Brisbane's Square-tailed Kite Nest

Square-tailed Kite - Mt Coot-tha

It's not every day that the nest of one of Australia's rarer raptors is found within a few kilometres of the CBD of one of its big capital cities, so Brisbane is blessed with the successful nesting of Square-tailed Kites at Mt Coot-tha.

Square-tailed Kite

The birds were detected nesting in a Spotted Gum about 20 metres up in June. They have reared a single chick and when I visited the nest this week the youngster was in fine form, fully fledged and close to leaving.

Square-tailed Kite

The extraordinary thing about the nest site is that is located over a busy road, with a constant procession of vehicles, joggers and bikes passing underneath. The birds are completely unperturbed and indeed appear to take an interest in proceedings.

Square-tailed Kite

I had the nest under observation for 3 hours. During that time, an adult was always nearby, either in the nest tree or in an adjacent tree. One adult was on sentry duty for two hours before the second took over. The adult that was away from the nest was seen regularly, quartering the tree-tops in the surrounding open eucalypt forest or flying overhead, evidently in search of prey.

Square-tailed Kite

The adult kite attending the nest ignored potential prey in the surrounding trees as Rainbow Lorikeets, Noisy Friarbirds and others went about their business. The adult was left unmolested while perched near the nest but when it took flight or flew nearby, the kite would be mobbed by Pied Currawongs or Torresian Crows.

Juvenile Square-tailed Kite on Nest

The young bird, evidently hungry, called incessantly while I was there. The adult called just once, when a Torresian Crow landed in the nest tree. The kite crouched low with tail up, chattering vigorously until the crow left. The nest attracted the attention of the constant stream of passers-by, many of whom expressed interest in the birds; some folk told me they had frequently seen the birds during regular walks.

Adult Square-tailed Kite on nest

I was shown a Square-tailed Kite nest in a Spotted Gum near Bundaberg in 2012 by Eric Zillmann and Trevor Quested (see here). Eric told me that the kites had nested in the same area for 17 consecutive years. The birds usually build a different nest each year but would occasionally top up an old nest to use again.

Square-tailed Kite Adult & Juvenile together

The kites have nested also at Mt Coot-tha in recent years. Hopefully they will continue to do so. 

Yellow Honeyeater on Bribie Island

Yellow Honeyeater Bribie Island

A Yellow Honeyeater has turned up hundreds of kilometres out of its range on Bribie Island, off the south-east coast of Queensland. This is the first record of this species in south-east Queensland, or indeed anywhere south of Rockhampton, 600km to the north, or perhaps even St Lawrence, 800km north.

Yellow Honeyeater

The bird was in flowering shrubs and trees at Banksia Beach, on the eastern shore of the island. It was found last Tuesday (October 28) by a local observer and photographer, Janice O'Donnell.  On the occasion she found it, the bird was feeding with Brown Honeyeaters in a flowering Jacaranda. Janice, who noted that the Brown Honeyeaters behaved aggressively towards the Yellow Honeyeater, had not been able to relocate the bird subsequently.

Yellow Honeyeater

The site is a park off White Patch Esplanade, Banksia Beach, on the right behind some houses just before a bridge over a small mangrove-lined stream. For the record, Janice wanted the whereabouts of the site kept under wraps for the time being as she was concerned that the bird and elderly residents living adjacent to the park would be disturbed by visitors. I agreed to comply with her wishes but Rob Morris, a moderator on Eremaea, published the site details without the permission of either myself or Janice, or even the Eremaea administrators. Rob has an unfortunate habit of regarding records of any interesting bird that cross his desk as some kind of personal property to do with as he wishes.

When I arrived at the site in the afternoon of Sunday November 2 about 3pm, I heard the honeyeater as soon as I got out of my vehicle. It was feeding in a flowering Silky Oak and during the 30 minutes or so I watched, it visited a variety of shrubs. It was quite vocal and did not appear to be shy.

Yellow Honeyeater

The honeyeater is way out-of-range and was presumably a vagrant nomad. Bribie Island has the southern-most population of another mainly tropical species, Fairy Gerygone, so the place has some form in this regard.

Yellow Honeyeater

 The Yellow Honeyeater normally occurs as far south as St Lawrence but there are a couple of sight records claimed for the Rockhampton area.

Yellow Honeyeater habitat - Bribie Island

I called in at Buckley's Hole on the way home. A single female Australasian Shoveler was of note but not much else around. This wetland currently has extensive areas of fringing mud due to dry conditions.

