Sunshine Coast Birds

Birding and other wildlife experiences from the Sunshine Coast and elsewhere in Australia - and from overseas - with scribblings about travel, environmental issues, kayaking, hiking and camping.

Friday, 25 November 2011

Shining Flycatcher & Ground Parrot near Noosa, Sunshine Coast

I had a brilliant couple of days watching Shining Flycatchers from my kayak around the Noosa River and Lake Cooroibah, Sunshine Coast. It started with this male and two female flycatchers in mangroves on the southern end of Lake Cooroibah.
One of the joys of kayaking is the close proximity that birds allow. I found another male Shining Flycatcher 1km upstream from where the Noosa River meets the lake.
The following day, again from the kayak, I found a solitary female Shining Flycatcher on Makepeace Island, which is owned privately by the British tycoon Richard Branson. I found a pair of Shining Flycatchers 1km uptream from here on Sheep Island. This brings to 10 the number of sites on the Sunshine Coast I have found for this species.
In wallum heath nearby, I had the unusual experience of having a Ground Parrot fly into playback just after sunset. The bird circled me close to the ground before disappearing in the heath. Another two Ground Parrots were calling at dusk here. At another site 1km away, I have heard 6-7 parrots calling at dusk.
This Rainbow Bee-eater showed nicely near Noosa.
As did this Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo. A flock of 30+ cockatoos was feeding on banksia cones in the vicinity of our camping ground.
Eastern Koels are particularly vociferous at this time of the year; often they are calling before 4am.

No comments:

Post a Comment