Neil Cowley and I just spent two days seeing what was about in the valley.
As Neil was on his way up to O'Reilly's the next day, we didn't go into any
forest, but we found 120 species around Abberton and the local roadsides and
lagoons.
Plenty of raptors - including Swamp Harriers at Lake Dyer and the vestigial
Seven Mile Lagoon, Spotted Harrier and Wedge-tailed Eagles at Abberton,
White-bellied Sea-eagle at the nest at Lake Clarendon.
Good waterbirds included 2 Black-necked Storks and plenty of Red-necked
Avocets at Lake Atkinson (Tawny Frogmouth and a koala there too), plenty of
Australasian Shovelers all over the place, three Hoary-headed Grebes,
Great-crested Grebe at Lake Dyer. All three ibis, both spoonbills.
I saw my first Rose Robin of the winter, months later than usual, while a
resplendent Fan-tailed Cuckoo which had been trilling away nearby came and
sat as close to us as he could get.
Re: the recent discussion about movements of some cuckoos, my records show
the Fan-tailed Cuckoo at Abberton (27º 34' 21" E ; 152º 08' 21" S) in every
month of the year, though peaking in winter and fewer in summer, while the
Pallid Cuckoo shows almost the opposite pattern, mostly here between
September and January, and no records for April to July.
But bear in mind these are the records for our place only - I'm working on
summarising the patterns for the wider area of Toowoomba and the Lockyer
Valley, and I'll report back on that.
Bill Jolly
"Abberton",
Lockyer Valley, Queensland.
Visit our website at http://www.abberton.org
Email:
Ph: (+61) 7 4697 6111 Fax: (+61) 7 4697 6056
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