The environmental nightmare that is the Sunshine Coast's Coochin Creek

 

Shining Flycatcher

A developmental nightmare is emerging on the southern fringe of Queensland's Sunshine Coast that demolishes the environmental reputation of Premier David Crisafulli's Liberal National Party Government. Twin project approvals will transform the quiet rural backwater of Coochin Creek into a bustling, noisy tourism hotspot on the fringe of internationally protected wetlands. Habitat images in this blog post were taken during a morning visit today (26/02/2026).

Deputy Premier and Planning Minister Jarrod Bleijie used special powers to “call in” the projects by the Comiskey Group, fast-tracking them to avoid scrutiny by the Sunshine Coast Council. This is the kind of stuff that was the hallmark of former Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen's darkest days.

Bleiji gave the first tick in January to the Coochin Creek Holiday Resort, absurdly labelled as a “family friendly ecotourism experience”. The 150-site park hosts 75 cabins and 75 campsites along with a 1,000-square metre recreation building, a waterslide, firepits and assorted bits and pieces, including a 2.4-hectare sewage treatment plant to process 64,400 litres of effluent daily. The park will generate 85,600 visitors annually.

Shortly after came approval for a music festival venue adjacent to the tourist park on a 150-hectare site. It will host events year-round for up to 35,000 festival goers in an area that the promoters compare to the North Byron Parklands, the site for Byron Bay's famed Bluesfest events. This approval follows the recent collapse of other music venues in the Sunshine Coast area.

All of this will unfold at the end of a quiet, narrow road on the shore of Pumicestone Passage, the wetlands of which are listed by the RAMSAR Convention - an international treaty intended to save what's left of the planet's important wetlands. I have seen from my kayak very close to Coochin Creek large numbers of migratory shorebirds feeding and resting. Australia is a signatory to several international treaties requiring the country to protect habitat for these shorebirds. Among those at Coochin Creek are numbers of the critically endangered Far Eastern Curlew and Curlew-Sandpiper.

Far Eastern Curlew

The Comiskey Group operates the Sandstone Point Holiday Resort opposite Bribie Island about 20 kilometres south of Coochin Creek. What the Coochin Creek projects will do is threaten the integrity of the South East Queensland Northern Inter-Urban Break - a green buffer zone that separates Brisbane from the Sunshine Coast. It is only a matter of time, it seems, before there will be a continuous urban belt stretching from the Queensland-NSW border north to Noosa.

Pumicestone Passage is home to a thriving population of dugongs along with good numbers of dolphins and turtles. Its extensive mangrove forests provide breeding habitat for numerous fish as well as harbouring a large population of the regionally scarce Shining Flycatcher and many other birds, including nesting Black Bitterns. In open forest and melaleuca woodland in the area, other birds of note include the southern-most population of Large-tailed Nightjar and the elusive Pale-vented Bush-hen.

Pale-vented Bush-hen

Crisafulli's government thumbed its nose at the government's own State Assessment and Referral Agency. The agency concluded that the development did not comply with planning laws and was at odds with the Rural Landscape and Rural Production Area designation for the site. There was no demonstrated need for the development which violated protections for the South East Queensland Northern Inter-Urban Break, the agency found.

Mangrove Honeyeater

In a letter last year to Bleijie, the agency said there is no overriding need in the public interest for the development, noting that the site abutted Pumicestone National Park and Pumicestone Passage, which was part of the Moreton Bay RAMSAR-protected wetland. It was also inconsistent with the goals and strategies of the ShapingSEQ 2023 planning scheme.

Nor has the project been referred under the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, despite the risk of impacts on RAMSAR wetlands and species of national significance.

So what are the tourist park visitors going to do with their time after getting there along a road that will need to be substantially widened and improved, inevitably boosting the wildlife roadkill toll? There are no beaches and the water is not safe for swimming with its healthy population of bull sharks. Presumably that means lots more fishing and lots more boats on the water, further disturbing shorebirds already seriously stressed at other roosting and feeding grounds in the region, such as Toorbul, not far from the Comiskeys' Sandstone Point developments. The entire passage will now be a boating free-for-all.

