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| Beach Stone-Curlew |
We
camped for three nights this week at Pt Carlos, outside Rainbow Beach. There
was no sign of the Large-tailed Nightjars that were so evident here
in
September 2016. A family of Bush Stone-Curlews in the camping ground were the first birds we saw.
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| Bush Stone-Curlew |
Shorebirds on the sandflats at low tide
included good numbers of Red-necked Stint, Grey-tailed Tattler,
Pacific Golden Plover, Lesser Sand-Plover and Bar-tailed Godwits in breeding plumage
(elist).
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| Bar-tailed Godwit |
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| Grey-tailed Tattler |
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| Lesser Sand-Plover |
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| Pacific Golden-Plover |
A Squirrel Glider
was spotted above our camp and a Common Ringtail emerged from its
hiding place in a bunch of mistletoe after being harassed by miners.
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| Common Ringtail |
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| Squirrel Glider |
I visited the spit
at Inskip Point several times in the hope of more interesting
shorebird fare but exceptionally high tides didn't help. There were
very large numbers of Little Tern, with Common Tern in smaller
numbers. Three Double-banded Plovers in non-breeding plumage -
suggesting they had oversummered - were of interest, as was a trio of
Beach Stone-Curlews, including a fledged youngster.
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| Double-banded Plover |
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| Little Tern |
A Frilled Lizard
along the road was nice; the Great Sandy World Heritage Area is one of the most southerly known sites for this iconic species. There was no sign at all of
Black-breasted Buttonquail at Inskip Point - not even old platelets; clearly they are
gone from this site. Nobody is sure why
as they had been there for many years and disappeared relatively
quickly. It could be that a feral cat learned the art of catching
them, in which case the entire population would be doomed.
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| Frilled Lizard |
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| Frilled Lizard |
At Bullocks Head a
female Shining Flycatcher showed nicely in the mangroves, as did a
pair of Torresian Kingfishers
(elist).
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| Shining Flycatcher |
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| Torresian Kingfisher |
I visited the Noosa
Plain of Cooloola in the early morning. I heard three Eastern Ground
Parrots calling just before dawn and flushed a male King Quail from
the track. Then I saw a Brush Bronzewing on the track, about half-way
between the pump station and the area of damp heath. As usual it was
extremely skittish and this distant image was all I managed. A recently fledged
Channel-billed Cuckoo flew overhead
(elist).
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| Channel-billed Cuckoo |
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| Brush Bronzewing |
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