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Wonders Down Under: Singapore and Australia June-July 2009
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<blockquote data-quote="Andrew Whitehouse" data-source="post: 1681225" data-attributes="member: 3550"><p><strong>Day 17: 5th July 2009, Mount Lewis and Mount Carbine</strong></p><p></p><p>After a quick look around Kingfisher Park early in the morning I headed down the road to Mount Lewis. Normally the road up to the mountain top is too difficult for a car but in the dry season it's quite doable, if a little bumpy in places. On the way up, a smallish dark bird flew up from the side of the track. On stopping, I soon got onto it: a <strong>Chowchilla</strong>. It was accompanied by another and they both vigorously submerged themselves in the leaf litter and scratched about. Also on the way up I had views of two more <strong>Wompoo Fruit-doves</strong> and <strong>Pale Yellow Robin</strong>.</p><p></p><p>There were quite a number of species I was hoping to find in the higher altitude forests at the top of Mount Lewis. I managed to see one of them before I'd even got out of the car: an <strong>Atherton Scrubwren</strong>. These look quite similar to the Large-billed Scrubwrens of the lowlands but are a bit bigger and darker. Also at the start of the trail were <strong>Lewin's</strong> and <strong>Bridled Honeyeaters</strong> and <strong>Yellow-throated Scrubwrens</strong>. Not much further up the trail, in the gloomy undergrowth was another hoped for species: a <strong>Fernwren</strong>. These proved to be quite common birds of the leaf litter, often in the company of the continually engaging <strong>Chowchillas</strong>.</p><p></p><p>I soon began to encounter flocks of one <strong>Mountain Thornbills</strong>, one of the characteristic birds of the high altitude forest. Things began to liven up as I ascended the trail with another <strong>White-throated Treecreeper</strong> and my first <strong>Eastern Whipbird</strong>, whose striking calls could often be heard in the distance. Two <strong>Brown Cuckoo-doves</strong>, with impressively long tails, appeared in the treetops. I'd recommend any visitor to Mount Lewis to make some squeaky noises because these tend to bring in some of the better birds of the forest. Foremost amongst these was a <strong>Golden Bowerbird,</strong> sadly just a plain brown female in my case. I also managed to encourage a couple of <strong>Bower's Shrike-thrushes</strong>, a scarce endemic, out of the undergrowth. Towards the top of the trail I saw my first <strong>Eastern Spinebill</strong> - not quite as impressive as the Western Spinebills I'd seen earlier on the trip but still very smart birds. A pair of <strong>Spotted Catbirds</strong> also came in on squeaking. On the way back down the trail I saw a similar array of birds and also a pair of hulking <strong>Topknot Pigeons</strong> with their strange crests.</p><p></p><p>After lunch, I headed out towards Mount Carbine, in the dry country. It's remarkable how the landscape changes from rainforest to scrubby dry country in the space of just a few kilometres, but this means that there are very different birds too. I stopped just past the small settlement at Mount Carbine and headed along the bottom end of Mount Carbine Dam. Initially it was very warm and the birds were subdued but eventually I began to see a few <strong>White-throated Honeyeaters, Fairy Gerygones, Rainbow Bee-eaters</strong> and <strong>Yellow Honeyeaters</strong>. More of a surprise was an immaculate looking <strong>Restless Flycatcher</strong>. I had some brief views of a pair of <strong>Double-barred Finches</strong> and some pretty <strong>Striated Pardalotes</strong>. A group of <strong>Noisy Friarbirds</strong> were living up to their name. An <strong>Australian Reed Warbler</strong> was seen briefly in the marshes and a large group of <strong>Blue-faced Honeyeaters</strong> flew towards the road. Two <strong>Crested Pigeons</strong> were by the garage in Mount Carbine.</p><p></p><p>I headed back towards Kingfisher Park, stopping off at Maryfarms, where I had some good views of <strong>Nankeen Kestrels</strong> and my first <strong>Pied Butcherbird</strong>. These weren't really what I was looking for though. After a bit of driving and diligant scanning, I found my quarry rather easily: a group of magnificent <strong>Australian Bustards</strong>. Eventually I had close views of five birds, walking serenely through the grass. Absolutely splendid, regal birds.