Emus in the Cooloola Region

In the 1960s and 1970s, Emus were seen regularly on what was then called the Noosa Plain, now known as the Cooloola section of the Great Sandy World Heritage Area. However, it has declined drastically in numbers here and elsewhere in the Sunshine Coast-Wide Bay region. For instance, it was formerly common on Bribie Island, but the last emu there was killed by a dog in 2015. The species generally in south-east Queensland and north-east NSW is now very rare. Fortunately, some birds seem to be hanging on in the Cooloola region. I heard a bird drumming on the Noosa Plain in September last year but unfortunately it would not show itself. Prior to that encounter, the last record I can find for the site was during a Birds Queensland outing in 1997.

On March 6 (last Saturday) Christine Burton photographed two Emus – an adult and a well-advanced juvenile – on the edge of a pine plantation in Toolara State Forest (first image above by Christine's Wildscapes Photography). This site is about 15km west of the Noosa Plain. Christine reports that she saw another two birds in a pine plantation, also in Toolara State Forest, in October 2019 (image above). She has also seen in recent years a family with young birds in the nearby Tuan State Forest.Thanks to Tim Howell for drawing attention to these reports. Ebird includes records without further detail for Tin Can Bay in 1989 and Toolara State Forest in 1996, with three birds reported further south at Como in 2014. It seems that a small population of Emu is resident in the Cooloola region.

The causes of the decline of the species in south-east Queensland and north-east NSW are uncertain. Emus have been killed by dogs in the region (including "Eric", the last surviving Emu on Bribie Island, above) but they are well able to survive predation by dingoes and wild dogs further west. Habitat fragmentation could be in play but extensive areas of native habitat remain in the Great Sandy World Heritage Area and on Bribie Island; the birds also seem to be quite at home in pine plantations. There is no evidence that hunting and/or roadkill are important factors in the decline. So this population crash is a mystery yet to be unravelled. Image below of Cooloola's Noosa Plain.

Winding up 2020 Sunshine Coast Big Year with Black Bittern & Pectoral Sandpiper

The Covid-19 pandemic extinguished 2020 travel plans for Africa and Europe. We had local birding for entertainment, however, as well as an excellent winter trip to Cape York and the Atherton Tableland. I set myself the goal of beating my 2018 total of 310 bird species photographed in a calendar year in the greater Sunshine Coast region. This is an annual competition run by BirdLife Australia Sunshine Coast. Photographs in Spring reported previously included Red-backed Buttonquail, Lewin’s Rail and Barn Swallow, while Eastern Ground Parrots showed brilliantly at Cooloola. As November was drawing to a close, I was short of catching my 2018 total of 310. A Short-tailed Shearwater on a Mooloolaba pelagic trip was a belated addition, though nothing else was added out wide and a hoped for December trip was cancelled due to bad weather.

Photographing a Masked Owl in Bellthorpe National Park was a welcome break as I’d heard them several times during the year without even a glimpse.

Nutmeg Mannikin was another I’d searched far and wide for before finally nailing a few in long grass near Bli Bli, while I managed poor but identifiable images of King Quail at Finland Road.

I had better luck photographing a female Red-backed Buttonquail at Finland Road in flight – extraordinary to capture a bird I’d never photographed before, twice within a few weeks.

A trip to Double Island Point was adventurous because I got bogged (and rescued) twice in the soft beach sand, but I did manage to snap a fine Lesser Frigatebird soaring over the light house - Number 310 for the year, equalling 2018. (This species I saw but failed to photograph on a pelagic earlier in the year.)

I did a trip out to Kilcoy, and was pleased to find a Black Falcon at the town abattoir, though I’d photographed one earlier in the year (a species I missed in 2018). A fine pair of Wedge-tailed Eagles put in an appearance nearby.

So the hunt was on in the final days of 2020 to exceed the 2018 total. Success came in the form of two rarities on the same morning. I photographed an adult male Black Bittern along Cranks Creek in Tewantin. I’d seen the species there several times in the past but never managed an image, and I’d looked without success from my kayak at Tin Can Bay, where I photographed one in 2018.

Later that morning I found a Pectoral Sandpiper at Yandina Creek Wetland. This is always an excellent shorebird to encounter and just the third record for our region, so it was a fitting end to the 2020 Big Year, with a total of 312 species. The bird in the following images is in the company of Red-kneed Dotterels and Sharp-tailed Sandpipers. (In 2020 I also photographed Brush Bronzewing at Cooloola, Bridled Tern on a pelagic trip and Red-chested Buttonquail near Nanango - but the images didn’t pass muster.) I regard these indulgences as a personal challenge – the setting of fun goals to achieve – rather than a competition. I won’t be partaking this year and would be very happy for this tally to be overtaken.

