sunshinecoastbirds

Black-necked Stork

We had a pleasant five-day stay in the Bundaberg area, based at the seaside Bargara Caravan Park. Nice birds included Freckled Duck, Pink-eared Duck, Cotton Pygmy-Goose, Black-necked Stork, Square-tailed Kite, Lesser Crested Tern, Brown Booby, Red-kneed Dotterel, White-eared Monarch, Barn Owl and Shining Flycatcher.

Ready to roll

Cotton Pygmy-Goose

On our way north I found three Cotton Pygmy-Geese in a small roadside wetland just north of Gympie.

Tawny Frogmouth

We called in at small wallum reserve south of Bundaberg where this frogmouth was in full camouflage mode.

Little Friarbird

We then dropped in on our friends Trevor and Annie Quested. Birds in their garden included plenty of Noisy and Little Friarbirds.

Mon Repos beach

The camping ground adjoined the Mon Repos Conservation Park, a major site for sea turtle nesting, though not at this time of year. Brown Booby and Australasian Gannet were in good numbers offshore.

Sooty Oystercatcher

Among the birds here were several Sooty and Pied Oystercatchers on the rocks. A Barn Owl was flushed from a pandanus near the beach during the day. Fairy Gerygones were quite common in the coastal scrub.

Shining Bronze-Cuckoo

This cuckoo was near our camping site.

Rainbow Bee-eater

And a Rainbow Bee-eater struggles with its breakfast.

Black-necked Stork

We did a fair bit of driving, visiting various sites. A juvenile Black-necked Stork was near the mouth of the Kolan River at the Miara Caravan Park. It clearly was quite tame and being fed by fishing folk. Another Black-necked Stork was seen at Bundaberg Port.

Lesser Crested Tern

A single Lesser Crested Tern was seen flying up the river at Miara with more numerous Crested Terns. On a later visit I took the kayak out for a few hours and saw a single male Shining Flycatcher in the mangroves.

Red-kneed Dotterel

Another nice spot was Norval Park, where plenty of small plovers were feeding on the mudflats, including 20+ Red-kneed Dotterels. While travelling from Norval Park to Moore Park Beach, a Square-tailed Kite was seen flying over roadside woodland.

Freckled Duck

Freckled Duck & Pacific Black Duck

Four Freckled Ducks were seen on a lagoon in the heart of Moore Park. One bird had been reported by local birders on the lagoon recently. A single Pink-eared Duck was also present.

Plumed Whistling-Duck

Plumed Whistling-Ducks were in such huge numbers on this lagoon that they had taken over much of the picnic area.

White-eared Monarch

Another spot visited was Smith's Crossing on the Kolan River. White-eared and Spectacled Monarchs were seen here.

Masked Booby

Masked Booby, Fairy Prion, White-faced Storm-Petrel and Black-browed Albatross were the highlights of another successful pelagic trip off Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast on Saturday July 27, 2013.

We headed off in our catamaran, Cat-A-Pult, at 7am in conditions which remained relatively stable throughout the morning, with a 15 knot south-easterly wind - increasing to 18 knots in the early afternoon - and a swell of about 1.2m. The sky was clear, with the temperature ranging from 14 to 21 degrees. Wind conditions had been similar throughout the week so we were hopeful of something decent turning up.

Providence Petrel

Our first Providence Petrel showed at 24 nautical miles offshore, and it proved to be the most common species seen during the day. A Fairy Prion and a few Common Noddies made their appearance as we approached the shelf. A small pod of Pantropical Spotted Dolphins was also seen. We cut the engine 31 nm offshore at 200m on the edge of the shelf, arriving there at 9.15am. We began drifting north, leaving a berley trail of shark liver.

Fairy Prion

We had several Fairy Prions feeding in the wake of the boat, and Providence Petrels were continually present.

Wedge-tailed Shearwater

A Wedge-tailed Shearwater was an unexpected show at this time of year. A single White-faced Storm-Petrel put in a brief appearance soon after and a couple more Common Noddies were seen distantly.

Australasian Gannet

Australasian Gannets in various plumages were seen regularly, including this juvenile. Less expected was an immature Masked Booby which flew over the boat (see first image and below) and landed briefly on the water.

Masked Booby - Picture by Matthew Binns

Among the features noted were a small area of blue facial skin, a yellowish bill, a brown hood and the patterning of its upperparts. Masked Booby is a scarce species in south-east Queensland.

Black-browed Albatross

We were joined for 30 minutes or so by a juvenile Black-browed Albatross. Our only albatross on Sunshine Coast pelagics to date had been Light-mantled Sooty and Buller's (!) so it was nice to finally catch up with this one.

Humpback Whale

As conditions deteriorated and the wind picked up, we headed home at 12.30pm. We had some nice sightings of Humpback Whale on the way back, arriving at the harbour at 3pm.

PARTICIPANTS: Lachlan Tuckwell (skipper), Greg Roberts (organiser), Ian Barnett, Matthew Binns, Sarah Bevis, Chris Craig, Helena Craig, Mya-Rose Craig, Taryn Crispin, Alex Ferguson, Rod Gardner, Jim Macready, Kathy Wilk, Russell Yong.

SPECIES Total (maximum number at one time)

Black-browed Albatross 1 (1)
Providence Petrel 60 (20)
White-faced Storm-Petrel 1 (1)
Wedge-tailed Shearwater 1 (1)
Fairy Prion 12 (3)
Australasian Gannet 30 (5)
Masked Booby 1 (1)
Common Noddy 4 (2)
Crested Tern 20 (4)

Humpback Whale 6 (2)
Pantropical Spotted Dolphin 4 (2)

Black Falcon

Black Falcon is a rare bird in south-east Queensland and nesting records are especially sparse.

Black Falcon

So I was happy to find a pair of Black Falcons nesting in a tall eucalypt on private property near Lake Clarendon in the Lockyer Valley, about an hour's drive west of Brisbane.

I first noted a single bird soaring above the trees when it was joined by a second. Both falcons then landed on the nest.

Black Falcon

The first bird departed, leaving the other sitting tightly on the nest for an hour or so, when I left. The falcon was generally obscured but at one point in emerged partially, allowing these images to be taken. It's difficult to be sure but in some of these pictures the downy head tops of two nestlings appear to be showing.