</p><p></p><p>I stopped off in some dry forest at Station Creek, which was a bit quiet but produced some good views of some very attractive <strong>Red-winged Parrots</strong> and a couple of <strong>Lemon-bellied Flycatchers</strong>. I also quickly looked around Abbatoir Swamp, which produced a <strong>Pale-headed Rosella</strong> in the trees by the car park.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Andrew Whitehouse, post: 1681225, member: 3550"] [b]Day 17: 5th July 2009, Mount Lewis and Mount Carbine[/b] After a quick look around Kingfisher Park early in the morning I headed down the road to Mount Lewis. Normally the road up to the mountain top is too difficult for a car but in the dry season it's quite doable, if a little bumpy in places. On the way up, a smallish dark bird flew up from the side of the track. On stopping, I soon got onto it: a [B]Chowchilla[/B]. It was accompanied by another and they both vigorously submerged themselves in the leaf litter and scratched about. Also on the way up I had views of two more [B]Wompoo Fruit-doves[/B] and [B]Pale Yellow Robin[/B]. There were quite a number of species I was hoping to find in the higher altitude forests at the top of Mount Lewis. I managed to see one of them before I'd even got out of the car: an [B]Atherton Scrubwren[/B]. These look quite similar to the Large-billed Scrubwrens of the lowlands but are a bit bigger and darker. Also at the start of the trail were [B]Lewin's[/B] and [B]Bridled Honeyeaters[/B] and [B]Yellow-throated Scrubwrens[/B]. Not much further up the trail, in the gloomy undergrowth was another hoped for species: a [B]Fernwren[/B]. These proved to be quite common birds of the leaf litter, often in the company of the continually engaging [B]Chowchillas[/B]. I soon began to encounter flocks of one [B]Mountain Thornbills[/B], one of the characteristic birds of the high altitude forest. Things began to liven up as I ascended the trail with another [B]White-throated Treecreeper[/B] and my first [B]Eastern Whipbird[/B], whose striking calls could often be heard in the distance. Two [B]Brown Cuckoo-doves[/B], with impressively long tails, appeared in the treetops. I'd recommend any visitor to Mount Lewis to make some squeaky noises because these tend to bring in some of the better birds of the forest. Foremost amongst these was a [B]Golden Bowerbird,[/B] sadly just a plain brown female in my case. I also managed to encourage a couple of [B]Bower's Shrike-thrushes[/B], a scarce endemic, out of the undergrowth. Towards the top of the trail I saw my first [B]Eastern Spinebill[/B] - not quite as impressive as the Western Spinebills I'd seen earlier on the trip but still very smart birds. A pair of [B]Spotted Catbirds[/B] also came in on squeaking. On the way back down the trail I saw a similar array of birds and also a pair of hulking [B]Topknot Pigeons[/B] with their strange crests. After lunch, I headed out towards Mount Carbine, in the dry country. It's remarkable how the landscape changes from rainforest to scrubby dry country in the space of just a few kilometres, but this means that there are very different birds too. I stopped just past the small settlement at Mount Carbine and headed along the bottom end of Mount Carbine Dam. Initially it was very warm and the birds were subdued but eventually I began to see a few [B]White-throated Honeyeaters, Fairy Gerygones, Rainbow Bee-eaters[/B] and [B]Yellow Honeyeaters[/B]. More of a surprise was an immaculate looking [B]Restless Flycatcher[/B]. I had some brief views of a pair of [B]Double-barred Finches[/B] and some pretty [B]Striated Pardalotes[/B]. A group of [B]Noisy Friarbirds[/B] were living up to their name. An [B]Australian Reed Warbler[/B] was seen briefly in the marshes and a large group of [B]Blue-faced Honeyeaters[/B] flew towards the road. Two [B]Crested Pigeons[/B] were by the garage in Mount Carbine. I headed back towards Kingfisher Park, stopping off at Maryfarms, where I had some good views of [B]Nankeen Kestrels[/B] and my first [B]Pied Butcherbird[/B]. These weren't really what I was looking for though. After a bit of driving and diligant scanning, I found my quarry rather easily: a group of magnificent [B]Australian Bustards[/B]. Eventually I had close views of five birds, walking serenely through the grass. Absolutely splendid, regal birds. I stopped off in some dry forest at Station Creek, which was a bit quiet but produced some good views of some very attractive [B]Red-winged Parrots[/B] and a couple of [B]Lemon-bellied Flycatchers[/B]. I also quickly looked around Abbatoir Swamp, which produced a [B]Pale-headed Rosella[/B] in the trees by the car park. [/QUOTE]
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Wonders Down Under: Singapore and Australia June-July 2009
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