TROPICAL BIRDING TOURS
Eastern
Australia, top to bottom
1-19th
November 2005
Guide: Iain Campbell
Galah (Iain Campbell)
Introduction.. This trip was about getting lots
and lots of birds, having great looks at them and chilling out at the end of the
day. All up we saw 404 species of birds with two of the three guests seeing 402
of them. Because two of the group enjoyed digiscoping and the third member was
unbelievably accommodating, we took many opportunities to photograph birds as
well as watching them. This was a great birding trip, which seemed to be
effortless and jam-
packed with
birds; add a few animals such as Echidnas and Tasmanian Devils, cultural
experiences such as Mt Molloy pub and the inbred hotelier at Kandos, and you
have an all round fantastic trip
Day 1, Cairns Espanade and Botanical Gardens
The tour
started in Cairns at 2pm, and we started down to the Esplanade to pick up some
of the more obvious forest birds as well as the shorebirds. Birding here is
exceptionally easy, though a scope is required to get good looks when the tide
is out. We arrived to a very low tide though the usual waders were there
including Red-capped Plover, Bar-tailed Godwit, many Whimbrel, Far-eastern Curlew, Common Greenshank, Terek
Sandpiper, Ruddy Turnstone, Red-necked Stint, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Curlew
Sandpiper. There were some land birds on the Esplanade including Rainbow and
Scaly Lorikeets, a few Peaceful Doves and Varied Honeyeaters, and many
Torresian Imperial Pigeons and Brown Honeyeaters.
Bush Thicknee. (Iain Campbell)
We finished
with the shore and headed to the botanical gardens which are a small patch of
lowland rainforest, scrub, and some nearby lakes where you get a very good
cross-section of northern birds just minutes from downtown Cairns. We had some
great looks and photographs of the Bush Thick-knee and great views of some
Double-eyed Fig-Parrots which flew in directly above us. We had to take a short
break from the parrots for our first Brown-backed Honeyeaters, white-bellied
Cuckooshrike and Olive-backed Sunbirds.
Day 2,
Michrealmas Cay.
The species
list for the Great Barrier Reef trip is never high, but the seabird colony at
Michrealmas Cay is truly wonderful and most of the birds are not possible to
see closer to shore. The boat leaves at 7.30 and goes straight out to the Cay
taking a few hours to get there. On the way we saw Bridled, Crested, Roseate
and Black-naped Terns and two Black Noddies. On the island we had many Sooty
Terns, Lesser-crested Terns, Common Noddy. There were a few Little Terns, a
Least Frigatebird and three Brown Boobies. We picked a few more coastal birds
on the way back in and arrived to Cairns at about 5.30. We headed straight up
to Cassowary House and arrived there just minutes after the female cassowary had
left, so we dumped our gear, kicked the Red-necked Crake out of my room, had
one of Sue's amazing dinners. We went owling a little later and had just
mouthwatering views of the Lesser Sooty Owl. I was kicking myself for not
having the gear for digiscoping with me.
Day 3 Cassowary House to the Daintree
Cassowary
House is in my opinion, the best lodge for birders in Australia. It is so
obvious that the owners are birders and understand our hobby. The birding and
breakfast here is always my favorite part of the northern section of this trip.
We started the morning by a walk up Black Mountain Road, where we had great
looks at the wonderful Yellow-eyed Cuckooshrike, and the Spectacled Monarchs
had us captivated for minutes. We had our first looks ot Rufous Shrikethrush
which we going to see many times in the next five days.
Maclays Honeyeater (Iain Campbell)
After the
short walk we headed back to the lodge for our breakfast with the birds. The
Maclay's Honeyeaters were the first to join us, but were soon joined by
Helmeted Friarbirds, Black Butcherbirds and a most accommodating Emerald Dove.
All of this action on the deck was countered by the mammals below mixing it
with Australian Brush-turkey and the normally shy Red-necked crake.
Victorias Riflebird (Iain Campbell)
Then the
real beauties arrived. We had Spotted Catbird and a male Victoria's Riflebird
at the deck at the same time. If you have not seen photos of these two birds,
do so now as the plates in all the field guides fall way short of doing them
justice; there are very few birders who would not want to spend some time near
these treasures. The group were already happy with the day when the male
Cassowary entered with two chicks. I had seen cassowaries many times but the
site of dad and the youngsters was something else completely, and we were
sitting ten feet away from them ignoring us completely. Definitely a highlight
of the trip.
