Camping at Yandilla, Conondale Range

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

Likely Climate Change Impacts on Birds in South-East Queensland

Satin Bowerbird

A decline in populations and the distribution of some bird species in the Sunshine Coast region and other parts of South-East Queensland over the past 30-40 years, along with increases in populations of other species, are likely to be related to climate change.

An isolated population of the Eastern Bristlebird occurred in the Conondale Range in the Sunshine Coast hinterland - the northern limit of its distribution. Discovered as recently as the 1980s, the population appears now likely to be extinct as there have been no confirmed records for several years - see here for more.

Eastern Bristlebird

The Spotted Quail-Thrush was formerly seen with regularity at sites such as Widgee, Eudlo, Wild Horse Mountain and Brooyar State Forest in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. The species is now absent from these sites, with no confirmed records in recent years, and appears to be extinct in the Sunshine Coast region. It has declined elsewhere in South-East Queensland but small populations persist in some areas, even in the outer suburbs of Brisbane.

Spotted Quail-Thrush

In the Sunshine Coast region, the Crimson Rosella was formerly common in rainforest and wet sclerophyll forest at all altitudes. It is now found only in the highest parts of the Conondale and Blackall ranges, and in much smaller numbers than previously. For instance, at Booloumba Creek and Charlie Moreland Park in the 1970s, Crimson Rosellas were common, but they are scarce at those sites today. The species remains common in the higher, cooler parts of the McPherson and Great Dividing Ranges.

Crimson Rosella

A similar story applies to the Satin Bowerbird. The population of this species in the Sunshine Coast region is concentrated these days in the highest parts of the Conondale and Blackall Ranges. The bowerbird was formerly a common winter visitor to lowland sites where it has not been seen for many years or is now a vagrant. In places such as Little Yabba and Booloumba creeks, where it was once numerous, it is now uncommon. Again, the species remains common at higher altitudes in mountains to the south.

Red-browed Treecreeper

The Red-browed Treecreeper, though always uncommon, is now decidedly rare in the region. It continues to be found occasionally in the wet sclerophyll forests of the Blackall and Conondale ranges - the northern end of its distribution - but the treecreeper is absent from many of its former haunts. I have seen just a single bird in the Blackall Range during multiple visits over the 7 years that I have been living in the region. I have searched without success for them at sites in the Conondale Range where they were once regular.

Olive Whistler

The Olive Whistler just creeps across the Queensland border, occurring in high altitude Nothofagus forest in the McPherson Range. The species was always scarce in Queensland but the bird could usually be found in the 1970s without too much effort at sites such as Mt Bithongabel. However, records have declined over the past 20-30 years and it is uncertain if the species has been definitively recorded in Queensland in recent years; it may be extinct in the state.

What these species have in common is that they are close to or at the northern end of their distribution in south-eastern Australia, although the rosella, bowerbird and quail-thrush have isolated populations in north Queensland. Observers have noted steep, parallel declines in populations of several formerly common mammal species in the region such as Boebuck, Red-legged Pademelon and Greater Glider.

Warmer temperatures and drier conditions may be related to the decline in populations of these mammals and birds. In the case of the bristlebird, inappropriate vegetation management by state authorities and predation by feral cats and foxes are likely to have been additional factors in its demise.

Fairy Gerygone

Conversely, numbers of some essentially tropical species are expanding in the Sunshine Coast region. The Fairy Gerygone was not formerly known south of Gin Gin but it is now regular and quite common in places in vine scrub in coastal dunes and in the hinterland.

The Dusky Honeyeater, another tropical species, is also more widespread today around the Sunshine Coast than it was in the 1970s. While it was formerly restricted essentially to lowland vine scrubs in and about the Conondale Range, the honeyeater is today seen in a variety of habitats across the region. It is a regular visitor to my garden at Ninderry.

Dusky Honeyeater

Similarly, numbers of other essentially tropical birds such as Pale-vented Bush-hen and White-eared Monarch appear to have increased. Both of these species were thought to be summer visitors to South-East Queensland but they are now believed to be resident.

Shining Flycatcher, another tropical bird, was once regarded as a very rare vagrant in south-east Queensland. I have found it to be not uncommon on the Sunshine Coast, where it is resident and breeds. It occurs in the Noosa, Maroochy and Mooloolah Rivers, and in the Pumicestone Passage, where I have seen as many as 10 or 11 birds in a day. It bred for the first recorded time this season south of Pumicestone Passage - at the Tinchi Tamba Wetlands on the Pine River.