These two developments are seriously flawed. Register your concern by emailing Jarrod Bleijie:  kawana@parliament.qld.gov.au and dpc@premiers.qld.gov.au

Vale Eric Zillmann, wildlife warrior extraordinaire

 

Eric Zillmann in December 2025

Eric Zillmann, an acclaimed naturalist and true gentleman, has passed away at the grand age of 102 in the Bundaberg nursing home that has been his home for the past few years.

Eric's achievements are legendary. From rediscovering the rare Macadamia jansenisre tree in 1982 to greatly expanding the knowledge of birds and other animals that were his life-long passion. Perhaps his greatest claim to fame is that he is almost certainly the last person to have seen the now extinct Paradise Parrot. He died peacefully last night at about midnight.

Paradise Parrots - illustration by Tony Pridham

As a young teenager, Eric encountered the parrots regularly across several years in the 1930s while mustering cattle near Wallaville, his home town south of Gin Gin, inland from Bundaberg. He also uncovered an active nest in a termite mound he was removing. A road in Wallaville today bears his name.

Eric was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 1999 for his service to the observation, recording and promotion of Australia's natural history. He was awarded an Honorary Master of Science in 1994 by the Central Queensland University (below) in recognition of his significant contributions to the natural sciences. For many years he wrote stories packed with useful information on wildlife for the newsletter of the Fraser Coast branch of the local Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland and for his local newspaper.

In his Bundaberg nursing home room, the medal and degree - along with field notes, copies of published stories and some of the huge collection of photographs he amassed - had pride of place on the bedside shelves. I met with him there for a few hours in December 2024 when he recounted his memories of the Paradise Parrot sightings. “They are as clear today as when I saw them,” he said. Aged 100 then (he would have been 103 next April), his mind remained sharp and focused.

Eric relived with joy his memories of his favourite pair of local Barking Owls, and the hours he spent watching the nests of the rare Square-tailed Kite. I've no doubt he would have been happy to chat all day if I'd had the time.

Square-tailed Kite

However Eric, one of the few surviving veterans from World War II, said he was ready to let go. With failing eye sight and limited mobility, he'd had enough. He was hanging on, but wasn't sure quite sure why. He said to me: “The only birds I see from here is the odd peewee (magpie-lark) walking past. What's the point?”

I had known Eric for more than half a century, seeing him from time to time. Back in 1971, as a teenage birder, I hitch-hiked from Brisbane to Gin Gin to join a Queensland Ornithological Society campout that Eric had organised. At the time Eric's nephew, Greg Czechura, was a close friend. I hiked through the night and rain to get to the camping site. Eric and his wife promptly told me not to unpack my meagre tent and to sleep in their caravan annex. I didn't need to open my cans of baked beans; they insisted on feeding me for the whole three days of the outing.

Black-chinned Honeyeater

I had not been birding long at the time and was very keen to share his experience and knowledge, which by that time was considerable. Eric went out of his way to do that. I was very excited when he flushed my first Eastern Grass Owl from a sugar cane farm outisde Gin Gin. Almost as good was my first Black-chinned Honeyeater in a flowering grevillea. These things I remember as if they were recent.

Eric Zillmann & Trevor Quested in Bundaberg in 2011

Our mutual friend Trevor Quested was taken by motor neuron disease in 2015 at his Bundaberg home at the age of 66. I had joined Trevor, another accomplished field naturalist who also contributed so much to knowledge of the region's avifauna, and Eric on the occasional bird-watching trip over the years prior to that. Both were plumbers by occupation and they admired each other greatly.

RIP Eric Zillmann, wildlife warrior extraordinaire.

