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Hi all,
Today started off with a 600k round trip to Mt Isa
to catch up with Bob Forsyth to go to Lake Moondarra and to try and see the
Red-necked Phalarope seen there a few days ago. The trip didn't start off well after accidentally running over a Crested
Pigeon before leaving Julia Creek and then running over a Diamond Dove in the
middle of Cloncurry - my windscreen must be a magnet for pigeons and
doves. There were plenty of Singing Bushlarks, large
flocks of Budgerigars, Zebra Finches and
Australian Bustards on the road to Cloncurry. In
Cloncurry we briefly stopped for breakfast and noted a flock of 8
Varied Lorikeets flying through town. Varied lorikeets
are fairly common in towns and gardens in this part of Queensland.
Took a bit of time to find the Red-necked
Phalarope at Lake Moondarra getting excellent views, this is the first
time I'd ever seen one ..... and what a busy and energetic little bird they
are, never stopping, it followed other waders around
including Common Greenshanks and
Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, picking up
'presumably' critters from the water surface about 1 to 2 metres from the shore
as they were disturbed by the waders. Other goodies included a flock of
about 60 Oriental Plovers, Wood and Marsh Sandpipers,
Black-tailed Godwits, Green Pygmy-geese, literally millions (seemed
like it) of Australian Pratincoles including an individual who
we must have disturbed from a nest because it tried the broken wing trick on us
to follow it, Crimson Chats, Grey-fronted and
Rufous-throated Honeyeaters, Grey-crowned Babblers,
a White-bellied Sea-eagle and Horsefield's
Bronze-cuckoos amongst others. It was also a day for red-necks as
we saw the Red-necked Phalarope, Red-necked Stints and
Red-necked Avocets all within a few metres of each
other.
Birdwatching was stopped for a while as we headed
back to Mt Isa in a thunder storm and as soon as it finished we were rushed by
no more than about 50 Fork-tailed Swifts following the storm
clouds. I'd also seen Fork-tailed swifts in front of a storm about 3 weeks
previously in Julia Creek too.
Other birds including two
Sanderlings (rare inland) that were at the Julia
Creek Sewerage Treatment pond for the last few weeks have now gone. A
Pacific Golden Plover has also turned up at the pond recently
too.
Happy birding!
Marc Gardner
Julia
Creek
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