IRON RANGE NP & MUSGRAVE TRIP REPORT (Part 2.)
Please see below a trip report to Iron Range NP(Sept-Oct 2009). A full reports
with photographs can be found on the interweb at http://tim-dolby.blogspot.com/
OPEN FOREST - WEST CLAUDIE RIVER AREA
A roadside area of open forest between the first and the second sections of
rainforest along Portland Rd proved to be a reliable spot for White-streaked
Honeyeater, darting in and out of shrubs somewhat like New Holland Honeyeater.
(Also at this spot another group of birders thought they saw an early return
Black-winged Monarch.)
OLD COEN RD TRACK & COOKS HUT
On first arriving at Iron Range we were a little shocked to find that there was
some serious road works being done to Portland Rd. The awkward thing about this
(apart from the very large truck that drove too fast and took up the entire
road) was that they were doing the road works immediately along side the Cooks
Hut camping area, effectively curtailing birding at Cooks Hut for the entire
trip! This is one of the major birding sites in Iron Range!
Despite this we were able to get access to the Old Coen Rd Track (a walking
track), providing us with some of our best rainforest birding. The track is
about 5 km long. We found the best birding near the entrance just west of Cooks
Hut, particularly in a football field sized area between the creek bed and the
Old Coen Rd Track gate and information sign. On our first morning at this site
we saw many of the Iron Range specialist and endemics. This included:
Chestnut-breasted and Oriental Cuckoo, Eclectus and Red-cheeked Parrot, Trumpet
Manucode, Magnificent Riflebird, Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove, Yellow-legged
Flycatcher, Yellow-breasted Boatbill, Frill-necked and White-eared Flycatcher,
Spangled Drongo, Little Shrike-thrush, Noisy Pitta, Rufous Fantail,
Tawny-breasted Honeyeater, Grey Whistler and White-faced Robin. Not
surprisingly dawn was easily the most productive time for birding in the
rainforest. This area was particularly good for butterflies, which included
Ulysses Swallowtail (a series of wonderful bright blue flashes against the
rainforest), Common Aeroplane, Orchard Swallowtail, McAlpine's Birdwing and
Golden Jezebel amongst others.
We also search the rainforest are behind the Cooks Hut toilet block and soon
heard and then saw Northern Scrub-robin. At this spot we also got our best
views of a Yellow-legged Flycatcher.
PORTLAND RD TOWNSHIP
The Portland Road Township is a small but welcoming town, and an excellent site
for birding, particularly at low tide when the mudflats are visible. On the
mudflat we saw Whimbrel, Striated Heron, Common Sandpiper and Collared
Kingfisher. Throughout the day Wompoo, Rose-crowed and Superb Fruit-dove and
Pied Imperial Pigeon flew across the inlet from boarding rainforest to roost in
the mangroves. Seabirds included Lesser Crested Tern, Brown Booby, Common
Noddy, Bridled Tern and surprisingly a couple of White-breasted Woodswallow
feeding out at sea. A good spot for seabirds is the rocky breakwater just south
side of Portland Rd, a good spotting for roosting, here we saw 6 Lesser Crested
Tern. At night look for the eye-shine of Saltwater Crocodile, spotlighted in
the water about 20 metres from the beach, explaining why swimming is not a good
idea at Portland Rd. Town birds included Large-billed Gerygone, Olive-backed
Sunbird and Dusky, Graceful and Yellow-spotted Honeyeater.
Birding in the mangroves immediately north of Portland Rd was rewarding. Birds
included Mangrove Robin, Shinning Flycatcher, Grey Whistler, White-throated,
Varied and Dusky Honeyeater, Red-browed Finch (brighter coloured northern ssp
race minor), Large-billed Gerygone, Pied Currawong, Rose-crowned and Superb
Fruit-Dove. Fawn-breasted Bowerbird flew between the mangroves and over
Portland Rd to the open forest on the west side for the mangrove. We also had
superb views of a small party of Palm Cockatoo, seen in an area of open
woodlands about 1 km north of the mangrove, providing us with classic views -
raised-crested-screeching cockatoos.
Here's a recommendation: whether staying or visiting Portland Road it's worth
eating at the Portland Road Café. We regularly ate both lunch and dinner at the
café, enjoying fish and chips, prawn tempura, calamari, and for lunch prawn
roles! As a mark of their quality we ate virtually none of our food supplies.
While eating our dinner a bonus is listening to Large-tailed Nightjar, with its
distinctive donk, donk, donk call. We also saw what I assumed were Bare-backed
Fruit Bat, feeding in the gardens in the front of the café.