Sunshine Coast Spring Sightings: Red-backed Buttonquail, Barn Swallow, Large-tailed Nightjar, Nesting Square-tailed Kite

The latest flurry of excellent sightings from the Sunshine Coast-Cooloola region in recent weeks includes Red-backed Buttonquail, Barn Swallow, Large-tailed Nightjar, Southern Emuwren, Lewin’s Rail and nesting Square-tailed Kite. The Red-backed Buttonquail was first spotted by Michael Dawson at the beginning of a walking trail from Landsborough to Ewen Maddock Dam. At the time of writing, it is still being seen along about 100m of trail, without seemingly moving from this small patch.

I’ve seen this species several times around the Sunshine Coast but always in tall, wet coastal grassland. The habitat at Landsborough is a narrow strip of blady grass adjoining the trail in coastal eucalypt woodland; habitat I would not have considered ideal. The remarkable thing about this bird it that it regularly leaves the blady grass to feed on the path and its edges at all the times of the day, allowing extraordinary viewing and photographic opportunities for such a normally cryptic species. Its platelets along both sides of the track are everywhere; image of a platelet with car keys below.

The Barn Swallow was found at Rainbow Beach by Gus Daley and again, at the time of writing, the bird is still present. It perches on overhead wires in the heart of the township, roosting with Welcome Swallows and Tree Martins. The swallow’s presence is far from predictable, however. I failed on my first attempt, and it took 3.5 hours to see it the second time around. The bird appears to be actively feeding early in the morning. It comes to roost mid-to-late morning, and may stay half an hour or a couple of minutes before flying off again. Barn Swallow is very rare in south-east Queensland; this record is evidently the fourth for the region.

From Rainbow Beach I returned home via Double Island Point, photographing a Brown Noddy there, and Teewah Beach.

Barn Swallow twitches aside, I’ve spent time in the Cooloola-Tin Can Bay area. I photographed a male Southern Emuwren at Cooloola at the same spot I photographed it in 2018. While I and others often saw the species in the area in the 1970s, records have been few and far between since then, until the last few years. It is now encountered regularly but can be difficult to track down. I saw a total of 8 Eastern Ground Parrots during two visits but no sign of Brush Bronzewing.

I took the kayak up Snapper Creek in Tin Can Bay. I heard a Black Bittern but failed to see it. I did see a nice pair of Shining Flycatchers.

Large-tailed Nightjar occurs at the southern end of its extensive range on the Sunshine Coast, where it occurs at two sites: Yandina Creek Wetland and the nearby Maroochy Wetlands Sanctuary. I had tried three times to photograph calling birds before eventually snaring a rear-end photograph at the latter site just before dawn.

A pair of Square-tailed Kites is nesting in Tewantin National Park in Tinbeerwah. The species has nested in the area several times in recent years and is known to loyally stick to nesting territories, while changing nests regularly. An adult and a juvenile in advanced plumage were around the nest during my visit. Other observers have reported an active nest in Koala Park, Nambour.

I’d heard Lewin’s Rail several times this year but managed photographs just recently after the first heavy rains of the season. A bird at Peregian Beach showed very nicely indeed.

Other good birds in the area included White-winged Triller at Parklakes. The count continues for the 2020 BirdLife Australia Sunshine Coast photographic competition. My tally stands at 305 species photographed with images of three others – Bridled Tern, Red-chested Buttonquail and King Quail – not making the grade.

Amongst the flurry of feathers has been a house move from our home of 11.5 years at Ninderry to another home in the hills on the western fringe of Nambour, overlooking the town and surrounding valleys. A white phase Grey Goshawk flew overhead on our last day at Ninderry.

It’s good to see old friends again at the new diggings, with White-headed Pigeons quickly taking their place at the relocated feeder.

Sunshine Coast Game On (notwithstanding that global pandemic)

Powerful Owl

There's plenty of doom and gloom about right now with the Covid-19 pandemic wreaking havoc around the globe. The virus is believed to have originated in the so-called wet markets of central China, where huge numbers of domestic animals and wildlife are slaughtered in unhygienic circumstances, allowing deadly pathogens to jump from animals to people. Much the same thing happened years ago with the SARS virus in China but the Chinese learned nothing from that experience. Ebola and HIV are among other devastating diseases to have their origins in the human consumption of wildlife. We can expect more of the same.

But enough of that for the moment. Here on the Sunshine Coast, The Game is on again this year. Through BirdLife Australia's Sunshine Coast Facebook page, birders photograph as many species as possible locally in the calendar year. It's a challenge and it's fun. I decided to make a Big Year of it in 2018, photographing 310 species in the region. Last year the so-called Zone of Happiness was extended substantially westward to the South Burnett, so 2020 looked like a good time to have another stab. The New Year began well enough, with interesting birds on the Maroochy River floodplains in early-January including Horsfield's Bushlark, Brown Songlark, Pallid Cuckoo and Oriental Cuckoo.

Brown Songlark

Conditions inland due to a prolonged drought presumably forced some of these species towards the coast. A Black Falcon turned up for a couple of weeks and I was happy to see it near Bli Bli.

Black Falcon

A Freckled Duck which had been hanging around Lake Alford in Gympie late last year was still about in January; that was one species I missed in 2018.