Australian Shoveler - Buckley's Hole

Macleay Island and Brisbane Bits

Bush Stone-Curlew, Macleay Island

I had a few days visiting my friend Glen Ingram on Macleay Island in southern Moreton Bay and checking out some birding hotspots around Brisbane.

Juvenile Black-winged Stilt, Lindum Wetland

I started off at the wetland on Burnby Road, Lindum. A flock of about 15 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers was here (at the spot where a Ruff and Pectoral Sandpiper were present early this year) along with 3 Red-necked Avocets and a flock of 12 Red-kneed Dotterels. I flushed a Common Sandpiper from the mangroves immediately to the east of the wetland. Here and elsewhere, I was to see quite a few juvenile Black-winged Stilts. A list of birds seen at Lindum is here: http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S20344923.

Glossy Ibis & Grey Teal, Sandy Camp Road Wetlands

I moved on to the nearby Sandy Camp Road Wetlands. Water levels were low and there was not much about. A single Glossy Ibis was present and a Spotless Crake was heard. Plenty of Comb-crested Jacanas about and Brown Quail showed nicely on the track.

Red Knot & Bar-tailed Godwit - Wynnum

Then it was on to the wader roost at high tide at the end of Wynnum Road North. Although the tide was very high, there were not many waders present. Of interest was a relatively large number (20+) of Red Knot but no Great Knots, the latter a much more common species in south-east Queensland.

Marsh Sandpiper & Common Greenshank - Wynnum

Marsh Sandpiper and Common Greenshank were seen together at Wynnum - a nice comparison.

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Red-necked Stint, Curlew-Sandpiper - Manly

Then it was on to the wader roost behind Manly Boat Harbour. Waders were in large numbers, although no rarities appeared to be about. Bar-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel, Red-necked Stint and Lesser Sand Plover were abundant. In smaller numbers were Great Knot, Pacific Golden Plover, Curlew-Sandpiper, Eastern Curlew, Ruddy Turnstone and Sharp-tailed Sandpiper. A couple of Large Sand Plovers and Red Knots were also spotted.

Curlew-Sandpiper - Manly

On Macleay Island, Glen has made good friends of his local Bush Stone-Curlews. A pair with two well-developed young has taken up residence in his front garden. Another pair is in residence in his back garden. The territorial boundaries between the two groups are fragile and the source of much bickering.

Bush Stone-Curlew

 Other birds on the island included Collared Kingfisher showing well on an overhead wire; I have seldom seen the species perched on wire,

Collared Kingfisher

After leaving Maclean Island I headed off to Mt Coot-tha to look for the Square-tailed Kite nest reported from the Summit Trail. Although I tracked down the GPS co-ordinates from ebird, I could not find any trace of the kites. A consolation prize was a Southern Boobook which flushed from a eucalypt hollow, only to be mobbed by an avalanche of Noisy Miners.

Southern Boobook

Australian King-Parrot

Also here was a showy male Australian King-Parrot.

Camping Trip Around Australia 2014 - Tips, Highlights, Ups and Downs

Camping at Kings Plains National Park, NSW

Having successfully motored around Australia on our four-month camping trip, a few notes are offered on how to plan such a sojourn; to summarise ups and downs (mostly ups) encountered along the way; and to report some highlights, birding and otherwise.

The whole journey, from when we departed the Sunshine Coast on June 4 this year - my Subaru Forrester towing a campervan - to when we returned home on October 3, was planned carefully. I've long been a firm believer in travel planning. It saves an extraordinary amount of time and energy to know where you are going and have a fair idea of where you are staying. So first up, our route needed to be sorted out. I have travelled around Australia twice, hitch-hiking as a teenager the first time and spending five years doing it the second time (living in Adelaide, Alice Springs, Darwin and Perth along the way) so I had a good idea of where we wanted to head.

We opted to travel through western Queensland, across the top of the Northern Territory, continuing west through the Kimberley of Western Australia, then south to the Pilbara, the mulga lands and on to south-west WA. Our route would take us east from there across the Nullabor to South Australia, through the Eyre Peninsula to Adelaide, and on through the mallee of north-west Victoria to western and north-east NSW before returning home. Four months proved to be a good length of time for the task. We left out north-east Queensland, south-east Australia, Tasmania and Central Australia; to do any of them adequately would have needed more time.

 Bitter Springs, Mataranka, NT

One of us is a birder and the other a non-birder, so the first principle is to plan an itinerary that caters for both. I aimed to combine a fair smattering of birding hotspots and bush camping with a decent look at towns and cities and staying in caravan parks. We think it worked out fine.

