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.

Saturday 19 May 2018

Camping at Amamoor

Platypus

We camped for 3 nights at Cedar Grove, Amamoor State Forest. Amamoor has become something of a favourite, this being our fourth camp there. A Platypus showing closely at Amama picnic area on the way in was a good start.

Amamoor Creek
We had clear, cool weather with plenty of birds about. Paradise Riflebird was calling sporadically and a pair fed regularly close to our camp. Regent Bowerbird and Satin Bowerbird in small numbers occasionally came into the camping ground to feed. Russet-tailed Thrush was calling commonly but didn't show.

Paradise Riflebird

Regent Bowerbird
Red-tailed Black Cockatoos were seen twice, both times flying high overhead: a pair and a flock of 20+. Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo was common about the camping ground.

Red-tailed Black Cockatoo

Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo
Other nice birds about the place that were easy to see included Fairy Gerygone, Wompoo Fruit-Dove, Crested Shrike-tit, New Holland Honeyeater (here at the northern end of its range), Azure Kingfisher and White-eared Monarch. Ebird list for Cedar Grove.

Azure Kingfisher

Crested Shrike-tit

Fairy Gerygone

New Holland Honeyeater

White-eared Monarch

Wompoo Fruit-Dove
Rose Robin was common throughout the area.

Rose Robin

Rose Robin
Heading west along Amamoor Creek Road, Jacky Winter was surprisingly common, with 15-20 seen or heard over 12km. Just west of Windy Ridge Nursery, at a spot where in April last year I had a flock of Red-tailed Black Cockatoos feeding, I found a pair of Black-chinned Honeyeaters - a rare species in south-east Queensland - in tall eucalypts by the road. Plenty of birds were here including Varied Sittella and White-naped Honeyeater. Ebird list for Windy Ridge.

Black-chinned Honeyeater

Black-chinned Honeyeater

Jacky Winter
A couple of kilometres further west, on a dry open forest ridge, a party of 4 Painted Buttonquail scurried off the road. Back at Cedar Grove, on the other side of the creek from the camping ground, a collection of fresh platelets in the vine scrub indicated the presence of Black-breasted Buttonquail. Dingoes were calling from above the camping ground, and one was seen briefly during a hike.

Painted Buttonquail



2 comments:

  1. Great photography as usual. Your exploits are most enjoyable.

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  2. Some great sightings there. The last time we camped at Cedar Grove, several fellow campers had domestic pets running loose which put us off going back. The frustrating thing is that pets are allowed at the campground further along so it seems pretty unnecessary for them to break the rules at Cedar Grove.

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