Masked Owl at Amamoor, Sunshine Coast Hinterland

Masked Owl

Masked Owl is one of the trickiest of its tribe to see in south-east Queensland. It is scarce and calls infrequently. So I was very happy earlier this week to have an excellent encounter with this male Masked Owl.

Masked Owl

I was out looking for Powerful Owl at a spot in Amamoor State Forest, in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, where I found a Powerful Owl last year (see here for details). No Powerful Owls, but I heard a Masked Owl calling a little after dusk. Soon this male bird was showing itself very nicely.

Masked Owl

The owl called a couple of times even while I watched it, although it remained fairly high in the canopy. I heard a second owl, presumably the female of the pair, calling nearby but could not find it. Masked Owls are heard much more often than they are seen. I camped that night about a kilometre up the road from this spot and heard another Masked Owl just before dawn but could not locate it. The habitat that the birds were in was a nice mix of open eucalypt forest, hoop pine plantation and rainforest along Amamoor Creek.

Australian Owlet-Nightjar

Around my camp I had a vociferous pair of Australian Owlet-Nightjars.

Dusky Honeyeater

 I checked out the main daytime picnic area at Amamoor in the morning and about 20 Dusky Honeyeaters were in a flowering tree there - a high number for this species at one spot in south-east Queensland.

Fairy Gerygone

Moving on to Moy Pocket beyond Imbil, I encountered a pair of Fairy Gerygone. While this species is common enough in coastal vine scrub around the Sunshine Coast, it is much more scarce further inland.

Wompoo-Fruit-Dove

Other niceties included White-eared Monarch, which was calling at both Moy Pocket and Amamoor - notwithstanding the time of year - and Wompoo Fruit-Dove.

A bothersome gut ache that morning gradually worsened during the day and at lunchtime I was admitted to Nambour Hospital. My appendix had ruptured! It was removed late that night - 24 hours after I was chasing owls in the forest. It is good that I had not been in the back blocks of Cameroon or Tibet or some such place.