Before leaving, I put together a list of places we wanted to visit and nutted out an itinerary, which we followed with a few variations along the way. I worked out travel times between destinations, using sites such as the RACQ travel planner (http://www.driveaustralia.com.au/racq/trip-planner/). I believe it is important to limit distances driven on any day and not to drive at night. The most driving we did on one day was 6-6.5 hours on just 3 or 4 occasions; often we drove for a comfortable 2 or 3 hours between destinations.

Nourlangie Rock, Kakadu National Park, NT

We thought it was desirable to spend at least one night at each destination to get to know the place, but we overnighted at a handful of places when long travelling distances required it. Mostly we had 2 or 3 nights at any given spot with longer stays in Darwin (one week - our longest stopover), Broome, Perth and Adelaide. We became adept at assembling and dissembling our Jaco Finch campervan, taking an average of 30 minutes to do either. At Karijini National Park (blog post here http://tinyurl.com/pt45mpc) we chose to move camp because when we arrived, the only spot available was in a zone allowing noisy generators; when a generator-free spot became available the next day we shifted to it, taking just 45 minutes to complete the move.

Cambridge Gulf at sunset from Five Rivers Lookout, Wyndham, WA

On the subject of generators, they are a major disincentive to stay at designated free camping spots, such as those in Camps Australia Wide. We used the guide to help find 2 or 3 overnight spots out of the 122 nights we were away. These free camping areas are usually noisy, crowded, and close to busy highways; the guide can be a useful indicator of where not to stay. We found a couple of unmarked spots off the road for bush camping; one near Cue in the WA mulga was especially pleasant.

Wildflowers in the mulga - Yalgoo, WA 

While planning the trip, I researched the requirements and costs of camping in national parks in each state and territory. I checked out the prices of various caravan parks in towns and cities and used Trip Advisor to get an idea of their quality and position, so we had one picked out in each destination in advance. I often corresponded via email with caravan parks before we left. Although we were in the tropical north in winter, at the height of the grey nomad invasion (of which we seemingly were part) we needed to book ahead just once, for Broome.

Everywhere else, we simply turned up and were able to find a camping spot, electing mostly to take unpowered sites. Our campervan is connected to the vehicle by an Anderson plug which keeps the van battery charged and the fridge going while driving. We did not have television, air-conditioning or the like so our power needs were minimal and met by the battery and gas. Unpowered sites were usually considerably cheaper than powered, and often were more nicely positioned on the periphery of parks. We stayed in a motel just once – 3 nights in Margaret River – and had 4 nights with a friend in Adelaide. We spent $3,200 on accommodation – an average of $26 a night. National park camping fees varied between states; the $30-a-night charge for a pit toilet and nothing else in Victoria's Hattah-Kulcoyne National Park was outrageous.

Wandoo woodland at Dryandra, WA

Nor were camping conditions as crowded as we expected on the grey nomad trail. In Darwin, for instance, although the Lee Point Resort and Caravan Park was almost full, we had a reasonably private spot overlooking the bush. The exception was the cheek-by-jowl Tarangau Caravan Park in Broome, where the owners pack in as many as they can. (Fortunately some Brisbane friends had flown over to join us in Broome. They booked a motel room across the road, so we had a bolt-hole to escape to .) In southern Australia, as it was late winter, there were no hordes of grey nomads to contend with and on several occasions we were the only people camping.

Cape Arid National Park, WA

Petrol varied widely in price, and predictably was most expensive in such isolated fuelling stops as those on the Nullabor Plain and Barkly Tableland. The price went from $1.56 a litre in Mt Isa to $1.96 at Camooweal, a relatively short drive north. The most expensive petrol was $2.16 a litre at the garage at the turnoff from the Great Northern Highway to Purnululu (Bungle Bungles) National Park, WA. We intended to visit the park, staying at the Spring Creek Camp Ground near the entrance. However, we were told by camp ground staff that the Subaru would not be able to drive through the park as it was not 4-wheel-drive, and that we could be fined by national parks officers if we tried. We learned later that this was a ruse, with the aim of signing people up for expensive 4-wheel-drive tours, so beware if you go there. In any event, the camp ground was dirty and crowded, so we were happy enough to give the place a miss.
Incidentally, the Subaru proved perfectly capable of going everywhere we wanted to go, including some suitably bumpy roads.