POSTSCRIPT: It appears this breeding event was successful. Two fully fledged juveniles were seen at this site, along with their parents, on November 9 by Tom Tarrant, Gopi Singaravel, Raja Stephenson and Nikolas Haass: http://www.eremaea.com/BirdlineRecentSightings.aspx?Birdline=7.
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Scaly-breasted Lorikeet

Plenty of parrots and pigeons were in the vicinity.

Common Bronzewing

I called it at a property I formerly owned at the foot of Mt Hallam, where several Common Bronzewings were hanging about.

Australian Hobby

Other raptors about in the Lockyer Valley included this Australian Hobby, 3 Spotted Harriers, 3 Swamp Harriers and 200+ Black Kites.

Yellow-rumped Thornbill

In a patch of woodland in the area I couldn't resist playing around with a couple of thornbills.

Yellow-rumped Thornbill

Freckled Duck & Pink-eared Duck - Kilcoy

A three-night campout on the shore of Atkinson Dam in the Lockyer Valley. There remain plenty of good birds in the area. On the way I stopped at the wetlands in Winya Road, Kilcoy. Eight Freckled Ducks were present along with Pink-eared Duck (6) and Australasian Shoveler (10). Nearby, at the Mary Stokes Creek roadside dam, Cotton Pygmy-Goose (8) was present.

Hoary-headed Grebe

An afternoon drive along Banool Road behind Atkinson Dam turned up Hoary-headed Grebe (2) on a small roadside dam. Interestingly, this species was not encountered later among hundreds of Australasian Grebes on Atkinson Dam.

Red-necked Avocet

Plenty of Red-necked Avocets (200+) were present on Seven Mile Lagoon, with other nice birds including Australasian Shoveler (40) and Hoary-headed Grebe (4) again.

Atkinson Dam proved a lovely setting for camping.

I set off in my kayak in the early morning to explore the 15km or so of dam shore.

Cotton Pygmy-Goose

The dam was full of birds with Cotton Pygmy-Goose (16) present in small flocks.

Pied Cormorant, Great Cormorant, Little Black Cormorant, Black Swan, Australian Pelican

Clearly there were plenty of fish about as pelicans, cormorants (all 4 species) and darters were in large numbers.

Great Crested Grebe

Great Crested Grebe (50+) was plentiful with some birds close to shore.

Whiskered Tern, Caspian Tern

Good numbers of Caspian Terns were about along with a few Gull-billed Terns and Whiskered Terns in non-breeding plumage.

White-bellied Sea-Eagle

White-bellied Sea-Eagles were surprisingly common - about 8 were seen.

Pink-eared Duck

Of particular interest on the dam was a huge (3000+) gathering of Pink-eared Duck at its southern end.

Black Flying-Fox

Sunset over Atkinson Dam

A small colony of Black Flying-Fox with a few Little Red Flying-Fox among them was roosting near the dam.

Freckled Duck - Peach's Lagoon

A circuit of other wetlands in the region began with a stop at Peach's Lagoon, Lower Tenthill, where Freckled Duck (4) was present. These birds have been here for several months.

At nearby Karrasch's Dam, Placid Hills, a single Black-tailed Native-hen was foraging along the shore.

Australasian Shoveler - Karrasch's Dam

Other birds at Karrasch's included Australasian Shoveler (10).

Red-tailed Black Cockatoo

A surprise was a party of Red-tailed Black Cockatoo (5) feeding roadside between the lagoon and the main road.

Blue-billed Duck & Freckled Duck - Lake Galletly

Blue-billed Duck females

After finding a pair of nesting Black Falcon on private land near Lake Clarendon (see post following) a visit to Lake Galletly near Gatton turned up Blue-billed Duck (2 male, 2 female), Pink-eared Duck (50) and Freckled Duck (3).

Ground Parrot - Picture by Graeme Chapman

I've been endeavouring to survey Ground Parrot numbers in the remnant Sunshine Coast population of this rare species. I was delighted a few nights ago to hear 3 birds calling at dusk in wallum heath near Castaways Beach. Two birds were calling together, indicating a possible pair. At another site 1km north of here, I recently heard no parrots calling (see here).

Eastern Grass Owl - Picture by Jim Sneddon

As occurred recently, while playing a Ground Parrot call, an Eastern Grass Owl appeared from nowhere and was clearly interested in the sound. The owls appear to be resident in wallum heath in this area. Calling in an area of creekside marshland at the same site were two Lewin's Rails but they failed to show.

Yellow-billed Spoonbill

Swamp Harrier

Elsewhere about the coast, a Yellow-billed Spoonbill and several Swamp Harriers were seen on River Road, Yandina Waters.

Freckled Duck with Great Cormorant, Australasian Darter, Hardhead

The Freckled Duck is still hanging about the Noosa Botanic Gardens on Lake Macdonald, sitting on the same pipe over the water.

Emerald Dove

In the home garden, an Emerald Dove has appeared at the seed feeder for the first time. A Pale-vented Bush-hen is still vocalising noisily at the bottom of the garden.

Southern Logrunner

During a run out to Charlie Moreland Park yesterday, I managed a half-decent shot of a logrunner but the little buggers are not easy to get a grip on. The weather is warming up quickly and there was evidence of breeding underway with Logrunner and Noisy Pitta in particular being very vocal.

Crested Shrike-tit

Crested Shrike-tit is always nice to see in south-Queensland and a pair showed yesterday.

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo

A large group of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos was feeding roadside on the way to Charlie Moreland.

Carpet Python

A nice 2m Carpet Python is a sign of summer coming.

Double-banded Plover

A nice collection of birds seen in recent days over various sites extending from Bribie Island to Inskip Point includes Double-banded Plover in good numbers at three sites, Beach Stone-Curlew, Lewin's Rail, King Quail, Marbled Frogmouth, White-eared Monarch, Crested Shrike-tit, Black-breasted Buttonquail, Freckled Duck, Pink-eared Duck, an early Latham's Snipe and Glossy Black Cockatoo.

Double-banded Plover

A pleasant week was spent on Bribie Island, staying in a holiday unit at Woorim. About 20 Double-banded Plovers were present at the Kakadu wader roost, many looking smart in breeding plumage. Groups of Double-banded Plover were subsequently seen at the mouth of the Noosa River and at Inskip Point.

