birding-aus

Mission Beach trip report

To: Birding Aus <>
Subject: Mission Beach trip report
From: Greg Oakley <>
Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2009 10:19:45 +1000
 Hi all,

Just returned from a pleasant family holiday for 9 days at Wongaling Beach
Qld (a small area between North and South Mission Beach). In all my years of
finding destinations that juggle birding and family, this would have to be
the best so far! The weather here in winter is spectacular ­ between 25º and
29º + sunny every day. The beaches are excellent and remarkably quiet -  I
have 2 young kids who spent most of the time on the beach. There is a wide
range of accommodation and there are plenty of restaurants in the area. The
thing I liked about Mission Beach was that it is very quiet and thus lacks
the big over-tourist feel of Port Douglas and Cairns. And the birding is
surprisingly good, with many excellent sites very close to your
accommodation.

Cassowary was one of my main targets, having eluded me on many prior trips
up to FNQ. This would have to be the best area to see them - although you do
need an element of luck & plenty of time walking around their main haunts. I
managed to see 2 separate birds (one was a male with a young stripy chick)
at Lacey Creek and Tam O'Shanter N.P. I also tried Clump Mountain NP and
Licuala State Forest. Early morning or late afternoon are the best times.

The walking track between El Arish/Mission Beach Road and Licuala SF (Tam
O'Shanter N.P) is an excellent birding area. The rainforest here is in good
shape, and being not one of the main tourist tracks it is nice and quiet.
Along this strip I managed to get on to some really good birds ­ Cassowary,
Yellow-breasted Boatbill, Chowchilla, Victoria¹s Riflebird, Spotted Catbird,
Brown Cuckoo-dove, Wompoo Fruit-dove, Superb Fruit-dove, Rose-crowned
Fruit-dove, Yellow-spotted, Graceful, Macleay¹s, and Dusky Honeyeater, Grey
Whistler, Rainbow Pitta, Emerald Dove, Little Shrike-thrush, Pale-yellow
Robin and Barred Cuckoo-shrike among the best.

I also checked out many unmarked rainforest tracts and some more open
forest/tall rank grass etc. I lucked on a Bush-hen which flushed from a
swampy/rank grass area near Wongaling Beach. It ran several metres straight
past me, allowing good enough views to tick!

Below is a trip list (around 121):

