Hi All,Just arrived back from five days "working" (managed a good deal of
birding every day) in at two sites, one on the Warrego River about 20km south
of Charleville near a siding called Westgate and another about 20km south of
Mitchell on the old dirt track highway heading south out of Mitchell on the
eastern bank of the Maranoa River (the new highway is on the western side).
Only two days working on a five day trip so I had plenty of time and even
managed to borrow a car for a morning and an afternoon. My main birding areas
were the road reserves/stock routes on the southern edge of Charleville, the
lagoon behind the duck ponds on the way into Charleville from the south, the
Charleville sewerage farm, and two sites on the Ward River where it crosses the
Quilpie road and where it crosses the Adavale road. A great trip with 100
species ten of them lifers for me.
Highlights were the first time (and every subsequent time) I saw a Splendid
Fairy-wren, just wow! A group of 6 Hall's Babblers on the southern outskirts of
Charleville, four Ground Cuckoo-shrikes south of Mitchell, 6 Glossy Ibis, a
Yellow-billed Spoonbill, two Marsh Sandpipers and the biggest congregation of
Black-fronted Dotterels I ever seen at the sewerage farm, Leaden Flycatchers
and Chestnut-rumped Thornbills so close I could have reached out and patted
them and sitting on the Ward River where it was so silent I could hear my brian
ringing watching an immature Collared Sparrow-hawk hunt.
A couple of interesting observations, feel free to email meabout them. I saw an
immature Pacific Baza on the Warrego River south of Charleville. Surely this is
extremely far west for this species? The Leaden Flycatchers seem to be a bit
far inland too.
Also on the Ward River on the way to Adavale I saw a Varigated FW that had
unusually large red shoulder patches. In all the others I've seen, including
two in Charleville itself these red patches are little more than a line. In
this bird they were strikingly prominent and seemed to meet in the middle more
like the red saddle on a Red-backed FW. The blue at the back of the crown was a
striking indigo colour as well. It displayed behaviour I've not seen before
where it sat on a prominent perch and spread and vibrated its wings rapidly,
showing this red area to great effect. Has anyone seen this before. Is this
colour pattern within the normal variation of Varigated FWs?
I saw a juv cuckoo being fed by a Willie Wagtail. I'm not sure the species, I
think Pallid but I also think Brush. Anyone like to have a crack at IDing this
for me go to
http://www.birdingoz.com.au/forums/identification-needed/2380-not-another-juvenile-cuckoo.html
Anyway the trip list is as follows:-
Emu
Brown Quail
Australian Wood Duck
Pacific Black Duck
Grey Teal
Hardhead
Red-chested Button-quail
Dollarbird
Laughing Kookaburra
Sacred Kingfisher
Rainbow Bee-eater
Juv Cuckoo sp.?
Rainbow Lorikeet
Australian Ringneck (lifer)
Pale-headed Rosella
Red-rumped Parrot
Red-winged Parrot
Galah
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Tawny Frogmouth
Common Bronzewing
Crested Pigeon
Peaceful Dove
Australian Bustard
Eurasian Coot
Marsh Sandpiper
Black-fronted Dotterel
Masked LapwingPacific Baza
Black-shouldered Kite
Black Kite
Whistling Kite
Brown Goshawk
Collared Sparrowhawk
Wedge-tailed Eagle
Nankeen Kestrel
Brown Falcon
Little Black Cormorant
White-faced Heron
White-necked Heron
Glossy Ibis
Australian White Ibis
Straw-necked Ibis
Royal Spoonbill
Yellow-billed Spoonbill
Australian Pelican
White-browed Treecreeper (lifer)
Spotted Bowerbird
Splendid Fairy-wren (lifer)
Variegated Fairy-wren
Brown Honeyeater
Singing Honeyeater
White-plumed Honeyeater
Brown-headed Honeyeater
Little Friarbird
Noisy Friarbird
Striped Honeyeater
Blue-faced Honeyeater
Yellow-throated Miner
Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
Striated Pardalote
Inland ThornbillYellow-rumped Thornbill
Chestnut-rumped Thornbill (lifer)
Yellow Thornbill
Western Gerygone (lifer)
Jacky-Winter
Red-capped Robin
Hooded Robin (lifer)
Grey-crowned Babbler
Hall's Babbler (lifer)
White-winged Chough
Apostlebird
Rufous Whistler
Grey Shrike-thrush
Little Crow (lifer)
Australian Raven
Grey Butcherbird
Pied Butcherbird
Australian Magpie
Pied Currawong
White-breasted Woodswallow
Masked Woodswallow
Little Woodswallow (lifer)
Ground Cuckoo-shrike
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
Willie Wagtail
Leaden Flycatcher
Restless Flycatcher
Magpie-lark
White-backed Swallow (lifer)
Welcome Swallow
Tree Martin
Australian Reed-Warbler (the largest most rufous one I've seen. Looked more
like a Tawny Grassbird size-wise. I'm willing to conceed its not an Oriental RW
but I took a million photos just to make sure)
Horsfield's Bushlark
Mistletoebird
House Sparrow
Australian Pipit
Zebra Finch
Double-barred Finch
Cheers Tony
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