern Grey Kangaroo, Red-necked Wallaby, Eastern Water Dragon and Eastern Blue–tongue were also seen in the area.

26/11/11
We were flying up to Brisbane on this day, but before leaving I saw a couple of Brown Gerygones moving through the garden. I also heard a Blackbird calling nearby, but didn’t quite have to motivation to go and track it down...

Birds
255. White-throated Gerygone
256. Eastern Rosella
257. White-naped Honeyeater
258. Red-whiskered Bulbul
259. Striated Thornbill
260. Wonga Pigeon
261. White-headed Pigeon
262. Brown Gerygone

Mammals
21. Red Fox

 

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27/11/11
After landing in Brisbane the day before we’d made our way up to the Sunshine Coast, getting as far as Tin Can Bay. Driving around looking for places to stay the evening before, big Rainbow Lorikeet roosts had been notable in just about every coastal area we went through.
Waking early we headed out to see the main wildlife attraction of the area – a pair of Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphins which come in each morning to be fed fish. It was really great to see them moving around in knee deep water, and although we didn’t pay to feed them it was quite entertaining to watch the assembled Pied and Little Black Cormorants attempting to snatch fish from the tourist’s hands before they got to the Dolphins. There were also Eastern Ospreys, White-bellied Sea-eagles and Brahminy Kites passing by to add interest.
As soon as the fish ran out the Dolphins left, and we moved on for a brief stop at Inskip Point and Rainbow Beach. I didn’t manage to find any Black-breasted Button-quals in our short visit, although there were plenty of platelets around and a tiny fluffy Australian Brush-turkey chick running through the bushes had me excited for a moment. There were other nice birds around though, including Red-capped Plovers, an Australian Koel, Mangrove Honeyeaters, Varied Triller and a number of Rainbow Bee-eaters nesting in the sandy verges. A Sand Monitor near the point was another new species for me.
After this we started the drive up to Gladstone which was fairly quiet apart from a roadside Wedge-tailed Eagle.

Birds
263. Australian Koel
264. Red-capped Plover

Reptiles & Amphibians
16. Sand Monitor

 

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1-3. Indo-Pacific Humpback Dolphin
4. Pied Cormorant
5. female Australian Koel sunbathing at Inskip

 

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28/11/11-02/12/11 – Heron Island: Take 2
My parents were keen to visit the GBR during their trip, so I was lucky enough to get to go to the beautiful Heron Island for a second time. Again, I’ll group sightings together in to one report.
On the ferry journey over we had good looks at some Oceanic Bottlenose Dolphins riding the wake.
Birds on the island were much the same as before, but some extremely graceful Bridled Terns were notable new arrivals. On the first day there was also an impressive female Great Frigatebird soaring overhead – I thought these might be a regular sight now that the breeding season was well under way, but this was the only one so it’s lucky I was looking up at the right moment. A few of the resident Black Noddys had chicks, and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters had also arrived back to breed on the island. Walking around the island by night you had to be careful not to step on the Shearwaters, and they were very entertaining to watch as they dashed around trying to find their burrows. At first I couldn’t see how anyone could find their coo-ing calls annoying, but they gradually get louder and more excitable as the evenings go on until they are making a real racket in the middle of the night. On the final day a good breeze came in, and we got to see a few Shearwaters scything across the lagoon by day as well as gliding over the big waves on the ferry journey back to Gladstone.
Buff-banded Rails also had chicks, and the parents were fiercely protective – I saw them scare off Pacific Reef Egrets a few times, and one mother managed to rescue her chick even after a Silver Gull was halfway through swallowing it.
Grey-tailed Tattlers, Pacific Golden Plovers and Lesser Sand Plovers were still present, but they had been joined by one Greater Sand Plover and one Sooty Oystercatcher among a group of Pieds. After a few brief glimpses, I was also able to confirm that the few Tattlers that would roost on the breakwater by the harbour were Wandering Tattlers.
Other than that the usual birds were still around, including White-bellied Sea Eagle, Crested, Lesser Crested and Black-naped Tern, Brown Booby, ‘Capricorn Silvereye’, Bar-shouldered Dove and Sacred Kingfisher.
A major bonus, and the highlight of this particular trip, was that Turtles had now returned to nest on the island. Walking the beaches in the evening it was possible, with care, to get amazing views of the huge female Green Turtles excavating their nests and laying eggs. By waking early, we were also able to see a number of Green Turtles, and one Loggerhead, making their way back down the beach in the morning. Due to the tides, most would make it just off the shore before sitting in the shallows until the water was deep enough for them to leave the lagoon. Snorkelling gave good views of both of these species, as well as one Hawksbill Turtle. Once again there was an exceptional diversity of other marine life too.
It was quite late in the day when we started heading south from Gladstone on the 2nd, but I was pleased to get a brief view of a Blue-winged Kookaburra on a telephone wire by the road.

Birds
265. Bridled Tern
266. Great Frigatebird
267. Wedge-tailed Shearwater
268. Greater Sand Plover
269. Sooty Oystercatcher
270. Wandering Tattler
271. Blue-winged Kookaburra

Reptiles & Amphibians
17. Loggerhead Turtle
18. Hawksbill Turtle

 

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1. Black-naped Tern
2. Bridled Tern
3. Crested Tern
4. Brown Booby

 

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1. Green Turtle
2. Loggerhead Turtle
3. Greater Sand Plover
4. Wandering Tattler

 

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03/12/12
We’d made it as far as Bundaberg on the evening of the 2nd. Before leaving, we saw Collared Kingfishers, Brahminy Kites and an Australian Koel by the river in town, and there was a large Black Flying-fox roost further down the coast.
We made it to Noosa and decided to stay there for the night. There was enough time for a visit to Noosa National Park that afternoon, which turned out to be pretty productive. Firstly, we spotted a group of Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphins playing in the waves offshore and in the forest I saw my first Large-billed Scrubwren. Finally, just by the car park, a crowd of people staring up a tree drew our attention to a Koala – I was very pleased that I got to show my parents one during their visit.