Shining Flycatcher

The phenomenon is also apparent in mammals. In the 1970s, flying-fox populations in south-east Queensland were overwhelmingly comprised of Grey-headed Flying-Fox, with the tropical Black Flying-Fox a scarce visitor. These days, Grey-headed Flying-Foxes are greatly outnumbered by Black Flying-Foxes, while the distribution of the Grey-headed Flying-Fox has headed southwards.

Black Flying-Fox

 The influence of climate change on bird populations overseas is now widely acknowledged. There is no conclusive evidence that the declines and increases underway in South-East Queensland are due to climate change, but in most cases there have been no other factors in evidence - such as reduced habitat or increased predation from feral predators. Moreover, the trend reflects that in many places overseas. The concern is that some populations, such as those inhabiting the northern-most sites known for the Eastern Bristlebird and Olive Whistler, are disappearing over an alarmingly short span of time.

Changes in status of South-east Queensland birds over 40 years – Part 6, bristlebird to bowerbirds

Eastern Bristlebird

Here is the sixth and final post discussing changes in the status and distribution of birds in South-East Queensland over 40 years between 1979 – when my booklet, The Birds of South-East Queensland, was published - and 2019. Some changes are doubtlessly influenced by an increased number of observers and technological advances (especially with playback) but many can not be explained by these factors. These posts cover only those species where a significant change has been noted over the intervening period. See here for Part 1 (emu to storm-petrels) and here for Part 2 (boobies to hawks); Part 3 (brush-turkey to terns) is here; Part 4 (pigeons to nightjars) can be found here; Part 5 (lyrebirds to emu-wren) is here.

Eastern Bristlebird. Listed as “rare” in 1979 and confined to montane heath and open forest glades adjacent to rainforest above 600m in the Border Ranges and at Cunningham's Gap. The bird was subsequently discovered in the mid-1980s in the Conondale Range, extending its range north. However, the Conondale Range population is now almost certainly extinct. It has also since disappeared from Cunningham's Gap and Spicer's Gap. Probably less than 20 bristlebirds survive in a couple of remote sites in the McPherson Range. Attempts to boost populations by releasing captive bred birds appear to have failed and the species is facing extinction in Queensland. Reasons for its demise include introduced predators and habitat mismanagement.

Western  Gerygone

Western Gerygone. In 1979 there was a single report from Esk which was unsubstantiated. There have since been a handful of confirmed sightings from the Lockyer Valley and the Murphys Creek area, and one bird turned up in Brisbane.

Fairy Gerygone

Fairy Gerygone. The species was considered “uncommon” in 1979 and restricted to northern parts of the region in areas such as Gin Gin and Round Hill Head. We know now that it occurs as far south as Bribie Island, with a single record from Brisbane. It is a not uncommon resident in suitable habitat around the Sunshine Coast and hinterland. This vocal gerygone would scarcely have been overlooked in these areas in the past, so it clearly has expanded its range southward.

Buff-rumped Thornbill. Thought to be “moderately common” in 1979, this is another species that likely has declined due to the destruction of its woodland habitat. It could best be regarded as uncommon and localised today.

Red-browed Treecreeper

Red-browed Treecreeper. In 1979 it was considered “moderately common” in wet sclerophyll forest at higher altitudes. Like several other birds at the northern end of their distribution in South-east Queensland, it has suffered a steep population decline; it may be the case that climate change is implicated in these declines. The treecreeper was once easy to find in the Blackall and Conondale ranges, for instance. It is now very rarely seen in that region and is gone from once reliable sites. The bird continues to frequent sites in the D'Aguilar and McPherson ranges where it has long been known but generally can be regarded today as scarce and localised.

Regent Honeyeater

Regent Honeyeater. The species was thought it to be “rare” in 1979 and that remains the case. However, while fair-sized flocks were once found occasionally in places like Storm King Dam, most records in recent years are individual vagrants in scattered sites including Ipswich, Rainbow Beach and Stanmore.

Black-throated Finch

Black-throated Finch. The race cincta was regarded as “rare” in 1979 in lightly wooded country, with records from the Gin Gin area. The bird is now almost certainly extinct in the region - another likely casualty of the clearing of woodland.

Nutmeg Mannikin

Nutmeg Mannikin. This introduced species was “common” in 1979 but it has declined significantly and is now uncommon and localised.

House Sparrow. An introduced bird that was “very common” in 1979. It remains moderately common locally these days but is much less numerous.