LOCKHART RIVER TREATMENT PLANT
We found the best birding site at Lockhart River was the treatment plant. From
the township head down Piiramo Rd towards the coast (Quintell Beach), and after
about 500 metres there is a track leading left. Travel down this for another
500 metres, the treatment plant is on you right. Of note we saw up to 5 snipe,
several birds of which were distinctively different from standard Latham's
Snipe. They had differing amounts of rufous colouring on the tail, a differing
shape to the outer tail feathers, and vocal differences in the flight calls. We
are still having a look at the photos of several birds - and judging by the
above distinction could possibly have been Swinhoe's Snipe. A bonus bird at the
Lockhart River treatment plant was a single King Quail, which flushed, and then
totally disappeared when we tried to find it a second time. This didn't seem
possible as we saw exactly where it had landed. Other birds at the plant were
Pied Heron, Glossy and Australian White Ibis, Cattle Egret, Australasian Grebe,
Masked Lapwing, Common Sandpiper, Leaden Flycatcher, Australian Swiftlet and
White-breasted Woodswallow.
CHILLI BEACH
At Chilli Beach large numbers of Bridled Tern and Common Noddy and a few
Crested and Little Tern circled Restoration Island just off the coast. At dusk
Restoration Island is locally famous for the thousands of Metallic Starlings
which swirl through the air before roosting on the rocks. Other birds included
Pied Oystercatcher, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Pied Imperial Pigeon and Topknot
Pigeon. There is also a small dam just before you get to Chilli Beach (on the
east side of the road), reportedly good for Black Bittern, Azure Kingfisher and
this is one of the sites that Spotted Whistling-Duck has been recorded.
At night Large-tailed Nightjar and occasional White-throated and Australian
Owlet-nightjar were easily flushed along Portland Rd, particularly near the
intersection to Chilli Beach. One night we recorded at least 10 Large-tailed
Nightjar. It was also hard not to run over Cane Toads.
LAKEFIELD NATIONAL PARK & LOTUS BIRD LODGE WETLAND
On the way back to Cairns we detoured into Lakefield National Park and I'm glad
we did. Site visited here included Lotus Bird Lodge wetland, Low Lake and
Mariner Plains.
LOTUS BIRD LODGE WETLAND
Not far from the Musgrave Roadhouse the Lotus Bird Lodge wetland is well worth
a stop. Birds included Rudjah Shelduck, Wandering Whistling-Duck, Green
Pygmy-Goose, Black-necked Stork, Magpie Goose, Comb-crested Jacana, Glossy
Ibis, Royal Spoonbill, Little Pied Cormorant, and our only Eastern Swamphen and
Coot for trip. Drinking at the wetland were Agile Wallaby and Northern Nailtail
Wallaby.
LOW LAKE
Our main stop at Lakefield was at a wonderful wetland called Low Lake. Reach
via Lilyvale and then Marina Plains Rd; it's about 60 km from Musgrave. One of
the most pristine wetlands I've visited in Australia, it was surrounded by
rushes and reeds and covered in waterlilies. Birds seen included Comb-crested
Jacana, Wandering Whistling-Duck, Rudjah Shelduck, Green Pygmy-goose, Pacific
Black Duck, Hoary-headed Grebe, Glossy and Australian White Ibis, Brolga, four
egret sp., Great, Intermediate, Little, and Cattle. The surrounding woodlands
contained Black-backed Butcherbird, Forest and Sacred Kingfisher, calling
Rufous Whistler, Grey-crowned Babbler and from a tree on the eastern edge of
the wetland Masked and Black-throated Finch flew down to drink. This seemed a
good spot for Star Finch, has recently been recorded at Lakefield.
MARINER PLAINS AREA
An accidental detour to the Mariner Plains area on the edge of Princess
Charlotte Bay proved interesting. After entering an area of tidal mangrove we
were attacked by a wild swarm of killer mosquitoes! Like a scene from the movie
the African Queen (the scene where Humphrey Bogart and Katherine Hepburn pull
their boat into shore on the Ulanga River) we were forced to run at high speed
to get away from a swarm of 100,000,000 mosquitoes. Despite this the Mariner
Plains was fascinating area, well worth an extended visit. It was mixture of
floodplain grasslands, open-wooded mangroves forests, termite mounds and
patches of the endemic palm Corypha utan. Brolga was common in the grassland
area, and along the banks of the Annie River we saw our only Mangrove Gerygone
for the trip. At Lakefield we also saw Emu, an adult with 3 young. I personally
I reckon the Cape York Emu is taller and slimmer than southern Australian Emu,
with less feather coverage. We also had nice view of the local race of the
Australian Hobby, race murchisonianus.