Beach Stone-Curlew

A pair of Beach Stone-Curlew was present at the Kakadu roost.

Brahminy Kite

This Brahminy Kite showed nicely at Woorim.

Common Tern

Crested Tern

Little Tern

Sunrise - Woorim, Bribie Island

Some nice terns were on the beach at Woorim, where the sunrise was also pleasant.

Wonga Pigeon

After returning from Bribie I hooked up with British birder Jonathan Newman for a couple of days birding about the Sunshine Coast. We started off well with a Platypus very close in the early morning in the Mary River at Moy Pocket. We heard Lewin's Rail in lantanna thickets nearby before moving on to a forest site on private property at Moy Pocket. Nice birds here included White-eared Monarch, Crested Shrike-tit, Wonga Pigeon, White-naped Honeyeater and Glossy Black Cockatoo (4 flying over). We visited another forest patch near Imbil where there were plenty of fresh Black-breasted Buttonquail platelets but no birds were seen.

Freckled Ducks & Little Black Cormorant

Comb-crested Jacana

We headed east from Imbil to Cooroy, visiting the sewerage ponds and flushing an early Latham's Snipe. Then on to Lake Macdonald in the Noosa Botanic Gardens, where the Freckled Duck that has been present for several weeks was in its usual position, this time accompanied by a mate. Comb-crested Jacana also showed well here. We then battled the tourist traffic to get to the mouth of the Noosa River, seeing Double-banded Plovers at roost in the distance.

Red-kneed Dotterel

We visited the Maroochydore sewerage ponds where a couple of Red-kneed Dotterels were about along with the usual large numbers of Chesnut Teal. We then checked out some wet sclerophyll forest behind Wappa Dam. The final site for the day was North Arm, where 15 Pink-eared Ducks were on the dam - the largest number since the species first turned up here more than a year ago. At a stream nearby, Jonathan was fortunate to glimpse a Lewin's Rail which had been calling.
That evening, we headed up to Mapleton National Park and after some effort, secured excellent views of a bill-clapping male Marbled Frogmouth.

Black-breasted Buttonquail

The next morning saw us leaving early for Inskip Point for the buttonquail as we had missed it at Imbil. We had good but brief views of a female Black-breasted Buttoquail soon after arriving but could not relocate the bird.

Checking out the Noosa Plain

Teewah Creek

We moved on to the Noosa Plain at Cooloola in the Great Sandy National Park, flushing a King Quail from the road on the way in. We spent a couple of hours traversing the wallum heath but dipped on Ground Parrot. The delightful Teewah Creek nearby was a pleasant diversion. We ended the day by heading south to Bli Bli to clean up a couple of birds that Jonathan was still chasing.

Black-breasted Buttonquail

Yesterday I saw two Black-breasted Buttonquail in coastal scrub near Noosa Heads in Noosa National Park. I located a female and shortly after a male feeding relatively in the open under bushes, but they were extremely furtive. Later I saw a female but am not sure if it was the same female I found earlier. These images were taken by me last year at Inskip Point.

Black-breasted Buttonquail

I was tipped off to the presence of the birds by Luke Bennett, who saw a female in the area a few days earlier. Luke had seen buttonquail in the vicinity in 2009 and again in 2012. Black-breasted Buttonquail were located in another section of the park earlier this year by other observers. I also had them for several months in the Coolum section of Noosa National Park a few years ago. All three sites are similar - coastal scrub with open areas - favoured by the birds for feeding - with plenty of dense thickets into which the birds disappear when disturbed.

Black-breasted Buttonquail feeding area - Noosa National Park

The birds are not easy to see here. I searched without success for two hours in the morning, eventually locating them in the early afternoon.

Black-breasted Buttonquail platelet

Platelets are a tell-tale sign of Black-breasted Buttonquail and there were plenty of fresh ones in the sand yesterday.

Lace Monitor

The birds were not interested in playback but this Lace Monitor certainly was. Black-breasted Buttonquail tend to be most responsive in the breeding season, which I believe is late spring-early summer; I have seen a male with chicks at Coolum in December.

Banksia flowers

Coastal scrub aside, there is nice wallum heath and rainforest in Noosa National Park. At this time of year the heath is ablaze with wildflowers, such as these banksias.

Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo

A party of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos was feeding on banksia cones.

Alexandria Bay

I callled in at Alexandria Bay - one of several beautiful sandy beaches in the park.

Alexandria Bay

Alexandria Bay has two claims to fame. It is Queensland's best-known nudist beach, and the only site in Australia where Blue Rock-Thrush has been seen (see here for link).

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

Richmond Birdwing

A fine cast of critters seen on and about the Sunshine Coast over the past 24 hours includes an excellent encounter with a Richmond Birdwing butterfly, sightings of Sooty Owl, Eastern Grass Owl and Marbled Frogmouth, and a host of mammals including Koala and Greater Glider.

Richmond Birdwing

A male Richmond Birdwing was seen this morning in rainforest fringing the Maroochy River at North Arm. It was unexpected here as the habitat is fragmented and infested with Camphor laurel and various exotic weeds. The butterfly was watched for some time as it appeared to make a circuit of about 100 metres or so following the same route, more or less, over and over. The Richmond Birdwing is regarded as a threatened species, endemic to the rainforests of south-east Queensland and north-east NSW.

Eastern Grass Owl - Picture Jim Snedden

Late yesterday afternoon I set out in search of night birds and mammals with NSW birder Hans Wohlmuth. We scored our first success at sunset with an Eastern Grass Owl fly-over. A bird was heard calling soon after as it flew over an area of grassland. We also had 2 or 3 King Quail calling here just before sunset.

Short-eared Brushtail

We headed off to the Conondale Range in the hinterland where we spotlighted in the Conondale National Park and surrounding state forests. We could not locate a Masked Owl I found here recently (see here) but in the same spot where the owl was seen we enjoyed excellent views of a Sooty Owl. I have seen the two species co-existing in several places in the the Sunshine Coast hinterland. Later we heard a second Sooty Owl.

Koala

We had three pairs of Marbled Frogmouth calling in various places, seeing one bird, and also saw Australian Owlet-Nightjar, Tawny Frogmouth and Southern Boobook.