Common Starling. Another introduced species to have declined. It was “very common” in 1979 but is today much less numerous, being generally uncommon.

Common Mynah

Common Mynah. An introduced species that has increased substantially in numbers. It was thought to be “uncommon” in 1979, being largely restricted to northern parts of the region and the Lockyer Valley. It is today common and widespread throughout the region.

Satin Bowerbird. It was described as “common” in 1979. Although remaining moderately common at higher altitudes, today it is much less numerous in the foothills and lowlands, being scarce in many places where it was formerly common.

Satin Bowerbird

2018 Sunshine Coast Birds Big Year

#303 Pale-vented Bush-hen

Every now and then I think it's good to take up a challenge: set oneself a goal and go for it. It may take a while to reach your target. It was many years before I finally attained my goal of seeing all 234 bird families in the world; that milestone was notched up in Panama in 2015 with the sighting of Sapayoa.

2018 Zone of Happiness

Birders often embrace a Big Year as a worthy goal. The idea is to see as many species as possible within a period of 12 months. A Big Year might be nation-wide or international, but I thought the Sunshine Coast region would do nicely for 2018. That wasn't the plan initially. Ken Cross, the leader of BirdLife Australia Sunshine Coast, had for a few years been running a competition for local birders to see who could photograph the most birds in a calendar year. Part of the goal was to encourage up and coming birders to improve their skills by identifying images posted on a Facebook page created each year for what was dubbed The Game.

#1 Brush Cuckoo

I thought initially that I'd join The Game in 2018 for a hoot, but that soon morphed into a full-on Big Year. I set a goal of photographing 300 species in the region in the calendar year.

#30 Eastern Grass Owl

The area covered for The Game is the so-called Zone of Happiness. The zone extends beyond the boundaries of the Sunshine Coast and Noosa councils: north to Inskip Point, south to Bribie Island and west to beyond Kilcoy and Amamoor, with an outlier in the Sheepstation Conservation Park south of Caboolture. My first photograph for The Game was a Russet-tailed Thrush behind Yandina. Although identifiable, I thought the image unworthy so discarded it; another seven months went by before I managed another photograph of this species! 

#31 Grey Ternlet

As it transpired, quantity not quality is the order of The Game for photographs. So long as an image is identifiable by someone in the group, that's adequate for it to pass muster; quite a few photographs on the page, including some of mine, are not as sharp as one might wish. That's fine: it's a birding indulgence first and foremost, not a photographic contest.

The winning total for The Game in 2017 was 256 species photographed by Carolyn Scott. I thought then that was an impressive effort. I've seen a total of 348 species in the Zone of Happiness, with observations stretching back to the early-1970s. Two species – Eastern Bristlebird and Emu – are now extinct in the area. Many others are vagrants or rare visitors, especially seabirds. (Birds seen on pelagic trips offshore are counted for The Game.)

#158 Shining Flycatcher

Most species in the region are common and widespread so are not difficult to photograph – the so-called low-hanging fruit. Others are numerous enough but can take a bit of work to nail down: Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove and Russet-tailed Thrush are good examples. Yet others are skulking, elusive and difficult to see, let alone photograph. Rails and owls feature prominently in the latter group.

#200 Brolga

As the early months of 2018 went by, I worked out a plan to boost the prospects of snaring the maximum possible number of birds before December 31. I had some advantages. I'd done a good deal of guiding over the years so knew of reliable sites for cryptic species such as Pale-vented Bush-hen and Black-breasted Buttonquail. I organise the Mooloolaba pelagic trips so was able to amass a reasonable collection of seabirds. On the other hand, I was going to be away from home for more than three months of 2018, so some visiting birds would inevitably be missed (as transpired with the likes of White-browed Woodswallow and Freckled Duck).

#221 Australian Owlet-Nightjar

For many targets, it was a matter of studying ebird records, Google Earth and Google Maps to gather information on distribution, habitat and access. I figured that the dry woodlands north of Gympie, for instance, might work for species that hadn't been recorded in previous years of The Game, like Speckled Warbler and Weebill. Or the paddocks and lightly wooded country around Kilcoy or west of Amamoor might harbour local rarities like Yellow-rumped Thornbill and Black-chinned Honeyeater.

#225 Pectoral Sandpiper

As the year marched on, various pieces of what I imagined to be a big jigsaw puzzle gradually fell into place. Pelagic trips offshore ensured that both summer-visiting seabirds (like Short-tailed Shearwater and Tahiti Petrel) and winter visitors (like Antarctic Prion and Providence Petrel) were in the bag. The odd rarity, notably Grey Ternlet, didn't go astray. Six pelagic trips were undertaken during the year.

