Friday 21 December 2012

The Great Birding Adventure 2012 - Part 7: Sunshine Coast

The final leg of the trip commenced with a flight from Cairns to Brisbane and then a drive up the coast to Noosa. I booked into a cabin at the Noosa Caravan Park and then went and lay on a beach for the rest of the day! JOY!! Barely lifted my binoculars up at all, other than to watch an Osprey work its way over the surf looking for something to eat.

The next morning saw me on the road early to get up to Inskip Point - where the boats take off for Fraser Island, in the hope of seeing a Black-breasted Button-Quail and then over to Cooloola to hopefully jag a Ground Parrot. I realised at this stage that my birding opportunities had thinned significantly, but the good news was this meant that the trip had been an overwhelming success! I reached the Point, jumped out, dodged a serious number of 4X4's bashing their way through the thick sand and headed into the scrub lining the road. Within a minute a Black-breasted Button-Quail (Number 44) was darting around in the undergrowth near my feet. great views but no chance of a photo. HAPPY! Decided to go for more of a walk and came across two Noisy Pitta (numbers 4 and 5 for the trip!). Got a dodgy photo but climbed back into the car VERY happy.


Drove to the turn-off to the renowned Ground Parrot spot to be confronted with a sign reading "Road Closed for Repairs. Do Not Enter". NOT HAPPY!!!! So that was the end of that. Drove back to Noosa a little deflated, but not depressed. Decided to cheer myself up by going on a fishing charter the next day!

Headed out early on the charter the next morning - saw no birds, caught lots of fish, came across a stack of whales (breaching and playing around) - STUNNING, and generally had a very good time!! Ate out on the main street of Noosa and hit the sack early.

My final full day on the Sunshine coast dawned and I was out early birding in Tewantin near the Golf Course. This was some of the best birding I did the whole trip - and got lots of fantastic photo opportunities. I highly recommend this spot. It's listed in the Noosa Bird Trails pamphlet. Highlights were Rufous Fantail, Shining Bronze-Cuckoo, Fan-tailed Cuckoo, and Noisy Pitta (number 6 for the trip). Spent thev rest of the day lying on a beach soaking up the sun one last time, reflecting on not much at all. BLISS!





 

And so the final day of my trip arrived. I climbed into the car, said goodbye to Noosa and headed on to Brisbane. Had just enough time to pop into a local lake near the airport and snap a photo of a couple of amorous Rainbow Lorikeets - made the thought of getting home fairly enticing!



Got to the airport, handed over the car, boarded the plane and settled into my seat. Time to reflect! I had started off in Perth exactly 30 days earlier and had travelled thousands of kilometres by plane and car - visited the Perth region, Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Lamington National Park, the Sunshine Coast, Cairns, Normanton, Julatten, Musgrave, Lakefield National Park, Iron Range National Park and the Great Barrier Reef. I had done some charter fishing, snorkelled on the GBR, watched a mate pull a Barramundi out of a stagnant pond, and seen pythons and tree snakes and crocodiles. I had seen over 300 species of bird, of which 54 were new. My Australian total had gone from 523 to 577 and I had spotted some of the most beautiful, stunning and rare birds on the continent. I had some of the time alone which had been fantastic, but I had also had the privilege of spending it with my brother Steve and my mate David, plus I also met some new friends and some very interesting characters in Peter Taylor (Perth), Mat Gilfedder (Brisbane), Barry Davies (Lamington), "Chook" Crawford (Lakefield), Sue Sheppard (Artemis Station) and Del Richards (Mount Lewis). All of these folk spent time with me helping me to find new birds and I am greatly indebted to all of them. I also met a whole host of other folks on the journey who made the trip so fulfilling and special. Thanks everyone! A special note of thanks goes to my wife Dani for letting me escape for four weeks - I made it up to her by taking her to Penang a week after I got back! Birding may not be for everyone, but it sure took me places - some of the most remote and beautiful regions of Australia that you wouldn't normally visit if you weren't a birder and that was spectacular in and of itself.

And so the trek had come to an end. And the brain started thinking - what about a trek from Adelaide to the Gulf of Carpentaria and back? Or what about a few days in Tasmania to get the endemics down there? Or maybe I should do a trek to Newhaven to get the Princess Parrot? Or maybe ................

