...cont'd from Trip report part 1
11/1-15/1 Kingfisher Park, Julatten
I arrived here in the afternoon of the 10/1. I spent the bulk of the
holiday as trips from Kingfisher Park Birdwatching Lodge just outside of
Julatten, in the hills behind Mossman, as my base. This was a great place
to stay. Ron was full of information as to where to see many species, and
drew mudmaps for the various places. I spent a good couple of hours
checking out the place on 10/1. A number of what proved to be regulars
were showing themselves. MACLEAYS HONEYEATER, GRACEFUL HONEYEATER,
Yellow-spotted Honeyeater and Dusky Honeyeater were all present in the
grounds, especially in the orchard and adjacent remnant rainforest. A
single Brown-backed Honeyeater was flitting through some shrubs down on the
creek bank, and an Azure Kingfisher flew past swiftly. Little
Shrike-Thrush, Spectacled Monarch, BUFF-BREASTED PARADISE-KINGFISHER, Pale
Yellow-Robin were all conspicuous, and a few Black-faced Monarchs were
about. Red-browed Finches were to be seen feeding at the seed trays
outside the office. Great views were had of a Noisy Pitta patrolling its
territory in the forest fringing the orchard, Silvereyes and Large-billed
Scrubwrens overlapped in their strata of the forest and a Spotted Catbird
was also feeding here. Flocks of Metallic Starlings buzzed between trees,
and Spangled Drongos were also conspicuous. Pigeons were also well
represented with Emerald Dove, Peaceful Dove, Bar-shouldered Dove and Brown
Cuckoo-Dove all present, and a flock of White-headed Pigeons passing
overhead at one point.Golden headed Cisiticola were present in the adjacent
canefields, and Laughing Kookaburras and Sulphur-crested Cockatoos made me
feel at home. Orange footed Scrub-fowl would occasionally be seen in the
forest floor, and, towards dusk, perched quite high on a tree branch to
roost for the night.
The next morning (11/1), I saw mostly the same birds, but added
White-rumped Swiftlet, White-breasted Woodswallow and Pheasant Coucal in
the adjacent canefield, and Fairy Gerygone and FOREST KINGFISHER in some
large trees fringing the creek further downstream. Over the nest few days
I spent most of my time travelling to nearby areas, but managed to also add
Black Kite, Black-shouldered Kite, Nankeen Kestrel?. Although I seemed
destined at firs to only hear them, I finally saw a YELLOW-BREASTED
BOATBILL here as well. Also went spotlighting at night and saw a PAPUAN
FROGMOUTH on two occasions. Heard a LARGE-TAILED NIGHTJAR but couldn't
spotlight one.The resident Red-necked Crakes also refused to show during my
time here. Some Bush Stone-Curlew were around one night. I also saw a
number of these when I went to use the public phone near Julatten School.
Mammals seen here included Spectacled Flying Fox, Agile Wallaby, Northern
Brown Bandicoot, Green Ringtail Possum, Striped Possum and Greater
White-tailed Rat (climbing in vegetation).
MOSSMAN RIVER CRUISE (13/1)
I did a cruise up the Mossman river with Peter Cooper. I am told that this
offers similar species to that of Chris Dahlberg's trip up the Daintree, so
I guess its a choice of whether you want a more personal quieter trip up a
smaller river. I would definitely recommend this trip. Fantastic! Peter
is extremely knowledgeable and gives a great overall ecology talk as he
goes, and he's a nice bloke to top it off. The trip covers a range of
environments from beach sandflats, mudflats, estuarine, mangroves, and ends
in freshwater with gallery rainforest before heading back down stream
again. Fig-Parrots flew past as we waited in the car park, and Torresian
Imperial Pigeons were on the move, as were large groups of Metallic
Starlings. Stacks of Yellow Orioles and some Figbirds were present. Once
we were underway we managed to see one of my target species very early on -
LITTLE KINGFISHER, perched on a branch near the water's edge in the
brilliant morning sun. We soon added Azure Kingfisher, Collared Kingisher,
and a lone Sacred Kingfisher to the list. Although we heard one, we failed
to see Gould's Bronze Cuckoo. Another target bird - LARGE-BILLED GERYGONE
- showed up nicely, and I saw one in the process of constructing a nest,
as well as seeing one of these amazing large pendulous structures. Greta
views of male and female Shining Flycatchers. Particularly impressive was
the 'pterodactyl-like' (Peters term) GREAT BILLED HERON which surprised us
as it flew out from a tree top perch. We managed to get good views of it
perched in another spot. Waders seen included Common Sandpiper, Common
Greenshank, Grey-tailed Tattler, Bar-tailed Godwit, Eastern Curlew,
Whimbrel, Greater Sandplover, Masked Lapwing and Pied Oystercatcher. A
great spot with 37 species overall, and the only place where I saw
Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove this trip.
A visit to power lines in nearby Newell Beach eventually produced a group
of six Barn Swallows on a power line in a back street, together with two
Welcome Swallows. This was the first for me for Australia, although I have
seen stacks of them in Europe.
Frank Hemmings
Curator
John T. Waterhouse Herbarium
School of Biological, Environmental and Earth Sciences
University of New South Wales
UNSW SYDNEY 2052
AUSTRALIA
Tel +61 2 9385 3274
Fax +61 2 9385 1558
CRICOS Provider Code: 00098G
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