Hi all,
Just returned from a pleasant family holiday for 9 days at Wongaling Beach Qld
(a small area between North and South Mission Beach). In all my years of
finding destinations that juggle birding and family, this would have to be the
best so far! The weather here in winter is spectacular – between 25º and 29º +
sunny every day. The beaches are excellent and remarkably quiet - I have 2
young kids who spent most of the time on the beach. There is a wide range of
accommodation and there are plenty of restaurants in the area. The thing I
liked about Mission Beach was that it is very quiet and thus lacks the big
over-tourist feel of Port Douglas and Cairns. And the birding is surprisingly
good, with many excellent sites very close to your accommodation.
Cassowary was one of my main targets, having eluded me on many prior trips up
to FNQ. This would have to be the best area to see them - although you do need
an element of luck & plenty of time walking around their main haunts. I managed
to see 2 separate birds (one was a male with a young stripy chick) at Lacey
Creek and Tam O'Shanter N.P. I also tried Clump Mountain NP and Licuala State
Forest. Early morning or late afternoon are the best times.
The walking track between El Arish/Mission Beach Road and Licuala SF (Tam
O'Shanter N.P) is an excellent birding area. The rainforest here is in good
shape, and being not one of the main tourist tracks it is nice and quiet.
Along this strip I managed to get on to some really good birds – Cassowary,
Yellow-breasted Boatbill, Chowchilla, Victoria’s Riflebird, Spotted Catbird,
Brown Cuckoo-dove, Wompoo Fruit-dove, Superb Fruit-dove, Rose-crowned
Fruit-dove, Yellow-spotted, Graceful, Macleay’s, and Dusky Honeyeater, Grey
Whistler, Rainbow Pitta, Emerald Dove, Little Shrike-thrush, Pale-yellow Robin
and Barred Cuckoo-shrike among the best.
I also checked out many unmarked rainforest tracts and some more open
forest/tall rank grass etc. I lucked on a Bush-hen which flushed from a
swampy/rank grass area near Wongaling Beach. It ran several metres straight
past me, allowing good enough views to tick!
Below is a trip list (around 121):
Southern Cassowary (2 separate sightings – Lacey Creek and Tam O'Shanter N.P)
Orange-footed Scrubfowl (common in rainforest)
Grey Teal (near Tully)
Pacific Black Duck
Rock Dove - I (Cairns)
Spotted Turtle-dove - I (Mission Beach)
Brown Cuckoo-Dove (several - Tam O'Shanter N.P)
Emerald Dove (several - Tam O'Shanter N.P)
Peaceful Dove (common everywhere – classic café bird under tables on Cairns
Esplanade)
Bar-shouldered Dove (Mission Beach)
Wompoo Fruit-Dove (several Mission Beach area)
Superb Fruit-Dove (several - Tam O'Shanter N.P)
Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove (several - Tam O'Shanter N.P)
Pied Imperial-Pigeon (couple of small flocks around Mission Beach)
Australian Swiftlet (common over forested areas)
Brown Booby (single bird, pelagic waters out from Dunk Island)
Little Pied Cormorant
Little Black Cormorant
Pied Cormorant
Australian Pelican
White-necked Heron (Mission Beach)
Eastern Great Egret (Cairns Esp)
Intermediate Egret (Cairns Esp)
Cattle Egret (literally hundreds in recently cultivated cane fields from Tully
to Innisfail)
Striated Heron (Cairns Esp)
White-faced Heron (Mission Beach)
Little Egret (Cairns Esp)
Eastern Reef Egret (Cairns Esp)
Nankeen Night-Heron (Cairns Botanical Gardens)
Glossy Ibis (Mission Beach)
Australian White Ibis
Straw-necked Ibis
Royal Spoonbill (Cairns Esp)
Whistling Kite
Brahminy Kite (Common Mission Beach)
Black Kite
Brown Goshawk
Nankeen Kestrel
Brown Falcon
Australian Hobby
Bush-hen (single bird flushed, ran from tall cane grass near Wongaling Beach)
Bush Stone-curlew (common around Mission Beach)
Beach Stone-curlew (resident bird at Wongaling Beach)
Red-capped Plover
Red-kneed Dotterel
Masked Lapwing
Whimbrel (Cairns Esp)
Eastern Curlew
Gull-billed Tern (Cairns Esp)
Lesser Crested Tern (2 loafing on rocks at Clump Pt boat ramp)
Crested Tern
Laughing Gull - R (Cairns Esp)
Silver Gull
Galah
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Rainbow Lorikeet
Double-eyed Fig-Parrot (Cairns Bot Gardens)
Little Bronze-Cuckoo (1 calling, Tam O'Shanter N.P)
Fan-tailed Cuckoo (1 calling, Lacey Creek)
Laughing Kookaburra
Blue-winged Kookaburra (1 near Tully)
Forest Kingfisher (common on telegraph wires, Mission Beach)
Sacred Kingfisher (Mission Beach)
Collared Kingfisher (Cairns Esp)
Rainbow Bee-eater
Noisy Pitta (common in rainforest habitats)
Spotted Catbird (several, Tam O'Shanter N.P)
Satin Bowerbird (single female, Tam O'Shanter N.P)
Large-billed Scrubwren (Tam O'Shanter N.P)
Brown Gerygone (only a couple in Tam O'Shanter N.P)
Large-billed Gerygone (Tam O'Shanter N.P, Cairns Bot gardens)
Fairy Gerygone (Lacey Creek, Tam O'Shanter N.P)
Yellow-spotted Honeyeater (common most rainforest habitat)
Graceful Honeyeater (single bird, near Wongaling Beach)
Varied Honeyeater (Cairns Esp)
White-gaped Honeyeater (Cairns)
Yellow Honeyeater (El Arish)
Dusky Honeyeater (Tam O'Shanter N.P)
Scarlet Honeyeater (single bird, near Wongaling Beach)
Brown Honeyeater
Blue-faced Honeyeater
Helmeted Friarbird (common around Mission Beach)
Little Friarbird
Macleay's Honeyeater (several rainforest sites around Mission Beach)
Eastern Whipbird
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
Barred Cuckoo-shrike (small flock of 6-10, Tam O'Shanter N.P)
Varied Triller
Grey Whistler (several, Tam O'Shanter N.P)
Little Shrike-thrush (Tam O'Shanter N.P)
Bower's Shrike-thrush (rainforest near Wongaling Beach)
Grey Shrike-thrush
Australasian Figbird
Yellow Oriole
White-breasted Woodswallow
Black Butcherbird (several around Wongaling Beach)
Australian Magpie
Pied Currawong
Rufous Fantail
Grey Fantail
Willie Wagtail
Leaden Flycatcher
Shining Flycatcher (Cairns Bot gardens in mangroves)
Spectacled Monarch (common around Mission Beach rainforest areas)
Magpie-lark
Yellow-breasted Boatbill (several, Tam O'Shanter N.P)
Victoria's Riflebird (single female, Tam O'Shanter N.P)
Lemon-bellied Flycatcher (cleared areas near rainforest sites)
Pale-yellow Robin (beginning of track, Tam O'Shanter N.P)
Mangrove Robin (Cairns Esp)
Australian Reed-Warbler
Welcome Swallow
Fairy Martin
Metallic Starling (only a couple, Cairns Bot Gardens)
Common Starling - I
Common Myna - I
Mistletoebird
Olive-backed Sunbird
Red-browed Finch
Nutmeg Mannikin - I
House Sparrow - I
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