Nullabor Plain, SA

We spent a total of $4030 on petrol, chewing up 2,444 litres – an average of $1.65 a litre. The cheapest petrol was on the way home in south-east Queensland. We had no mechanical problems with the vehicle and suffered just two flat tyres. Unfortunately they happened at the same time, at Kings Plains National Park (http://tinyurl.com/lxgzkjs) in NSW. Apart from replacing the tyres and having a wheel alignment done at the time, the only vehicle repair costs on the trip were replacing the car battery and campervan battery, and servicing the Subaru in Perth – a total of $1300. Added to that are the costs of servicing the campervan and vehicle after returning. So not including food, alcohol and a few odds and ends such as museum and national park entry fees, the trip cost the two of us around $9,000.

Flooded River Red Gum, Hattah-Kulcoyne National Park, Vic

We worked around being in the Top End of the NT and the Kimberley at the height of winter, a sensible strategy to escape the cold but one which had us in south-west WA in early-August, a little earlier than the optimum time to see wildflowers at their best and to avoid the wet winters of that region. We were fortunate with the weather, however, being confined to the campervan by rain for just one of the 122 days we were on the road.

The weather in south-west WA was uncharacteristically mild and fine, and we enjoyed some quite spectacular wildflower displays, especially in the mulga lands and at Cape Arid. In Eyre Peninsula in SA we encountered some serious winds at times, particularly at Whyalla where we feared our little abode was going to be torn apart. The inland was usually cold at night though never severely so; the long johns and woolly gloves were left unpacked. Sometimes temperature fluctuations were startling – the thermometer dropped from 28 to 18 degrees in the space of an hour as we headed south into the Pilbara in WA.

I'm often asked for trip highlights. Birding highlights later but in terms of aesthetics and landscapes, I was blown away by the view from the Five Rivers Lookout at Wyndham ( http://tinyurl.com/pst3eg7); the vast expanses of the Cambridge Gulf at sunset simply took my breath away. Another memorable sight was rounding a corner at Muirella in Kakadu National Park to see Nourlangie Rock glowing on the horizon, the sandstone massif reflected in the wetlands stretching below it. The fabulous Dale Gorge at Karijini National Park, referred to above, was another heart stopper. Karijini, by the way, was the only place where we paid a penalty for not carrying spare petrol; we would have liked to have visited other gorges in the park but did not have sufficient fuel.

Port Lincoln National Park, Eyre Peninsula, SA

We never tired of the stunning coastline of south-west WA – at Cheyne Beach, Albany, Walpole, Cape Arid (this national park east of Esperance was especially appealing (http://tinyurl.com/n8fg62k) and elsewhere – and of southern Eyre Peninsula in SA, particularly around Streaky Bay and south of Port Lincoln (http://tinyurl.com/q96zv79). Cape Keraudren in the southern Kimberley (http://tinyurl.com/lxfnxdz) was an unexpectedly beautiful stopover.

Darwin and Perth are former home cities of mine and it is a pleasure to revisit them; our week in Darwin was especially blissful. Smaller towns each had their own character and we enjoyed getting to know them a little as much as the cold beer and pub counter meals. (To avoid drink-driving, the proximity of pubs to caravan parks was a factor in our caravan park selections.) Among the towns we liked were Blackall in Queensland; Pine Creek in the NT; Kununurra and Wyndham in the Kimberley; Geraldton, Cervantes, New Norcia, Bunbury, Albany and Esperance in south-west WA; Port Lincoln and Whyalla in  SA; Mildura in Victoria and Broken Hill in NSW. Margaret River in south-west WA, surrounded by tall forests and beautiful beaches, is a stand-out in the town stakes.

Broken Hill and surrounds, NSW

On the subject of food, cooking while camping, while pleasant enough, can become a bit of a chore after a while. We generally avoided canned or frozen meals but tried to keep it simple so we did not waste time. We had a small Weber Q oven for frying and baking, and quite often made use of facilities such as microwave ovens in caravan park camp kitchens. Outside the van we had some pleasant culinary experiences - a duck curry at a hotel in Mt Newman and lobster seafood platter in Cervantes were especially memorable. Food costs varied hugely. A steak with chips and salad at Pine Creek, NT, cost $35; the same meal, with a bigger steak, cost $11 in Esperance.

If you like a drink, beware of the difficulties of purchasing alcohol in northern WA and the NT as authorities try unsuccessfully to put a lid on the indigenous drinking problem. Often we could not purchase cask wine or could do so only at certain hours (for instance, after 2pm in Katherine). Sometimes it was not possible to buy reasonably priced wine. For a bottle each of their cheapest reds and whites in a pub in Wyndham, we paid $46; the same wines at home would have cost $18.

