Daintree River Birding with Murray

On Saturday afternoon my friend Murray asked me to assist him with some repairs and upgrades to his boat at Daintree village. We followed this with a test drive on the river and a bit of a look around to see what birds we could find for his guests on the following mornings 7.00 am Daintree River Boatman cruise. We went to Murray’s special spot where a Great-billed Heron was sitting on a nest. The river was flowing very strongly and we had to be careful weaving our way through hanging vines and fallen trees. We found the heron on its nest on a tree limb about 10 metres above the river. 

Great-billed Heron

After a few photos we headed back down river in search of Papuan Frogmouth. We managed to find a pair who had just arrived and were at the same roost as they had used last year. 

Papuan Frogmouth

We also found a flycatcher which on closer inspection turned out to be a Restless Flycatcher. This is the first one I have seen on the Daintree River. 

Restless Flycatcher

We also saw Azure, Forest and Sacred Kingfisher but only managed to hear the Little Kingfisher. The river was high and the tide was in, flooding all the mud banks and mangrove roots, which makes this beautiful little bird difficult to see. Just before we took the boat out of the water, we flushed what must have been the last Black Bittern of the season.

Peter and I had been invited along on Murray’s 7.00 am cruise the following morning which we gladly accepted. The Great-billed Heron obliged providing the guests with some good photo opportunities. One of the Papuan Frogmouths had moved but the other was still there. These birds will move around until a bit later in the year when they settle down to breed. We also saw Rainbow Bee-eater, Great Egret, Brown Gerygone and several pairs of Shinning Flycatcher.

As a final treat, a young Great-billed Heron posed for us right near the slipway. 

Great-billed Heron

Great-billed Heron

After Murrays guests had left we ate scrambled eggs and toast at the local cafe before finishing the morning with a spot of birding in Julatten.

A Visit to the Rubbish Tip

A spur of the moment visit to the local tip / rubbish dump this morning proved to be a pleasant few hours of birding. The weather was overcast with light rain threatening but we went anyway. We saw two Radjah Shelduck in a muddy puddle in the sugar cane fields on the way in as well as two Nankeen Kestrel. One was being harassed by a White-breasted Woodswallow. The dam produced 3 Black-winged Stilt and a duck of domestic origin (not sure what type). We could hear Mangrove Robin calling from both sides but were unable to sight them.

Black-winged Stilt

A loader working at the green waste pile was chasing up a lot of insects. A Willie Wagtail and a flock of Welcome Swallows were taking full advantage of this and swooping in to catch as many as possible. We also saw a mixed flock of Nutmeg and Chestnut-breasted Mannikin, Olive-backed Sunbird, Spangled Drongo and what may have been a Pallid Cuckoo.

On the way out of the gate we stopped to look at some Rainbow Lorikeets feeding in a flowering Paperbark tree. There seemed to be about ten birds in the flock as well as two Mistletoe Birds.

Rainbow Lorikeet

Something disturbed them and more than thirty birds exploded from the tree! How can so many brightly coloured birds remain unseen!

We decided on a quick visit to Cooya Beach to try and find the southern form of the Masked Lapwing I saw last week but had no luck. We did see a lot of Rainbow Bee-eater and one Straw-necked Ibis.

Rainbow Bee-eater

On the way home we took a back road detour to see if there were any Fairy Martin about. We came across a small flock of about thirty all swooping through a drain pipe under the road. On closer inspection we found their bottle shaped mud nests clustered on the roof of the drain.

Fairy Martin

According to Pizzey and Knight’s Field Guide to the Birds of Australia and HANZAB, Fairy Martins do not breed as far north as here. Perhaps this merits further investigation!

2012 The First Three Months and a Bit

What a busy few months! January started with a Big Day Out to see if we, my friend Peter and I, could bag 100 or more birds on New Year’s Day, After a quick scan of the local area around Shannonvale, we headed up to Julatten and Mt Molloy. The weather was good until just before lunch time when the rain came down. This was just after we had met Keith from Kingfisher Lodge and his neighbours Carol and Andrew who were doing much the same thing. Needless to say, the rain was not welcome and Peter and I headed home.

Later in the afternoon I was off again to reach the 100 target which was still shy by about 20 birds. I visited Cooya Beach and Newell Beach and upped the list to almost 100. I met up with my friend Murray at Newell Beach where he was showing a friend around. I told him what I was up to and he suggested we go to Daintree Village, where he keeps his bird spotting tour boat, and take it for a spin. How could I refuse!