Mike Potter, 2012


Mike and Steve Potter - Iron Range August 2012

Thursday 20 December 2012

The Great Birding Adventure 2012 - Part 6: Julatten, Mount Lewis and the Great Barrier Reef

Instead of being sensible and having a well-earned rest once we had reached Kingfisher Park, we instead raced down to the Cairns foreshore early the next morning to jump on a cruise ship to head out to the Great Barrier Reef! Dave came dressed in his birding gear while Steve and I went in board-shorts and T-shirts. Someone amongst has taken his birding far too seriously! We had a very pleasant trip out to Michael Cay where we were unloaded on to the beach and immediately spotted Sooty Terns (Number 35) and Common Noddy (Number 36). We also spotted Brown Boobies (not on the boat - everyone was well behaved), and Little and Black-naped Terns. We spent the rest of our time snorkelling around the reef - absolutely stunning. I've done this a few times now but the Reef never ceases to take my breath away. Dozens of different species of fish of all sizes cruised around with us. Brilliant! bird-watching on this day, and getting two new species, was a bonus. A great day!




Brown Booby


Sooty Tern


Common Noddy

The next day we met up with Del Richards, a birding expert of all the birds on Mount Lewis, and away we went again! Mount Lewis is a beautiful place covered in forest and an outstanding birding area. We had all been there before, but we were keen to add to our "life list" with Del's intimate knowledge of the area and the birdlife. 

We were in to almost immediately as we stopped at the base of the mountain to watch a flock of Barred Cuckoo-Shrikes (Number 37) swoop down from the high canopy into a fruit-tree. A great start! As we headed up the track, Del would pull over periodically and listen for particular species - many are confined to certain altitudes on the mountain which is important to know as you can spend fruitless hours hunting for something that can only be found lower or higher on the mountain. in this way, we picked up the Fernwren (Number 38), Bower's Shrike-thrush (Number 39) and Pied Monarch (Number 40). We also had great views of Chowchillas (new for David), Grey Goshawk, Tooth-billed Bowerbird, Lewin's and Bridled Honeyeaters, Atherton and Yellow-throated Scrub-wrens, Mountain Thornbill and Victoria's Riflebird. We also came across a very pretty little tree snake. Who seemed quite happy to sit up and pose for us. Snakes can be quite obliging sometimes!




Grey Goshawk


Pied Monarch


So, replete in the knowledge that I had now picked up 50 new species (including the ten in WA) over the past three weeks, I went to bed that night pretty darn happy with myself - all was well with the world!! We dipped on the Golden Bowerbird and Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo but all in all, a great day. 

I shall only describe the next day as "The Day of the Squatter Pigeon and the Ridiculously Large Burger".  We were up early again, searching with great gusto to find the Blue-faced Parrot Finch and the Squatter Pigeon. Hours later - nothing. We retired to Mount Molloy to lick our wounds and have lunch. Steve decided to order the mega-burger, unaware of just how enormous it was going to be. It came in a wheelbarrow. It had a whole container of eggs plus a side of beef and a pig in it. They gave him a shovel to eat it with. Somehow, he managed to eat the whole thing, but this consigned him to about two days permanently attached to the toilet - we set up a "Toxic Waste - No Admittance" sign outside the ablution block in the interests of public safety. however, undeterred at the time, we headed out again to continue searching for these elusive birds. 

We took a detour and decided to try for the Australian Bustard, a bird that Steve had never seen, and which was regularly sited north-west of Julatten. Following Lindsay's directions, we found "the road" and drive slowly down it. A bustard obligingly appeared and stayed around long enough for some good photos. 


Buoyed by this success we went back to all of the sites that might yield a Parrot Finch or Pigeon. All Parrot-Finch sites - nothing. Every Squatter Pigeon site - nix. This included stalking a local school and wandering around a cemetery. Sometimes I seriously wonder what non-birders think about us, and whether it is possibly true. So we decided on one last possible spot described to us by Lindsay, and headed off in the last part of the day trying to find the Pigeon (and got done for speeding - joy!). 

Steve and I were having an earnest conversation about something very important that we missed the turn-off to the site. Recriminations abounded as to whose fault it was while Mike did a quick u-turn and then took a slightly huffy, and definitely too fast left onto the correct road. A brotherly spat broke out but was rudely interrupted by Kowalick bellowing hoarsely from the back seat, "On the Road! On the Road!" and then attempted to fling himself from the car, binoculars in hand. Confusion reigned, until we realised that a party of Squatter Pigeons were quietly crossing the road in front of us and were about to be run over! Almost rolled the car trying to bring it to a stop without killing the birds and then we all threw ourselves out to chase them down. Reading this back makes me realise that everything that non-birders think about us is probably true! However, we got GREAT views and we were all deliriously happy. The brotherly spat was forgotten and there were hugs all round! Number 41! 