Greater Glider

We did well with mammals during the evening, seeing a fine male Koala, 4 Greater Gliders, 1 Common Ringtail, 1 Short-eared Brushtail, 2 Common Brushtails, 1 Brindled Bandicoot, 1 Grey-headed Flying-Fox, 1 Black Flying-Fox and several Red-necked Pademelons.

Common Sheathtail Bat

We spent eight days in the Upper Burnett region, north-west of Brisbane, visiting Cania Gorge, Kalpowar and the Eidsvold region. On the way we saw a Black Falcon just before Munduburra. First stop was Cania George for three nights in the camping ground at the entrance to the national park.

Common Sheathtail Bat

Cania Gorge is an outlier of the extensive sandstone escarpment country further west, best known at Canarvon Gorge. Among the many caves seen on the Cania park walking trails is one containing a colony of Common Sheath-tail Bats. The species must be at or close to the southern end of its distributional range here.

Cania Gorge

The trails pass through steep-sided sandstone gullies containing dry rainforest, with eucalypt woodland on the flats and slopes.

Cania Gorge

Whiptail Wallaby

Whiptail Wallabies are among the many macropods in the area.

Red-winged Parrot

Some of the birds here are more typical of western and northern Queensland, such as Red-winged Parrot, which occur side-by-side with their close relative, the Australian King-Parrot. Some of the birds out and about:

Rainbow Bee-eater

Leaden Flycatcher

Pacific Baza

Southern Boobook

Freckled Duck

After leaving Cania Gorge, a few kilometres before Monto, a Freckled Duck was seen along with a few Red-kneed Dotterels on a roadside dam.

Red-kneed Dotterel

Next stop was Kalpowar, an interesting site comprised of dry woodland interspersed with extensive areas of vine scrub. There were plenty of disbanded mine shafts from a long-gone gold-digging era. We had the campsite here to ourselves for two nights. Of considerable interest was the recording of both Large-tailed Nightjar and White-throated Nightjar from the campsite. We saw and heard White-throated Nightjar in the early evening, while Large-tailed Nightjar was calling fairly distantly at intervals during the night, presumably from a nearby scrub patch.

Our campsite at Kalpowar

Jacky Winter

Jacky Winter was probably the most plentiful small bird.

Little Bronze Cuckoo

Dusky Honeyeater

Some nice birds about included Dusky Honeyeater, Little Bronze Cuckoo and unusually good numbers of Speckled Warbler. White-eared Monarch, Wompoo Fruit-Dove and Noisy Pitta were heard in the vine scrubs.

Speckled Warbler

And a couple of butterflies. See the next post for the Eidsvold area.

Chequered Swallowtail

Common Pencil-blue

Squatter Pigeon

After visiting Cania Gorge and Kalpowar, we moved on to Tolderodden Conservation Park just west of Eidsvold for three nights, completing our visit to the North Burnett region.

Squatter Pigeon

Of interest here were repeated sightings of Squatter Pigeon, a very rare species in south-east Queensland becoming more common (though still quite scarce) further north. I had up to five birds coming in regularly to a waterhole near our camp and saw them also on the outskirts of Eidsvold.

Squatter Pigeon

The camp at Tolderodden is by the Burnett River, which snakes its way through dry eucalypt woodland and the rich cattle pastures of the Upper Burnett. Large numbers of fallen trees by the river are testimony to the force of flooding in the river in recent summers, especially 2010.

Burnett River

The view from our camp at Tolderodden (above).

Emu

It was nice to encounter Emu a few times near the camp.

Australian Pelican, Yellow-billed Spoonbill, Royal Spoonbill, Straw-necked Ibis

Cotton Pygmy-Goose

Waterbirds on a dam nearby included Cotton Pygmy-Goose and a few others.

Eastern Brown Snake

This Eastern Brown Snake was found freshly road-killed. The Eastern Brown is one of the world's deadliest snakes, a cautionary reminder of the need to tread carefully when birding the woodlands.

Termite mound

Plenty of old termite mounds were about, a reminder that this was the heart of the distribution of the now extinct Paradise Parrot, which nested in the mounds. The last confirmed sightings of Paradise Parrot were not far from Eidsvold - see here for report.

Brown Falcon

While wandering this area I encountered Ground Cuckoo-Shrikes on three occasions but the birds flew off each time before I had a chance to photograph them. The species has a bad habit of disappearing into the distance for no apparent reason. This falcon, which was mobbed by one of the cuckoo-shrikes, was more obliging.

White-winged Triller

Plenty of White-winged Trillers about.

Wedge-tailed Eagle

A pair of Wedge-tailed Eagles maintained a roadside vigil as they fed on a road-killed kangaroo.

Herbert's Rock-Wallaby

It was nice to find plenty of Herbert's Rock-Wallabies in the area. They were easy to see early in the morning sunning themselves on rocks near the camp.

Pretty-face Wallaby

Other macropods included Pretty-face, Red-necked and Swamp Wallabies, and Eastern Grey Kangaroo.

White-bellied Sea-Eagle

On the way home, near Gympie, this White-bellied Sea-Eagle was attending two large young in a nest by a small dam.

Noosa Plain

An interesting couple of days about the region. I spent a late afternoon/early evening on the Noosa Plain at Cooloola, followed by an early morning session there. The next morning I was back on the Sunshine Coast and out in my kayak on the Mooloolah River.

Brush Bronzewing

I flushed two Ground Parrots by the road in the late afternoon at the traditional spot along the telegraph line road. At dusk I heard about 8 parrots calling, including one which called as it flew from one area of heath to another, crossing the road. A total of 3 King Quail (a pair and a single male) were also flushed from the road edge and several called at dusk. Also calling in the heath was a pair of Lewin's Rail.

The next morning I saw 3 Brush Bronzewings on the road at the Como Scarp end, quite close to its junction with the Cooloola Way. They were distant and very shy so only poor images were obtained. I noticed that the birds returned to the road after being flushed so this may be a good spot for this difficult (in south-east Queensland) species.

Emerald Dove

A juvenile Emerald Dove was in the same spot as the Brush Bronzewings.

White-winged Triller

Also around the edge of the Noosa Plain I found a White-winged Triller and a Rufous Songlark. Both are scarce summer visitors to south-east Queensland.

Noisy Friarbird

Wildflowers were looking good in the flush of spring, with plenty of honeyeaters attacking the flowering xanthorrhoeas.

