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

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!

The Great Birding Adventure 2012 - Part 2: Queensland

I arrived back from WA on Friday evening (10th August) to discover that I had been volunteered to sleep in the school auditorium (on the floor on a mattress) with about two dozen Middle School lads who were having a sleep-over/full day workshop for the Middle School musical. I love my wife! Well, as I was taking off again on the Sunday for four weeks, I felt that any protests in regards to helping out probably wouldn't be recieved with much grace, so I wisely kept my mouth shut and did as I was told.

Sunday quickly came around and I was back on a plane heading for Brisbane with two of my leaders from the school. Phil is a mad keen bird breeder, so he was happy to include some birding in the programme. Mark was neither, but diplomatically accepted that his boss was mad, and smiled patiently whenever I chatted about the possible birds I could see, which was often. We had an over night stay in Brisbane, and then flew to Carins and then on to Normanton, on the south-east corner of the Gulf of Carpentaria to visit a small indigenous school that we were keen to develop a "sister school" arrangement with. We landed just after lunch to a blamy 30 degrees celcius! A mate from the Sunshine Coast, whose school oversees the programme in Normanton, accompanied us and showed us the sights of Normanton. It took ten minutes. We settled into the local caravan park and prepared to spend the afternoon driving to Karumba to check out a boat trip that we would have as part of the "Top End" experience for our students if we went ahead with the "exchange".

We had only just left Normanton when we stopped the car very quickly - Sarus Crane virtually by the road! I was stoked, and even Mark looked somewhat impressed. Lifer Number 1 for the QLD adventure. Not a bad one to start with!! We also saw plenty of Brolgas, White-necked and White-faced Herons, Brown Falcons and Australian Kestrels on the drive to Karumba.

We were met by the locals at Karumba, who loaded us onto a boat, along with a very pleasant American couple, and away we went. The bird life was prolific - Jabiru (Black-necked Stork), Brahminy, Whistling and Black Kites, White-breasted Sea-Eagles, Great-billed Heron (only the second time I had seen them), Little and Great Egrets, Eastern Curlews, Sacred and Azure Kingfishers, and a White-breasted Whistler were the highlights. No extra lifers, but a fantastic late afternoon of birding, along with quite a few very impressive crocodiles. Absolutely recommend you go with the Ferryman cruises. They do specific birding boat trips and seem to know their stuff.

A Big Croc!

The next morning, Phil and I got up early and went for a drive. The local birding was excellent - we saw Blue-faced, Brown, White-naped, and also Yellow Honeyeater (Lifer Number 2!), along with Double-barred Finches, Brown Falcon, Red-winged Parrot, Rainbow Lorikeet, Australian Hobby, Zitting Cisticola, Black-faced and Masked Woodswallows, more Sarus Crane and Brolga, all three Ibis species, Radjah (Burdekin) Shelduck, Cormorants, Darters, Peaceful Doves, and many more in a couple of hours.

We then met up with the others and went over to the school. Gulf Christian College is a fantastic set-up with about 50 students. The staff are dedicated and passionate educators, and the faciltities are excellent. The kids seemed happy and enthusiastic, and we had a great conversation with them that we hope will now lead on to an ongoing relationship between the two schools. Very positive. We were soon back on the plane to Cairns, then on to Brisbane, where we collected out hire car and headed to the Sunshine Coast. A long but very successful day.

The next morning was a "rest" day, so Phil and I headed to the Noosa region - this is one of my favourite birding areas and I was keen to show it off. Again, the bird-life was prolific, and we saw an amazing array of species throughout the Noosa National Park and then at Jabiru Park on the way to Cooroy. Nothing new, for me that is, but lots of great spots for Phil, including a couple of "boobies" at Alexandria Bay. Unfortunately, they were ancient - enough said. We headed back to our hotel, met up with the rest of the team from the school and headed out for dinner with teams from Nambour Christian College and Thomas Hassall Anglican College. A great day, and a great night out. The next day was full of meetings and eating, all of which was incredibly useful, but of not much interest for birders, apart from a Pale-headed Rosella that appeared by the window during one meeting - found it hard to concentrate for a few minutes! Farewells were said that night, and Mike prepared himself for the major part of the trek - heading off for three weeks of non-stop birding. Prepare for Part 3!!

The Great Birding Adventure 2012 - Part 1: South-west Western Australia

Between early August and early September, I had the chance to do some serious birding due to a number of school trips and a three week break. So I decided to make the most of the opportunity and see how many I could see and how many lifers I could notch up. Some very serious planning went into the five week stretch - with target birds identified, places booked, local birders contacted, and a brand new camera lens (100 - 500mm Sigma for my Canon 1100D) purchased. Oh, and lots of hugs and doing things around the house to placate the wife! I have divided up the trip into five parts, the first being my visit to South-west Western Australia (Perth region only), and the next four being the more extensive trek between Brisbane - Cairns - Normanton - Lakefield NP - Iron Range NP - Sunshine Coast.

