A Birder's Tribute to Trevor Quested

I was having a beer with Trevor Quested and friends at the Yandina Hotel, near our Sunshine Coast home, sometime in November 2011. Trevor mentioned that he had been feeling oddly unwell at times - as he had during an earlier visit - but that doctors did not seem to know what was wrong. I thought he was maybe being overly concerned, but just a month later came the cruel diagnosis - motor neuron disease.

In an email that Trevor and his wife Annie sent to friends at the time, he said he was "gobsmacked" by the news, and it appeared he was already going downhill fast: holding his binoculars steady and typing were becoming harder. His specialists did not expect him to be around a year later - he was told he would not see Christmas 2012. Trevor commented that he was fortunate to have such a loving and supporting wife in Annie.

Annie, Trevor & Glenn - May 2012.

Fortunately the specialists were wrong. Trevor battled on for three years and two months post-diagnosis before passing away peacefully at his Bundaberg home in the early evening of Wednesday February 11, 2015, aged 66. During a number of visits to the Questeds' home over that time, I never ceased to be impressed with the dignity and courage that Trevor and Annie demonstrated in dealing with this despicable affliction. Trevor was of course angry at first; he had ended his working life not that long before the diagnosis,and was looking forward to many years of birding, camping and other retirement indulgences.

Over time, however, he came to accept the inevitability of his lot and made the most of it in what were clearly very trying circumstances, for both him and Annie. Luckily the Questeds had their lovely shaded verandah and spacious gardens, with birds and kangaroos invariably in attendance. To the end, it was unfailingly a delight to Trevor to watch the goings-on in his special corner of the world.

I recall getting a phone call from Trevor last October, after Glenn and I had returned from a 4-month camping trip around Australia. His breathing was considerably laboured by then, but he had insisted on calling to thank me for posting a photo album from the trip on Facebook. Trevor had invited Eric Zillmann around to look at the photographs with him; he said it was like revisiting many of the places he had seen over his years of birding trips. That gesture, no small feat given his condition, was typical. During a visit a month or so later - and not so long ago now - Trevor was in surprisingly good spirits. He looked forward to visits from birding mates, especially if they brought new photographs to show him. We planned to visit again this week, as Trevor's final journey was not expected for a little while longer.

Trevor with Eric Zillmann - July 2011

Eric Zillmann is a Bundaberg birding legend and I knew him many years ago. I was delighted when Trevor reintroduced us during a visit to Bundaberg in July 2011. Eric is the only person alive to have seen the now-extinct Paradise Parrot in the wild. He captivated us with his vivid recollections of that historic time (see here for more on the parrot). Eric was one of many local birders who became close friends with Trevor. Trevor worked diligently to promote the local birding group and publish a newsletter that was as informative as it was professionally produced. That contribution was recognised by the construction in his honour of the Trevor Quested Bird Observation Platform in Bundaberg.

Commemoration of birding platform built in Trevor's honour - Pic by Chris Barnes

Trevor's enthusiasm for all things avian was infectious. I recall showing him his first Black-breasted Buttonquail at Yarraman, some time in the mid-1990s; he was so excited I thought he was going to hyperventilate. I first got to know him the early-1980s, when a few of us Brisbane birders would travel regularly from Brisbane to Sydney for monthly pelagic trips out of Rose Bay. I was struck by what an amiable companion he invariably was on those excursions, no matter how unpleasant the conditions.

In Akegara National Park, Rwanda - December 1989. Trevor is on the right, back. 

That companionship - and his boundless enthusiasm for not just birds but all wild creatures - was memorable during a 1989 trip I and other friends did with Trevor and his then wife Cilla to Rwanda, Kenya and what was then Zaire. Some of our shared experiences will not easily escape the memory: we were mock-charged by a gorilla; our boat was attacked by a hippopotamus; and our first Shoebill left us, as Trevor would say, comprehensively gobsmacked.

Even during illness, his enthusiasm did not wane. In October 2012, Trevor and Eric took us to see a Square-tailed Kite nest near Bundaberg. At the time, Trevor got about with the help of a wheelie walker. As soon as he was out of the car, he raced off through the bush with his walker, covering the distance of several hundred metres in a scarily short time. He was exhausted when he got there but keen as mustard to show me the nest.

At the Square-tailed Kite nest - October 2012

Trevor was renowned for his generosity of spirit and time. Apart from being an excellent birder, he was a gifted photographer, and technologically was way ahead of many of his peers, including this one. He positively relished sharing his knowledge and experience with friends. When I decided to take an interest in bird calls and playback, Trevor spent hours helping me to set up equipment; to become acquainted with i-tunes and much more; and to catalogue a large collection of bird songs. It was the kind of selfless thing that he just enjoyed doing.