Mooloolah River

I kayaked about 7km up the Mooloolah River from Kawana Island on the Sunshine Coast.

Shining Flycatcher

I never tire of Shining Flycatchers and was pleased to find a pair in the mangroves quite close to the busy Kawana Way. This is my first record of the species from the Mooloolah River, so it is established in the Sunshine Coast's three rivers - the Noosa, Maroochy and Mooloolah - as well as in Tin Can Bay to the North and Pumicestone Passage to the south.

Fairy Gerygone

I also found a Fairy Gerygone in the mangroves, the first time I have seen the species in mangroves on the Sunshine Coast, where they are usually in dry vine scrub. Mangrove Gerygone was also here. A couple of other birds along the way:

Pied Oystercatcher

Striated Heron

Meanwhile the spring nesting season is in full swing. This Noisy Friarbird is nesting in our Ninderry garden. And this week, the Koels and Channel-billed Cuckoos have returned for the season.

Noisy Friarbird

Lewin's Rail

I have found Lewin's Rail at two new sites near Eumundi over the past couple of days. Two birds offered repeated, close views along a small creek. The rails are seen easily because they are inside lantana thickets. Lewin's Rail does not like to be out in the open. In my experience they are easiest to see in lantana because the vegetation cover allows the birds to be bolder; it is often possible to get yourself inside the thickets and sit quietly.
The other rails near Eumundi were nearby in wet grassland. Lewin's Rail has also been present recently at North Arm and Noosaville.

Lewin's Rail habitat - Eumundi

The first image in this post I took some time ago at Peregian Beach. The birds today and yesterday, although seen well, were always behind an abundance of twigs, blurring them in pictures. They were also shy, moving about quickly.

Black-necked Stork

An adult male Black-necked Stork was looking good in the sunlight this morning at Lake Macdonald.

Latham's Snipe

Also behaving itself camera-wise was a Latham's Snipe.

Latham's Snipe

Red-kneed Dotterel

Red-kneed Dotterels are still about the Sunshine Coast. These 5 birds were at the Maroochydore sewerage treatment works.

Pied Goose

Meanwhile, the Cooroy sewerage treatment works have reopened after a lengthy closure due to plant renovations. Pied Goose looked smart among the spring waterlilies.

Tawny Grassbird

Tawny Grassbird and Little Grassbird were singing side by side at Cooroy.
Some other birds out and about at Cooroy:

Australian Reed-Warbler

Brown Gerygone

Fairy Martin

Red-browed Finch

And in grassland near Eumundi, the nesting season was in evidence:

Chesnut-breasted Mannikin

Silvereye

Golden-headed Cisticola

Oriental Plover

I finally got around to getting down to the Kakadu wader roost on the western shore of Bribie Island where birding friend Tom Tarrant found an Oriental Plover last week.

Oriental Plover

The bird at high tide was about half-way between the two hides. It was not immediately obvious as it was initially sitting in longish grass.

Oriental Plover & Mongolian Plover

Because the tide was very high (2m+) there were quite a few waders roosting here. Waders generally prefer Toorbul across the Pumicestone Passage to Kakadu, but very high tides will see fair numbers using Kakadu. The plover was generally by itself but occasionally mixed loosely with a flock of Mongolian Plovers and Red-necked Stints.
Oriental Plover is a very rare summer visitor to south-east Queensland, usually occurring on short-grassed flats further inland.

Mongolian Plover

Red-necked Stint

Beach Stone-Curlew & Pied Oystercatcher

The resident pair of Beach Stone-Curlew was showing nicely.

Black-tailed Godwit

Before going to Kakadu I called in to the above-mentioned Toorbul wader roost, looking in vain for an Asian Dowitcher seen there recently. Some of the other waders here - above and below.

Great Knot, Bar-tailed Godwit, Whimbrel

Grey-tailed Tattler

Black-necked Stork

I also visited Buckley's Hole on Bribie Island. A Black-necked Stork seen there recently was still about. This is the second adult male of this species I've seen in two days (the other was yesterday at Lake Macdonald).

Lamington Spiny Crayfish

We had a pleasant few days in the Border Ranges National Park in northern NSW, based at the Sheepstation Creek camping ground. This Lamington Spiny Crayfish was in a rainforest stream; I fished it out for a better look. Interestingly, the species is highly variable in colour. Those in Lamington National Park are blue; in northern NSW they are red.

Nothofagus beech forest

I was here this time last year and enjoyed multiple sightings of Rufous Scrubbird (see here). It was hotter and drier this time but I managed fantastic views of a singing male scrubbird. It was the only one I heard, although road closures prevented access to some territories. As usual, the bird would not allow itself to be photographed but the image above is where I saw it.
I called in briefly to a spot where last year a pair of vocal Eastern Bristlebirds showed well. A bristlebird was heard calling a couple of times.

Bassian Thrush

More obliging was Bassian Thrush in the camping ground at Forest Tops, up the mountain from Sheepstation Creek, where Russet-tailed Thrush was also present. Also seen in the national park were three Albert's Lyrebirds in different places.

Satin Bowerbird

Satin Bowerbird bower

The Satin Bowerbirds at Sheepstation Creek were again busy with their bower.

Black-faced Monarch

Black-faced Monarchs have returned for the summer.

Rough-scaled Snake

Among other wildlife was this Rough-scaled Snake, a venemous species.

Carpet Python

And a non-venemous Carpet Python.

Australian Logrunner - male

Australian Logrunner - female

It was nice to finally snare some decent images of Australian Logrunner.

Rose Robin

Rose Robin is resident in small numbers in these mountains, while the species is a winter visitor generally in south-east Queensland and north-east NSW.

Our camp at Sheepstation Creek - Kathy, Glenn, Greg.

Striated Thornbill

Striated Thornbill showed nicely.

Grey-headed Flying-Fox

Black Flying-Fox

After leaving the national park we found a mixed roost of Grey-headed Flying-Fox and Black Flying-Fox in a small patch of forest in otherwise cleared farmland.

Eastern Rosella

Between Kyogle and Casino I stopped for a Black-necked Stork (adult female) in a roadside wetland and was distracted by this lovely rosella.