On the way to Daintree I stopped at the Wonga Barramundi Farm and padded out my list with a few Black-winged Stilt and Radjah Shelduck which can usually be found here. Murray put the boat in near the ferry crossing and we headed down river all the way to the heads. I could now add Little Kingfisher, Azure Kingfisher, Shining Flycatcher and several terns to the list.  Thanks to Murray the list topped out at 112 birds! If I had gone up Mt Lewis as did Keith, I could have added at least 10 more birds.

During January I paid a rare visit to the Cairns Esplanade to view the shore birds. I had just bought a new camera with a 500mm zoom lens and so hope to improve, with a lot of practice, the quality of photographs included in this blog.

Bar-tailed Godwit

The highlight of January however was a visit to Michaelmas Cay to view the Red-footed Booby with the BirdLife North Queensland group. What a fantastic trip! The snorkelling was also great. It is a shame that only two of us took advantage of this great opportunity.

February went by with a blur as I took delivery of the new Toyota 4x4 for Birdwatching Tropical Australia, fought red tape and managed to get my driver authorisation and “Certificate of the Registration of a Business Name”.  Getting operator accreditation was another long winded affair. I managed to get my temporary accreditation from the Department of Transport by the end of the month. I also received a workbook and computer disc with all the information I needed to complete my full accreditation.

The new Toyota 4x4

Whilst doing all this, I still managed a few rewarding birding trips and managed to expand the bird list for 2012 to over 200 species.

During March the rain finally arrived and soaked everything. Thank goodness it also brought the temperatures down a bit. I managed to finish my workbook and sent it off to one of the Department of Transport Approved Assessors for assessment. To my delight I received a phone call just before the Easter weekend telling me everything was in order and my Accreditation Certificate would be arriving soon.  March saw another trip on the Daintree with Murray and several visits to Julatten and the surrounding areas.

Murray Hunt - Daintree River Boatman

I ended the month attending the Wave the Waders Goodbye gathering at the Cairns Esplanade. My list for the afternoon can be found here. I found the Wader ID course which took place beforehand most helpfull.

Common Greenshank

April arrived and things have begun to dry out a bit. We had great weather over the Easter Weekend and managed to squeeze in a trip up Mt Lewis on Saturday morning. Another birder who had arrived earlier reported at least 40 Blue-faced Parrot-Finch (we only saw 3) and a male and female Golden Bowerbird. We were lucky enough to see a small flock of 7 Australian King Parrot.

Last week Cooya Beach turned up a rather unusual visitor. A lone masked lapwing at the roadside looked a bit unusual. On Closer inspection it turned out to be the southern form, Vanellus miles novaehollandiae.

Masked Lapwing (southern form)

Masked Lapwing (northern form)

With most of the hard work of setting up a new business behind me, I hope to be able to keep my blog a bit more up to date.

Cooya Beach to Georgetown

The weather is really starting to warm up now and birding trips to Julatten and the Tablelands are a welcome relief from the humidity of the coast. Over the last few weeks we have visited sites as far afield as Georgetown.

Several trips have included the Mareeba area and Lake Mitchell which has been very productive of late. We sighted a Grey Wagtail, a rare visitor to Northern Australia. They breed in Europe and Asia and then migrate to Africa, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Malaysia from November to April. In Non-breeding plumage the Grey Wagtail looks very similar to the Yellow Wagtail. The Grey Wagtail has pinkish colour legs and a longer tail then the Yellow. The small lagoons and dams around Mareeba are good for water birds at this time of year. We are seeing Pacific Black Duck, Hardhead, Australian Wood Duck, Green and Cotton Pygmy Goose, Grey Teal, Magpie Goose, Cormorant, Darter, Black Swan, Jacana and many others.

At Lake Mitchell we flushed a small Button-quail. It was too fast for us to positively identify but could have been a Red-chested Button-quail which have been seen here recently or even a Buff-Breasted Button-quail which is quite rare. Unfortunately all efforts to locate the bird again failed. Snipe are also plentiful at this time of year with a lot of sightings of Latham’s Snipe. Some are of the opinion that these are Swinhoe’s Snipe but in my opinion, you can’t tell the difference unless you have the bird in your hands. I suppose the debate will continue until some serious research is done.

Taipan

Julatten. After weeks of hearing the calls and no sightings, the Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher has finally put in an appearance. The Metallic Starlings are now well into their nest building and Channel-billed Cuckoo are plentiful. Snakes are also on the move with a two-and-a-half metre long Taipan spotted at Abattoir Swamp. White-throated Needletail have also put in an appearance. Last week at Kuranda, we had some great views of these birds doing some low level flying.

We had good sightings of Black-necked Stork and Buff-banded Rails in the Cooya Beach area, as well as Mangrove Robin and Varied Honeyeater. Waders are also plentiful on the mud flats at low tide. A short visit to the area two weeks ago produced 41 species along the mangroves, mud flats and cane fields.