Southern Cassowary (Keith Barnes)
After lunch
we headed north towards the Daintree river, stopping a a beach site along the
way where we surprised to see a Asiatic Dowitcher along with other shorebirds
including Pacific Golden Plover, Greater Sandplover, and Grey-tailed Tattler.
We continued north to a small patch of forest near Daintree village where after
a sudden storm, the forest came to life. We had Pheasant Coucals, Wompoo
Pigeons, and Superb Fruit-Doves. Grey Whistlers seemed everywhere, but the
spectacle was really a tree pumping with Channel-billed Cuckoos, Green
Figbirds, and Green Orioles. We spent the night at the Red Mill House which is
rapidly becoming the place for birders visiting the Daintree area. Highly
recommended.
Day 4, Daintree River to Julaten
The boat
trip up the Daintree was slow, but I had expected this because it was equally
quiet three weeks earlier. If you are in a great rush in the area, I would not
recommend this as time well spent, but we have the day in as an insurance day
in case we get washed out elsewhere. Having said that, for bird photography,
this is a great trip where we got very close to Azure Kingfisher, Shining
Flycatcher, Wompoo Pigeon, and Papuan Frogmouth. We saw Black Bittern,
Orange-footed Scrubfowl, and Striated Heron on the shore, and had large numbers
of Friarbirds and other honeyeaters in the riverside mangroves. We saw numerous
Large-billed Gerygones and a few Mangrove ones as well, but two hours is enough
before we wanted to get back on land into some flocks.
Laughing Kookaburra (Iain Campbell)
We headed
up to Julateen where we dropped our gear off at the lodge and bummed around in
the mid-day heat for an hour or two looking at Red-browed Firetails and
Graceful and Yellow-spotted Honeyeaters. When it started to cool down we headed
out to the savanna woodlands around Mt Carbine with a stop off on route for Great
Bowerbird and Pale-headed Rosella at Mt Molloy primary school, and a
Square-tailed Kite which is somewhat of a rarity. The Australian Bustards were
not at the normal spot so we tried another area a few kms away and found one
hiding in the shade from the still hot sun.
We
continued out to a small lake near Mt Carbine where we had had Freckled Duck a
few weeks earlier. Six of them appeared to be were waiting for us, as well as
Great-crested Grebe, Plumed Whistling Duck, Black Swan, Green Pygmy Geese, White-eyed
Duck and Comb-crested Jacana. The raptors were putting on a show for us with
Black kite and Whistling kite being numerous, but with Brahmany Kite and
Australian Kite also around the lake. It was here that we saw the first of out
Wedge-tailed Eagles. Heading back towards Mt Molloy, we decided to give Lake
Mitchell a shot and were rewarded with both Sarus Crane and Brolga before
dinner.
Days 5 and 6, Mt Lewis and Julaten
Mt Lewis is
one of the best birding sites in this region, and today it didn’t let us down.
We started the day with Blue-faced Parrotfinch. Then there were Grey-headed
Robins everywhere and some of the other specialties such as the Fernwren,
Atherton Thornbill, and the mountain race of the Grey Fantail were easy to
find. Birding here was even more fun when loads of Tooth-billed Bowerbirds
turned up. We followed the screeching calls to a new bower on the ground, where
the bird had laid palm fronds on the ground and sat calling a meter above them.
We started
down the trail to the Golden Bowerbird bower when a female perched near the
path side but none of the guests could get onto it before it left. We spent
some time at the bower, but without luck. Heading back down the entrance road
we stopped for a small group of Mountain Thornbills mixed with Yellow-throated
Scrubwrens, then we had a male Golden Bowerbird attacking a white morph of the
Grey Goshawk. Within minutes we also had Pacific Baza doing a bizarre display
flight where it resembled a massive whitish butterfly. It was just spectacular
as it continued above us for a full ten minutes or so.