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper

I called in to the Jabiru Geneebeinga Wetlands at Casinio - or at least a nice area of swamp on both sides of the road a little east of the actual wetlands. Among the waders were about 30 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers and a similar number of Red-kneed Dotterels.

Glossy Ibis

50 or so Glossy Ibis were present.

Latham's Snipe

And a Latham's Snipe showed well.

Freckled Duck & Pink-eared Ducks

At a wetland in the town of Lawrence, near the Clarence River, I found 10 Freckled Ducks amid a large flock of 300+ Pink-eared Ducks.

Southern Emu-wren, male

After visiting Border Ranges National Park (following post) we visited the coastal national parks of Yuragygir and Bundjalung. We spent three nights at the seaside camping ground/caravan park at Brooms Head and two nights at the Woody Point camping ground near Iluka.

Southern Emu-wren, female

I found several pairs and parties of Southern Emu-wren in low heath in Yuraygir National Park along a sand track heading north just before Brooms Head township. The emu-wrens were often in the company of Red-backed Fairy-wrens.

Southern Emu-wren, female

Tawny-crowned Honeyeater

In the same area of heath I saw several Tawny-crowned Honeyeaters. This species is close to the northern limit of its distributional range here. Among the Tawny-crowneds was a newly fledged youngster. White-cheeked Honeyeater was also common in the heath.
Quite a few bronzewings were about but they turned out to be Common, not Brush as might be expected in this habitat.I had a flock of 100+ White-throated Needletails feeding over the heath and among them were a few Fork-tailed Swifts.

Tawny-crowned Honeyeater

Yuraygir is one of the few places in coastal NSW where emus are to be still found. We saw a distant party not in the national park but in cane fields between Maclean and Brooms Head.

Short-tailed Shearwater

At both Brooms Head and Woody Head and all along the coast, large numbers of Short-tailed Shearwaters were battling strong winds offshore, with numerous birds on the water and beach, dead or dying. At one point they were literally falling out of the sky, with birds on roads and footpaths, in gardens and parks - all over the place.

Short-tailed Shearwater

Similar spectacles were evidently unfolding elsewhere along the NSW coast in what clearly is a very large wreck of young shearwaters returning to their south-east Australian breeding grounds for the first time. Among the numerous Short-taileds offshore were small numbers of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters. A single Streaked Shearwater was also seen off Woody Head.

Short-tailed Shearwater

Ruddy Turnstone

Waders around the rocky headlands at Brooms Head included a pair of Sooty Oystercatchers and good numbers of Ruddy Turnstone. Eastern Reef-Egret was also present.

Sooty Oystercatcher

Eastern Reef-Egret

Grey-tailed Tattler

On mudflats at Sandon, a short drive from Brooms head, several Grey-tailed Tattlers were present, along with Common Greenshanks and a few other waders.

Common Greenshank

Lake Arragan, Yuraygir National Park

A few scenic shots. The image above is looking inland over Lake Arragan from dunes north of Brooms Head.

Red Cliff, Yuraygir National Park

Red Cliff in the same area was impressive.

Clarence River, Iluka

We visited the delightful pub at Iluka, where this image was taken of the Clarence River.

Bundjalung National Park

The coastline in Bundjalung National Park was equally impressive - this is the beach south of Woody Head.

Red-necked Wallaby

Swamp Wallaby

Macropods included large numbers of Eastern Grey Kangaroo and Red-necked Wallaby, and a couple of frisky Swamp Wallabies.

Olive-backed Oriole

An Olive-backed Oriole showing nicely.

Pelicans at Brooms Head

A fish-cleaning bench at Brooms Head.

Blue-faced Honeyeater

This honeyeater is well-named.

Osprey

Plenty of Ospreys about.

Humpback Whale

Offshore, quite a few Humpback Whales were seen splashing about in the rough seas.

White-eared Monarch

We visited the remnant rainforest at Iluka Nature Reserve, where I had no trouble getting on to White-eared Monarch, here at the southern end of its distributional range. Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove and Regent Bowerbird were plentiful here.

When Roger Jaensch found a Regent Honeyeater two days ago at Stanmore, near Woodford in south-east Queensland, the local birding world was aflutter. This is an extremely rare species in south-east Queensland, especially east of the Great Divide. So when the bird was seen again yesterday, it looked like it was going to hang around.

Marie Tarrant on the job

And so it transpired that this morning, a small army of twitchers descended on the site, searching thoroughly but unsuccessfully for the elusive honeyeater until giving up around lunch-time. Later in the afternoon, however, the bird was seen by other observers.

Rufous Songlark

Fortunately some other nice birds were about. Rufous Songlark and White-winged Triller, both fairly scarce summer migrants in south-east Queensland, were present in some numbers along Cove Road and were singing well.

White-winged Triller

Eastern Koel

A female Common Koel was unusually co-operative for this species.

Glossy Ibis

Birds on a roadside dam at the honeyeater site included Glossy Ibis, Marsh Tern, Yellow-billled Spoonbill and Latham's Snipe.

Black-necked Stork

A male Black-necked Stork was on another dam along Little Cove Road.

Black-tailed Native-hen

Five Black-tailed Native-hens were seen at the wetland adjacent to the meatworks at nearby Kilcoy.

Marbled Frogmouth

A spot of owling in the Sunshine Coast hinterland last night was productive with excellent views of a pair of Marbled Frogmouths and fleeting views of a third Marbled Frogmouth. Two Tawny Frogmouths were also seen.

Australian Owlet-Nightjar

A pair of White-throated Nightjars performed nicely at dusk near Wappa Dam. Close to home at Ninderry, this Australian Owlet-Nightjar showed well after others of its species remained frustratingly elusive earlier in the evening.

Channel-billed Cuckoo

In the home garden at Ninderry, meanwhile, Channel-billed Cuckoo this season has been exceptionally vocal and unusually visible.

Grey Goshawk on nest

A day out birding earlier in the week began well at Little Yabba Creek with Dusky Honeyeater, White-eared Monarch, Crested Shrike-tit, large numbers of Wompoo Fruit-Dove and Barred Cuckoo-shrike. We moved on to Moy Pocket, seeing Painted Buttonquail and Fairy Gerygone. A Black-necked Stork was present at Lake Macdonald, where the Freckled Duck was perched in its usual spot. A Lewin's Rail showed very nicely near Eumundi and a Spotted Harrier at North Arm. This female Grey Goshawk was sitting on a nest near Cooroy, where a day earlier I saw a pair of King Quail.