Squatter Pigeons! 

Wandered aimlessly but happily home, and decided to go for a stroll down to the dam just before dinner. To complete the day, a Little Kingfisher (Number 42) came out to play and I was a happy boy! A responsible but sufficient amount of wine was consumed that night! And after a great sleep, and a casual morning bird-watch up Mount Lewis, I dropped the lads back at the airport and headed for the foreshore. I am incredibly grateful for the company they provided for eleven days and we had an absolute blast!! Lots of memories that will stay with me forever. Thanks lads!!! However, this didn't mean that the birding was done! Back at the Cairns foreshore I went in search of the Nutmeg Mannikin and finally found a lovely flock of them on the grass. Number 43! I also had a chance to get a decent picture of Pied Imperial Pigeons which was rather nice! I retired to a local B&B and then caught a flight early the next morning for the last part of my trip - four days on the Sunshine Coast! 






The Great Birding Adventure 2012 - Part 5: Iron Range

We left Musgrave Roadhouse early and made great time along an excellent graded dirt road. We stopped for a road-side breakfast at Coen, before heading on to the turn-off to Lockhart River and the Iron Range NP. Arrived at the Park by about 10:30am, and, having read other reports, expected awesome and exotic birds to appear in their droves. Reality check finally hit us - this was rainforest in the dry season. This was no easy picking session. This was rainforest birding as it usually is. Hard, consistent effort hopefully bringing good results. We did spot Eclectus Parrot, an absolutely stunning bird (Number 17), but that was it before lunch.

We headed on and arrived at Portland Roads. If the morning birding had been a tad disappointing, the Portland Roads Guest House was not! A stunning place overlooking a beautiful tropical bay, complete with fishing boats, palm trees and mangroves. Gorgeous. Just as good, was the cafe next door which provided brilliant meals (calamari, prawns, fish and chips) for very reasonable prices set in a lovely garden full of Olive-backed Sunbirds, and Yellow-spotted and Brown Honeyeaters. Our humour was restored and we set out again to "work" the forest for new species.

This proved to be by far the least productive birding session we had done. We did pick up Tropical Scrub-wren (Number 18) soon after starting, but got nothing new until we snaffled a White-faced Robin (Number 19) just before dusk. We heard lots of other calls, and saw a couple of Eclectus Parrots fly overhead, but that was it. As we headed back, we stopped at the local rubbish tip, supposedly a good spot for Palm Cockatoo. We didn't see them, but we did pick up both Large-tailed Nightjar and White-throated Nightjar (Number 20). OK, three lifers was actually rather good, but I think we were expecting all sorts of stunning beauties literally parading themselves before us. Back home for more delightful seafood and then we settled in for the night after making a cunning plan for the next day and having a close encounter with a Papuan Frogmouth that had clearly made the trees around the guest-house its home. Steve and I shared a room again - enough said.



Photo courtesy of Steve Potter

Photo courtesy of Steve Potter

Our second full day began with great promise. We identified both Greater and Lesser Frigatebirds flying overhead (Numbers 21 and 22), along with large numbers of Brown Booby's and Crested Terns. We then drove back to the start of the Old Coen track and headed into the forest - made up of different strands of lowland rainforest, monsoon forest and riverine forest. We quickly spotted a Tawny-breasted Honeyeater, a pretty little thing and an encouraging start (Number 23) and then picked up Shining Flycatcher by the river and Yellow Orioles and Spotted Catbirds were calling high in the canopy. After crossing the river, we came across some monsoon forest - lower and thinner than the rainforest, and suddenly we were amongst a "bird party". The three undoubted highlights were the Superb Fruit-Dove (Number 24), Yellow-breasted Boatbill (Number 25) and the Fawn-breasted Bowerbird (Number 26) - the former was just stunning, and the latter is now considered rare so we were thrilled to see it. Steve also picked up White-eared Monarch so he was an extra happy chap! We also came across a lovely Black-headed Python which posed beautifully for us.