Notwithstanding my pre-trip research, some caravan parks did not live up to expectations. The Norseman Caravan Park in WA was a rip-off at $38 a night for an unpowered site, especially when our view was the back of a shed and a pile of rubbish. Conversely, some parks were delightfully positioned and suitably private. Stand-outs were the Bathers Paradise Caravan Park in Esperance, WA; Coalmine Beach Caravan Park near Walpole, WA; Pinnacles Caravan Park at Cervantes, WA; Mataranka Cabins and Camping at Mataranka, NT; and the Discovery Tourist Park at Kununurra, WA.

Camp grounds in national parks also varied sharply in appeal. We were particularly impressed by the Congelin camp ground at Dryandra, and the camp grounds in the national parks of Karijini and Cape Arid in WA, Kakadu in the NT, Port Lincoln in SA, and Bald Rock in NSW.

Bald Rock National Park, NSW

We did not encounter problems with crime or harassment of any kind. We suffered no injuries or serious illness. We managed even not to lose anything. One serious hiccup was the collapse of the focusing function on my near-near Sony Cybershot 300 camera; I was without a camera for a week until my old Cybershot 200 arrived in the post from home. The only experience with a mildly scary twist was me running into a very large Saltwater Crocodile while birding the mangroves at Wyndham (http://tinyurl.com/pst3eg7).

The trip is detailed in a series of 40 blog posts preceding this one. All up, we drove 19,999.3 kilometres in four months to complete the trip. And no, we felt no compunction to drive around the block for a few hundred metres to round it off.

BIRDS

I saw 441 bird species, 3 of which were lifers due to recent taxonomic splits: Nullabor Quail-thrush, Western Quail-thrush and Pilbara Grasswren. I tried though failed to see another potential lifer – Western Ground Parrot. I also saw a few races which are potential splits, notably the south-west WA forms of Rufous Fieldwren and Crested Shrike-tit. I was not after a big list and because I was not preoccupied with chasing ticks, I was able to indulge the pleasures of photography and reconnecting with birds I had often not seen in decades. We saw a total of 49 Wedge-tailed Eagles on the trip. Some of the birding highlights follow.

Hooded Parrot, Edith Falls, WA

Western Queensland. Plum-headed Finch at Blackall; Flock Bronzewing, Spinifex Pigeon & Grey-headed Honeyeater at Bladensburg National Park.

Rufous Owl, Kakadu National Park, NT

Northern Territory. Rufous Owl at Mataranka and Kakadu National Park; Hooded Parrot & Gouldian Finch at Edith Falls; Black-tailed Teecreeper, White-lined Honeyeater, Partridge Pigeon & Little Kingfisher at Kakadu National Park; Rainbow Pitta at Fogg Dam; Purple-crowned Fairy-wren at Victoria River.

Gouldian Finch - Wyndham, WA

Kimberley, WA. Star Finch, Sandstone Shrike-thrush, Buff-sided Robin, Yellow-rumped Mannikin & White-browed Crake at Kununurra; White-breasted Whistler at Wyndham, Broome and Cape Keraudren; Gouldian Finch at Wyndham; Great-billed Heron at Derby; (Asiatic) Gull-billed Tern & Black-breasted Buzzard at Broome.

Pilbara Grasswren - Mt Newman, WA

Pilbara-Mulga Lands, WA. Painted Finch at Karijini National Park and Mt Newman; Pilbara Grasswren & Spinifexbird at Mt Newman; Western Quail-thrush & Ground Cuckoo-shrike north of Cue; good numbers of White-fronted, Black & Pied Honeyeater in the mulga; Chiming Wedgebill at Yalgoo.

Western Whipbird - Cheyne Beach, WA

South-West WA. Musk Duck, Blue-billed Duck and other waterfowl in Perth; Rufous Treecreeper, Blue-breasted Fairy-wren and other SW WA specialties at Dryandra; Red-eared Firetail at Margaret River, Cheyne Beach and Walpole-Nornalup National Park; Rock Parrot at Cape Leeuwin and Cape Arid (and Lincoln National Park in SA); White-backed Swallow at the Pinnacles; Crested (Western) Shrike-tit near Walpole; Rufous (Western) Grasswren near Cervantes and at Cape Arid; Western Whipbird, Western Bristlebird & Noisy Scrubbird at Cheyne Beach; Hooded Plover & Cape Barren Goose at Esperance.

