Kayaking the Middle Reaches of the Maroochy River

Following my trip down the upper reaches of the Maroochy River last week, yesterday I checked out the river's middle section. I launched the kayak at the end of Stony Wharf Road, Bli Bli, initially heading north to a tributary which runs through cattle and cane farms after leaving the mangroves. I then returned downstream, ending at Fishermans Road, a short way down Eudlo Creek from its confluence with the Maroochy River, where these Pied Oystercatchers were.

I was especially interested in seeing whether Shining Flycatchers were at the same sites where I found them in this section of the river last October. I found a pair of flycatchers and a single male in precisely the same places where a pair and a single male were six months ago. Moreover, I found two more pairs and two more single males - seeing a total of nine Shining Flycatchers over about 5km of riverbank.

It seems fairly evident that these birds have established territories and I expect they will prove to be resident on the Sunshine Coast, although mid-winter surveys will need to be done. Birds may be partly nomadic, however; a few weeks ago I searched unsuccessfully for flycatchers I had found earlier at sites on the Noosa River. Shining Flycatchers are typically found in tall, extensive and well-vegetated mangrove areas, often some distance from dry land, although one pair and a single bird yesterday were in surprisingly narrow mangrove strips, the single bird quite close to a busy road.

This Australasian Darter was looking good yesterday.

Loads of Little Black Cormorants.

   This Little Friarbird was another bird hanging about the mangroves.