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| Barking Owl |
We headed off for a three-week road and camping trip through Central
Coastal and South-East Queensland on June 24, 2019. Good birds
included Barking Owl, Zitting Cisticola, Yellow Chat, Olive-backed
Sunbird, Shining Flycatcher, Bar-breasted Honeyeater, Freckled Duck,
Square-tailed Kite, Plum-headed Finch, Australian Bustard, Western
Gerygone and Spotted Quail-thrush. We kicked off with three nights at
Bargara Beach near Bundaberg, a favoured haunt with the beautiful Mon
Repos Beach nearby. A Square-tailed Kite was hanging around the
camping ground.
Nutmeg Mannikin, once common in South-East Queensland but now scarce
and localised, was surprisingly numerous. Dusky Honeyeater was also
exceptionally plentiful.
We moved on to the Town of 1770 for two nights. I picked up a pair of
Olive-backed Sunbirds in a garden adjoining Joseph Banks Conservation
Park; this area is the southern limit of range for this species.
Plenty of Fairy Gerygones were about. Brown Booby and Australasian
Gannet were common offshore but a Brown Booby was unusually
approachable as it frequented the town's marina, some distance
upstream.
Our next stop was the hamlet of Marmor, famed as a hotspot for the
rare Capricorn race of Yellow Chat, for an overnight stay at the
Alkoomi Advanture Campground (warning – it's handy but don't stay
there!). I spent an afternoon and morning at the site. A pair of
chats flew overhead and off into the distance, sadly not offering a
photographic opportunity.
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| Yellow Chat site at Marmor |
We moved on to the nearby township of Bajool, from where the road to
Pt Alma is another Yellow Chat hotspot. Camping opposite the
friendly pub here was more congenial that the Alkoomi experience. No
luck with chats (there seem to be no winter records for this site)
though I found and photographed a Zitting Cisticola that was
conveniently calling.The image is poor but the clearly defined pale tail tips can be seen - possibly the only defining feature of use to separate this species from Golden-headed Cisticola in non-breeding plumage.
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| Zitting Cisticola |
A Black Falcon showed nicely at the lagoon a short distance from
Bajool on the Port Alma Road. A pair of Brolga were among waterbirds
on the lagoon, while a Blue-winged Kookaburra and several Black-faced
Woodswallows were up the road nearby.
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| Black Falcon |
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| Black Falcon |
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| Black-faced Woodswallow |
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| Blue-winged Kookaburra |
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| Brolga and friends |
Mangrove Honeyeater was common in dry scrub all over the place and
many kilometres from the nearest mangroves, Lots of Striped
Honeyeater and Little Friarbird were about.
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| Mangrove Honeyeater |
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| Striped Honeyeater & LIttle Friarbird |
We next had three nights in Rockhampton, camped by the Fitzroy River.
Murray Lagoon at the Botanic Gardens had good numbers of waterfowl
including about 40 Freckled Duck, a few Pink-eared Duck and 80
Australasian Shoveler.
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| Australasian Shoveler, Grey Teal & Pink-eared Duck |
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| Freckled Duck |
Nearby, at Yeppen Yeppen Lagoon, I found a Bar-breasted Honeyeater
(here at the southern end of the range of this species) in flowering
Melaleuca and a pair of Black-necked Storks.
Pacific Baza was frequenting our caravan park.
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| Pacific Baza |
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| Bar-breasted Honeyeater |
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| Black-necked Stork |
We headed inland for an overnight stay in the quaint town of
Goovigen. The surrounding brigalow was full of interesting baobab
trees and loads of macropods, including Whiptail Wallabies. Some drier country birds started showing, such as Yellow-throated Miner and Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo.
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| Horsfield's Bronze Cuckoo |
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| Whiptail Wallaby |
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| Yellow-throated Miner |
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| Baobab trees |
We had two nights camping at the beautiful Isla Gorge National Park,
at the eastern fringe of a huge area of sandstone escarpment, the
best known part of which is Canarvan Gorge. The highlight here was a
pair of vocal Spotted Quail-thrush, with a third bird heard.
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| Isla Gorge |
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| Spotted Quail-thrush female |
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| Spotted Quail-thrush male |
White-eared Honeyeater was common in the park. Buff-rumped Thornbill
was around the camping ground, while Yellow Thornbill was in remnant
brigalow nearby, as was Spotted Bowerbird and Singing Honeyeater.
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| Singing Honeyeater |
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| Spotted Bowerbird |
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| White-eared Honeyeater |
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| Buff-rumped Thornbill |
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| Yellow Thornbill |
Our next stop for an overnight stay was the town of Wandoan. A pair
of Australian Bustards were in grassland outside the town. We then
had a night in Chinchilla, where Red-winged Parrots and Red-rumped
Parrots added splashes of colour and Chestnut-rumped Thornbill was
close to the eastern end of its range here .
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| Australian Bustard |
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| Chestnut-rumped Thornbill |
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| Red-rumped Parrot |
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| Red-winged Parrot |
After that it was an overnight stay at the Bowenville Reserve near
Dalby. The roads in this area have been good for birds in the past
but less so this time. Very large flocks of Cockatiel and Little
Corella were impressive. Nankeen Kestrel was surprisingly common. A
couple of White-winged Fairy-wrens, here at the eastern extremity of
their range, were seen.
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| Cockatiel |
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| Little Corella |
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| White-winged Fairy-wren |
The reserve itself was productive. A Western Gergyone was singing by
our camp, where a pair of Tawny Frogmouths were in residence. Good
numbers of Plum-headed Finches mixed with Double-barred Finches in
creekside vegetation. A female Red-capped Robin, unusual so far east,
was also here.
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| Plum-headed Finch |
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| Red-capped Robin |
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| Western Gerygone |
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| Camping at Bowenville |
Our final stay was in Toowoomba, mostly non-birding, but I looked
unsuccessfully for Swift Parrots in Glen Lomond Park, where I saw
them in 1998 and where they've been seen occasionally since. No luck
there but plenty of Musk Lorikeets about.
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| Musk Lorikeet |