Golden Bowerbird's Bower

Our Georgetown trip started with a visit to Hastie’s Swamp near Atherton. We had 44 species within half-an-hour! The list included White-browed Scrubwren, seen along the road side, and two White-bellied Sea-eagles. The Eagles seemed to be taking delight in putting the Whistling-Ducks to flight in their thousands. We had a brief stop at Longlands Gap State Forest to see the Golden Bowerbird at its bower. We also spotted a Tooth-billed Bowerbird calling from above his “bower”, a cleared area decorated with fresh upturned leaves. Also seen were Mountain Thornbill, Atherton Scrubwren and Bridled Honeyeater.

Golden Bowerbird

Next stop was Warruma Swamp at Mt Garnet. Of note here were Great and Pied Cormorant, Brolga and Blue-winged Kookaburra. Mt Surprise was good for Red-winged Parrot, Channel-billed Cuckoo and Squatter Pigeon.

Warruma Swamp

At Georgetown our first stop was at the rubbish tip which is always good for Australian Bustard. We also saw Nankeen Night Heron, Diamond Dove, and Galah. A walk around the racecourse produced Horsfield’s Bushlark, Rufous Songlark, White-throated Gerygone and White-winged Triller.

We arrived at the Cumberland Dam, about 20km beyond Georgetown, at about 3.30pm. While taking a break under the trees with a cup of tea, we were visited by Rufous-throated Honeyeater, Yellow-tinted Honeyeater, Paperbark Flycatcher and several Pale-headed Rosella. The best views of the dam are from the top of the earth wall, sitting in a camp chair under a tree. You can find our list of birds here. A walk along the back of the wall produced a small flock of Zebra Finch and some Double-barred Finch.  Our plan was to be back at the dam at first light. Heavy rain, however, put paid to that and we headed back to the coast re-visiting some of our stops of the previous day.

Morning Trip To Julatten And Mt Lewis - 5 Nov 2011

A warm morning with high cloud. Destination Julatten. We arrive at our first site at 6.30am. The sun is just touching the tree tops as we walk along the track. Scaly-breasted and Rainbow Lorikeets are feeding on the Melaleuca blooms and a Whistling Kite circles above. Two Dollarbirds recently arrived from Papua New Guinea sit at the top of a dead tree enjoying the morning warmth and Emerald Doves forage along the rainforest margins. Honeyeaters are abundant here and we see Dusky, Yellow, Brown-backed, Graceful, Yellow-spotted and Macleay’s. Macleay’s Honeyeater is found from Cooktown to Paluma and on the Atherton Tablelands. It is Endemic to the Wet Tropics. A Horsfield’s Bronze-cuckoo is sighted and easily identified by the broken breast-bars and the eyebrow.

Moving on to our next site we are surprised by seventeen plus Little Lorikeets, unusual for Julatten. Honeyeaters are also plentiful here. We also see several Pale-headed Rosella. Next stop is Geraghty Park for a quick cup of tea before heading up Mt Lewis.  Here we see Little Shrike-thrush, Spectacled Monarch, Pale-yellow Robin, Grey-headed Robin and Red-browed Finch. A small flock of Topknot Pigeon fly overhead and the trees are full of Metallic Starlings.

See the full Julatten list here.

The road up Mt Lewis is still in reasonably good condition making the 10km drive through the rain forest a pleasure. All along the road we see Grey-headed Robin and make a stop to view some Wompoo Fruit-Doves. We arrive at our destination and are welcomed with good views of two Mountain Thornbills.

The air up here is cool and refreshing. Our first sighting along the track is a Grey Fantail. Next we spent a few minutes watching two Bridled Honeyeaters building a nest. We were then lured on by the sound of a Golden Bowerbird calling. Searching off the track we found a male Victoria’s Riflebird and a Spotted Catbird. We also found the display court of a Tooth-billed Bowerbird. This was about two metres in diameter and cleared of everything excepting several fresh native ginger leaves placed shiny side down. We never did find the Golden Bowerbird.

Back on the path we saw Fernwren, Yellow-throated Scrub-wren and Large-billed Scrub-wren.  We had several good sightings of Bower’s Shrike-thrush in full song.

The first group of Chowchilla were found just before reaching the dam. They were being carefully watched by a Rufous Fantail and Spectacled Monarch as they busily scratched through the leaf litter. These would quickly dart in and grab any stray morsel missed by the Chowchilla.

At the dam we spotted a Water Dragon sunning on its customary log. The resident Platypus was unfortunately nowhere to be seen. Two more groups of Chowchilla were seen on the return trip to the vehicle.

Full Mt Lewis list here.