Blue-faced Honeyeater (Iain Campbell)
Day 7, Mareeba to Cairns
We started
out predawn to get to the dry woodland around Mareeba before it became too hot
and activity died down. We started on a gravel road NW of town where we
successfully searched for Squatter Pigeon which is much cuter than the plates
show in the field guide. After nailing the pigeon and Red-backed Fairywren (all
black except for a crimson back with a long cocked tail), we headed to a creek
with riverine vegetation where we called in the Fairy Gerygone, Pallid Cuckoo.
White-browed Robins responded but sadly didn't come in. After lunch we shot
down to Hasties Swamp and were surprised to find that it was almost empty, a
massive change from a few weeks earlier, however we did have a Latham's Snipe
which was not there earlier.
On the way
back to Cairns we stopped at some likely vegetation for White-browed Robin and
ten seconds of playing the call, we had one only meters above our heads singing
like mad. This is a seriously sexy little bird and we were surprised to have it
so active in the mid-afternoon heat. Closer to Cairns we checked out a few
wetlands around the city, and had much better looks at species seen earlier and
we spent time photographing ducks.
Days 8 and 9, Brisbane and Lamington National Park
We caught
and early flight from Cairns to Brisbane. Getting in early enough, I decided to
spend a little time exploring the mangroves around the Brisbane airport. Just
10 minutes or so to the north is a walkway where you can get very good access
to the coastal scrub and mangroves of central eastern Australia. Early in the
scrub walk we caught up with Collared Kingfisher which stayed around for us all
to have a very good look. We changed trails and found the Mangrove Gerygone
which was much easier to see than further north. A little pishing was enough
for a splendid looking Mangrove Honeyeater to pop up and give everyone in the
group great looks.
Collared Kingfisher (Iain Campbell)
It was then
time to hit the subtropical rainforests of the Lamington National Park. We
drove up to Binna Burra, dropped our gear and went for a walk in the wet
Eucalypt forest on the edge of the rainforest. A constant sound of this site is
the song of the Bell Miners, but they are rather difficult to locate when you
first hear them. There is a ledge there with spectacular view, and I suggested
that the best way to get this bird is to sit down, crack open a chocolate bar
and wait. We were about three pieces each into a triple mint bar when one did
come up to eye level allowing us to have good looks and comment on the strange
color combination of the body and bill.
We spent
the afternoon doing the short rainforest loop where most of the target birds
were fairly easy. We had the Scaly Thrush and Green Catbirds within minutes of
entering the forest, and Eastern Yellow Robins seemed to be following us. After
having some difficulty with Chowchillas in the north, is was great to have
Southern Logrunners bouncing around everywhere on the trails. We must have had
about half a dozen different groups on the walk. We heard a distant Albert's
Lyrebird, but no luck in calling it in.
The next
morning we had contact with the Regent Bowerbird, which has to seen to be
appreciated. This is one bird which I have yet to see even a photo do justice.
Paradise Riflebirds seemed hard to find, but once we had the first one, seemed
pretty common. It was a long hike up the border trail to a Rufous Scrub-bird,
but well worth it as it is the eastern representative of an endemic family with
only two species; it's also a hard to see skulker. We did get some views, but
overall the bird was not overly cooperative. On the way back to the lodge we
had an Albert's Lyrebird calling near the path, and it quickly ran past the
group to disappear and go silent.
Satin Bowerbird (Iain Campbell)
One of the
things that you notice in this forest is just how common the Padamelons are
here. These cute fat little Kangaroos are very easy to see and approach, so the
mid day lull was spent photographing these guys. Late in the afternoon of the
second day as we left the forest we had wonderful views of the Wonga Pigeon on
the park lawns. This chunky guy is a bizarre mix of powder blue, grey and
white, with finger-like markings not seen on any other species of bird in the
world. It just looked as though it did not belong out in the open ignoring the
passersby.
Days 10 and 11, Royal National Park to Barren Grounds
We had
another morning at Lamington before the drive back to Brisbane and the flight
to Sydney. We arrived in the late afternoon, but early enough for us to shoot
down to the park and try to get a start on the target species. Superb Lyrebird
is far more common than its northern counterpart, but still "dippable,"
so it was the first on the target list. A short walk down the trail off Wattle
Flat and we were face-to-face with a male calling under a rock overhang. In the
short time we were there it mimicked Kookaburra, Lewin's Honeyeater, Magpie,
Grey Shrike-thrush, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, and Eastern Whipbird. After this
we headed to a roost site for Powerful Owl where we managed to take many photos
of the guy before an almighty downpour forced an end to the days proceedings.
