A friend and I escaped the Easter rain in the anything but central
highlands of Qld. We spent a bit of time poking about Cania Gorge NP
[about 15 minutes north of Monto - inland of Bundaberg on the Burnett
Highway]. There were plenty of woodland birds about, and a pigeon sized
bird with a striped chest in a large patch of dry rainforest [I vaguely
suspected an oriental cuckoo but I've got to get my bino's cleaned
out]. There were also a few brush-tailed rock wallabies about the
gorges [wonderfully poised creatures] and rufous bettongs nosing around
the local caravan park.
Moving on, we saw a group of four bustards walking through a crop just
outside of Biloela [west of Gladstone on the Dawson Highway]. We later
flushed a bustard which was lurking beside the road and discovered that
bustards have an impressive wingspan.
We stopped off at Theodore [about half an hour south of Banana on the
Leichardt Hwy to resupply]. There was a flock of fifty red-tailed
cockatoos gracing someone's front yard, and just the other side of the
pub an equal sized flock of sulphur-crested cockatoos [is it common to
get white and black cockatoos in the one location?]
Isla Gorge [south of Theodore] has a lot to attract the photographically
inclined bushwalker [lots of impressive sandstone features]. I managed
to flush a pair of spotted quail thrush [they very obligingly kept on
whistling for me]. Later on, a peregrine kindly perched on a nearby
tree as we were nearing the top of one of the peaks.
Interestingly, a flock of a dozen or so birds flying in a line passed
over our camp [in an easterly direction] around 9 pm on Sat night. They
seemed to be about the size of a rainbow lorikeet and their call was a
bit like a whistling duck. I've got no idea what they were.
Overall, I would say Isla Gorge is a good place to visit when you can't
get to Carnarvon Gorge NP [just a bit on the dry side].
Laurence Knight.
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