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Spent 4 days last weekend in the Rainbow Beach/ Inskip Point
area, camping at Carlo Point on the eastern end of the Tin Can Bay.Birded at
Inskip Point which is the "barging-off" point to the southern end of Fraser
Island and a good spot for wader watching. Got the usual suspects incl. Eastern
Curlew, Whimbrel, Bar-tailed Godwit, Great Knot(couple in full breeding
colour),Red-necked Stint, Red-capped Plover,Greater Sand Plover, a single
Pacific Golden Plover, Pied Oystercatcher, and 5 species of Tern (Caspian,
Gull-billed, Crested, Little and Common---danged if I can ever get a Lesser
Crested!!).
But the highlight of the trip was finding a
pair of Black-breasted Button-quail feeding on a track through a small area of
bush right at the Point. Literally only 200m from where the barge departs and
only 50m from the 4WD track to the beach.Had seen 3 quail flush from beside the
path on the first day and just presumed they were Brown Quail. Took Maria back
the next day, moved a bit more slowly and quietly, and held them in view for
over 15 mins.The initial question posed on first sighting (of the presumed Brown
Quail) was "What's a Brown Quail doing with a black head and white speckles on
its chest?" "Ah well--maybe its a BBBQ"
Spent a late afternoon in the Cooloola Section of
the Great Sandy NP at the Ground Parrot site ,looking for Southern Emu-wren.
Dipped on the wren, got one Ground Parrot flying low over the heath(but heard
many more) and stayed long enough to see the Grass Owl also flying low
.
At Carlo Point also saw Grey-tailed Tattlers on the mud
and Greenshanks along with other waders. Heard the eerie wail of a stone-curlew
at night but can't tell whether Bush or Beach (Beach Stone-curlew have been
present at Carlo Point ,I last saw them there 3 years ago)
A great long weekend, some very
interesting sightings, total of 71 birds.
Russ Lamb,Maleny,
SEQ
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