Eastern Grass Owl

Queensland's beautiful Booloumba Creek and murdered British birder-backpacker Celina Bridge

 

Celena Bridge

More than 27 years ago, on July 15, 1998, British tourist Celina Bridge was seen hiking along Booloumba Creek Road in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. She was on her way to join a Queensland Ornithological Society campout at Booloumba Creek in the Conondale Range, a well-known birding hotspot of exceptional beauty. Police say Celina has not been since, or was she?

The weekend campout was due to kick off on the evening of Friday July 16 at Campground 4, just before the access road deteriorates to a rough 4WD track rising steeply from the heavily forested valley to the mountains above. In the afternoon of that day, I set up camp in a large tent with my partner and a friend in Campground 3, a short distance across the road from Campground 4. Campout participants would be mostly setting up in the more open Campground 4 but some would opt to be surrounded by dense rainforest with beautiful creekside camping spots in Campground 3, as we did.

Only a couple of other campers were at Campground 3 when we arrived. One was a young woman by herself in a small domed tent with a large backpack inside. The three of us passed close by her as she squatted outside the tent, tinkering with utensils and a small stove. Weeks later, when news surfaced publicly that Celina Bridge was missing with foul play suspected, it occurred to us that the woman we encountered very much resembled her. She was about the same age and build, with shoulder length brown hair, high cheek bones and green eyes.

The outlook from the tent where I saw a woman believed to be Celena Bridge 

Later in the evening that we saw the woman outside her tent, it rained heavily and we were in bed when we heard a heavy vehicle drive past. We assumed it was a camper turning up late. About 20 minutes later, we heard the same vehicle drive past again. The road is a circuit so the driver was negotiating it for the second time. There was nobody else camped there the next morning.

However, the tent where we saw the woman was missing. We found it relocated about 200 metres away in dense rainforest on a side track near the toilet amenities. By then it was about 8am; the tent was closed up and there was no sign of the woman - then or for the rest of the weekend. The owner had moved it during the night. Why would she move her tent in the night in the rain from where she had a perfect position overlooking Booloumba Creek? Her tent had been in full view of the road but the site it was moved to was hidden. Is it possible she moved because she had reason to fear for her safety?

The site to where tent was moved during the night

Police maintain she was last seen the day before, on July 15, as Celina hiked towards the camping ground. She was seen by workers at the Piabun indigenous youth rehabilitation centre who spoke briefly to her. They told her the camping ground was 1.5 kilometres further on. Police believe she was picked up somewhere between Piabun and the campground and murdered. Despite intensive searches, her remains and possessions have never been located.

At the start of Booloumba Creek Road at that time lived popular local teacher Sabrina Glassop. She disappeared 10 months later – in May 1999 - after leaving her home in the early morning with her dog. Her vehicle was found nearby at the Little Yabba Creek picnic ground. Similarly, no trace of her has been found.

Sabrina Glassop

Three months later, Jessica Gaudie, 16, was babysitting the children of Sam Woods, a worker at the Piabun centre, in Nambour, a half-hour drive from Booloumba Creek across the Blackall Range, when she disappeared. Jessica's remains also have not been located, but Woods was sentenced to 16 years jail for her murder. Woods was known to be friendly with Sabrina Glassop and police are certain he saw Celina on Booloumba Creek Road on her way to the birding campout. They believe he was responsible for all three murders but the families of the victims to this day struggle with their inability to gain closure for the tragedies they have endured.

When I and my fellow campers reported our encounter to police, they were sceptical. Indeed, my partner and I were clearly regarded as suspects. Police have refused to indicate whether they regard our reported sighting – we always indicated we could not be 100 per cent certain of the identity of the person we saw but we considered it highly likely to to have been Celina - as being of substance. I subsequently reported the encounter in an article in The Sydney Morning Herald. As a result, Celina's mother contacted me from London. She said it was very important for the family to know the site of her last confirmed sighting, and police had told her nothing of my reported sighting.

