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Fra: Wim Vader
Sendt: on 27.09.2006 22:57
Kopi: Ebn ; Sabirdnet ; birdchat
Emne: Birding down under.3.The Atherton Lake district
BIRDING DOWN UNDER.3. THE ATHERTON TABLELAND LAKES
This is the area (one of the areas, rather) that was heavily hit by cyclone
Larry in October 2005, and in spite of lots of hard work since then the ravage
was still considerable, with lots of trees down or broken, lianes hanging every
which way, and the whole aspect of the forest changed, with much more daylight
penetrating to the ground than normally. In fact, the people at Chambers
thought that this might be the reason that the season was so advanced, with
catbirds and riflebirds starting to display at least three weeks earlier than
normally. It was quite sad to walk along the trails (which had largely been
cleared again) in the rain forest here and see all the destruction everywhere;
this was the first time I have seen an aera hit by a cyclone, and I also had
been here before, in 1993, so knew the normal situation.
In addition this was also the area where Alan Gillander very kindly sacrificed
almost a whole day to show us around, in spite of the fact that he was
extremely busy, had to leave the next day, and in addition had a burst water
main in his house! We are extremely grateful, Alan!! One of the things Alan
showed us, after the obligatory Curtain Fig in Yungaburra---indeed a most
impressive sight---, was a loose flock of at least 40 Sarus Cranes on a field
outside the village. Here we could study these stately birds in peace, and even
were regaled on some dancing steps now and then. From there we drove to the
very impressive two-floor hide at Hasties Swamp----It is amazing and gratifying
to see how good the infrastructure for nature visits and birdwatching is in
Australia----, full of droll Magpie Geese and almost artificial looking Plumed
Whistling Ducks.
In the early morning we had already been at Lake Barrine, where brown
Cuckoo-Doves called their 'Did you walk?', and where colourful Wompoo Pigeons
for once sat out in the open, eating palm fruits. (All fruit doves have a hard
time after the cyclone, and were this year much harder to find than in a normal
year). An Azure Kingfisher sat on the cruiseboats, and a small flock of Great
Crested Grebes swam and dived on the other side of the lake. We walked a bit
along the lake, and Alan was a fount of knowledge, wisdom and lore about the
trees, herps, birds and mammals of the area---the latter represented by the
small dark Musky Rat Kangaroos--. We looked at coniferous trees with leaves
instead of needles, i.a. the monumental Karri trees, and I renewed my
acquaintance with some of the small rainforest birds, such as Brown Gerygone
and Yellow-throated Scrubwrens. In the evening Alan took us on one of his
famous spotlighting tours, and we greatly enjoyed the various possums and the
tree kangaroos, all of whom he almost seemed to know personally.
We stayed at Chambers these nights and also here we had a great time. Outside
our unit both Spotted Catbirds (clearly the dominant species) and Victoria's
Riflebird came to take bits of apple we had out out, and when neither species
was present Lewin's Honeyeater grabbed their chance . (There were also
Tooth-billed Catbirds here, but somehow I contrived to miss them every time).
The riflebirds delighted us most of all, as the male several times went into
full display just outside our porch, flashing each wing alternately, together
with compensatory swinging head movements. It is a display fully worthy of a
bird of paradise!
This is also the only place during our trip, that we constantly hear the
unmistakable whiplash calls and duet of the Eastern Whipbird; as always, the
birds are heard all the time, but seen only rarely. Around the lodge, where
pademelons and the cute Sugar Gliders are fed daily in the evenings, there are
also lots of other birds: various honeyeaters, with the localized Bridled and
Macleay's, as well as the lookalike Lewin's and Graceful were much to the fore,
King Parrots and Crimson Rosella's, and of course the ubiquitous Rufous
Whistler and the very localized, but here tame and common Grey-headed Robin.
A walk around Lake Eacham once more brought home the enormous destruction waged
by cyclone Larry, but there was still enough to see and admire: the slopes full
of lacy Adiantum ferns, the enormous fig trees, the strange cauliflorous trees.
And there were also plenty of birds: Spectacled Monarchs fossicking thought the
epiphytic ferns, Large-billed Scrubwrens with their bland faces and large dark
eyes, and Pale-yellow Robins clinging sideways to the tree trunks. We discover
the flimsy, though elegant hanging nest of a Large-billed Gerygone, and I have
the great good fortune to come across a Bower's Shrike-Thrush, a lifebird for
me, that poses patiently on a bare branch. Later we find the always pleasantly
active White-throated Treecreepers; in contradistinction to the also present
brown Treecreepers, this species clearly occurs in pairs. Here is at last also
a thornbill; as far as I can see the Mountain Thornbill.
Back at the chalet, I finally have good views of the spectacular Pied Monarch,
foraging along the tree stems almost like a nuthatch. In the evening, suddenly
there is a n enormous racket everywhere around, the Orange-footed scrubfowls go
to roost, and clearly do not agree who is to sit where.
Wim Vader, Tromsø Museum
9037 Tromsø, Norway
==============================www.birding-aus.org
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