Birdline Central & Southern Queensland Weekly Update

Birdline Central & Southern Queensland

Published sightings for the week ending 26 Aug 2012.

Sun 26 Aug	Baillons and Spotless Crakes, Striped Honeyeater Minnippi 3 Spotless Crakes showing together on rhs of lake viewing platform mid morning, 2 more birds seen near island. At least 4 Baillon's Crakes seen/heard around the lake. A calling Striped Honeyeater on the lake Island was a Minnippi tick for me! Also 1 Latham's Snipe reported by other birders Stuart Pickering
	Black Kite, Eastern Grass Owl Bli Bli, Sunshine Coast About 20 Black Kites attracted to grass fires... also 2 Eastern Grass Owls Greg Roberts & Jim Sneddon
	Cotton Pygmy-goose Dowse Lagoon, Sandgate The two birds initially reported by Steve Murray were seen again today. Southerden Rd side of the lagoon, 20m away from the viewing platform. Seem to prefer afternoon sun! Took a photo through my bins with my phone. Elliot Leach, Jack Whiting, two nice anonymous birdo's
Sat 25 Aug	Turquoise Parrot Main Range NP, Goomburra Section One male along the Ridge Track. Chris Wiley
	Eastern Grass Owl, King Quail, Lewin's Rail Kedron Brook Wetlands Single Grass Owl at 18.15hrs At least 4 calling Lewin's Rails Several King Quail calling, one seen -27.403902, 153.080583 Tom & Marie Tarrant
	Baillon's and Spotless Crakes Minnippi At least 2 Baillon's Crakes (possibly more) showing well on the Rhs of the Lake viewing platform, 2 Spotless Crakes here as well. Also 1 Rufous Night Heron and Sacred Kingfisher on the Island and 2 Collared Sparrowhawks overhead. Stuart Pickering
	Pale yellow robin Anstead Seen with other bird photogs in mid storey up on the sealed road Ross Monks
	Cotton Pygmy-Goose Dowse Lagoon, Sandgate A pair located just before viewing platform on Southerden Road. Seems to be the first record on eremaea for this site. Photo by Mike Murray. Steve, Bill and Mike Murray
	White-eared Monarch Samsonvale Cemetery Adult bird located approximately 100 metres west of car park. Few records at this location. Photo by Mike Murray. Steve, Bill and Mike Murray
Thu 23 Aug	Sooty Oystercatcher North Point Moreton Island Two birds seen flying low over water from rocks at North Point, Moreton Island Gavin O'Meara
Tue 21 Aug	Yellow Chat Port Alma - Port Alma Rd A pair seen along a ditch just to the N of the Port Alma Road. Rob Morris
	Squatter Pigeon Bouldercombe A couple of birds seen in the town early this morning. This species is apparently common around this rural town Rob Morris
Sun 19 Aug	Shining Flycatcher Inskip Point 2 birds in mangroves... also nicely plumaged overwintering Common Terns Greg Roberts
	Cotton Pygmy-goose Intersection of D'Aguilar Hwy and Mary Smokes Creek Rd Single male on small water-body, this has been a fairly regular site over the years. -26.93424, 152.66869 Tom & Marie Tarrant
Sat 18 Aug	Hall's Babbler Bowra Station Sue and I observed a flock of 12 Hall's Babblers at the end of Saw Pit Waterhole road. They were very confiding. John & Sue O'Malley
	Chestnut-breasted Qualthrush Bowra Station western paddock @ 3.5km sign Sue and I observed an active pair of CBQT at the 3.5km western paddock sign. The male was doing a typical pigeon bobbing motion with fanned tail to the female. Only CBQT seen at Bowra. Also seen were Halls Babbler; WB Treecreeper and many others. John & Sue O'Malley
Tue 7 Aug	Flock Bronzewing Between Bedourie & Boulia It was impossible to count the extreme number of Flock Bronzewings north of Bedourie - the attached image has been cropped & still only covered about a tenth of the area of one vast flock within binocular range. I would have to say that "tens of thousands" would be conservative!! Martin Cachard
Mon 6 Aug	Black Falcon Between Bedourie & Boulia A nesting pair of Black Falcons were enjoying lush times, with tens of thousands of Flock Bronzewings in the general area. Martin Cachard
Sun 5 Aug	Eyrean Grasswren South of Big Red dune crossing A short lineal search of about 800mtrs atop of one dune crest well to the S of Big Red, yielded 3 pairs of Eyrean Grasswrens, with one pair observed carrying food. Nice to see 2 pairs of White-backed Swallows working on nesting as well. Many many Crimson & Orange Chats, Cinnamon Quail-thrush & Budgies in the swales either side of the dune I walked. Martin Cachard