#246 Red-browed Treecreeper

I managed to photograph all the region's nocturnal birds: Australian Owlet-Nightjar; two nightjars (Large-tailed and White-throated); two frogmouths (Marbled and Tawny) and six owls (Eastern Grass, Barn, Masked, Powerful, Barking and Southern Boobook). Some of the trickier waterbirds snapped included Spotless Crake, Baillon's Crake, Pale-vented Bush-hen, Australian Little Bittern and Lewin's Rail.

#247 Masked Owl 

I put in some serious driving time. I travelled twice to Bribie Island in one day because I learned after I got home from the first visit that a Radjah Shelduck had turned up at Sandstone Point, just 1km from where I was. I got the shelduck, and it didn't stay around, but I saw the species later in the year anyway at Tin Can Bay.

#250 Powerful Owl

Participating in The Game meant that I disclosed a fair number of sites held close to my chest for many years. But I learned through other participants of sites I'd not known of.

#274 Black-bellied Storm-Petrel

It helped that I went on 10 campouts of 1-3 nights in the region during the year - Charlie Moreland Park, Kenilworth Bluff, Conondale National Park, Amamoor, Yandilla, Brooyar State Forest, Rainbow Beach, Tin Can Bay, Cooloola and Noosa North Shore – as well as overnight stays on Bribie Island and in Kilcoy and Tiaro (the latter outside the zone, but to access the northern woodlands).

#285 Regent Honeyeater

I had just a single shot at quite a few birds - that is they were seen (and photographed) just once during the year: Eastern Grass Owl, Grey Ternlet, Streaked Shearwater, Marbled Frogmouth, Brush Bronzewing, Oriental Cuckoo, Baillon's Crake, Brolga, Fluttering Shearwater, Plum-headed Finch, Superb Fruit-Dove, Pectoral Sandpiper, Barn Owl, Large-tailed Nightjar, Glossy Black Cockatoo, Masked Owl, Sooty Owl, Black-breasted Buttonquail, Red-footed Booby, Red-browed Treecreeper, Shy Albatross, Yellow Thornbill, Barking Owl, Weebill, Green Pygmy-Goose, Regent Honeyeater, Lesser Crested Tern, Grey Plover, Southern Emu-wren, Sanderling, Pacific Swift, Black Bittern. As the year drew to an end, the pickings became few and far between.

#286 Lesser Crested Tern

The vagaries of birding are well illustrated by the very last bird for 2018 – Red-winged Parrot, seen on December 31. One had been seen on the outskirts of Gunalda a few days earlier. I was at the site at the crack of dawn and searched the area diligently without success for two hours. I returned mid-afternoon and there was the bird.

#293 Radjah Shelduck

As for my favourite bird of the year, I can think of a few. Photographing Southern Emu-wren and Brush Bronzewing at Cooloola was uplifting. They weren't great images but I'd not seen the emu-wren in Queensland since the 1970s, and the bronzewing just a couple of times since then. I photographed Eastern Ground Parrot a few times before eventually managing a half-decent image. Pectoral Sandpiper near Toorbul was nice, as were Masked Owl near Yandilla and Eastern Grass Owl at Bli Bli. The Regent Honeyeater at Carlos Pt was an extraordinary out-of-range record.

#300 Black Bittern

I was very happy to bag a Red-browed Treecreeper, in the southern Conondales. This species was once regularly encountered in the Conondale and Blackall ranges but numbers appear to have crashed; in the almost 10 years since I moved to the Sunshine Coast, I'd seen it just once previously. I believe it is one of a number of birds in the region to be impacted by climate change. Probably top of the pops was Black Bittern at Tin Can Bay. I've seen the species occasionally but regularly in the region, though hadn't managed to photograph it before. It was also the 300th species for the year.

#302 Lewin's Rail

I ended up with 310 species photographed in 2018. The Zone of Happiness in 2019 will be quite different from 2018 because its boundaries extend well westward, netting a suite of extra birds, so comparing 2018 with 2019 will not be comparing apples with apples. I spotted but failed to photograph three species – Black-tailed Native-hen, Swift Parrot, Budgerigar - so saw a total of 313 species for 2018 in the Sunshine Coast region. Now it's 2019, and time to move on. Let's see now. Getting my world lifelist up from 7920 to 8000 would be nice.

#310 Red-winged Parrot