KINGFISHER PARK
Stop-over's at the wonderful Kingfisher (once on the way up, and once on the
way back) produced Superb Fruit-dove and Papuan Frogmouth, roosted in the
orchard, a flock of Barred Cuckoo-shrike feed in a fig tree directly above my
tent, Red-necked Crake calling along Mt Malloy Rd, Dollarbird (first noted
arrival for this area of Qld), Channel-billed Cuckoo, Scarlet, Dusky and
Macleay's Honeyeater.
Sooty Owl and Barn (Masked) Owl called throughout the night. There seems to be
an unresolved debate over whether the Tyto species at Kingfisher Park are Barn
or Masked Owl. I'm tipping Barn. Mammals included Striped Possum, Northern
Brown Bandicoot, Giant White-tailed Rat, Fawn-footed Melomy, Spectacled Flying
Fox and Northern Broadnosed Bat, which roosted in the shower block, failing to
budge even when I took a shower. The Striped Possum was seen 20 metres from the
campsite. We were surprised to find it walking along powerlines along the
Mossman - Mt Molloy Rd. Butterflies included Cairns Swallowtail and Ulysses
Butterfly.
A few attempts to see Blue-faced Parrot-finch as a recently discovered lowland
site (along Mt Malloy Rd) failed. My feeling is that they had just started to
head up the hill (Mt Lewis), as most of the grass in the area had just finished
seeding.
MT LEWIS
The standout highlight for Mt Lewis was a large male Boyd's Forest Dragon. Like
something out of the Lost World, this is an exceptionally good looking lizard.
Coloured in blue hues and ochre yellows-browns and reds, it is covered in large
protruding spikes. The area around the dam at the top of the rainforest walk
was particularly rewarding, with close views of Fernwren, Grey Fantail (dark
mountain race Keasti), Victorian Riflebird, Spotted Catbird, Tooth-billed
Bowerbird, Bridled Honeyeater, Mountain Thornbill, and Chowchilla.
MAREEBA WETLANDS
Osprey nesting of power poles, a flock of Hardhead, 2 Pacific Baza roosting in
the car park, and 40 Gouldian Finch! (In an aviary!) Between Mt Malloy and
Mareeba there was Square-tailed Kite in flight and 2 Australian Bustard feed on
the roadside of Peninsular Development Rd.
CAIRNS
Or group birded in Cains twice, one of the way up and once before returning to
Melbourne. We concentrated our effort on the Cairns Esplanade, with the bird
list reading like a BARC rarity report: Laughing Gull, Asian Dowitcher,
Broad-billed Sandpiper, Beach Stone-Curlew, Bar-tailed and Black-tailed Godwit,
Grey-tailed Tattler, Greenshank, Great Knot, Collared Kingfisher, Grey Plover,
Pacific Golden Plover, Gull-billed, Caspian and Crested Tern, Olive-backed
Sunbird, Doubled-eyed Fig-Parrot, and Varied and Yellow Honeyeater.
Finally on my last night in Cairns I stayed in the up market International
Pacific Hotel - naturally! Actually it was cheaper than staying in the tin shed
they call a room at the Musgrave Roadhouse. Typically, while relaxing over a
few quiet beers, I kept a list of the birds seen from the 7th story balcony -
it faced the Cairns Casino. (I must really get a life!). If anybody is
interested (you could stop reading now) here is what I saw: Rainbow Lorikeet,
Scaly-breasted Lorikeet, White-breasted Woodswallow, Common Myna, Gull-billed
Tern, Crested Tern, Welcome Swallow, Australian Figbird, Yellow Oriole, Brown
Honeyeater, Silver Gull, House Sparrow, Magpie Lark, Great Egret, Metallic
Starling, Willy Wagtail, Little Egret, Crested Tern, Great Bowerbird,
Spectacled Flying Fox, dozens of the micro Northern Free-tailed Bat
(Mormopterus loriae), and finally Bush Stone-curlew in the grounds of the
Cairns Casino.
ACKNOLEDGEMENTS: just quickly, thanks for informational assistance from Fiona
Parkin, Stuart Dashper and Carl Billingham, who had all recently visited the
area. Thanks to Keith and Lindsay Fisher at Kingfisher Park, who had to put up
with 8 plus mad Victorian birders all turned up at the same time. Also big
thanks to my fellow birders (from our group and the others), making the trip
very enjoyable. Thanks Paul and Ruth for the use of some of your photos in this
report.
Tim Dolby
Victoria, Australia, Oct 2009
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