Masked Owl

This magnificent Masked Owl was flushed during the day by birders who prefer to remain anonymous along Elimbah Creek near Donnybrook on September 2 this year.

Masked Booby

An adult Masked Booby was found by Bec Tardent on Sunrise Beach, Sunshine Coast, on September 30 this year. Bec reports that the bird was not bothered by a steady procession of beachgoers.

Stanmore Regent Honeyeater - Picture by Ken Cross

After failing on Saturday to find the Regent Honeyeater that turned up late last week at Stanmore, near Woodford in south-east Queensland (see next post), I returned to the site yesterday (Tuesday October 29). The Regent Honeyeater was the first bird I saw when I arrived at 660 Cove Road at 5.40am. The bird was in a flowering shrub to the left of the driveway, where it has been seen several times in recent days.

Little Friarbird

I had the honeyeater in view for just a few seconds before it disappeared, so no photographic opportunities. Ken Cross snapped the bird in the first image in the same flowering shrub on Sunday. I waited by the shrub until 9.15am and saw it once more, very briefly in flight. In that time, the flowers were visited by Little Friarbird, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Brown Honeyeater, Noisy Miner and Scaly-breasted Lorikeet. The Regent is by all accounts highly nervous and flighty. When Roger Jaensch found the bird last week, he reported that it associated closely with a Little Friarbird. That was also the case when I saw it yesterday.
This is only the third time I have seen this endangered species: the other sightings were on the Cumberland Plain west of Sydney and near Storm King Dam, Queensland.

Curlew-Sandpiper

I moved on to Nathan Road Wetlands at Kippa-Ring but could not find the Pectoral and Wood Sandpipers that were found here last week by Gavin Goodyear. (They could have easily been there - conditions were dreadful, very hot with strong, gusty winds.) A few Curlew-Sandpipers and Red-necked Stints were scattered among the many Sharp-tailed Sandpipers.

Latham's Snipe

Several Latham's Snipe were about. Also seen was a single Black-tailed Native-hen that has been there for a few days. Interestingly, the first native-hen to be recorded in south-east Queensland was at this site (seen by Keith Taylor in the early-1970s).

Marsh Sandpiper

About 20 Marsh Sandpipers were on the wetland - a large number for this species in south-east Queensland - along with good numbers of Red-necked Avocet.

Red-necked Avocet

Comb-crested Jacana

I called in to Buckley's Hole on Bribie Island but there was no sign of the Australasian and Australian Little Bitterns seen there recently during the 2 hours I was in the hide. A single Spotless Crake, 4 Glossy Ibis and confiding Comb-crested Jacanas were among the birds present..

Boebuck

Closer to home, the resident Boebuck in our Ninderry garden on the Sunshine Coast has a baby.

Common Brushtail

A Common Brushtail and its young have been sleeping in the shed, so we have two possum species presently with young in toe, both continually raiding the seed in the bird feeders.

Wallum heath near Noosa

Over the weekend I visited an area of wallum heath near Noosa with Jon and Alison Elliott. We saw Eastern Ground Parrot, King Quail and Painted Buttonquail. I've not previously seen the buttonquail in this habitat; it was presumably feeding on grass seeds in recently burned heath.

One of only two images of Paradise Parrot in the wild

A recent visit to the Upper Burnett River Valley (the report is here) got me thinking about the Paradise Parrot, the only bird on mainland Australia to have become extinct. It was in this part of south-east Queensland that the last authentic sightings of Paradise Parrot in the wild were made. Cyril Jerrard observed the parrots over a seven-year period between 1920 and 1927 on and around Manar Station, near Gayndah, with a neighbour seeing the species in 1928.

Eric Zillmann saw the Paradise Parrot over a five-year period between 1933 and 1938 around Wallaville west of Gin Gin, also in the Burnett River Valley, about 80 kilometres north-east of Manar Station. Despite many claims of sightings since, Eric Zillmann's are believed to be the last authentic records. I reported a first-hand account of Eric's sightings in a previous post (see here).

Termite mound - Eidsvold

There are several earlier records of Paradise Parrot from Eidsvold, Gayndah and elsewhere in the Upper Burnett region -evidently a stronghold for the species - in the late nineteenth century; most of these are documented in Penny Olsen's fine book about the species, Glimpses of Paradise: The Quest for the Beautiful Parrakeet. While wandering the woodlands around Eidsvold in the Upper Burnett, I noticed numerous termite mounds of the type once used for nesting by the Paradise Parrot. The experience prompted me to take another look at Cyril Jerrard's historic observations in the region.

Cyril Jerrard

I was fascinated to read Jerrard's comprehensive account of his encounters with the species. Jerrard never got around to publishing his findings but prepared a draft article based on his notes. The draft surfaced decades later and has been published by the National Library. Jerrard's elegant account of his first contact with the species is captivating:

“Whit! Whit!” The piercing but not unmusical notes caught my ear with the interest that for me always attaches to a strange bird call. I drew rein and followed with my eyes the two pretty little long tailed and low flying birds — parrots unmistakably — that after uttering their preliminary whistle of alarm, rose at my approach and flew from the roadside, where they had been feeding, to a tree not far off . I turned my unwilling horse off the road and for half an hour quietly followed the little strangers as they moved from place to place, feeding on the ground or resting in the trees. They manifested no great fear of me, so that I was able to note their principal markings and to observe that one — the male evidently — was exceedingly beautiful, the other —pretty but more modest of garb, and both very graceful in their shape and movements."

Paradise Parrot

At the time of this discovery in 1920, the Paradise Parrot was feared to be extinct as there had been no firm records for many years. Jerrard was aware of the parrot because a friend had given him a newspaper clipping in which renowned ornithologist Alec Chisholm issued a public plea for information about its potential survival.
Jerrard located a nest in 1922 and was able to obtain two photographs, one of the male at the nest entrance and one of a pair on the termite mound. They are the only images of wild Paradise Parrots in existence. Jerrard describes the moment of capturing his first image (above):

"He was in a tree close to me, but I could not see him till, after a few minutes of breathless waiting on my part, he dropped to the fence just behind the nest and, after another challenging note or two, alighted in all his glory on the nest mound itself. It was one of the supreme moments of my life. I pressed the release."

