Hi all,
I had a trip for work up to Croyden last week, and as this was an area I'd
never been to before, though it would be worth a look around in any time off
I had. This was frustratingly brief, however I did manage to pick up seven
new birds for me - Yellow Oriole, Sqatter Pigeon, Spotted Catbird,
Tooth-billed Bowerbird, Graceful Honeyeater, Metallic Starling, and Spotted
Nightjar. The total list for the three days was 95 birds, and also included
3 new mammals for me: Mareeba Rock Wallaby, Rufous Bettong, and Bent-winged
Bat. The rock wallaby and bat were both found in one of the many lava tubes
around the Undara Crater between Croyden and Cairns. The briefness of the
trip has left me with many more species to go back for - something I am
looking forward to doing hopefully later this year.
[RANT] A word of warning about the area: we stayed one night at Undara Lodge
(which was very nice but very expensive) and were told by them we weren't
allowed to visit a lava tube except with one of their guides. This was a
lie, as the local park ranger will tell you. If you want to see a lava tube
without any bulls**t from overpriced tour operators, be prepared to either
walk or use a 4wd and ask the ranger for directions. There are 68 known lava
tubes in the area, and Undara Lodge only monopolises one of these. [/RANT]
Rather than going into too much more detail, I'll add the list of birds that
I saw on the drive at the end of the email. I think it's not a bad list for
a 1300km 3-day trip with a full day of work in the middle.
Regards,
Chris
ps. thank you to those who gave advice on places to see on the way,
unfortunately plans didn't allow for most of them, but I'll be back...
Plumed Whistling Duck
White-faced Heron
Cattle Egret
Intermediate Egret
Straw-necked Ibis
Australian White Ibis
Yellow-billed Spoonbill
Black Kite
Whistling Kite
Black-breasted Buzzard
White-bellied Sea-Eagle
Wedge-tailed Eagle
Swamp Harrier
Nankeen Kestrel
Comb-crested Jacana
Black-fronted Dotterel
Masked Lapwing
Spotted Turtle-Dove
Rock Dove
Peaceful Dove
Bar-shouldered Dove
Brown Cuckoo-Dove
Crested Pigeon
Squatter Pigeon
White-headed Pigeon
Wompoo Pigeon
Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo
Galah
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Rainbow Lorikeet
Scaly-breasted Lorikeet
Australian King Parrot
Red-winged Parrot
Crimson Rosella
Pale-headed Rosella
Pheasant Coucal
Southern Boobook
Spotted Nightjar
White-rumped Swiftlet
Laughing Kookaburra
Forest Kingfisher
Sacred Kingfisher
Red-backed Kingfisher
Rainbow Bee-eater
Brown Treecreeper
Striated Pardalote
Brown Gerygone
Buff-rumped Thornbill
Weebill
Little Friarbird
Noisy Friarbird
Helmeted Friarbird
Blue-faced Honeyeater
Noisy Miner
Lewin's Honeyeater
Graceful Honeyeater
Yellow Honeyeater
Yellow-tinted Honeyeater
White-throated Honeyeater
Rufous-throated Honeyeater
Scarlet Honeyeater
Brown Honeyeater
Jacky Winter
Rufous Whistler
Little Shrike-Thrush
Restless Flycatcher
Willie Wagtail
Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrike
White-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike
White-winged Triller
Olive-backed Oriole
Yellow Oriole
Figbird (yellow form was new for me)
White-breasted Woodswallow
Black-faced Woodswallow
Grey Butcherbird
Pied Butcherbird
Magpie Lark
Australian Magpie
Pied Currawong
Spangled Drongo
Australian Raven
Torresian Crow
Apostlebird
Spotted Catbird
Tooth-billed Bowerbird
Great Bowerbird
Double-barred Finch
Zebra Finch
Chestnut-breasted Mannikin
House Sparrow
Mistletoebird
Welcome Swallow
Metallic Starling
Common Mynah
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