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Dear Birders,
I had the pleasure of attending Bamaga Bird Week, at the tip of Cape York,
from the 5th to the 12th January 2005. This trip was organised by Klaus Unlenhut
and he was ably assisted in running the trip by Lloyd Nielsen and Susie
Anderson.
17 birders flew in to meet Klaus and his colleagues at Bamaga airport and be
transported to Bamaga Resort, a comfortable motel with the luxury of
air-conditioned rooms and, as we were all pleased to find, excellent food.
Mornings started with breakfast at 5:30 for a 6:00 am start, returning at
around 11:30 for lunch at 12:00.Morning trips ranged quite widely
including trips to Lockerbie Scrub for rainforest birds, a trip to Cowal
Creek and the Jardine River for woodland birds, a trip to the tip of Cape York
for waders and a trip to the Woody Islands for a number of specialties found
there. Afternoons typically involved a siesta until 3:30 or 4:00 and
birding until 6:00. Afternoon trips were typically in the reasonably close
surrounds of Bamaga and sought a range of birds from surrounding habitats. An
evening spotlighting trip to Lockerbie Scrub produced a number of owls.
Highlights for me were a Pied Heron swooping down to alight on the edge of
the pond behind the resort; a Red-bellied Pitta emerging from the depths of the
vine scrub and virtually bumping into a Noisy Pitta going in the other
direction; wonderfull views of a Superb Fruit-dove miracculously spotted by
Lloyd in the depths of bush; the Mangrove Robins brought in by a mournfull
downward whistle; regular sightings of the spectacular Palm Cockatoo; the
Buff-breasted Paradise-kingfisher and the Yellow-billed Kingfisher; and last but
not least brief views of the Northern Scrub Robin and of the Magnificent
Riflebird (Oh, but there was so much more - the Yellow-breasted Boatbill, the
Lovely Fairy-wren, the Fawn-breasted Bowerbird, the Trumpet Manucade
etc.,etc.,).
A great birding outing well lead by experienced guides, a wide variety of
environments and lots of birds- what more can one want? I cannot report on this
trip without thanking Trevor Waller for selflessly sharing his scope with
others of us less quick in picking up the birds.
The birds I say during the week were (The total list seen by all on the trip
is larger than this):-
Orange-footed Scrubfowl
Australian
Brush-turkey
Great Frigatebird
Lesser Frigatebird
Darter
Little Pied Cormorant
Pacific Black
Duck
Pied Heron
Great Egret
Intermediate Egret
Little Egret
Eastern Reef
Egret
Striated Heron
Royal Spoonbill
Eastern
Curlew
Whimbrel
Grey-tailed Tattler
Common
Sandpiper
Greenshank
Great Knot
Red-necked Stint
Beach Stone-curlew
Masked Lapwing
Pacific Golden Plover
Lesser Sand Plover
Greater
Sand Plover
Silver Gull
Caspian Tern
Crested Tern
Whistling
Kite
White-bellied Sea-Eagle
Grey Goshawk (both phases)
Peregrine
Falcon
Brown Falcon
Superb Fruit-Dove
Wompoo Fruit-Dove
Pied
Imperial-Pigeon
Brown Cuckoo-Dove
Peaceful Dove
Bar-shouldered
Dove
Palm Cockatoo
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Rainbow
Lorikeet
Red-winged Parrot
Pale-headed Rosella
Brush
Cuckoo
Chestnut-breasted CuckooShining Bronze-Cuckoo
Little
Bronze-Cuckoo
Gould's Bronze-Cuckoo
Pheasant Coucal
Rufous
Owl
Barking Owl
Papuan Frogmouth
Marbled Frogmouth
Azure Kingfisher
Laughing
Kookaburra
Blue-winged Kookaburra
Forest Kingfisher
Yellow Billed Kingfisher
Buff-breasted
Paradise-Kingfisher
Red-bellied Pitta
Noisy Pitta
Lovely Fairy-wren
Red-backed
Fairy-wren
Tropical Scrubwren
Fairy Gerygone
Helmeted
Friarbird
Tawny-breasted Honeyeater
Yellow-spotted Honeyeater
Graceful
Honeyeater
White-throated Honeyeater
White-streaked Honeyeater
Brown
Honeyeater
Brown-backed Honeyeater
Dusky Honeyeater
Red-headed
Honeyeater
Grey-crowned Babbler
Mangrove Robin
Yellow-legged Flycatcher
Lemon-bellied
Flycatcher
Northern Scrub-robin
White-faced RobinLittle Shrike-thrush
Mangrove
Golden Whistler
Grey Whistler
Rufous Whistler
Leaden
Flycatcher
Shining Flycatcher
Yellow-breasted Boatbill
Spectacled
Monarch
Frilled Monarch
Spangled Drongo
Yellow
Oriole
Figbird
Magnificent Riflebird
Trumpet Manucode
Great
Bowerbird
Fawn-breasted Bowerbird
White-bellied
Cuckoo-shrike
Cicadabird
Varied Triller
White-breasted
Woodswallow
Black Butcherbird
Black-backed Butcherbird
Torresian
Crow
Golden-headed Cisticola
Red-browed Firetail
Nutmeg
Mannikin
Chestnut-breasted Mannikin
Yellow-bellied
Sunbird
Mistletoebird
Pale White-eye
Metallic Starling.
Peter Marsh
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