Powerful Owl (Iain Campbell)
We started
the next day with an early rise and breakfast in the National Park near Lady
Carrington Drive. The Superb Lyrebirds were calling like mad, but they were up
the slope, and I was glad to have seen them the day before yesterday as they
would not have been easy this morning. The usual suspects were around the
campground including Satin Bowerbird. We checked an Origma territory with no
luck before heading up to the heathland habitat.
Much of
Royal National Park is open coastal heathland, so we drove until we found an
area with a lot of flowering Banksia bushes. We were quickly rewarded with New
Holland Honeyeaters and Tawny-crowned Honeyeaters.
New Holland Honeyeater (Iain Campbell)
With most
of the easier birds out of the way we went to the area of especially low
heathland where some of the real skulkers have territories. The Southern
Emuwren has to be seen to be appreciated. These dainty little guys may only
come out for very short periods, but when you get a view, you just can't
believe how cute they are. Luckily we had a small family group which we saw
several times over a period of a few minutes. In the same time some Shy
Hylacolas responded and came bouncing in so at the one time we had both species
in the same little bush. In the afternoon we headed down to Bass Point south of
Sydney where we did some seabirding. Nothing outstanding, but good views of
Australian Gannet and both Wedge-tailed and Short-tailed Shearwaters close to
shore.
Day 12,
Barren Grounds to Leeton
This is the
longest driving day of the trip, and although I dread the drive, the changing
of habitats and landscape makes for a very interesting day. We started at
Barren grounds which seemed only marginally more active than the previous
afternoon. Not a glimpse of the Bristlebird nor peep from the Ground Parrot,
though we did enjoy great views of the normally shy Beautiful Firetail (and it
is) and just wonderful looks at a family of Gang-gang Cockatoos.
We headed
towards inland NSW, with very little happening for the first few hours of the
drive. It was only when we were near to Junee and had Emu and Superb Parrot
that things started to liven up. The Superb Parrots put on a nice show for us
and I am not sure that the group believed me when I said that they are often
not easy to find. We continued on to Five Bough Swamp in Leeton where the group
got the real dose of inland NSW. The swamp was pumping, with Australian
Bitterns showing very well and very close. When we arrived at the main lake,
there were Musk Duck, Blue-billed Duck, hundreds and hundreds of Pink-eared
Duck amidst a mass of the more common inland species. As the sun started to set
we had Spotless Crakes running back and forth across the path in front of us
and a brief but good look at Australian Spotted Crake. A long day, but it is
hard to imagine a much more stark difference in landscape and birds from the
start and finish.
Day 13, Binya, Griffith and Five bough Swamp
This is
always one of my favorite days of the trip and today was no exception. As usual
I started too early, wanting to ensure that nothing happened at dawn, when the
activity does not really pick up for about and hour. The scrappy Cypress
woodland with patches of eucalypts does not look like much, but this is just a
great place. We started around the main road with the usual suspects here.
White-plumed, Spiny-cheeked, and Brown-headed Honeyeaters were moving about the
tops of the trees which received the first warming rays. The White-winged
Trillers were having a continual territorial dispute while feeding young, and
Julie was sold on the place when a group of five budgerigars cam and perched
near us.
Australian Owlet-Nightjar (Iain Campbell)
Leaving the
main road to walk in the forest we found an Australian Owlet-Nightjar and spent
some time taking lots of photos, then watched the Striped Honeyeaters feeding
young and were frustrated by the distant calls of the Painted Honeyeater which
were not at all responding to playback.
Once it
started to heat up we came across the smaller birds which make up the bulk of
the species here. Moving in one big group were Inland, Yellow-rumped, Yellow,
and Chestnut- rumped Thornbills. Moving near but not in there group were
Crimson Chats and the ever present Red-capped Robins were calling like mad with
many females visible, but the males remaining hidden. Later in the morning we
finally caught up with the Painted Honeyeaters who gave us a good show.