Ryan Wolf

Now these cases have been taken up by renowned New Zealand crime blogger Ryan Wolf. Ryan and I drove to Booloumba Creek to recount and retrace what I and the others saw back in July 1998. A couple of the more special avian inhabitants, like a brightly plumaged Paradise Riflebird and an equally impressive Regent Bowerbird, showed nicely. Birds that the British visitor would doubtlessly have been impressed by. 

Paradise Riflebird

The podcast episode of our visit to Booloumba Creek – Episode 12: The Last Sighting of Celena Bridge, can be found at this link,. Other episodes exploring this enduring mystery from Ryan's acclaimed podcast, Guilt, can be accessed from the site.

South Pacific Cruise 2025 Part 3: French Polynesia

 

Tahiti Monarch

After our visit to the Cook Islands, we embarked on the last leg of our South Pacific cruise, visiting four islands in French Polynesia. In the late afternoon following our visit to Rarotonga, 24 December, 2025, I saw a Polynesian Storm-Petrel feeding on the ocean surface close to the ship at 17.98506S, 154.32524W. Views were brief but adequate for this distinctive species for the couple of minutes I had it in view. Soon after I saw a Black-winged Petrel, which at least allowed an image, albeit of poor quality.

Black-winged Petrel

On 25/12, Christmas Day, we were off Bora Bora Island for another tender transfer from the ship. The splendour of the mountains behind the capital, Vaitape, was something to behold (below). This island and the next we were to visit, Huahine, are in the Windward Group of the Society Islands and home to two regional endemic birds.

One of the first of these, Raiatea Fruit Dove, was seen flying up a back street on the outskirts of Vaitape, with others calling. We caught a taxi to Rohutu Fare Lodge a few kilometres to the south where we were greeted by the loud, distinctive calls of a Chattering Kingfisher. Four or five of these secretive kingfishers were about, with one offering brief views. Mountains surrounding the hotel (below) were again stunning.

Moving on to the port of Maroe on Huahine on 26/12, Lesser Frigatebird and Great Frigatebird were about in small numbers, as they had been during most shore visits.

Lesser Frigatebird

Wandering Tattler was again encountered and this proved to be the most numerous shorebird, along with Pacific Golden Plover, that I saw in French Polynesia.

Wandering Tattler

During a walk down the road from Maroe, I had good views this time of several Raiatea Fruit Doves and a better view of another Chattering Kingfisher, though didn't manage an image of either. The scenery of Huahine Island (below) was adequately photogenic. As we departed in the early evening, large numbers of Tahiti Petrels were seen from the ship, all flying in an easterly direction, as if to nesting sites.

On 27/12 we visited the island of Moorea in the Leeward Group of the Society Islands, dropping anchor in the picturesque Opunohua Bay. We negotiated a lift to the Belvedere Lookout, which offered sweeping views of this beautiful island. A warning about organising taxis and other transport on most islands visited on this cruise: drivers will try to rip you off, every time - even when you negotiate a price beforehand.

Moorea Island, from Belvedere Lookout (above and below)

Here there were two regional Society Islands endemics to chase. On rainforest tracks near the lookout we found a trio of the distinctive Moorea race youngi of Society Kingfisher in the canopy. We heard plenty of the second endemic, the race frater of Grey-green Fruit Dove, but none were seen.

Society Kingfisher

We arrived in Papeete, the capital of Tahiti, on 28/12, and disembarked the following day, ending a fruitful and pleasant cruise. On the morning of 29/12 we visited Maruapo Valley south of Papeete where a single Tahiti Swallow – one of six Society Islands endemics including the two mentioned above for Moorea – was perched on a transmission wire. Two more Tahiti Swallows were seen on a wire in the nearby Papehue Valley.

Tahiti Swallow

We drove all around the island visiting Jardine D'Eau de Vaipahi, where locals were hard at work (below) removing aquatic weed pests from garden lagoons.

More fruit doves were calling here and plenty of White Terns were adorning towering figs and other trees. A single Tahiti Swiftlet was see flying along a cliff face.

White Tern

We checked out the lovely Grottes de Maroa and the black sand beaches of Teahupo'o.

