Hi all
back in the Sydney unfortunately, after a great week away in North
Queensland.
Photographed a wedding on Long Island in the Whitsundays then had 4
days in cairns visiting family and friends and trying to get as much
birding done as possible in a short time (I have a very patient wife
and 4 month old baby!!)
Long Island was really nice (5 minute sea plane flight west of
Hamilton Island).
Highlights were Bush Stone-curlews brazenly sharing the dining area!
Sad to see tourists feeding them Prawn Chips from the buffet! Other
nice birds were Black Butcherbird, Grey-tailed tattler, Helmeted
Friarbird, Orange-footed Scrubfowl
Arriving in Cairns my birding was done at the following spots:
Esplanade
Cemetary
Michelmas Cay
Julatten area with Del Richards
Brief visit to Centenary Lakes
I think i mentioned most of the birds on the Esplanade and Michelmas
Cay in an earlier email so i won't go into more detail.
A day out on Thursday with Del Richards (www.finefeathertours.com.au)
was great. I had a few target birds that i was keen to see if
possible - Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo, Rufous Owl, and male Golden
Bowerbird (i had seen females previously).
The day started with a search for the Cuckoo. After a couple of
unsuccessful stops i was trying not to get my hopes up. Imagine my
joy when we then found not one but 4 of these beautiful birds - one
adult and 3 in an intermediate plumage which was not as intense in
colour saturation.
Whilst looking for these birds we saw Superb Fruit-Dove (female),
Yellow-breasted Boatbill, Pied Monarch, Pale-yellow Robin, Double-
eyed Fig Parrot (race macleayana) and Northern Fantail amongst
others. Another highlight was an adult Buff-breasted Paradise
Kingfisher! The latest adult that Del had seen.
Next was a visit to a Golden Bowerbird bower which we sat patiently
watching for 30minutes hoping to get some photos of a male. After
staring at the bower for this long i was surprised when suddenly
there was an amazing golden bird in the middle of it! The bird was
remarkably tolerant of our presence and adjusted some lichen on it's
display perch before sitting on a branch only a few metres from me
before quietly disapperaing into the gloom. WOW!
Up Mount Lewis we saw Mountain Thornbill, a lone Blue-faced Parrot-
Finch, Yellow-throated Scrubwren, Emerald Dove, Spotted Catbird, Grey-
headed Robin.
A very quick stop at Kingfisher Park to say g'day to Keith and
Lindsay proved beneficial with Papuan Frogmouth and Macleay's
Honeyeater adding to the day's total.
Next stop was the pub for dinner before heading out for my last
target species - the Rufous Owl.
I must admit that i was now convinced that our luck was going to
continue and once again our first stop was unsuccessful. Next stop
though we were in luck with a fantastic sight of an adult Rufous Owl
soaring through the trees silhouetted against the full moon-lit sky!
Awesome!
A fantastic day with a great guide. No i don't get anything from this
testimonial. Just a satisfied customer.
Our last morning before a lunchtime flight we decided to have a
coffee at the Botanic Gardens in Cairns. To make the most of it from
a birdwatching perspective we parked on the other side of Centenary
Lakes and walked through. It was late morning and pretty hot so not
much at all was about but the highlight was a Little Kingfisher only
5 metres away! Forest Kingfisher was also seen as well as our only
White-throated Honeyeater for the trip. A great way to finish the week.
Altogether we saw about 115 species with 4 lifers. Not a bad trip at
all!
Still no Lesser Sooty Owl though - it remains my bogey bird up there.
Full list for the trip below.
Cheers
Dave Stowe
Australian Brush Turkey
Orange-footed Scrubfowl
Magpie Goose
Pacific Black Duck
Masked Booby
Brown Booby
Darter
Australian Pelican
Lesser Frigatebird
White-faced Heron
Little Egret
Great Egret
Intermediate Egret
Striated Heron
Australian White Ibis
Straw-necked Ibis
Royal Spoonbill
Osprey
Pacific Baza
Black Kite
Whistling Kite
Brahminy Kite
Wedge-tailed Eagle
Bar-tailed Godwit
Whimbrel
Eastern Curlew
Terek Sandpiper
Grey-tailed Tattler
Ruddy Turnstone
Great Knot
Red-necked Stint
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper
Bush Stone-curlew
Pied Oystercatcher
Masked Lapwing
Silver Gull
Gull-billed Tern
Caspian Tern
Crested Tern
Black-naped Tern
Sooty Tern
Common Noddy
Spotted Turtle-Dove
Emerald Dove
Peaceful Dove
Bar-shouldered Dove
Superb Fruit-Dove
Galah
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Rainbow Lorikeet
Double-eyed Fig-Parrot
Oriental Cuckoo
Brush Cuckoo
Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo
Gould's Bronze-Cuckoo
Rufous Owl
Papuan Frogmouth
White-rumped Swiftlet
Little Kingfisher
Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher
Laughing Kookaburra
Forest Kingfisher
Sacred Kingfisher
Rainbow Bee-eater
White-throated Treecreeper
Yellow-throated Scrubwren
Large-billed Scrubwren
Fairy Gerygone
Mountain Thornbill
Helmeted Friarbird
Blue-faced Honeyeater
Noisy Miner
Macleay's Honeyeater
Lewin's Honeyeater
Yellow-spotted Honeyeater
Varied Honeyeater
White-throated Honeyeater
Brown Honeyeater
White-cheeked Honeyeater
Dusky Honeyeater
Pale-yellow Robin
Grey-headed Robin
Golden Whistler
Grey Whistler
Little Shrike-thrush
Yellow-breasted Boatbill
Black-faced Monarch
Spectacled Monarch
Pied Monarch
Leaden Flycatcher
Magpie Lark
Grey Fantail
Northern Fantail
Willie Wagtail
Spangled Drongo
White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike
Varied Triller
Yellow Oriole
Figbird
White-breasted Woodswallow
Black Butcherbird
Pied Currawong
Torresian Crow
Spotted Catbird
Golden Bowerbird
House Sparrow
Double-barred Finch
Red-browed Finch
Blue-faced Parrot-Finch
Yellow-bellied sunbird
Mistletoebird
Welcome Swallow
Silvereye (Grey-backed)
Metallic Starling
Common Mynah
===============================
www.birding-aus.org
birding-aus.blogspot.com
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
===============================
|