With the
last of the mornings targets taken care of, we headed towards Griffith to see
some parrots. The area around the airport is great for them and we had, many,
many Red-rumped Parrots along with Mulga Parrots and Blue Bonnets. The Eastern
Ringneck was not around until we got to the Golf Course car park where we had
fantastic views of one who just seemed oblivious to us standing there. We
visited the nearby nest of the Tawny Frogmouth to find that they have been
having a very good year with three young that looked as though they were near
to fledging.
We spent
the afternoon at Five Bough Swamp again where the triumph of yesterdays
Australian Bittern was trumped by a close flyby of a Little Bittern.
Persistence watching fence posts in the swamp paid off with Australian
Shelduck, and lifting Julie up to see over the reeds seemed much appreciated.
We came across Red-necked Avocet late in the day in near perfect light and we
picked up Golden-headed Cisticola which compared to the last two amazing
looking birds, appeared rather like list-fodder. All up, this day was just
great.
Spotted Pardelote (Iain Campbell)
Day 14, Leeton to Dubbo
This is
always a long day interspersed with some very good birding. We stared with an
early departure to Charcoal Tank where the habitat is the eastern edge of the
Mallee, that is more typical of South-central Australia. There were three target
birds there, as well a load of other birds which we can see in other
localities. The Yellow-plumed Honeyeater came to the party with very good
although brief views in a dead tree above the mallee. The biggest surprise of
the morning was just how un-shy the Shy Heathwren was. It has always been my
experience here that you just about had to bust a kidney to get a response out
of these guys but today three came out, one almost standing on Neil and another
flying right up to a branch not far from my face. Easily the best looks I have
ever had of this little beauty.
After the
bush died down, we set of for Blue-gum swamp, or Lake Urine as is known to some
Sydney birders. We didn’t add anything there, but had very good looks at
Pink-eared and Freckled Duck. A little further along the road we stopped at a
flooded field on what was once a billabong, where we had great looks at
Yellow-billed Spoonbill, a male Musk Duck and our first Red-kneed Dotterel.
A little
down the road is Backyamma Stae Forest which though normally very good, was
just very slow. The temperature was rocketing up, and the woodland was so quite
that after seeing male Red-capped Robin, Hooded Robin, and Little Woodswallow
we continued on our way.
Day 15, Goonoo State forest, Dubbo to Kandos
Goonoo SF
near Dubbo is a mixture of cypress-pine woodland and mallee-eucalypt woodland.
It had not really been up to scratch on the earlier tour, so I was very
surprised to go there are and find it extremely active. Many of the species
that we were searching for in Binya were here as well as good looks at
Sittella, Spotted Pardalote, White-eared Honeyeater and our first Hooded Robin.
Bizarrely enough we had yet to catch up with Little Corella, but returning into
Dubbo we had a group just outside town.
The trip
between Dubbo and Kandos is mainly through farmland with way too many sheep,
but we did have some great views of a load of raptors including Australian
Hobby, Brown Falcon, Whistling Kite, Little Eagle, and a very up close look at
a Wedge-tailed Eagle who was struggling with one very, very fat rabbit. As well
as these we had our first Black-faced Wood-swallows and Turquoise Parrots for
the trip. Much of this drive is dull, but the group seemed to like a little
down time after the last few very hectic days.
Dusky Woodswallow (Iain Campbell)
Day 16, Glen Davis to Sydney
It is a
surprise to many people that the Capertee Valley is some of the best birding
around Sydney, but it really is. Building up a big list for a day is easy here
as you have a mixture of the more typically inland species with highland and
more coastal species. We were targeting the Regent Honeyeater as this is pretty
much the only reliable site for the species. After an hour of searching a
territory that Keith and I had found three weeks earlier, we hit the jackpot
with some fantastic looks at the birds, though these guys move far too
irregularly to try and digiscope. There were lots of Yellow-tufted Honeyeaters
competing with New Holland Honeyeaters and Brown-headed Honeyeaters for clusters
of yellow flowers in the riverside shrubs. We did not add many new birds to the
trip list here, but spent the time making sure that we all had good views of
all the species we had recorded before. The hardest bird to nail down was the
Little Lorikeet but after enough flyovers one decided to land just long enough
for us all to look at for a short while. In the afternoon we headed towards
Sydney for a night flight to Tasmania.