Thu 2 Aug	Flock Bronzewing, Black Falcon, Orange Chat Cuttaburra Crossing, Eyre Creek, S of Bedourie While unsuccessfully searching for Grey Grasswrens at Cuttaburra Crossing, a high number of Flock Bronzewings (500 in one flock) & myriad Orange Chats & Budgerigars were feeding in the vast yellow flowered riverflats. No doubt supporting several Black Falcons in the area - unfortunately many feral cats were seen here too!! Martin Cachard
	Gibberbird South of Astrelba Downs NP Many Gibberbirds (or as I prefer to call them, Gibber Chats) were seen in very healthy gibber country, some pairs being quite inquisitve - a nice adult male is depicted here. Martin Cachard
	Spotted Harrier South of Coorabulka Station In the early morning both an adult & a 2nd-year Spotted Harrier cruised low along the creekline where I was camped - an image of the immature bird is attached. Martin Cachard
	Letter-winged Kite, Black Falcon South of Coorabulka Station, W of Diamantina NP The nesting pair of Letter-winged Kites were busy hunting at sunrise & still on the look out for prey until 8am, offering some great viewing. A good search along the same creekline found no other LWK's there, however it did support a very high number of other raptors including a pair of Black Falcons & Barn Owls, as well as mature & young birds of the following species - Brown Falcon, Whistling & Black Kites, Kestrels, Wedge-tailed Eagles & Spotted Harriers, indicating a very healthy season. Martin Cachard
Wed 1 Aug	Letter-winged Kite, Flock Bronzewing Springvale & Coorabulka Stations, W of Diamantina NP The first of very many Flock Bronzewings were seen between these 2 stations, with one flock totalling over 150 birds. A pair of Letter-winged Kites were attending a nest with young south of Coorabulka Station, getting active at around 5:30pm. Martin Cachard
	Black Honeyeater, Black Falcon, Gibberbird Far Western section of Diamantina NP Between Gum Hole & the western boundary of the NP provided some very good birding, even in the middle part of the day. A single male Black Honeyeater was perched singing & performing display flights beside the rd, a pair of Black Falcons were soaring near Boundary Bore, & a few scattered pairs of Gibberbirds were found. Martin Cachard
	Black Falcon, Spotted Bowerbird Gum Hole Yards, Diamantina NP A lone Black Falcon made a very fast fly-by this morning beside the old stockyards, where upon arrival I was greeted by a very inquisitive Spotted Bowerbird that kept following me closely for over 30 minutes. Both White-browed & Masked Woodswallows were in very good numbers. Martin Cachard
Tue 31 Jul	Plains-wanderer W of Gum Hole, Diamantina NP A lone adult female Plains-wanderer was seen well at 8:30pm next to the rd about 4kms W of Gum Hole. It was interesting to me that no Inland Dotterels or any Button-quails were seen on a rather lengthy night session that evening - I covered some 100kms of tracks in very healthy habitat. Martin Cachard
	Striated Grasswren, Rufous-crowned Emu-wren, Grey-headed Honeyeater Lark Quarry area, SW of Winton Between the airstrip & reserve boundary E of Lark Quarry this morning, I located 2 pairs of Striated Grasswrens, one pair of Rufous-crowned Emu-wrens, & a high number of Grey-headed Honeyeaters & Spinifexbirds. Martin Cachard
Mon 30 Jul	Striated Grasswren Opalton, S of Winton Near Opalton today I found 2 pairs of singing Striated Grasswren, both pairs active in the middle of the day. Martin Cachard
	Hall's Babbler, Black Honeyeater, Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush, Rufous-crowned Emu-wren Bladensburg National Park, S of Winton A party of 9 Hall's Babblers, a pair of Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush, a lone juvenile Black Honeyeater, 2 groups of Rufous-crowned Emu-wrens, & many Spinifexbirds were among the many good birds seen today near Logan's Falls. Despite a thorough search of the quality spinifex habitat W of Logan's Falls, I failed to locate any Striated Grasswrens where I'd seen them in March last year. Martin Cachard
Sun 29 Jul	Black Falcon, Golden-headed Cisticola, Ground Cuckoo-shrike, Pink-eared Duck Whitewood Bore, 90km SW of Hughenden I witnessed an unsuccessful Black Falcon stoop on an unsuspecting pair of Pink-eared Ducks at Whitewood Bore on the Kennedy Dev Rd, midway between Hughenden & Winton. A party of 5 Ground Cuckoo-shrikes were also present, along with a pair of Golden-headed Cisticolas right on the limit of their range. Martin Cachard

Birdline Central & Southern Queensland is sponsored by BirdLife Southern Queensland and co-ordinated and hosted by Eremaea Birds.

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