After a cup of tea we drove down to the Julatten Barramundi farm to round off the morning with some Pacific Black Duck, Hardhead, Ibis and a Little Pied Cormorant.

A Day In Julatten 14 September

After a few cool nights it’s starting to warm up again down at the coast. Julatten is still nice and cool so I set off up the Rex Range at about 8am. First stop was Gerety Park next door to Kingfisher Lodge. A walk around the oval produces some Macleay’s Honeyeater, an over flight of Topknot Pigeon, Grey Headed Whistler, Lemon Bellied Flycatcher, Cattle Egret and Metallic Starlings. Still no sign of nest building from the migrants unless they have chosen a new tree this season. There were a lot of Scaly Breasted Lorikeet about, far outnumbering the Rainbow Breasted Lorikeet.

At about 9am I started the drive up Mt Lewis to the clearing.  The road is in great condition this year. With all the rain last dry season the road got very rough. Cyclone Yasi didn’t help either, closing the road for several weeks. At the clearing it was cold enough to put on my warm jacket!  The walk along the track to the dam started off really well. Only a few steps in I spotted the first of 9 Fernwren. There was also an abundance of Grey-Headed Robin, Yellow-throated Scrub Wren, Grey Fantail and Mountain Thorn Bill. I only saw 1 Bridled Honeyeater and not one Chowchilla. Both these birds are usually fairly easy to see along the track. Retracing my steps back to the vehicle, I was confronted by 2 male Eastern Whipbirds having a major altercation in the pathway. The cause, no doubt, was the female perched nearby watching. Their running about and chasing went on for a good few minutes before they noticed me and fled into the undergrowth! A short walk along the road found my Chowchilla happily raking through the leaf litter.

Back down the mountain and on to Mt Malloy. A quick stop at a site on private property near Sides Rd turned up Blue-faced Parrot-finches. These little birds are stunning when seen in full sunlight. Also seen where Pied Monarch, Yellow-breasted Boatbill and Northern Fantail.

On to Mt Malloy. After a quick stop at the caf and my hunger under control after a pie and soft drink, I visited the local Great Bower Bird. He was sitting in his tree purring away above a most impressive bower. He has quite a collection going, white snail shells and stones, a few green items and a lot of pink stuff including a 6cm ruler and pink water pistol! Just up the road a pair of Bush-stone Curlew were doing there “you can’t see me if I stand still” thing next to a flowering Bottle-brush bush covered in Dusky Honeyeaters.

Back in Julatten I visited a few of the dams. The 2 pairs of Cotton Pygmy-goose are still present at McDougal Rd along with Green Pygmy-goose, Pacific Black Duck, Little Pied Cormorant, Little Black Cormorant and Hardhead. No Jacana or Magpie Goose though. Also seen where Red-backed Fairy-wren, Emerald Dove, Torresian Pied-Pigeon, Rainbow Bee-eater, Varied Triller and Mistletoebird amongst others. Full list is at Eremaea Birds http://www.eremaea.com/Lists.aspx?List=95203.

At the bottom of the range on my way home I stopped to watch a large flock of Cattle Egrets interacting with a sugar cane harvester. The birds were lined up along the row of cane being cut waiting for the harvester to pass. They would then dive in and grab any insects disturbed. They did not follow the harvester but waited in position for it to return on the next row. Is this the new breed of steel cattle?

Goodbye Winter - Hello Spring

The weather is warming and the humidity is climbing. Pied Imperial-Pigeons and Metallic Starlings have arrived as have the Brown-backed Honeyeaters.

A visit to Lake Mitchell on Tuesday 30th August was most rewarding. We saw the first Glossy Ibis of the season, Horsfield's Bronze-Cuckoo, White-throated Gerygone and White-winged Triller in addition to the usual water birds. Also sighted where 8 Australian Pelican. These birds have been a bit thin on the ground so far this season. A walk along the causeway also rewarded us with a pair of Australian Reed-Warbler and a flock of Double-barred Finch

We moved on to Mareeba at about 11am in search of a reported Black Bittern at the Bicentennial Lakes but had no luck finding it. We did however find some Scaly-breasted Lorikeet. Back down to the coast.


An early evening visit to Cooya Beach on the low tide was rewarded by 5 Australian Pied Oystercatcher, Eastern Curlew, a flock of Pied Imperial-Pigeons and an Osprey flying its last catch of the day back to its nest.

While working at Cooya Beach on Friday 2nd I spotted a Banded Lapwing on vacant land at the corner of Cooya Beach Road and Bonnie Doon Road. This bird usually occurs much further South. However, a single bird was also seen last year at about the same time in the same area and also about 2 kilometers away at the Mossman Golf Course.