Everyone,
Nick Livanos and I have just returned from a two week non stop birding holiday
to the above mentioned cities. This was our first time in the tropics and the
jump in our life lists certainly reflects this.
We spent 5 nights at the wonderful Padaminka west of Mackay, 5 nights in
Townsville and 2 nights in Rockhampton, and visited such places as Eungella,
Cape Hillsborough, Woodstock, Paluma, Ingham, Mission Beach and Byfield.
Highlights:
-ORANGE-FOOTED SCRUBFOWL: Slade Pt, McEwens Beach, Mission Beach, Cape
Hillsborough
-Radjah Shelduck: St Lawrence and Seaforth
-Cotton Pygmy-goose: St Lawrence and Pt Alma Rd
-GREEN PYGMY-GOOSE: Tyto Wetlands
-RED-NECKED CRAKE: Mission Beach
-WHITE-BROWED CRAKE: Ross River Bush Park
-Aust. Bustard: 8 25km sth of Condamine and 2 at Townsville Common
-Beach Stone-curlew: Clairview
-BLACK-BREASTED BUTTON-QUAIL: Inskip Pt
-Wandering Tattler: Hastings Pt
-LESSER CRESTED TERN: Seaforth
-Squatter Pigeon: several spots
-PIED IMPERIAL PIGEON: everywhere around Mackay and further north
-SUPERB FRUIT-DOVE: Brilliant male at Little Crystal Crk, heard many spots
-Rose-crowned Fruit-dove: Everywhere
-DOUBLE-EYED FIG-PARROT: 1 male at Mission Beach
-Ground Parrot: Heard at Cooloola
-LITTLE BRONZE-CUCKOO: Several spots north of Mackay
-BARKING OWL: Family in Townsville park
-Southern Boobook: Paluma
-LARGE-TAILED NIGHTJAR: Padaminka and Big Crystal Crk
-AUST. SWIFTLET: Finch Hatton and several spots further north
-BLUE-WINGED KOOKABURRA: Everywhere
-Buff-breasted Paradise-kingfisher: Heard only at Byfield
-LARGE-BILLED GERYGONE: Big Crystal Crk and Jourama Falls
-FAIRY GERYGONE: Padaminka and further north
-MOUNTAIN THORNBILL: Paluma
-HELMETED FRIARBIRD: Everywhere north of Clairview
-YELLOW-SPOTTED HONEYEATER: Little Crystal Crk and spots further north
-WHITE-GAPED HONEYEATER: Ross River Bush Gardens
-EUNGELLA HONEYEATER: 10 seen along Chelmans Rd, Eungella
-BRIDLED HONEYEATER: Paluma
-YELLOW HONEYEATER: Everywhere
-BROWN-BACKED HONEYEATER: Very common around Townsville and further north
-BAR-BREASTED HONEYEATER: Rockhampton
-MACLEAY'S HONEYEATER: Paluma
-RUFOUS-THROATED HONEYEATER: Tyto, Townsville, Woodstock
-DUSKY HONEYEATER: Everywhere
-LEMON-BELLIED FLYCATCHER: Padaminka and Big Crystal
-YELLOW-BREASTED BOATBILL: Mission Beach
-MANGROVE ROBIN: McEwen's Beach
-WHITE-BROWED ROBIN: Padaminka, Finch Hatton, Big Crystal, Jourama, Tyto
-GREY-HEADED ROBIN: Paluma
-CHOWCHILLA: Paluma
-GREY WHISTLER: Mission Beach, Big Crystal and Jourama Falls
-BOWER'S SHRIKE-THRUSH: Paluma
-White-eared Monarch: Mission Beach
-SHINING FLYCATCHER: Cape Hillsborough and Molongle Creek
-NORTHERN FANTAIL: Big Crystal
-Barred Cuckoo-shrike: Paluma and Mission Beach
-YELLOW ORIOLE: Mission Beach, heard Tyto
-VICTORIA'S RIFLEBIRD: Common in Paluma township
-SPOTTED CATBIRD: Paluma and Mission Beach
-TOOTH-BILLED BOWERBIRD: Paluma
-GOLDEN BOWERBIRD: Paluma. The bird of the trip! Watched a male at bower for
roughly 5 minutes.
-GREAT BOWERBRID: Seaforth and further north
-BLACK-THROATED FINCH: Woodstock
-CRIMSON FINCH: Ayr and further north
-OLIVE-BACKED SUNBIRD: Everywhere
-YELLOW WHITE-EYE: 2 seen at Molongle Creek. This was the rarest bird seen for
the trip, another real highlight.
-METALLIC STARLING: Cape Hillsborough and many spots further north. Breeding
colony at Mission beach was awesome!
By far Paluma was the best location visited, such a beautiful place...and
seeing 12 ticks in one day certainly helped. The Fig-parrot and Red-necked
Crake at Mission Beach were great finds as we hadn't counted on travelling that
far north. Most rewarding ticks were probably Black-throated Finch which were
hard to find and Golden Bowerbird which we had written off until we bumped into
a lovely couple who gave us some tips.
Such a successful trip wasn't possible without the help of the following
people. A huge thanks to Maureen Cooper of Padaminka who was extremely helpful
and who showed us the Eungella Honeyeaters. We can strongly recommend Padaminka
as a place to stay and bird. A huge thanks to Ian Boyd who showed us around his
local spots in Townsville. Bob Black from Byfield provided heaps of info for us
and took us out for a day around Rockhampton, showing us a very impressive
Bar-breasted Honeyeater with nest. Unfortunetly we only heard his
Paradise-kingfishers, next time Bob and thanks. To the couple at Paluma we
thank you for the bowerbird. And to the few people who responded to our RFI on
birding-aus a big thank you. Lastly thank you to Qld for the nice weather and
cheap petrol!! Bloody NSW.
Summary:
15 days away
Travelled 5,250km
Saw 277 species for the trip
50 lifers!
17 year ticks of which 4 I had only seen once before
30 species were recorded breeding (building nest, with nest or dep young)
Until next road trip,
Grant Brosie
Raworth, NSW
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