Hi Folks,
Not a great deal happening on the bird front around Cairns, I've been out of
action and also away in the SW Gulf country of Cape York Peninsula (about
500km NW of Cairns). I was atlassing sites in different vegetation types in
areas that had not been atlassed, especially in the wet season. I dropped in
to sites by helicopter (courtesy of QPWS). Generally, the country was fairly
dry for this time of year and the only extensive flooding was around the
Mitchell/Alice Rivers NE of Kowanyama. Of interest, here was Apostlebirds
north of the Mitchell River, these birds have been slowly expanding their
range northwards, and a recently used nest was found. Noisy miners were
found west of their recognised range but in an area with a few historical
records. Waterbirds were scarce and honeyeaters such as Noisy and Little
Friarbirds were only seen singularly or in pairs scattered over large areas.
Groups of Dollarbirds and Common Koels were heading north.
An update on the current situation on the Cairns Esplanade - The swimming
lagoon and surrounding infrastructure (barbeques, outdoor stage and grassed
areas), was opened last week to many politicians grandstanding. The next
stage, which is rebuilding the seawall and putting a 5m wooden boardwalk
along it, has also started this week. For those of you who know the
esplanade, it is extending to the playground area (approx half way along the
length). Unfortunately, most of this area has been fenced off as a
construction site and there is no access to the best birding areas, how it
will affect the birds during the construction I do not know. This work is
likely to go on for about 6 months, hopefully most of it when the migratory
birds are away breeding.
Cheers,
Keith.
Keith & Lindsay Fisher
Cairns, (16°55' 40"S 145° 46' 35"E)
Far North Queensland 4870 Australia
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