Day 17, Hobart and Brunei Island
After
arriving very late into Hobart, we had a short sleep and were out trying to get
the Tasmanian endemics. A birding mate of mine and now Tasmanian resident,
David Siems joined us for the last few days of the trip which made navigation
much easier, and he is just a load of fun to be around. We started the day at
Peter Murrel Reserve, where we had the Forty-spotted Pardalote nesting in a
small hole directly above the information plaque about the bird and Tasmanian
Native-hens walking behind it. The woodland around this small reserve seemed to
be far more active than earlier visits and we had the Black-headed,
Yellow-throated and even Strong-billed Honeyeaters all within 100 yards of the
reserve car park. The heathland around the back of the lake was a little slower
but we did have Brush Bronzewing, and Tasmanian Thornbills were rather easy
there. Heading back to the car park we saw some Green Rosellas hanging around
the tree where the Eastern Rosellas had forced them out of there nesthole.
We then
headed down to Brunei Island and had seven Black-faced Cormorants at the dock.
We drove straight down to the southern part of the island to quickly see the
Hooded Plover before watching a pair of Scarlet Robin on the way to the
highlands. The upper elevations of the cross island road were just fantastic. We
pulled up and had a lovely male Pink Robin flitting about us and had a large
group of Strong-billed Honeyeaters with one even staying still long enough for
me to digiscope it. We had short looks at Crescent Honeyeaters and headed back
towards the ferry. Along the way we had one spot with Scarlet, Flame and Dusky
Robins all in the same place which was great for comparing species. The day
finished with Swift Parrots turning up on cue when Dave said they should be
there
Hooded Plover (Iain Campbell)
Day 18, Mt Wellington to Bicheos
We started
out the day with Black Currawong on the roadside on Mt Wellington. This was the
first time I had ever been to the site when it was not fogbound, and it really
is as pretty as I had been told. There are two other endemics on the hill we
needed; both the Tasmanian Scrubwren and the Scrubtit were recorded here on the
last tour so I was feeling pretty confident. The other targets for the morning
were to get decent looks at the Crescent Honeyeater which we had a day earlier
but not to the degree we wanted. The honeyeater and Scrubwren were no problem
at all with both responding very well to pishing and playback. The scrubtit
required a little more effort but after a couple of hours or so we were onto
it. With the mountain birds out of the way we headed down to Ferntree to look
for the Grey Currawong, which although not an endemic, is far easier in
Tasmania than anywhere else on the tour. Again they were waiting for us at the
site found on the previous tour and we had them feeding fledglings.
After
seeing the Grey Currawong I realized that we had in fact nailed all the endemic
and target species and at only 10am had pretty much had nothing to do for the
remainder of the last day. We thought that if we shoot up the east coast we can
have a go at some sea birds as well as a few species not previously targeted.
I wanted to
get a look at the Cape Barren Geese, but the island where they live had a very
intermittent ferry service, and we were going to have to spend four hours there,
when I really wanted to head further north. After speaking to the boat captain
and slipping him something extra, there appeared to be a small problem at the
landing wharf meaning that the ferry had to stay there for a short inspection,
just long enough for us to get great looks and some photos of the geese.
We headed
north towards the town of Bicheos where we searched random roads looking for
beach access, and were very happy to find a new site with many of the
shorebirds we had seen earlier including the Hooded Plover, and we also caught
up with Sooty Oystercatcher. With everything else out of the way we decided to
hang around Bicheos and go on a Penguin watch at 9pm. Yes this is seriously
"dudey," but it was actually great if you could ignore the local
guide's running commentary. We got very close to the Fairy Penguin, seeing them
walking between us, and the guide even opened up the nest boxes so we could
have a look at an adult and a chick about to fledge.
It was a
late drive back to Hobart where we were to have a few hours sleep before
catching our flights home. The group were raving about the Penguin experience and saying that it was
the icing on the cake for a great tour; and then when we thought it was all we
had one of the best animals in Australia, the Tasmanian Devil walked onto the
side of the road, ran around in front of the car and then darted off. This was
just too cool to finish the trip.
Bird list
Taxonomy
follows Clements 2000.