The final result was well over 300 species of bird, 54 lifers, hundreds of photos and wonderful memories. So here they are on paper (or computer screen!). I hope you enjoy the journey too!

August 6th - Taking the "red-eye" to Perth is not my favourite past-time, but the possibility of pickimg up eleven endemics around the Perth region meant that I was keen to make the most of the day and a half I had available to me prior to a school conference I was attending kicked off. I was met at the airport by Peter Taylor, an excellent bird-guide, who loaded me into his 4x4 and away we went. No mucking about - let's get into the birding! The weather was cool, but clear and the promise of good birding was in the air.

First stop was Victoria Dam, located south of the airport. We parked just past the turn-off to the dam and went for our first walk. We were soon into it, with three endemics showing themselves very readily. Western Thornbill, Swan River Honeyeater and Western Spinebill (now one of my favourite birds) came out to greet us, along with fly-overs from Square-tailed Kites, Red-tailed Black Cockatoos and Red-capped Parrots (a WA endemic I had seen a few years earlier). A great start - three down, eight to go! Peter was brilliant, knew the calls and helped with diagnostic identification.

We then wandered down to the stream that flows out at the base of the dam, and I was stoked to spot a Red-eared Firetail flitting amongst the low scrub near the water. It didn't stay around very long which was a shame, because it is a very pretty little bird. After some searching we also found a White-breasted Robin, which is probably one the duller species of Robin in Australia, but a tick nevertheless! The new lens took some getting used to and the inital photos were fairly average, but I was slowly getting the hang of it. No sign of the Red-winged Fairy-wren, so we headed off to check out some of the other sites. Five down, six to go!

By lunch we had racked up a very good list (including Western Rosella, another WA endemic I had seen previously), but no new lifers, so we (well Pete!) determined that we should head out to the Northam region in search of the Mute Swan (which is now a protected species in WA even though it is feral!), Western Corella, Baudin's and Carnaby's Black Cockatoos, and Western Wattlebird. We arrived in the town of Northam and immiedately found the Mute Swans on the river. Not the most authentic tick in the world, but I reluctantly took it! We also had Laughing Dove (another introduced species found in WA that I had already ticked) nearby, and the overall trip list continued to grow.

Peter then took us out onto the country roads around Northam, checking local homesteads for the Corella, and it wasn't long before we came across a large flock grazing on the ground and also roosting in the nearby trees. And then, as we were travelling, Peter decided to pull over to let a car pass, and we heard a Black Cockatoo call from the tree next to the vehicle. We leapt out to find a small flock of Baudin's Black-Cockatoos sitting about five metres above our heads. JOY!! To finish off, we stopped at a small reserve to search for Western Wattlebird. We heard them pretty quickly, but they proved rather elusive. We ventured into the thick undergrowth and got very close to the calls that we could hear ringing out, but still couldn't get a look at the things. Eventually, we went back to track and, as is often the case with birding, two Wattlebirds decided to come over and visit us and we got great views. Nine out of eleven and I was a very happy chappie. No sign of the Fairy-wren or Carnaby's Black Cockatoo, but Peter gave directions to another site that was a good birding prospect for the next day. So, after a most eventful day, Peter dropped me back at the airport where I picked up a hire car and headed for the conference venue. Peter was invaluable and I highly recommend him to anyone wishing to see the WA endemics. Thanks mate!

The next day dawned - miserable weather! I oscillated in my mind whether to go or not for about five seconds and then jumped into the car and headed to Wungong Dam and Bungendore Park. I had heard mixed reports about these places, with some saying that they were heavily degraded, but I decided to have a go anyway. Glad I did!! I got out of the car at Wungong, following the instructions I had down-loaded from the Net. First bird was a Red-winged Fairy-wren (!!) who obligingly sat on a branch near me and posed for photos. I also had wonderful views of White-breasted Robins and Splendid Fairy-wrens. After about an hour I headed over to Bungendore and the birds came out to play! As did the sun! I had Swan River Honeyeaters, Red-capped Parrots and Western Spinebills flitting above my head, while Western Thornbills, Western Gerygones, Western Yellow Robins, Western Wattlebirds, along with Scarlet Robins, Ringneck Parrots, Common Bronzewings and many other birds filling the bush with colour and sound all around me. Fantastic birding!

I eventualy had to drag myself away as I needed to pick up some of my staff at the airport so I reluctantly climbed back into the car. Ten out of the eleven targets seen, with only Carnaby's eluding me. Ah well, I need to get down to Cheyne's Beach at some stage to see the WA skulkers, and Peter assured me that Carnaby's is certainty down there, so it just means planning another trip!! Part 1 completed and Mike was a happy boy! I had seen three Aussie lifers between January and the end of July, and now I had added ten in a day and a half. On to Queeensland!!