 Southern Cassowary (2 separate sightings ­ Lacey Creek and Tam O'Shanter
N.P)
 Orange-footed Scrubfowl (common in rainforest)
 Grey Teal (near Tully)
 Pacific Black Duck
 Rock Dove - I (Cairns)
 Spotted Turtle-dove - I (Mission Beach)
 Brown Cuckoo-Dove (several - Tam O'Shanter N.P)
 Emerald Dove (several - Tam O'Shanter N.P)
 Peaceful Dove (common everywhere ­ classic café bird under tables on Cairns
Esplanade)
 Bar-shouldered Dove (Mission Beach)
 Wompoo Fruit-Dove (several Mission Beach area)
 Superb Fruit-Dove (several - Tam O'Shanter N.P)
 Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove (several - Tam O'Shanter N.P)
 Pied Imperial-Pigeon (couple of small flocks around Mission Beach)
 Australian Swiftlet (common over forested areas)
 Brown Booby (single bird, pelagic waters out from Dunk Island)
 Little Pied Cormorant
 Little Black Cormorant
 Pied Cormorant
 Australian Pelican
 White-necked Heron (Mission Beach)
 Eastern Great Egret (Cairns Esp)
 Intermediate Egret (Cairns Esp)
 Cattle Egret (literally hundreds in recently cultivated cane fields from
Tully to Innisfail)
 Striated Heron (Cairns Esp)
 White-faced Heron (Mission Beach)
 Little Egret (Cairns Esp)
 Eastern Reef Egret (Cairns Esp)
 Nankeen Night-Heron (Cairns Botanical Gardens)
 Glossy Ibis (Mission Beach)
 Australian White Ibis
 Straw-necked Ibis
 Royal Spoonbill (Cairns Esp)
 Whistling Kite
 Brahminy Kite (Common Mission Beach)
 Black Kite
 Brown Goshawk
 Nankeen Kestrel
 Brown Falcon
 Australian Hobby
 Bush-hen (single bird flushed, ran from tall cane grass near Wongaling
Beach)
 Bush Stone-curlew (common around Mission Beach)
 Beach Stone-curlew (resident bird at Wongaling Beach)
 Red-capped Plover
 Red-kneed Dotterel
 Masked Lapwing
 Whimbrel (Cairns Esp)
 Eastern Curlew
 Gull-billed Tern (Cairns Esp)
 Lesser Crested Tern (2 loafing on rocks at Clump Pt boat ramp)
 Crested Tern
 Laughing Gull - R (Cairns Esp)
 Silver Gull
 Galah
 Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
 Rainbow Lorikeet
 Double-eyed Fig-Parrot (Cairns Bot Gardens)
 Little Bronze-Cuckoo (1 calling, Tam O'Shanter N.P)
 Fan-tailed Cuckoo (1 calling, Lacey Creek)
 Laughing Kookaburra
 Blue-winged Kookaburra (1 near Tully)
 Forest Kingfisher (common on telegraph wires, Mission Beach)
 Sacred Kingfisher (Mission Beach)
 Collared Kingfisher (Cairns Esp)
 Rainbow Bee-eater
 Noisy Pitta (common in rainforest habitats)
 Spotted Catbird (several, Tam O'Shanter N.P)
 Satin Bowerbird (single female, Tam O'Shanter N.P)
 Large-billed Scrubwren (Tam O'Shanter N.P)
 Brown Gerygone (only a couple in Tam O'Shanter N.P)
 Large-billed Gerygone (Tam O'Shanter N.P, Cairns Bot gardens)
 Fairy Gerygone (Lacey Creek, Tam O'Shanter N.P)
 Yellow-spotted Honeyeater (common most rainforest habitat)
 Graceful Honeyeater (single bird, near Wongaling Beach)
 Varied Honeyeater (Cairns Esp)
 White-gaped Honeyeater (Cairns)
 Yellow Honeyeater (El Arish)
 Dusky Honeyeater (Tam O'Shanter N.P)
 Scarlet Honeyeater (single bird, near Wongaling Beach)
 Brown Honeyeater
 Blue-faced Honeyeater
 Helmeted Friarbird (common around Mission Beach)
 Little Friarbird
 Macleay's Honeyeater (several rainforest sites around Mission Beach)
 Eastern Whipbird
 Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
 Barred Cuckoo-shrike (small flock of 6-10, Tam O'Shanter N.P)
 Varied Triller
 Grey Whistler (several, Tam O'Shanter N.P)
 Little Shrike-thrush (Tam O'Shanter N.P)
 Bower's Shrike-thrush (rainforest near Wongaling Beach)
 Grey Shrike-thrush
 Australasian Figbird
 Yellow Oriole
 White-breasted Woodswallow
 Black Butcherbird (several around Wongaling Beach)
 Australian Magpie
 Pied Currawong
 Rufous Fantail
 Grey Fantail
 Willie Wagtail
 Leaden Flycatcher
 Shining Flycatcher (Cairns Bot gardens in mangroves)
 Spectacled Monarch (common around Mission Beach rainforest areas)
 Magpie-lark
 Yellow-breasted Boatbill (several, Tam O'Shanter N.P)
 Victoria's Riflebird (single female, Tam O'Shanter N.P)
 Lemon-bellied Flycatcher (cleared areas near rainforest sites)
 Pale-yellow Robin (beginning of track, Tam O'Shanter N.P)
 Mangrove Robin (Cairns Esp)
 Australian Reed-Warbler
 Welcome Swallow
 Fairy Martin
 Metallic Starling (only a couple, Cairns Bot Gardens)
 Common Starling - I
 Common Myna - I
 Mistletoebird
 Olive-backed Sunbird
 Red-browed Finch
 Nutmeg Mannikin - I
 House Sparrow - I
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