Black-headed Python

Headed back to home base a little more satisfied, and determined to continue a steady, concerted attack on the list of target birds, which was slowly getting shorter. Calamari was duly consumed, and we decided to take a little siesta time to recuperate. Steve and I found a Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove and I was able to take a couple of very pleasing photos.


Photo courtesy of Steve Potter


Back into the forest and some seriously hard work ensued in the main forest along Portland Roads. Numbers of Red-cheeked Parrots flew overhead, but the views were very unsatisfactory, and we debated over whether we had seen enough - the prognosis was "no". However, after slogging through some undergrowth following various calls, we were able to spot a female Magnificent Riflebird (Number 27). As we headed back to Portland Roads we popped into Chilli Beach and walked along the small rainforest walk - and jagged a Green-backed Honeyeater (Number 28). As we headed back "home", we finally came across some Palm Cockatoos (Number 29) - a fantastic bird, and Steve got a couple of great pictures. All in all, a very good day. The Cafe was frequented again, and we were all in bed early. Had to roll Steve over a couple of times to stop the snoring, and no, we were not in the same bed at the time.



Our third day had us back on Portland Roads. We stopped at the top of a ridge to see if we could find White-streaked Honeyeaters. David locked on to one, but by the time Steve and I arrived, it had gone. And that was the only sighting of this bird the entire trip. It became a sore point. I then walked into a Paper-Nest Wasp nest, and they hammered me in the small gaps between the mozzie and sand-fly bites. Steve got stung too (on the lip, which reminded me of a Vegietales song about lips), while David fled at a ridiculously quick pace to the safety of the road. This also became a sore point - the stings, not David's flight. However, we then worked the main road again and came across Yellow-legged Flycatcher (a pretty little thing - Number 30) and Frilled Monarch (Number 31). Then after following a cuckoo-like call through the undergrowth for some time, we were thrilled to finally track down a Yellow-billed Kingfisher (Number 32 and a new favourite bird)! There was great rejoicing in the forest!


The afternoon consisted of some initial birding around the guest-house, where we picked up Lovely Fairy-wren, and then another attempt at the WS Honeyeater. No sign, but the Red-cheeked Parrots did another fly-over and we were all able to get enough of a view to confirm these elusive little birds (Number 33). We also came across an Eclectus Parrot nest in a very tall tree and got some cracking views of the female in the hole and the male hovering around nearby, having an animated conversation with some Sulphur-crested Cockatoos. We stopped in at Chilli Beach again, and this time scoped some Black-naped Terns (Number 34) roosting on a nearby rocky outcrop. Home to a lovely seafood dinner, and bed. I was tired - fell to sleep almost immediately despite the racket going on around me.

Day four shall forever be remembered as "The Day We Saw Nothing". Despite our best attempts, the Trumpet Manucode, Northern Scrub-Robin and the White-streaked Honeyeaters and Chestnut-breasted Cuckoos (the only targets left on our list!) remained elusive. However, I snaffled eighteen of the twenty-two targets, so I really can't complain. Just means I am going to have to go back there one day to get the other four (plus the Pitta!!). After another yummy seafood dinner, we hit the sack in time for an early start the next day.

Day five consisted of a visit by a Green Tree Frog, a quick check of the Cook's Hut camp-site - nothing, a photo session at the Iron Range sign, and then a long drive back to Julatten and Kingfisher's Park. Getting eighteen lifers in four days anywhere is outstanding, especially ones that are limited to such a small part of Australia, so while the birding was "hard work" at times - Iron Range more than delivered and I am extremely grateful that I had the chance to visit this pearl of a place. I will be back!



Dave Kowalick and  Steve Potter







Friday 28 September 2012

The Great Birding Adventure 2012 - Part 4: Far North Queensland

Left Binna Burra very early to catch a flight to Cairns in far north Queensland. Arrived at the same time as my brother Steve, and another mate, David Kowalick. We picked up our hire car, a very impressive Mitsubishi Pajero, found the local Woolworths store and stocked up on all things important, went to a camping joint, Ray's Outdoors and bought a few more items, and then headed for the beach. It was nice to be birding in a team again, and knowing that we had eleven days of adventure ahead of us. The weather was awesome - 30 degrees, and there was significant expectancy emanating from the car as we arrived at the Esplanade.