I later helped him set up a blog (it is here) that was going to be his newest venture. Apart from an initial short post, however, he didn't get around to expand it before falling ill a few months later. Trevor continued to indulge his love of social media and technology during his illness, however. He mastered the use of an i-pad to reduce the effort of typing, and even when use of his fingers had been reduced to a reluctant single digit, he keenly recorded numerous Likes on Facebook posts.

With Trevor & Lucy - October 2014 

Trevor told friends shortly before his passing that he was ready to go. He was fortunate that he was able to avoid a prolonged stay in a nursing home, thanks to Annie's care. And however ill, he was always lucid, recalling in great and surprising detail his various and many birding exploits. For the birding community, his friends and family - and especially Annie, who was by his side at the end - the loss of Trevor Quested will be felt keenly for a very long time.

Vale Eric Zillmann, wildlife warrior extraordinaire

 

Eric Zillmann in December 2025

Eric Zillmann, an acclaimed naturalist and true gentleman, has passed away at the grand age of 102 in the Bundaberg nursing home that has been his home for the past few years.

Eric's achievements are legendary. From rediscovering the rare Macadamia jansenisre tree in 1982 to greatly expanding the knowledge of birds and other animals that were his life-long passion. Perhaps his greatest claim to fame is that he is almost certainly the last person to have seen the now extinct Paradise Parrot. He died peacefully last night at about midnight.

Paradise Parrots - illustration by Tony Pridham

As a young teenager, Eric encountered the parrots regularly across several years in the 1930s while mustering cattle near Wallaville, his home town south of Gin Gin, inland from Bundaberg. He also uncovered an active nest in a termite mound he was removing. A road in Wallaville today bears his name.

Eric was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 1999 for his service to the observation, recording and promotion of Australia's natural history. He was awarded an Honorary Master of Science in 1994 by the Central Queensland University (below) in recognition of his significant contributions to the natural sciences. For many years he wrote stories packed with useful information on wildlife for the newsletter of the Fraser Coast branch of the local Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland and for his local newspaper.

In his Bundaberg nursing home room, the medal and degree - along with field notes, copies of published stories and some of the huge collection of photographs he amassed - had pride of place on the bedside shelves. I met with him there for a few hours in December 2024 when he recounted his memories of the Paradise Parrot sightings. “They are as clear today as when I saw them,” he said. Aged 100 then (he would have been 103 next April), his mind remained sharp and focused.

Eric relived with joy his memories of his favourite pair of local Barking Owls, and the hours he spent watching the nests of the rare Square-tailed Kite. I've no doubt he would have been happy to chat all day if I'd had the time.

Square-tailed Kite

However Eric, one of the few surviving veterans from World War II, said he was ready to let go. With failing eye sight and limited mobility, he'd had enough. He was hanging on, but wasn't sure quite sure why. He said to me: “The only birds I see from here is the odd peewee (magpie-lark) walking past. What's the point?”

I had known Eric for more than half a century, seeing him from time to time. Back in 1971, as a teenage birder, I hitch-hiked from Brisbane to Gin Gin to join a Queensland Ornithological Society campout that Eric had organised. At the time Eric's nephew, Greg Czechura, was a close friend. I hiked through the night and rain to get to the camping site. Eric and his wife promptly told me not to unpack my meagre tent and to sleep in their caravan annex. I didn't need to open my cans of baked beans; they insisted on feeding me for the whole three days of the outing.

Black-chinned Honeyeater

I had not been birding long at the time and was very keen to share his experience and knowledge, which by that time was considerable. Eric went out of his way to do that. I was very excited when he flushed my first Eastern Grass Owl from a sugar cane farm outisde Gin Gin. Almost as good was my first Black-chinned Honeyeater in a flowering grevillea. These things I remember as if they were recent.

Eric Zillmann & Trevor Quested in Bundaberg in 2011

Our mutual friend Trevor Quested was taken by motor neuron disease in 2015 at his Bundaberg home at the age of 66. I had joined Trevor, another accomplished field naturalist who also contributed so much to knowledge of the region's avifauna, and Eric on the occasional bird-watching trip over the years prior to that. Both were plumbers by occupation and they admired each other greatly.

RIP Eric Zillmann, wildlife warrior extraordinaire.

Eastern Grass Owl

Square-tailed Kite nesting and Shining Flycatchers galore - Burrum Heads & Bundaberg

Square-tailed Kite on nest

A Square-tailed Kite on the nest and multiple sightings of Shining Flycatcher were highlights of a visit this week to Burrum Heads and Bundaberg. We camped for three nights at Burrum Heads before moving on to Boonooroo (the subject of a separate post), and visited Bundaberg for the day.

