The next morning we started heading back South planning to stop for the most
part at different places than on the way up. I wanted to spend some time
looking for Black-throated Finches along Pickford road near Mareeba. As it
turned out there were hundreds and hundreds of finches along the road but
they all proved to be Chestnut-breasted Mannikins and Double-barred Finches.
We also saw a pair of Bustards down there. After that we called in again at
Hasties Swamp. I broke my rule about not visiting the same places because of
a tip off about A Little Kingfisher. As we arrived we met a bird
photographer who told us that the kingfisher was about, so we waited and
waited and eventually got some great views and pics right in front of the
hide. Another surprise here was a Riflebird eating berries on a tree just
near the hide. On the way down from the tablelands we called in a Henrietta
Creek, a beautiful spot where I'd like to camp one day, but I'm never there
at the right time of day. Here we picked up a species we'd missed
everywhere: Black Butcherbird. After that the rain started coming down and
we headed south. The rain got really heavy around Tully (as it did on the
way up.funny that). And we began to revise our plans for camping up at
Broadwater State forest. But, just as we had decided on motelling it that
night, the sun came out and we continued on. Broadwater State forest
campground is about 45kms NW of Ingham. When I was there in 2007 I thought
it was the birdiest place I'd ever been. This time I was in for bit of a
shock. The place is totally altered by the ravages of cyclone Yasi. Most of
the rainforest and shade trees were flattened or denuded and many of the
rainforest birds seem to have departed. In 2007 there were Pied Monarchs,
Northern Fantails, Spotted Catbirds etc. around the camping area. We were
the only campers there this time. It's still quite nice with good
facilities, but it will be many years before it gets back to what it was.
Nevertheless, we did get onto some good birds here such as: Yellow-breasted
Boatbill, Grey Whistler, Superb and Rose-crowned Fruit Doves. After spending
the morning at Broadwater we headed south for Townsville, stopping only at
Big Crystal Creek in the Paluma Ranges NP. It's a bit dryer here and lower
altitude, so I was surprised to see a Bower's Shrikethrush in the
campground. We found some more Tawny Frogmouths here. The female was a
rufous morph. Strange that there should be a rufous morph when you consider
that Frogmouths have presumably evolved a plumage type that offers maximum
camouflage. This bird stood out like the proverbial while the male blended
perfectly with the branches.
We arrived at Townsville early enough to check into our cabin at Rowes bay
caravan park and head off for a lazy drive around nearby Townsville Common.
This is a good place to bird when you're tired because you can drive right
up to the hides and don't have to walk far at all. We managed 50 species
here, but nothing out of the ordinary. We picked up White-winged Triller for
the trip list and got some nice sunbird photos. The next morning we woke to
the sounds of a barking owl, so we packed up and drove down the road to look
for it. There it was in full view on a low branch watching all the morning
joggers go past. Nice. The plan then was to head for Eungella in search of
the famous honeyeater of that name. Bill wasn't convinced we needed to leave
the main highway and drive 80kms each way on winding mountain roads on the
off chance of seeing a bird remarkably similar to the Bridled Honeyeaters
we'd already seen on the trip. In other words he was displaying disturbingly
normal tendencies. Well, I quickly nipped that in the bud by simply putting
on the blinker and turning right. My car my rules. I didn't have much to go
on so I pulled out my trusty Thomas and Thomas. Took Dalryple road for 15.3
kms then headed up Chelmans road for 3kms and then looked for (and didn't
find) an overgrown forest track that we were supposed to walk along. It must
really be overgrown now! So we just walked up and down the end of Chelman's
Road, and, as luck would have it, eventually heard the strident calls of the
Eungella Honeyeater. After a while we managed to spot a few then waited at
least another hour to get some decent shots. For some reason this was the
most exciting lifer of the trip, possibly because you have to drive so far
off the beaten track to see it, and I always thought there was a good chance
we wouldn't find any. It was still early afternoon so we cancelled plans to
camp at Eungella and headed back down the mountain, checked into a motel and
celebrated the success of our surgical strike on the Eungella Honeyeater.
Having accomplished most of what we set out to do we spent the next day
driving home without even picking up the bins once. A great trip with a
total list of 214 species and a few milestones for me: Trumpet Manucode was
bird no 650 for my Australian list; and Mountain Thornbill number 500 for my
Queensland list. A total of 18 lifers for me and a whopping 51 for Bill!
Cheers Steve Murray
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