Teahupo'o Beach

Grottes de Maroa

We were fortunate to have a fine verandah view (below) from our Papeete apartment in the Residence Diva Nui complex.

On 30/12 I visited Papehue Valley and Vaihiria Valley, south of Maruapo. I saw the Tahiti Island races of Society Kingfisher and Grey-green Fruit-dove at both sites. Papehue is the go-to site for Tahiti Monarch, another Polynesian flycatcher which, like its cousin on Rarotonga in the Cook Islands (see next post), had been brought back from the brink of extinction by controlling nest predation by the introduced Black Rat. 

Visitors to Papehue are required to be accompanied by a guide from the Tahiti ornithological society, MANU. I found MANU decidedly unco-operative, denying me permission to enter the site or to provide a guide. MANU refused to offer advice about other birds and sites. Unusually, they had zero interest in my offer to publish word of the good work being done to protect the monarch: I suspect a case of French arrogance writ large.

MANU information sign - Papehue Valley

This was in stark contrast to the warm welcome I was given by the Cook Islands authorities in my search for the Rarotonga Monarch. The Tahiti Monarch is also found in Maruapo Valley, not far from Papehue. I was able to track down the monarch easily – seeing a pair high up in the canopy and two singles low down, including one on a nest. Interestingly, they ignored playback of their own species' call but responded vigorously to that of an Australian White-eared Monarch. About 10-15 Tahiti Swiftlets were flying overhead.

Tahiti Monarch

I found the last of the Tahiti endemics, Tahiti Reed-Warbler, in the Vaihiria Valley about 2.2km north along Route 20 from the main coast road in the south of Tahiti. It was in the first large bamboo clump - a favoured habitat - that I encountered. A dark phase bird – by far the most rare of two colour phases – was seen well as it responded to playback of an Australian Reed-Warbler call, again showing little interest in playback of its own species' call. I fail to understand why tour groups invariably direct birders to a valley road in the island's north for this species which is notoriously rough and flood-prone, when this cryptic reed-warbler is so viewable and accessible at the Vaihiria site.

Tahiti Reed Warbler

Here I also finally nailed good views of Grey-green Fruit Doves, with about 8 feeding on a cluster of fruiting trees.

Grey-green Fruit Dove

Our last couple of days were occupied with relaxing and some fine snorkelling at Vaiava Beach. We departed Papeete on January 2, 2026.

Sunset from the deck of our cruise ship, the Riviera

South Pacific Cruise 2025 Part 2: Tonga to Cook Islands

 

Cook Islands Fruit Dove

Following our visit to Fiji we set sail on the next leg of our 19-day South Pacific cruise on December 18, 2025. Near the Lau Island group – 19.47392S, 128.77838E – I saw the first Tropical Shearwaters of the trip – quite a few more were seen at sea in days ahead. At least 5 or 6 were among a large flock of feeding Red-footed Booby, Brown Noddy, Wedge-tailed Shearwater and Bridled Tern. On 19/12 we arrived at Nukualofa, the capital of the Kingdom of Tonga on Tongatopa Island for a day visit.

King's residence in Nukualofa

Around the town were good numbers of Polynesian Starling and the impressive Crimson-crowned Fruit Dove.

Crimson-crowned Fruit Dove

On 20/12 we were moored off Neiafu on Vava'U Island in northern Tonga for our first tender transfer of the cruise from ship to shore. We caught a cab for the short drive to Talau National Park, the stronghold for one of Tonga's two endemic species – the Tongan Whistler. Well-maintained forest tracks and information notices were testimony to how warmly the local community has embraced the bird. Lookouts on the trail gave fine views over surrounding forests and bays.

View from Talau National Park over Vava'U Island

It wasn't difficult to track down several Tongan Whistlers, male and female, in short order.

Tonga Whistler (male above, female below)

We walked back down to the town, admiring the sight of the cruise ship, the Riviera, moored offshore.

