Hi All,
I made a whirlwind trip around SE QLD & NE NSW last week targeting a handful of
species for a visiting UK birder passing through Brisbane. We started around
Brisbane on Tuesday morning, visiting Kedron Wetlands where large numbers of
Red-kneed Dotterels were present along with a surprising Marsh Sandpiper. There
were brief views of a Lewin's Rail in flight and we would return later that
night to get the Grass Owl. Unfortunately we dipped on King Quail. A quick trip
to Gold Creek produced White-eared Monarch along with a good selection of other
bush birds on a beautiful spring day. One of the highlights here was a pair of
Grey Goshawks in coordinated display flight. It was interesting when seeing the
close comparison just how much larger the female is than the male.
Wednesday saw us out at Bellbird Grove where Spotted Quailthrush was heard
calling as we got out of the car, and we easily had good views of a male and
female. It was very birdy here as spring has certainly sprung, with plenty of
honeyeaters, Varied Sitellas with chicks in a nest and lorikeets inspecting
nest hollows. We then left Brisbane and headed southwest to the Border Ranges
NP where we spent the afternoon and evening between the Border Loop Lookout,
Sheep Station Creek and Forest Tops. Eastern Bristlebirds were heard as well as
Rufous Scrubbirds, with the scrubbird found only a few kilometres up the
mountain past Sheep Station Creek, the lowest I personally have found them.
Unfortunately it was a pretty typical scrubbird experience with the bird
calling at our feet, but eventually giving us the slip. Spotlighting was
frustrating with both Sooty and Masked Owls heard, although we did get great
views of a pair of Marbled Frogmouths, with several pairs heard on the mounta
in.
Thursday morning saw us back at the Border Ranges chasing the bristlebird which
we eventually had great views of, followed by another crack at the scrubbird
which was not as vocal as yesterday and unfortunately got away. The Brindle
Creek road is currently closed so we couldn't access the territories at the top
of the mountain, and unfortunately we ended up dipping on the scrubbird. We did
find a few other nice birds though with Rose Robins and Albert's Lyrebirds in
full voice, and Logrunners also active. From the Border Ranges it was south to
Grafton, then a whirlwind visit to Washpool NP for one of our target birds,
Superb Lyrebird. We found one easily, with a young male foraging unconcerned
within metres of us along the aptly named Lyrebird Trail. That night a search
for Powerful Owl around Grafton was unproductive with strong winds hampering
our efforts.
Friday morning saw us out at Broom's Head where the heaths were alive with
birds. Our target was Southern Emuwren which we found easily, while
White-cheeked Honeyeaters were everywhere and Tawny-crowned Honeyeaters were
also common. We made a quick visit to Sandon Estuary where we quickly found the
pair of Beach Thick-knees, along with a surprise Noisy Pitta in a small thicket
of shrubs among the mangroves. From Sandon we went to Iluka where a quick visit
to the rainforest walk produced Bassian Thrush, Noisy Pitta, White-eared
Monarch (heard) and our target, a nice Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove. Not a common
species down here in winter we were very happy to find it. We then returned to
Brisbane with lunch at Daisy Hill luckily turning up a Square-tailed Kite. That
was our last new bird for the trip. A thorough search around Mt Coot-tha failed
to find Powerful Owl, but still we'd had a good run with our targets.
Happy to give extra details on any of the sites/birds if anyone wants it.
Regards and good birding!
Nick
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