Hi again,
Further to Michaels post,
Not brave, just a full time worker making do with what time off I can get.
Both parks were full and since I have no camping gear anyway, I just stayed in
a motel in Stanthorpe and got up very, very early each day and drove out to the
parks, no big deal to me since I was on my own. Even with Girraween full, I
did not see another person on the Junction track until at least 8:20am just
before I saw the Heathwrens (and I was walking the track at 6am). Even in the
afternoon on my first day the Junction track was pretty quiet with only a few
other walkers seen. I didn't even see another birdwatcher (and you can pick
them easily). Most people seemed to hang around the picnic area, info centre,
the stream at the start of the walking tracks and the Granite Arch track. The
few other walkers on the track were all kind enough to stop walking while I
looked or tried to photograph something, which was nice and somewhat unexpected.
Sundown was much the same experience, but there are only a small amount of camp
sites anyway, so even though it was fully booked, I didn't see anyone on the
walking track, or the fields or in the scrub or any other location mentioned in
my research.
New Holland Honeyeater was on my wish list and seemed to get a mention in most
reports but unfortunately I can confirm that I didn't see any. There wasn't
much in flower at either park (if that helps). That one will be on my list for
a return visit.
So anyway, don't discount these parks because its a busy holiday period, most
people weren't there to see birds anyway and stayed well away from the good
birding spots. I still managed to see and photograph 3 new birds in the busy
picnic area (White-eared and White-naped Honeyeaters, Red Wattlebird) and I'm
sure I'll find the quail thrush somewhere else.
Cheers and Happy birding
Lee Mason
Hervey Bay, QLD
Hello Birding Ausers In response to Lee Mason's recent report regarding
Girraween NP (near Stanthorpe, Queensland). It's a brave person to visit there
on an Easter weekend. I was there only a few days beforehand with a friend
doing research on the Bald Rock Creek Turtle and the rangers were telling us
the campgrounds were booked out during the period and they were expecting close
to 350 people. No Thanks! It's hard enough tracking down quail-thrush as it is.
We too got a Scarlet Robin (male); it seems to be a great spot for these birds
in the state. Also managed to see a pair of Spotted Quail-thrush on our visit.
It's interesting to note that there is no mention of New Holland Honeyeater in
Lee's report, which can be relatively numerous there on occasions; we too did
not see a single bird of this species whilst there.Regards,Michael Wood
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