Freckled Duck

A pelagic trip of Mooloolaba in January came up with the goods including the first White Tern and Masked Booby recorded for The Game as well as Sooty Tern and loads of Tahiti Petrels.

Sooty Tern

Masked Booby

A late-January visit to Jimna was rewarded with fine views of White-throated Nightjar and Australian Owlet-Nightjar.

White-throated Nightjar

Also in the Jimna-Yabba Road area was Brown Treecreeper, a species that could be recorded for the first time this year in the Zone of Happiness because it is found only in the newly expanded western portion of the region.

Brown Treecreeper

Other good birds here and further along the road to Kilcoy included Yellow-tufted Honeyeater, Dusky Woodswallow, two parties of feeding Glossy Black Cockatoo, Weebill and Buff-rumped Thornbill - the latter another species recorded for the first time locally in 2020 due to the zone's westward expansion.

Buff-rumped Thornbill

Glossy Black Cockatoo

Back on the coast, some of the more skulking waterbirds were showing in January including Baillon's Crake at Parklakes and Spotless Crake at Ewen Maddock Dam.

Baillon's Crake

A second pelagic trip off Mooloolaba for the year in February was as productive as the first with Long-tailed Jaeger, another first for The Game, being seen along with Streaked Shearwater, Bridled Tern and Pomarine Jaeger.

Streaked Shearwater

Long-tailed Jaeger

An adult female Australian Little Bittern at Parklakes in early-February was a welcome find as this is one of the more difficult species to see, let along photograph.

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Australian Little Bittern 

February was a good month to clean up shorebirds including Wandering Tattler at Alexandra Headland, Red Knot at Kakadu Beach and Common Sandpiper at Pacific Harbour.

Wandering Tattler

February saw heavy rains over the region, putting an end to the prolonged dry and providing new food sources in expanding flooded areas for our resident White-winged Tern population.

White-winged Tern

Then later in the month, another new record for the region, the recently split (Asian) Gull-billed Tern turned up at Toorbul (found by Helen Leonard); the bird was kind enough to remain in the region for a few more weeks.

(Asian) Gull-billed Tern

The mega record of the year came in late-Feburary when Jane Cooksley discovered the famed Kenny, a Kentish Plover, in the Noosa River estuary. The bird was still there this week.

Kentish Plover

Early March saw a trip to the Tin Can Bay-Cooloola Cove-Inskip Point area, a favoured stamping ground. Radjah Shelduck showed nicely at the Tin Can Bay golf course, as it did in 2018.

Radjah Shelduck

Inskip Point was excellent for shorebirds with Sanderling, Black-tailed Godwit, Grey Plover and Terek Sandpiper all seen.

Sanderling

Also in early-March, a drive up the beach from Noosa North Shore to Double Island Point, Cooloola was productive with Common Noddy (Species Number 200 for the year) and Lesser Crested Tern showing.

Brown Noddy

Closer to home, Eastern Barn Owl was in its regular haunt at Valdora while Charlie Moreland Park, as ever, produced the rainforest specialties such as Pale-yellow Robin and Paradise Riflebird.

Paradise Riflebird

Eastern Barn Owl

As March marched on, the looming menace of Corvid-19 was rearing its ugly head in spectacular fashion. It became obvious that lockdowns and travel restrictions would be the order the day so we embarked on a four-day camping trip through the western part of the region while camping remained possible. Common Bronzewing showed nicely at Goomeri Bush Camp.

Common Bronzewing

Then it was on to Nanango, where in woodland east of the town, two more species not available in 2018 – Superb Fairywren and Brown-headed Honeyeater – were chalked up in short order. Red-rumped Parrot was seen on the outskirts of Blackbutt in the same area where I found the species several years ago.

Brown-headed Honeyeater

We moved on to Yandilla, a spot which proved highly productive in 2018. A drive up Mt Kilcoy Road in Conondale National Park turned up the hoped for Red-browed Treecreeper.

Red-browed Treecreeper

Later in March, before the travel restrictions started biting, I visited Beerwah where I tracked down a roosting Powerful Owl in the same area where I had a pair in 2018. One of that pair was believed to have been the victim of vehicle collision and the birds were not recorded during the 2019 breeding season. However, a single bird (presumably the one I saw) has been heard repeatedly by locals in recent months; whether it is the survivor of the 2018 pair is unknown.

Powerful Owl

I visited Conondale National Park where excellent views of Sooty Owl and Marbled Frogmouth were the order of the night,and Imbil State Forest, where a male Black-breasted Buttonquail was bagged.

Black-breasted Buttonquail

Sooty Owl

By this time, at the end of March, I was supposed to be leading a birding trip to Ghana, but that's another story. With April now well advanced, movement everywhere is very much restricted by the Covid-19 lockdown. Some scope remains for birding as hiking, kayaking and other outside exercise continues to be permitted. My tally for the year stands at 266. Hopefully images like this will help lighten the mood a little.

Marbled Frogmouth