As an aside, our life lists for Australia at the beginning of the trip stood thus - David (560), Mike (540), Steve (532). Now it is important to note that there was absolutely no thought of competition in our minds. Such base behaviour is unfitting for serious bird-watchers, and we were all just happy to see as many as we could while celebrating each other's successes ............

The Cairns foreshore is a prolific birding spot - waders, sea-birds  mangrove species, bush species and "urban" species. Highlights were Double-eyed Fig Parrot, Pied Imperial Pigeon, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Whimbrel, White-breasted Woodswallow, Helmeted Friarbird (new for David) and two lifers for Mike (Numbers 8 and 9) and Steve - Varied Honeyeater and Mangrove Robin. Lowlight were the sand-flies (did Mike remember the mozzie repellent ...... No!), which absolutely hammered me on my legs and arms right next to the areas that were hammered by the mozzies in Brisbane. I was starting to look like a leper ("unclean, unclean"). That they seemed to ignore Steve and David is an interesting scientific conundrum. We also spent some time looking for Nutmeg Mannikins which are regularly seen here, but without success.



After a very enjoyable couple of hours we headed north-west to Kingfisher Park, run by Keith and Lindsay, a delightful couple who know everything about birding in this part of the world. On the way, we spotted some Sarus Crane, another new one for Steve - David and I rejoiced for him without any sense of concern about his growing list. We arrived after dark, set up our cabins, had some dinner and then David and Steve had a wonderful sleep. As I lay there trying to drown out what can only be described as a snore fight, I remembered why I had enjoyed the last few days by myself.
We took off at dawn to head up Cape York, with the promise of seeing a whole bunch of new birds and a completely new part of Australia for all of us. We were expecting rough outback roads and were rather surprised to find ourselves driving on bitumen for the first few hours. We reached Laura, a small outback town in no time, and ticked our first "Cape York" speciality  the Black-backed Butcherbird (Number 10). Greatly encouraged, we headed on to the Musgrave Roadhouse, which is located not far from Lakefield National Park. The Roadhouse was much more extensive than we had imagined with a very impressive pub and cafe area, and an expansive camping section with lush lawn and a great bathroom facility, including a laundry. We filled up on a fantastic fresh, real, not anything like a MacDonald's, huge burger, and then headed off to find Artemis Station and Sue Shepherd.

Sue Shepherd is a legend. She was waiting for us at the homestead, happily greeted us and then leapt onto a quad bike and took off into the bush, with us following in the Pajero. Within a few minutes, she stopped in some very uninspiring burnt out scrub and walked a few metres further on. Suddenly, there in front of us, were Golden-shouldered Parrots, one of the rarest species in Australia and a major target bird on our list (Number 11). We were soon surrounded by a significant flock and they were stunning! We were all seriously happy - we almost hugged Sue! After calming down, we took lots of photos, gave Sue some money to support her care of these beautiful little birds, and prepared to leave. Sue asked what other birds we were keen to see. We tried to suggest without showing our desperation that it would be nice to see a Red Goshawk, but we understood that this even rarer bird was an unlikely target, along with Star Finches and Black-throated Finches. Sue casually responded, "Oh, I know where the Red Goshawks are nesting, and if you go into Lakefield to a certain tree next to a certain small swamp, you will find the finches." Again, Sue was in danger of being hugged.

Fighting the desire to leave in a cloud of smoke and squealing tyres, we took off to chase down the supposedly easy Red Goshawk site. Could it be possible that we would see two very rare species of bird in the space of hour? Oh yes, indeedy! We followed Sue's directions and "Bob's your uncle, Fanny's your aunt", there was a Red Goshawk sitting on a nest (Number 12). High five's, Scottish jigs, shrine erected in honour of Sue, and all was well with the world. The male arrived soon after, and we enjoyed cracking views for about 30 minutes before reluctantly dragging ourselves away. Oh, and I snaffled a Banded Honeyeater (Number 13!). Settled into our camp at Musgrave after a sumptuous meal, with Mike placing his swag at a respectful but considerable distance from the others - sleep came easily, with images of GS Parrots and Red Goshawks making for pleasant dreams.... JOY! This trip was matching all of my hopes - could it possibly last?