04/12/12
Before leaving Noosa, it was great to see a fleet of White-throated Needletails cruising over the river before they zoomed off inland.
Today we were heading to Lamington National Park to spend a few nights at the legendary O’Reilly’s. On the drive up into the mountains there were a number of Whiptail Wallabies alongside the road. On reaching the visitor centre, the numerous tame Australian King Parrots and Crimson Rosellas were immediately obvious along with a couple of Wonga Pigeons and Satin Bowerbirds. A Topknot Pigeon and a brilliantly coloured male Regent Bowerbird also flew over – my first new rainforest birds for the day. Heading down to drop our stuff off we passed some cute little Red-necked Pademelons, a Brown Cuckoo-dove and an extremely confiding Eastern Whipbird.
I immediately set off on one of the forest trails, and as well as the previously mentioned species I encountered Yellow-throated Scrubwren, Russet-tailed Thrush, the charismatic Logrunner, Brown Thornbills and Rufous Fantails. Green Catbirds were heard frequently, along with the occasional hissing of a Paradise Riflebird.

Birds
272. Large-billed Scrubwren
273. White-throated Needletail
274. Topknot Pigeon
275. Regent Bowerbird
276. Brown Cuckoo-dove
277. Yellow-throated Scrubwren
278. Russet-tailed Thrush
279. Logrunner

Mammals
22. Indo-Pacific Bottlenose Dolphin
23. Whiptail Wallaby
24. Red-necked Pademelon

 

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1. Black Flying-foxes near Bundaberg
2. a stunning male Regent Bowerbird
3. male Australian King Parrot
4. Crimson Rosella

 

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05/12/12
This day produced many of the species seen on the day before (which I certainly wasn’t complaining about) as well as my first views of Paradise Riflebird – it was really quite special seeing my first birds of paradise. Firstly a female near the accommodation and then a male a bit later in the same area which drew attention to itself by raining bits of rotten wood down onto the path ahead of me. In the forest we had a few glimpses of Red-legged Pademelon, and near the visitor centre there was an impressive Land Mullet basking before moving off into cover.
Later in the day I made a half-hearted attempt to trek over to the Rufous Scrub-bird area, but weather conditions were pretty poor and so I had to leave it. A nice adult male Rose Robin and a Grey Goshawk was pretty good compensation though.
The weather was too bad for spotlighting that evening, but away in the distance I could hear the ‘falling bomb’ of a Sooty Owl, which was pretty awesome even if I didn’t get to see the bird.


06/12/12
An early walk on our final day in Lamington produced my number one target and another very special species – a female Albert’s Lyrebird rushing off down a slope. This was on the same track as the Paradise Riflebirds from yesterday, a very productive little area! Later we went on a longer walk, where the definite highlight was seeing a few gorgeous Rose-crowned Fruit-doves, while to continue the pigeon theme a White-headed Pigeon and a few Brown Cuckoo-doves were also nice to see.
Lamington really is an awesome area, and it’s a place that I’d love to explore further one day.
That was it for my parent's trip and it had been a great few weeks of wildlife-ing. Fortunately I had my next adventure lined up to start a few days later, so withdrawal symptoms weren't going to be a problem!

Birds
280. Paradise Riflebird
281. Albert’s Lyrebird
282. Rose-crowned Fruit-dove

Mammals
25. Red-legged Pademelon

Reptiles & Amphibians
19. Land Mullet

 

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1. male Paradise Riflebird, destroying a tree
2. Russet-tailed Thrush
3. Brown Cuckoo-dove
4. Wonga Pigeon

 

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1 & 2. Red-browed Finches at the feeding station
3. Red-necked Pademelon
4. female Australian King Parrot

 

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Miscellaneous butterflies and a moth:
1. Common Crow
2 & 3. Chequered Swallowtail
4. Large Grass Yellow
5. the moths which were extremely common by night in Cunnamulla, this one's playing dead

 

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09/12/11–25/12/11 - Far North Queensland
The Cairns area was top of my list of places to visit during my time in Oz. North Queensland is Australia’s hotspot for species richness, and in my 16 day visit I saw 203 species of bird without use of my own vehicle. There are some local specialities that, realistically, can’t be found using public transport alone, but it’s surprising how much can be done. For the whole trip it was pretty hot and humid, but fortunately I didn’t get rained on too many times.
Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher was number one on my wish list of birds to see in Australia, and this was basically the single reason I chose to visit the area at this time of year. The trip also had two other main targets: Platypus and Southern Cassowary. The main locations visited were as follows:

Cairns – hostels are relatively cheap here compared to many of the southern cities, and all of the key sites are within walking distance.
Kuranda – you have the option of travelling here by bus, skyrail, or train. I stayed at a campsite south of the Barron River and then walked over to bird in the rainforest north of the river each day. This area has some of the Atherton endemics, but lacks the high altitude specialists.
Yungaburra – it’s possible to get a lift up here with some of the tour buses. These buses also visit Lake Eacham, Lake Barrine and Lake Hypipamee, so there is the possibility of visiting other spots in the tablelands. I camped at the hostel in town which was well set up and very cheap.
Mareeba – there are buses from Cairns. On this visit I took an early morning bus to Biboohra, at the entrance to Mareeba Wetlands, and then caught the same bus back later in the day. This didn’t give a lot of time and on a return visit to the area in April I tried a different option which worked out a lot better.

I’ll give more detail about all of these areas in the daily reports.