Trevor Quested & Greg Roberts

In Bundaberg, we met up with Trevor and Annie Quested, along with Bundaberg birding legend Eric Zillmann, and headed off to an active nest being used by a Square-tailed Kite in open woodland north of the city.

Square-tailed Kite on nest

Weather conditions were lousy and the most we saw of the bird was its head occasionally showing. The nest was about 20 metres up in a Lemon-scented Gum. A single, well-developed chick was in the nest but was not visible to us.

Square-tailed Kite

Here's a more comprehensive image of this rare raptor; thanks to Geoff Jones of Barra Imaging for this one.

Eric Zillmann

Eric Zillmann reports that a pair of Square-tailed Kites has been nesting at this same site, near Smith's Crossing - usually in different nests but over a total area of just a few hundred square metres - each year since 1985. They have successfully raised young in all but a handful of nesting seasons. Usually one young is raised; although two or three chicks may hatch, the parents dispose of the others, presumably because of the difficulty of providing sufficient food. A new nest is built most years but occasionally an old one is topped up with twigs and used again.
I've written previously about Eric's knowledge of the Paradise Parrot; he is a wealth of knowledge about birds in the Bundaberg-Gin Gin region.

White-winged Triller

In Trevor and Annie's garden outside Bundaberg, a delightful male White-winged Triller was busy building a nest.

Shining Flycatcher

From Burrum Heads, I spent a morning along the Burrum River in my kayak. I saw a total of seven Shining Flycatchers and heard two others.

Shining Flycatcher

Five of the seven birds were males. Other birds seen from the kayak included:

White-bellied Sea-Eagle

Mangrove Honeyeater

Pied Cormorant

Brahminy Kite

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. 

Campbell Newman Takes an Axe to the Queensland Environment

Part of the area added by Labor to Mapleton National Park on the Sunshine Coast -  Campbell Newman may revoke  Labor's park declarations

This article was published in The Weekend Australian of 1-2 June, 2013

Measures being implemented in Queensland by Premier Campbell Newman amount to the greatest rollback of environmental protection in Australian political history.

A small coterie of Nationals in the Liberal National Party Government ministry, backed by the LNP’s Nationals-dominated organisational wing, is overseeing the systematic dismantling of key environmental laws. Newman, supposedly a Liberal moderate, is turning a blind eye to the Nationals’ escapades in the interests of maintaining LNP unity.

The passage of the Vegetation Management Framework Amendment Bill undermines Labor’s tree-clearing laws, opening up two million hectares of bushland to the bulldozers. The consequences will include loss of biodiversity across the state, further shrinkage of remnant areas of native vegetation and increased levels of greenhouse gas emissions.

Queensland is set to return to the days of having one of the world's highest tree-clearing rates

Newman broke a pre-election promise to keep the laws. Vegetation once protected can now be cleared if land is deemed of “high agricultural value” - an open-ended definition. The protection of regrowth vegetation has been dispensed with. It is easier to bulldoze bushland along watercourses. If land-holders clear specially protected vegetation, the onus of proof is reversed so they can merely plead ignorance to avoid prosecution.

Before Labor’s laws were enacted in 2006, Queensland had one of the world’s highest land-clearing rates; those days are returning although there is less bushland left to clear. Natural Resources Minister Andrew Cripps boasted when foreshadowing the move that he was “taking an axe” to the laws. And so he did: most bushland remaining on private and leased land is up for grabs. Cripps is one of three right-wing Nationals in the ministry – along with Agriculture Minister John McVeigh and State Development Minister and Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney - who have Newman’s blessing for the new environmental agenda.

Eungella Honeyeater - under threat from a new logging licence. Picture by Trevor Quested

McVeigh opened up to 30,000 hectares a year of state forest for logging.  Logging was stopped by Labor as part of a shift to greater use of plantation timber. The “forest wars” that were once a feature of the political landscape are returning: conservationists are outraged by a logging licence granted over rainforest in Crediton State Forest near Mackay - the habitat of the endangered eungella honeyeater.

Seeney is implementing a development blueprint that includes the scrapping of wild river declarations on Cape York. The Government aims to scuttle the proposed World Heritage Listing of Cape York, one of Australia’s outstanding wilderness areas. Seeney has declared that Cape York is open for mining and agricultural expansion.

Mulga woodlands in western Queensland - among the habitats threatened by new tree-clearing laws

Seeney’s plans mirror those of Cape York Aboriginal powerbroker Noel Pearson, who argues that environmental protections stymie indigenous economic opportunities. His opponents say preserving wilderness affords greater opportunities. They point to benefits for indigenous communities that result from protecting World Heritage-listed Kakadu and Uluru-Kata Tujta in the Northern Territory.  Wild river declarations were intended to protect the few watercourses that remain in pristine condition. Murrandoo Yanner is among many indigenous leaders who back wild rivers; they are angered by Pearson’s presumption to speak on their behalf.