Photo courtesy of Steve Potter


Photo courtesy of Steve Potter

Headed into Lakefield NP early the next morning wondering what it would be like - well, it was awesome! Saw over 80 species of bird for the day, with some fantastic highlights - CC Jacana, Plumed and Wandering Whistling Duck, Magpie Goose, Green Pygmy Goose, Brolga, Egrets, Night Heron, lots of raptors, and many bush birds. We picked up Black-throated Finches early (Number 14), along with Long-tailed, Double-barred and Red-browed. We had lunch at Lowe Lake - cracking number of birds, including an early arriving Latham's Snipe, and a few large crocodiles. We then headed on to Sue's "Star Finch spot". As we arrived, about 300 of them took off from a bush and landed close by in another one! Unbelievable!! (Number 15). Steve snapped a brilliant shot (see below), despite the fact that these gorgeous little birds hardly remained still for more than a few seconds. Came across a stagnant pond and Kowalick calmly stated, "I bet there's Barramundi in there." Steve and I scoffed at this suggestion and scoffed even more when David produced a small fly rod and reel and began casting into the fetid water. Our derision turned to disbelief as the master fisherman hooked onto a serious fish and then fought to bring it to the edge of the water. David eventually landed a very respectable 60cm Barramundi and after the obligatory photos, released it back into the water.



Dave and the Fish!

And then "Chook" turned up. Dave (Chook) Crawford is a FNQ bird guide from Mount Molloy and we had a great chat with him about both Lakefield and Iron Range. He then gave us a little local knowledge of a brilliant "night spot" for owls and the like. We thanked him and continued birding till dusk. As the sun went down we headed over to Chook's site and waited. And then the action began ..... Barn Owl, Barking Owl, and then Eastern Grass Owl (lifer for Dave and Steve) all appearing out of the dark, either hovering overhead or landing on the road ahead of us. Then a Stone Curlew, an Australian Pratincole, and a Night Heron. More Owls kept appearing, including a Southern Boobook, along with both Papuan and Tawny Frogmouth. Could it get any better? Yes indeedy. As we moved slowly along in the car we disturbed a Large-tailed Nightjar (Number 16). Ten night bird species in about an hour. Awesome. Staggered back to Musgrave, had a meal and a shower and fell into bed feeling like kings. What a brilliant day. And the trip had only just begun. The next day we would head to the fabled Iron Range. Fell to sleep with many happy thoughts! On to Iron Range in the next instalment.

Photo courtesy of Steve Potter





Wednesday 26 September 2012

The Great Birding Adventure 2012 - Part 3: Queensland Continued

Friday 17th Aug, 5:30am! Jumped into the car and headed south. First stop was Boondall Wetlands, just north of the Brisbane Airport. First bird was a Buff-banded Rail crossing a track towards a small wetland. Nice! Walked to the bird hide (where there was nothing!) but then picked up an Olive-backed Oriole who hung around calling continuously in the early morning chill. Then it was a leisurely drive through Brisbane to meet up with Mat Gilfedder, one of the E-Bird officionado's who had kindly agreed to spend the day birding with me. After collecting him at his home we headed to Gold Creek Reservoir. There is a reservoir and a creek and this place, birding-wise is GOLD!




A few kilometres before we reached GCR, Mat spotted a Grey Goshawk overhead. Leapt out and got great views of it flying above us. Lifer Number 3 for the trip. Happy Mike. We then headed on and parked just before the entrance to the reservoir. The creek dissects the road on a number of occasions and these are great spots to check out. And the birds didn't disappoint - Spectacled Monarch, Varied Triller, Scrarlet Honeyeater, Brown Goshawk, Rose Robin, Brown Cuckoo-Dove and then the target bird I was looking for - White-eared Monarch. We heard it for ages before it finally gave up and showed itself. More great views and an average photo taken. Lifer Number 4. Very Happy Mike. Just as we were about to move on, we heard a scuffling sound, and then a Noisy Pitta took off from the undergrowth. With the aid of my Morcombe app, we called it back and it landed in the sunlight on a branch. Mat was able to get off a photo before it took off again. We were both stoked. We then traversed the reservoir and saw a wide variety of birds - Figbirds, an Azure Kingfisher, and a flock of Pale-headed Rosellas were the highlights. Bell Miners were calling from further up the hill, and King Parrots flew overhead. GCR is a brilliant place!




