Oct 2 Machan's Beach
Beach Stone Curlew 1 Ruddy Turnstone 1 Lesser Crested Tern 10
Cairns Esplanade Oct 2
Asian Dowitcher 2 still present, close views
Broad-billed Sandpiper 1+
Hastie's Swamp Oct 3
Yellow-billed Spoonbill still present
Lake Barrine Oct 3
Tooth-bills in fine voice and occupying territories
Chowchilla easy to see due to the awful dry conditions, making lots of
noise when they scratch among the dead leaves, saw 2 groups of 3 (2m
and one f each) along the forest track to the kauri pines
Black-faced Monarch 1 calling well, my first of the return, and being
mimicked by a Tooth-bill.
Black Mt Road Oct 3
Superb Fruit-Doves calling but most breeding activity depressed due to
the drought here, the worst so far this century here at this time of
year.
Southern Cassowary male and female daily, maybe another breeding
attempt about to go on; The male brought in 4 chicks on July 29, we
lost one in the first week, another a week later, followed almost
immediately by the third, then the last survivor vanished Sept 24. Two
very large pythons (4m+ and 3m) were in the area just as the chicks
arrived, and the very dry conditions mean very little food in the
forest, All very sad, and we had no chicks from the second half of
2008 either when the nesting attempts (2) both failed. The last chicks
to fledge successfully here were the 3 in June 2008, and prior to that
he bred successfully annually from at least 1998 (and probably from
1991 on, I can check this).
Phil Gregory
www. cassowary-house.com.au
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www.birding-aus.org
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