Summer Birding, Qld: CIRCULAR Page 2.

PAGE 2

DATES: 6->11 Jan 05,

        &  6->12 Feb 05

SITES: Sunshine Beach & Noosa River; 'Fraser Coast', south inland via Wide Bay/Burnett;

        & O'Reilly's (Lamington Plateau).

As I travelled, I was reading Ian Rowley's wonderfully concise 'Bird Life'; the 'Galapagos Diary' of Hermann Heinzel & Barnaby Hall, which is such a beautiful example to any birder (I can look at it endlessly); Diane Ackerman's truly lovely essay on Short-tailed Albatrosses in her book, 'The Rarest of the Rare'; Richard Schodde's big, splendid monograph on 'The Fairy-Wrens'; David Fleay on his Wedge-tailed Eagles; field guides; and, of course, Lloyd Nielsen's book of the 'Birds of Lamington National Park and Environs, A Guide's Guide'.

NOTES:--

        - A low-pressure system off the coast produced very windy conditions for the January birding. In both months the weather was quite variable. This seasonal turbulence brought WTNs out almost everywhere.

        - The only Indian Myna seen was in Childers township.

        - The only bird seen or heard everywhere was the Torresian Crow.

        - My sightings of distant birds (i.e. raptors, waders), & of some in flight (e.g. terns, cormorants, martins) & of the larger herons/egrets, are still unpracticed.

        - Very little opportunity/time was      available for birding during any of this period. Most of the sightings were made from a building, or came while travelling or during short stops or brief walks. This goes to show how much can be seen just by looking around!

BIRDLISTS:--

Sunshine Beach

        6->9 Jan 05

        Habitat:  coastal

        Weather:  Low pressure: rainy, windy, cool to warm

Megapodiidae Australian Brush-turkey Alectura lathami (in suburban street)
Accipitridae Osprey Pandion haliaetus
Laridae Silver Gull Larus novaehollandiae
Columbidae Crested Pigeon Ocyphaps lophotes
Cacatuidae Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus funereus
Cacatuidae Galah Eolophus roseicapilla 3
Psittacidae Rainbow Lorikeet Trichoglossus haematodus
Centropodidae Pheasant Coucal Centropus phasianinus

Apodidae White-throated Needletail Hirundapus caudacutus (20, 7 Jan)

Halcyonidae Laughing Kookaburra Dacelo novaeguineae
Maluridae Red-backed Fairy-wren Malurus melanocephalus
Meliphagidae Little Wattlebird Anthochaera chrysoptera
Meliphagidae Noisy Friarbird Philemon corniculatus
Meliphagidae Blue-faced Honeyeater Entomyzon cyanotis
Meliphagidae Noisy Miner Manorina melanocephala
Cinclosomatidae Eastern Whipbird Psophodes olivaceus
Dicruridae Magpie-Lark Grallina cyanoleuca
Dicruridae Willie Wagtail Rhipidura leucophrys
Oriolidae Figbird Sphecotheres viridis (many)
Artamidae -  Butcherbird spp. - Cracticus...
Artamidae Australian Magpie Gymnorhina tibicen
Artamidae Pied Currawong Strepera graculina
Corvidae Torresian Crow Corvus orru
Hirundinidae Welcome Swallow Hirundo neoxena

Zosteropidae Silvereye Zosterops lateralis

Noosa River

        7.1, late afternoon

        Habitat:  estuarine ('Pelican Beach'), suburban;

        sightings from the strip of grass between the road and the river

        Weather:  Low pressure: overcast, windy

Anatidae Pacific Black Duck Anas superciliosa

Phalacrocoracidae -  Cormorant spp. - Phalacrocorax...
Pelecanidae Australian Pelican Pelecanus conspicillatus
Threskiornithidae Australian White Ibis Threskiornis molucca
Threskiornithidae Straw-necked Ibis Threskiornis spinicollis

unidentified distant raptors

unidentified distant waders
Laridae Silver Gull Larus novaehollandiae
Laridae -  Tern spp.        ???
Cacatuidae Little Corella Cacatua sanguinea
Psittacidae Rainbow Lorikeet Trichoglossus haematodus

Apodidae White-throated Needletail Hirundapus caudacutus (10)

Meliphagidae White-throated Honeyeater Melithreptus albogularis

Artamidae White-breasted Woodswallow Artamus leucorhynchus (one on powerline above footpath)

Corvidae Torresian Crow Corvus orru

Hirundinidae Welcome Swallow Hirundo neoxena

PAGE THREE FOLLOWS

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Judith L-A
S-E Qld
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