Campbell Newman has thrown open two million hectares of bushland to the bulldozers

Cape York aside, declarations of three south-west Queensland rivers in the Lake Eyre Basin are being amended to facilitate mining and agricultural development: guidelines provide “greater efficiencies for petroleum and gas companies”. The move is opposed by an alliance of Aboriginal leaders and farmers. They fear the expansion of controversial coal-seam gas projects and cotton-farming in a region that is too arid to sustain it, and that Lake Eyre will suffer from the diversion of water that in good years would flow to it.

The Wenlock River on Cape York - one of several wild river declarations ditched by Campbell Newman

Newman is reviewing Labor’s national park declarations, signalling that many will be revoked. The protection of national parks is supposed to be set in stone, otherwise there is no point in having them. Queensland’s already small national park estate will contract, and in the process the sanctity of national parks is ditched. Newman has bowed to the Nationals’ demands to allow grazing in national parks - a move with potentially serious consequences for the fragile ecology of arid zone parks.  Newman insists this will save the lives of starving cattle but they will be slaughtered soon in abattoirs anyway; the objective of graziers is to fatten cattle to boost financial returns, not to save their lives.

Wongi State Forest - one of many formerly protected state forest opened up for logging

 A handful of Liberal moderates in the LNP Cabinet harbour reservations about the rollback. However, LNP unity is Newman’s paramount concern, at the price of caving into the Nationals on environmental (and a raft of social) policies. History repeats itself: as with former state coalition governments before the Liberals and Nationals merged in 2008, weak-kneed Liberals are browbeaten into submission by Nationals.

Wallum heath - fewer protections now for coastal vegetation

Newman’s environmental agenda is more destructive than that of former National Party Premier Joh Bjelke-Petersen, who at least protected national parks and launched initiatives to preserve the wilderness values of Cape York. Newman has signalled that 12.5 million hectares of land under government control is under review, with assurances only that “pristine” areas will be protected.

Cooper Creek - one of several south-west Queensland wild river declarations being watered down

 For all his defects, Bjelke-Petersen kept an environmental leash on extremists in the Nationals' ranks. Not so Newman. Now it is open slather.

This article was published in The Weekend Australian of 1-2 June, 2013

Harry's Hut: Masked Owl, Squirrel Glider, Kayaking the Noosa River

Squirrel Glider

Harry's Hut is a lovely camping ground on the banks of the Noosa River in the Cooloola Recreation Area of Great Sandy National Park, reached from Kin Kin in the Sunshine Coast hinterland along a decidedly rough road (allegedly 4-wheel drive only, but take your time and it's okay for other vehicles). We had three nights here and were delighted to find that a Squirrel Glider frequented the trees around our camper van in the evenings.

Squirrel Glider

My friend Trevor Quested saw a Sooty Owl in the large rainforest patch along the road to Harry's Hut a few years back and I spent a couple of hours one night searching unsuccessfully there for this species and Marbled Frogmouth. However, upon my return to camp, I was stunned to see a Masked Owl perched on one of the picnic tables. It flew to a low tree branch affording good if brief views (too brief for the camera); the black lining to the facial disc and greyish-black upperparts were seen clearly.
I later found large owl pellets near the camping ground but no owls were heard. This is my third encounter with Masked Owl in recent months.

Harry's Hut

Also about the camping ground in the evening were  Australian Owlet-Nightjar and White-throated Nightjar. Harry's Hut was built to house workers employed by a long-closed sawmilling operation and is today preserved as an historic site. I last visited here on a camping trip with Glen Ingram in 1972.

Upper Noosa River

We had several forays in the kayak along the Upper Noosa River. The image below shows some of the extensive  Cabbage Tree Palm forest in the area.

Upper Noosa River

This area is regarded as one of Australia's top kayaking/canoeing destinations. From Harry's Hut, someone can hike north or south a few kilometres to a point along the river to be met by a companion who has rowed in a kayak. The two people can swap places to return to the camping ground; my companion Glenn and I did this a couple of times. Upstream from Harry's Hut there are several other camping grounds for those who are happy to transport their camping gear by boat.

Australasian Darter

 A darter along the river and some birds about the camp.

Fantailed Cuckoo

Shining Bronze-Cuckoo 

Variegated Fairy-wren

Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo

 A few reptiles were also about.

Wall Skink

Eastern Water-Dragon

Black Kite

Meanwhile, back on the Sunshine Coast, the influx of Black Kites from inland that was first detected more than 12 months ago continues unabated, and appears to be increasing. There are frequently 200-300 kites in the vicinity of the Nambour rubbish tip and smaller numbers are found throughout the coastal belt.

Black Kite