The rest of the day was spent checking out local wetlands, having close encounters with Bush Stone-Curlews and spending a bit of time at the visitors centre and wetland at the Port of Brisbane. Another great place to see lots of different species, including Mangrove Honeyeater. Eventually, we ended up at a swampy grassland near the Brisbane airport, supposedly a good place to see the very uncommon Eastern Grass Owl. We met up with a few other keen birders and headed out into the grass just as the sun was going down. Waiting patiently proved difficult as the mozzies came out in their hoards - if you go there, remember this and take lots of mozzie repellent. About an hour after dark (around 6:30pm), we suddenly had movement above our heads. A ghostly shape appeared above us and hovered for a moment. We whipped our flash-lights on to it and followed an owl as it flew over to a bare tree at the edge of the wetlands and landed. We watched for a few minutes until it took off again and landed in the grass below. It was then that the long, outstretched legs were clearly seen. A Grass Owl! And there was great rejoicing! Lifer Number 5. A VERY happy Mike! We all then took off, me thanking Mat for an awesome day and promising to return the favour when he comes down to Adelaide. I then turned the car towards the Gold Coast and headed for the next part of the adventure. Got to the Treasure Island Holiday Park, had a quick bite to eat, and then fell into bed in my cabin.

Up early the next morning to get to the Southport Marina in time to go on the Pelagic organised by Paul Woolbridge and co. In retrospect, this is not the best time of the year for a pelagic out of the Gold Coast. August is too late for some species and too early for others. The trip out is also very uneventful and long. We hardly saw a bird, apart from a few Shearwaters - Wedge-tailed, Huttons and Fluttering. Once out at the shelf, the birding unfortunately remained the same - a couple of Providence Petrels, a number of Wilson's Storm-Petrels, and lots of Wedge-tails. Finally, a Tahiti Petrel turned up and I got really good views and a very ordinary photo (my pelagic photographing can only be described as poor at this stage - gonna have to do some more research, because I kept three photos out of hundreds taken). Lifer Number 6. Happy to tick it, but I must admit my enthusiasm was rather muted. Was pretty happy to get back to port and head off to Lamington National Park. Arrived at Binna Burra, had a very pleasant dinner and climbed inside my swag. Fell asleep almost immediately.

At dawn, I drove to O'Reillys. This was not meant to be a lifer day, but rather a "see as many cool things as I could" day - and that is how it turned out. Paradise Riflebird, Satin Bowerbird, Logrunner, Brown Thornbill, Wonga Pigeon, Yellow-throated Scrub-wren, Bassian Thrush, Lewin's Honeyeater, Eastern Whipbird, King Parrot, Crimson Rosella, Red-browed Finch, Pied Currawong, Grey Fantail, Superb Fairy-wren, Brush-turkey - I had a ball!






After another early night (these became common!), I met up with Barry Davies, a professional birder living near Binna Burra, and we trekked into the forest looking for the Rufous Scrub-bird. This is an incredibly difficult bird to find even if you are just about sitting on top of it, and we spent most of the morning scouring spots, hoping to get it to show itself. We were stoked to have an Albert's Lyrebird stumble onto us and then take off in a panic, plus we had great sightings of Rose Robin and Pale Yellow Robin. Unfortunately, the Scrub-bird was proving much tougher. It called on a number of occasions, sometimes quite close, but the matted undergrowth made seeing it almost impossible. At our final spot, we sat quietly and played Morcombe's app a couple of times. Eventually, I spotted some movement and got the bino's up. Gone. And that was it. It was almost certainly a Scrub-bird but I didnt get enough of a look to be sure. Size - correct. Behaviour - correct. Call - correct. Decent view - NU! Looked at Barry and made a decision - not counting it. Rats! Sad face!

To compensate, we headed back to Barry's house for a lovely toasted sandwich while watching birds go off in his back yard. Then a male Regent Bowerbird flew in - stunning! And then we walked down the back and had a Noisy Pitta come and say hello - very stunning! Made me consider the Noisy Miners and Common Starlings I get in my back yard. Hmmm.

The afternoon was made up of another long walk through the forest - Grey Goshawk, Wompoo Fruit-Dove, Top-knot Pigeon, another Noisy Pitta (ho hum), and lots more. And then, after a quick bite to eat and letting the sun go down, we went Marbled Frogmouth hunting. First bird ..... Frogmouth ..... Tawny. Very nice, but .... Second bird ..... Frogmouth ..... Marbled! Flew over our heads and landed on a branch. Hung it's wings down over the branch and made a most amazing call. Brilliant! Lifer Number 7. Happy Mike again! Two great days in the forest, but the best was yet to come - Far North Queensland! Stay tuned for Part 4!