Cruise ship Riviera off Neiafu

More whistlers were present in sometimes scrappy habitat, while Polynesian Triller showed. Other birds included Eastern Wattled Honeyeater, White Tern, White-throated Pigeon and Many-coloured Fruit Dove.

Polynesian Triller

We were sent on our way in the late afternoon with a traditional dance by islanders on the wharf (below).

Offshore were sizeable mixed flocks of Brown Noddy and Black Noddy.

Black Noddy (above) & Brown Noddy 

At sea early in the morning of 21/12 off the coast of Samoa were the first Brown Boobies of the trip and a couple of Red-tailed Tropicbirds, which appeared sporadically on sea days later. I had been to Samoa before and had time to look for two species I'd missed previously by visiting the Malolo'Lelei Watershed Reserve after berthing at the capital, Apea. A lookout in the reserve offered pleasant views over Apia to the north.

View over Apia, Samoa

I heard a couple of Mao calling clearly from the valley below. This large honeyeater was one of my targets along with Samoan Triller, which didn't show. What did show were a pile of nice Samoan birds including good numbers of White-throated Pigeon along with the distinctive races of Many-coloured and Crimson-crowned Fruit Doves.

White-throated Pigeon

Also in the mix were Polynesian Starling, Samoan Starling, Samoan Whistler, Flat-billed Kingfisher, Blue-crowned Lorikeet and Samoan Myzomela.

Flat-billed Kingfisher

Samoan Starling

Eastern Wattled Honeyeater was abundant. 

Eastern Wattled Honeyeater

White-tailed Tropicbirds soared around the steep forested slopes below the lookout.

White-tailed Tropicbird

A late afternoon departure and more fine tropical coastal scenery.

Samoa coastline

On 21/12 we visited the American-owned territory of Western Samoa. Nothing to add here other than the trip's first Wandering Tattler. After crossing the International Dateline, at sea on 22/12, I was surprised to see a Bulwer's Petrel at 17.60528S, 165.48023W. Although the species breeds on many Pacific islands, this site is well south of where it is usually encountered. During the morning of 23/12 I saw a single Herald Petrel at 21.04237S, 160.01713W. 

An afternoon shore stop at Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, a New Zealand dependency, on 23/12 allowed a visit to the Takitumu Conservation Park in search of three of the islands' endemic species. The park is well-known as the site where a concerted effort brought one of these, the Rarotonga Monarch, endemic to Rarotonga Island, back from the brink of extinction.

Numbers of the species had plummeted to 29 in 1989 due to nest predation by the introduced Black Rat. Then landowners joined forces to create the 150-hectare Takitumu reserve. Poisoned bait stations were positioned throughout the reserve. More than 500 monarchs live there today with overspill populations elsewhere on the island. A transfer of birds to Atui Island as an insurance policy was also successful. The Te Ipukarea Society (te.ipukarea.society.inc@gmail.com ) does an excellent job in maintaining rat control in co-operation with local birding legend Ian Karika – who joined us for the last part of our visit - and Takitumu Conservation Area landowners. The reserve has become a major tourist attraction. I was transferred to and from the ship by the society for a modest fee and enjoyed a highly informative visit with my guide Kelvin Passfield.

With Kelvin Passfield (centre) at Takutumu Conservation Park

We found three adult Rarotonga Monarchs, including one sitting on a nest. What became obvious during this visit - the first of several remote south-east Polynesian islands for the last stage of the cruise - was the paucity of birds in the rainforest. Many introduced species abound but there are just three native land birds, all Cook Islands endemics, on Rarotonga.

Rarotonga Monarch

We enjoyed spectacular views of the second of these, the beautifully adorned Cook Islands Fruit Dove, which can be easily missed during short tours like this one.

Cook Islands Fruit Dove

Another easily missed - and usually difficult to phogoraph - is the impressive Rarotonga Starling, but again we had outstanding views.

Rarotonga Starling

Outstanding views also of the forest reserve from a lookout (below).

As well as along the coast as we continued our journey westward in the late afternoon.