|
Masked Owl |
Good birds at Yandilla Farmstay, the adjoining Conondale National
Park and the nearby Kilcoy Abattoir ponds included Masked Owl,
Red-browed Treecreeper, Glossy Black Cockatoo, Painted Buttonquail,
Plum-headed Finch and Black-tailed Native-hen.
|
Conondale National Park (southern end) |
We
camped for 3 nights at Yandilla Farmstay at the northern end of Mt
Kilcoy Road. A bit of the
history and further information about the place
can
be found here. It's a pleasant spot with running creeks
nestled in the southern foothills of the Conondale Range. A walking trail leads upstream a short way from the property into Conondale National Park. Facilities are
basic, with warmish showers available late-afternoon after a tank
fire is lit by the property owner (who, it should be warned, is extremely
talkative!)
|
Camping at Yandilla |
|
Kilcoy Creek, Yandilla |
Late one afternoon a
pair of Glossy Black Cockatoos came down to the camp to drink; they
are seen here regularly.
|
Glossy Black Cockatoo |
Other nice birds
about the property included Eastern Barn Owl (calling), Dusky
Woodswallow and White-breasted Cuckoo-shrike.
|
White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike |
A Wedge-tailed Eagle
soared overhead and a pair of Bush Stone-Curlews near the homestead
was nice. [
Yandilla
elist].
|
Bush Stone-Curlew |
|
Wedge-tailed Eagle |
During my wanderings
around the property I spotted a group of introduced Red Deer.
Red-necked and Swamp wallabies were also about.
|
Red Deer |
From the farmstay (you need to open a couple of gates going in or out) it is 1 km to the end of Mt
Kilcoy Road. Then a vehicular track in quite good condition heads
steeply up into Conondale National Park. It passes through dry
sclerophyll forest, where I located a party of
Painted Buttonquail on a level stretch of the track; the male is in
these images.
|
Painted Buttonquail |
|
Painted Buttonquail |
I stopped 4km from
the park entrance at the first substantial fork in the road. Crimson
Rosellas seemed to be fairly common here in the wet sclerophyll forest that dominated at this higher altitude.
|
Crimson Rosella |
Then I heard a
Red-browed Treecreeper, a species I had seen just once in the region
since moving to the Sunshine Coast in 2009. I tracked the bird down
to a grey gum it was feeding in. I've
suggested
previously that this species and others in the region have
declined in recent decades, possible due to climate change.
Red-browed Treecreeper in the 1970s was regularly encountered in the
Blackall and Conondale ranges but the bird has disappeared from
favoured haunts. So to find it here was an unexpected treat.
|
Red-browed Treecreeper |
I ventured back up
the range at night with owling on my mind, and was thrilled to find a
beautiful female Masked Owl by the track about half-way up. [
Elist Conondale NP].
|
Masked Owl |
In the same spot was
a Yellow-bellied Glider; always a pleasure to see this endearing
marsupial, especially so close.
|
Yellow-bellied Glider |
|
Yellow-bellied Glider |
On the way back from
(and on the way to) Yandilla Farmstay, we dropped by the Kilcoy
abattoir dams on Winya Road. Yellow-rumped Thornbill is a scarce
species in the Sunshine Coast hinterland but is regular here. Royal
and Yellow-billed Spoonbills were on the dams.
|
Royal Spoonbill & Yellow-billed Spoonbill |
|
Yellow-rumped Thornbill |
A party of 10
Australasian Shovelers was present. Also of interest were a flock of
15 Plum-headed Finches, and 2 Black-tailed Native-hens which showed
briefly.
|
Australasian Shoveler |
Completely
unexpected was a Great Crested Grebe which flew overhead; this bird
is not often seen in flight. [
Winya
Rd elist].
|
Great Crested Grebe |
No comments:
Post a Comment