birding-aus

Cairns to Croyden and Back in Under 3 days

To: Birding-aus <>
Subject: Cairns to Croyden and Back in Under 3 days
From: "Chris Sanderson" <>
Date: Sat, 20 May 2006 16:47:03 +1000
Hi all,

I had a trip for work up to Croyden last week, and as this was an area I'd
never been to before, though it would be worth a look around in any time off
I had. This was frustratingly brief, however I did manage to pick up seven
new birds for me - Yellow Oriole, Sqatter Pigeon, Spotted Catbird,
Tooth-billed Bowerbird, Graceful Honeyeater, Metallic Starling, and Spotted
Nightjar. The total list for the three days was 95 birds, and also included
3 new mammals for me: Mareeba Rock Wallaby, Rufous Bettong, and Bent-winged
Bat. The rock wallaby and bat were both found in one of the many lava tubes
around the Undara Crater between Croyden and Cairns. The briefness of the
trip has left me with many more species to go back for - something I am
looking forward to doing hopefully later this year.

[RANT] A word of warning about the area: we stayed one night at Undara Lodge
(which was very nice but very expensive) and were told by them we weren't
allowed to visit a lava tube except with one of their guides. This was a
lie, as the local park ranger will tell you. If you want to see a lava tube
without any bulls**t from overpriced tour operators, be prepared to either
walk or use a 4wd and ask the ranger for directions. There are 68 known lava
tubes in the area, and Undara Lodge only monopolises one of these. [/RANT]

Rather than going into too much more detail, I'll add the list of birds that
I saw on the drive at the end of the email.  I think it's not a bad list for
a 1300km 3-day trip with a full day of work in the middle.

Regards,
Chris

ps. thank you to those who gave advice on places to see on the way,
unfortunately plans didn't allow for most of them, but I'll be back...

  Plumed Whistling Duck
  White-faced Heron
  Cattle Egret
  Intermediate Egret
  Straw-necked Ibis
  Australian White Ibis
  Yellow-billed Spoonbill
  Black Kite
  Whistling Kite
  Black-breasted Buzzard
  White-bellied Sea-Eagle
  Wedge-tailed Eagle
  Swamp Harrier
  Nankeen Kestrel
  Comb-crested Jacana
  Black-fronted Dotterel
  Masked Lapwing
  Spotted Turtle-Dove
  Rock Dove
  Peaceful Dove
  Bar-shouldered Dove
  Brown Cuckoo-Dove
  Crested Pigeon
  Squatter Pigeon
  White-headed Pigeon
  Wompoo Pigeon
  Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo
  Galah
  Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
  Rainbow Lorikeet
  Scaly-breasted Lorikeet
  Australian King Parrot
  Red-winged Parrot
  Crimson Rosella
  Pale-headed Rosella
  Pheasant Coucal
  Southern Boobook
  Spotted Nightjar
  White-rumped Swiftlet
  Laughing Kookaburra
  Forest Kingfisher
  Sacred Kingfisher
  Red-backed Kingfisher
  Rainbow Bee-eater
  Brown Treecreeper
  Striated Pardalote
  Brown Gerygone
  Buff-rumped Thornbill
  Weebill
  Little Friarbird
  Noisy Friarbird
  Helmeted Friarbird
  Blue-faced Honeyeater
  Noisy Miner
  Lewin's Honeyeater
  Graceful Honeyeater
  Yellow Honeyeater
  Yellow-tinted Honeyeater
  White-throated Honeyeater
  Rufous-throated Honeyeater
  Scarlet Honeyeater
  Brown Honeyeater
  Jacky Winter
  Rufous Whistler
  Little Shrike-Thrush
  Restless Flycatcher
  Willie Wagtail
  Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrike
  White-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike
  White-winged Triller
  Olive-backed Oriole
  Yellow Oriole
  Figbird (yellow form was new for me)
  White-breasted Woodswallow
  Black-faced Woodswallow
  Grey Butcherbird
  Pied Butcherbird
  Magpie Lark
  Australian Magpie
  Pied Currawong
  Spangled Drongo
  Australian Raven
  Torresian Crow
  Apostlebird
  Spotted Catbird
  Tooth-billed Bowerbird
  Great Bowerbird
  Double-barred Finch
  Zebra Finch
  Chestnut-breasted Mannikin
  House Sparrow
  Mistletoebird
  Welcome Swallow
  Metallic Starling
  Common Mynah
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