Barking Owl in Conondale Range

Barking Owl (m)

It was a delight to catch up with a pair of Barking Owls in the Conondale Range in Queensland's Sunshine Coast hinterland. The owls were discovered several weeks ago by a resourceful young Sunshine Coast naturalist, Ollie Scully, in Conondale National Park. Over many years in the field in the Conondales, I hadn't encountered this species previously.

Barking Owl (f)

The birds are surprisingly in wet sclerophyll forest, a habitat not normally associated with the species. The forest had a sprinkling of Cabbage Tree Palm, a tree often present at Barking Owl sites in coastal Queensland. I found the male bird late in the afternoon of my visit this week roosting high in a Blackbutt; the female was nowhere to be seen and may have been on a nest. The pair called together for about 10 minutes at sunset, and the male called briefly later that night. Just before dawn, both birds were calling from the same spot as the previous evening, again for about 10 minutes.

I thought they must be attending a nest when, an hour or so after sunrise, they called about 300m away in a Hoop Pine plantation. The pair were found roosting together high in the pines for about an hour until I left them.

Barking Owl pair (female top, male bottom)

I've been arguing the case to restore a large area of endangered subtropical lowland rainforest in Imbil State Forest, which adjoins Conondale National Park, by converting the state forest to a conservation area. The plan involves stopping the logging of Hoop Pine plantations so they can regenerate as rainforest. When Conondale National Park was substantially extended by the former state Labor government, it included several small areas of Hoop Pine plantation which are no longer logged.

A couple of such plantations are in or close to the Barking Owl territory. There's no doubt that old-growth plantation adjoining rainforest is attractive to birds. Critics claim that if left unlogged, the plantations would become “weed, pest and fire haven junk heaps”. There's no sign of that at this site, like many others where plantations have not been logged for several decades. On the contrary, there is a rich and diverse understory of rainforest plants, including good numbers of mature Piccabeen Palm and other trees.

Hoop Pine plantation, Conondale National Park

Hoop Pine plantation, Conondale National Park

The adjoining wet sclerophyll forest has an unusually large number of old-growth Blackbutt, Rose Gum and other trees.

Towering Blackbutt, Conondale National Park

During my evening there I had a Sooty Owl calling that was seen briefly. Southern Boobook and Marbled Frogmouth were present. Other birds included Paradise Riflebird, Wompoo Fruit-Dove, Australian Logrunner, Crested Shrike-tit, Russet-tailed Thrush and Satin Bowerbird. Ebird list.

Marbled Frogmouth

Satin Bowerbird

Southern Boobook

Several Yellow-bellied Gliders were heard shrieking at sunset and a couple of Greater Gliders were later spotted. Amphibians included a Great Barred Frog, with quite a few Cascade Tree-Frogs and Tusked Frogs also about.

Great Barred Frog

Greater Glider