Hi folks,
For some time I have wanted to visit the Sundown NP area between Stanthorpe
and Texas in the border ranges. The NP is just inside Qld. Jack still hadn't
seen Diamond Firetail, Turquoise Parrot and Painted Button-Quail. We saw
these and many other excellent species well in the area. A friend
recommended that we access the main camping area in the NP itself via
Springdale Rd. This is excellent advice and is probably one of the best road
verge birding precincts that I've encountered anywhere. Most of the road
reserve is well vegetated and crossed by numerous little gullies. At almost
any of those water points we came across terrific woodland species such as
Hooded Robins (nesting also); Little Lorikeets; Black-chinned Honeyeaters
and 2 of our targets, Diamond Firetail and Turquoise Parrot. The best spot
was at 28deg 45'16" 151deg39'44" (especially if you want the firetail on
your Qld list). As it turned out, we ended up bush camping at Nundubbermere
Falls the first night because we spent so much time out of the car! The camp
there was fantastic and I would strongly recommend it for those with real
4WD's. Our next 2 nights were spent bush camping at the Broadwater
campground adjacent the Severn River. About a km north of the campground
,there is the Permanent Waterhole (self explanatory)......excellent birding
including 4 cuckoos (excluding us), a Platypus and would be great for a
canoe or swim on a hot day. The Turquoise Parrots are in small numbers and
best seen at the southern end of the campground itself. We only saw a max
.of 3 pairs later in the afternoons. Often single neophema would buzz over
but were hard to locate in the trees. There are many Red-browed Firetails
along the river and the Diamonds are tricky to get onto in the NP itself (I
would take Roy's suggestion and pick them up along Springdale Rd). We did
however see a single bird on day 3 near the Turks. Day 3 though, was devoted
to the Painted Button-Quail for Jack. He is only 12 but the PBQ was a bit of
a boagy-bird for him. As it turned out, using the best of local knowledge
and experience, it took a few hours to find platelets in suitable habitat.
Then I saw one and Jack didn't. It was a bit like the Blue Petrels near
Macquarie Is but that's another story. Anyway eventually we heard some
booming and had brilliant views of a female which walked 360deg around us as
we sat on the dirt. 28deg55'05" 151deg34'47" is the start of a bit of a
track where the PBQ frequent.
Good luck to the Eurasian Little Grebe chasers........the airfares are too
expensive for us over the school holidays. The last one in 1999 stayed for
about a week apparently.
Cheers,
Bill
PS Jack's trip report including photos etc will be available soon to
read/download on www.mywidebay.com/jack along with his other reports. As
always, he loves any feedback (especially at the moment since I said we
can't afford a dash to DWN for the grebe.
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