Paradise Parrot egg clutch

Both Cyril Jerrard and Eric Zillmann found clutches of eggs inside termite mounds used for nesting. Cyril Jerrard opened up his mound when it became obvious the birds had stopped sitting on the eggs, which evidently were infertile. Eric Zillmann found a clutch when he and other workers were levelling termite mounds for material that was used to form the basis of tennis courts at the time.

Cyril Jerrard inspects a Paradise Parrot nest

I found an account by a farm worker, Arthur Elliot, who worked as a jackeroo on Manar Station between 1927 and 1929, when the last Paradise Parrots were seen there. Elliot had no knowledge of parrots but wrote of his surroundings:

"I remember riding up a high hill on the edge of the scrub and looking out over miles and miles of brigalow scrub, the leaves shimmering in the sun like the sea."

Elliot commented that between 3,000 and 4,000 head of cattle were on Manar Station. Herein lies the explanation for the extinction of the Paradise Parrot: the widespread modification of its woodland habitat for the grazing industry. Other seed-eating birds occurring within the southern Queensland distribution of the Paradise Parrot, such as the Squatter Pigeon and Black-throated Finch, similarly suffered dramatic population declines, presumably for the same reason.

Jerrard sums the fate of the parrot up well:

"The most fatal change of all for the grass seed eating Paradise Parrot, was that the more nutritious of the native cereals, like the Oat or Kangaroo grasses, were dying out under overstocking by sheep and cattle. What still remained were not allowed to produce their seed. Droughts accentuated their food scarcity to the point of starvation and in particular, it has been definitely recorded that the 1902 drought absolutely wiped the “ground parrot” out in some districts."

As a consequence, the world is a poorer place.

Mottled Petrel and large numbers of Short-tailed Shearwaters were the highlights of the November 2 pelagic trip off Mooloolaba on the Sunshine Coast. We had high hopes for this pelagic as there had been a prolonged period of rough weather offshore in the days preceding and a forecast 10-15 knot south-easterly. As it transpired, however, the wind was barely moving; it was consequently one of those days when not much was happening, although some cetaceans and a big fish livened things up.

Short-tailed Shearwater

The day belonged to the Short-tailed Shearwaters, the first of which we saw even before we had left the Mooloolah River following our departure from the Mooloolaba Marina at 6.30am. The Short-taileds were ever present as we headed offshore on a fine, sunny day, with a water temperature of 25 degrees and a maximum temperature for the day of 27 degrees. A fair number of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters made an appearance inshore. Cetaceans were looking good with three species of dolphin seen on our way out.

We crossed over the shelf in two hours following a smooth ride with a swell of under a metre and began leaving a berley trail at 8.40am at 410 metres, 32.5 nautical miles from shore (26',36',692'S; 153', 43', 630'E). The wind was barely discernible, an easterly breeze of under 5 knots which altered little as the day progressed.

Mottled Petrel - Picture by Raja Stephenson

Our hopes lifted soon after arriving on the shelf when we saw a distant Mottled Petrel. However, Short-
tailed Shearwaters and a few Wedge-tailed Shearwaters were all that were coming to the boat. The Short-taileds were about the boat all day. A distant Sooty Tern was seen soon after we arrived on the shelf. Soon after, a single Wilson's Storm-Petrel passed by the boat and later in the morning a second storm-petrel stopped briefly to check out the berley.

Short-tailed Shearwater

Wedge-tailed Shearwater

A welcome diversion was afforded by a Tiger Shark which appeared just under the surface and lingered around the boat for a while. Then around midday a second Mottled Petrel was seen, this one closer but still not coming to the boat.

Short-tailed Shearwater

It was evident that the Short-tailed Shearwaters were hungry as they were feeding constantly. Large numbers of shearwaters are currently being washed up on Sunshine Coast beaches, continuing the trend over the past 3-4 weeks which has seen a huge wreck of this species along the coast of south-east Queensland and New South Wales.

After drifting south with the current for 8 nautical miles, we headed inshore at 1.30pm, seeing little other than a nice pod of Pantropical Spotted Dolphins and arriving back at the harbour at 3.30pm.

PARTICIPANTS: Lachlan Tuckwell (skipper), Greg Roberts (organiser), Luke Bennett, Duncan Cape, Wayne Ellis, Rod Gardner, Nikolas Haass, Sue Lee, Ross Sinclair, Natalie Sinclair, Raja Stephenson, Paul Walbridge, Brian Willey, Michael Wood.

SPECIES: Total (Maximum at one time)

Short-tailed Shearwater 400 (30)
Wedge-tailed Shearwater 40 (5)
Mottled Petrel 2 (1)
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 2 (1)
Crested Tern 6 (2)
Sooty Tern 1 (1)
Silver Gull 8 (6)

Offshore Bottle-nosed Dolphin 4 (2)
Short-beaked Common Dolphin 2 (2)
Pantropical Spotted Dolphin 7 (4)

Birding Bundaberg

Masked Booby, Fairy Prion, Black-browed Albatross - July 2013 Sunshine Coast Pelagic

Black Falcon Nesting in Lockyer Valley

Birding and Camping in the Lockyer Valley

Ground Parrot, Grass Owl, Lewin's Rail: Coast and Hinterland

Bribie Island to Inskip Point

Black-breasted Buttonquail at Noosa Heads

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

Sunshine Coast Critter Pot-Pourri: Richmond Birdwing, Koala, Sooty Owl, Grass Owl, Marbled Frogmouth

Cania Gorge & Kalpowar

Eidsvold: Squatter Pigeon, Ground Cuckoo-Shrike, Emu, Herbert's Rock-Wallaby

Cooloola to Mooloolah: Brush Bronzewing, Ground Parrot, Shining Flycatcher, King Quail, Fairy Gerygone

Lewin's Rail Out and About

Bribie Island's Oriental Plover

Border Ranges National Park and Nearby Wetlands, NSW

Yuraygir & Bundjalung National Parks, Northern NSW

Marbled Frogmouth, Masked Owl, Black-tailed Native-hen, Masked Booby, Failed Regent Honeyeater Twitch

Stanmore's Regent Honeyeater

Paradise Parrot: Historical Musings

Sunshine Coast Pelagic Trip November 2013