Malleefowl - Hattah-Kulcoyne National Park, Vic

South Australia. Nullabor Quail-thrush & Slender-billed Thornbill at Nullabor; Southern Scrub-robin at Lincoln National Park; Western Grasswren at Whyalla Conservation Park.

Redthroat - Broken Hill, NSW

Victoria. Malleefowl, Gilbert's Wistler & Chesnut Quail-thrush at Hattah-Kulcoyne National Park.

Spotted Quail-thrush - Bald Rock National Park, NSW

NSW. Redthroat & Chirruping Wedgebill at Broken Hill; Chesnut-rumped Heathwren at Kings Plains National Park; Spotted Quail-thrush, Red-browed Treecreeper & Superb Lyrebird at Bald Rock National Park.

Western Pygmy-Possum, Cheyne  Beach, WA

Mammal highlights included Western Pygmy-Possum at Cheyne Beach, and Southern Right Whale at Cheyne Beach and Cape Arid.

Around Oz Part 40 - Bald Rock National Park & Heading Home: Spotted Quail-thrush, Superb Lyrebird, Red-browed Treecreeper, Glossy Black Cockatoo

Spotted Quail-thrush male

After visiting Kings Plains National Park (see previous post) we decided on a two-night stay in Bald Rock National Park on the NSW-Queensland border as our final stopover before heading home after four months on the road. We called in at Bluff Rock near Tenterfield, where a large number of Aborigines were thrown to their deaths in 1844 by settlers avenging the theft of sheep. Makes you think.

Bluff Rock - Aboriginal massacre site

Bald Rock National Park abuts Girraween National Park in Queensland, the two combining to create a large, excellent reserve of woodland, granite boulders and outcrops, swampy glades and tall forest. In my view, Bald Rock is a better site as it has wide, grassy tracks - ideal for critter-spotting - that grade gently, unlike the steep, narrow and rocky paths of Girraween.

Wonga Pigeon

The camping ground at Bald Rock is also beautifully set out and unclustered. Birds about the camp include Crimson Rosella, Wonga Pigeon and Satin Bowerbird.

Greater Glider

I spotlighted Greater Glider and Common Brushtail at night. Southern Boobook, Tawny Frogmouth and Australian Owlet-Nightjar were about.

Border Track, Bald Rock National Park

I spent a morning doing the 14-km Border Track. With Glenn joining me for the first sector, we spotted a Superb Lyrebird crossing the track. This is the restricted range and notoriously shy race edwardi, which I had seen just once previously. We heard a second bird further along the track.
Soon after I found a small group of Red-browed Treecreepers feeding in the same trees as a pair of White-throated Treecreepers. (White-throated and Brown Treecreepers had been feeding together at Kings Plains.)

Red-browed Treecreeper

Red-browed Treecreeper

I flushed a pair of  Spotted Quail-thrush from the track, managing excellent views of both sexes. Soon after I flushed a third bird which was by itself. So I've seen 4 species of quail-thrush on this trip (the others being Western, Nullabor and Chesnut),
Plenty of honeyeaters were about - Yellow-faced Honeyeater, White-eared Honeyeater, White-naped Honeyeater, Eastern Spinebill, Noisy Friarbird, Yellow-tufted Honeyeater, Red Wattlebird.

Spotted Quail-thrush female

Spotted Quail-thrush female

Spotted Quail-thrush male

An Australian Little Eagle soared overhead as I continued my walk.

Australian Little Eagle

I checked out the Northern Lookout, which looks out over Girraween and Bald Rock itself - the largest granite monolith in Australia. The boulders around here were festooned with wildflowers, ferns and lichens.

Bald Rock

Boulders - Northern Lookout, Bald Rock

Moving on,  I searched a patch of montane heathland where Southern Emu-wren has been seen, but no sign of the bird. I found an extensive area of fur from a recently deceased Greater Glider - presumably the work of a Powerful Owl.
Then I found a pair of Glossy Black Cockatoos by the track feeding on Allocasuarina cones; I had seen evidence of their feeding the afternoon before. Just 100 metres up the track was a party of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos. It's not often that these two species can be seen together; it means I saw all five Australian black cockatoo species on this trip. This was an awesome morning of birding - Superb Lyrebird, Red-browed Treecreeper, Spotted Quail-thrush, Glossy Black Cockatoo, Little Eagle and more.

Glossy Black Cockatoo

Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo

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