Gooday all,
On Wednesday 11 November I was unloading a coal train on the balloon
loop at Abbot Point approx. 25 Km N of Bowen.
The WR Miners were carrying on something bad along with the BF
Honeyeaters, soon a female Brown Goshawk was flushed from the stunted
paperbark with half a dozen birds in hot pursuit. About 50m ahead of the
locomotive a dead Agile or Pretty faced Wallaby (not sure if they are
one of the same?) had the attention of a Whistling Kite perched on the
track near by, a Wedge tailed Eagle was also eyeing this prey and was
perched close to where the Brown Goshawk had flown out from.
The WTE flew down to the track causing the WK to depart, the carcass
was between the track and the bird succeeded in getting the carcass over
the rail and then flapping and dragging the wallaby down the side of the
ballast and into the scrubby tea tree forest. It remained on top of its
prize until the locomotive was adjacent to it, a distance of 10m. Due to
the closeness of the vegetation it was unable to spread its wings and
fly so scurried of in a manner somewhat similar to a Pheasant Coucal.
I'm not sure of the average weight of a dead adult wallaby but the bird
required tremendous effort just to get the carcass over the rail
and then to drag it off into the scrub. I always refer to these
sightings as the "Trainspotting" incidents.
Jon Wren
PO Box 868
Bowen
Queensland
Australia 4805 Phone 07 4786 2614H
Visit the birds of Bowen, click Tourism
www.lgaq.asn.au/bowen.nsf
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