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| Golden Bowerbird |
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| Maple Cottage at Possum Valley |
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| Golden Bowerbird |
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| Golden Bowerbird |
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| Golden Bowerbird |
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| Golden Bowerbird female |
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| Rainforest lake - Possum Valley |
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| Little Kingfisher |
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| Little Kingfisher |
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| Little Kingfisher |
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| Little Kingfisher |
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Queensland Road Trip 3: Golden Bowerbird & Little Kingfisher at Possum Valley
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Queensland Road Trip 4: Tree-Kangaroo & Possums at Possum Valley
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| Lumholtz's Tree-Kangaroo |
Lumholtz's Tree-Kangaroo was the highlight of a spotlighting foray during our stay at the Possum Valley Rainforest Cottages on the Atherton Tableland in north Queensland. Excellent encounters with Golden Bowerbird and Little Kingfisher (see following post) were the ornithological highlights of our stay here, but the mammals did not disappoint.
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| Entrance Road to Possum Valley |
Rainforest lines almost 3km of the 4km entrance road to Possum Valley, and driving along here is the best way of connecting with the arboreal mammals for which the wet tropics is renowned.
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| Lemur-like Ringtail |
Our first possum was a Lemur-like or Lemuroid Ringtail curled up in a ball high in the canopy. We were to see about 10 of this species during our night drive, including a couple of groups of 2-4 animals.
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| Herbert River Ringtail |
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| Herbert River Ringtail |
We next found a Herbert River Ringtail, again high in the canopy. We saw a total of 6 during the drive, including a couple low in the canopy.
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| Lumholtz's Tree-Kangaroo |
The highlight however was a magnificent Lumholtz's Tree-Kangaroo almost at eye level by the road. It appeared to be slumbering, perched in a tree fork. I had seen this species just once previously and it was a buzz for Glenn to connect with a tree-kangaroo.
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| Coppery Brushtails |
A Coppery Brushtail was also spotlighted but these were common about the cabins, with 2 or 3 in residence in the ceiling of Maple Cottage, our abode.
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| Coppery Brushtails feeding time |
It was a nightly battle on the verandah to fend off their food-seeking attentions. The youngster looked very much like a Common Brushtail, with the adult showing the coppery colouration of this subspecies.
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| Red-legged Pademelon |
Other mammals about included plenty of Red-legged Pademelons on lawns around the lodges.
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| Dingo x |
A dingo-dog cross was seen on one of the walking trails.
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Queensland Road Trip 5: Wet Tropics Birds Revisited
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| Grey-headed Robin |
Getting reacquainted with the birds of Queensland's wet tropics has been a joy. Here at Possum Valley, where we are winding up a 5-day stay, the rainforest is high altitude, where many specialties are restricted including the iconic Golden Bowerbird (see here for earlier sightings).
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| Golden Bowerbird bower |
The owner of Possum Valley, Paul Tredgett, told me where to find a bower being attended by a Golden Bowerbird along one of the trails. It is in the same spot where I photographed a male bird a couple of days earlier.
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| Grey-headed Robin |
Among other birds, Grey-headed Robin is common in the forest but somewhat skulking in this area.
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| Lewin's Honeyeater & friend |
Lewin's Honeyeater is absurdly tame, alighting on visitors for food scraps and entering the cabin kitchens even in search of tucker.
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| Bridled Honeyeater |
Bridled Honeyeater is less common in the lodge grounds.
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| Mountain Thornbill |
Mountain Thornbill is common in the forest and around the edges.
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| Atherton Scrubwren |
Fernwren, Atherton Scrubwren and Large-billed Scrubwren were all seen. I started a Facebook discussion on the images here and people are divided as to whether these are juvenile Fernwrens or Atherton Scrubwrens. They were on the edge of the forest, close to the ground but in the open, and calling like scrubwrens; I've concluded they are juvenile Atherton Scrubwrens.
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| Atherton Scrubwren |
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| Bower's Shrike-thrush |
Bower's Shrike-thrush is uncommon on the forest edge.
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| Satin Bowerbird |
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| White-throated (Little) Treecreeper |
Several small northern races of species more widespread in south-eastern Australia are present in numbers in Possum Valley. These include White-throated (Little) Treecreeper, Satin Bowerbird and Crimson Rosella.
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| Spotted Catbird |
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| Little Kingfisher |
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| Pale-yellow Robin |
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| Platypus |
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Queensland Road Trip 6: Malanda & Platypus, Riflebird, Tree-Kangaroo
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| Victoria's Riflebird |
On the last morning of our stay at Possum Valley (see following two posts) I finally had some nice encounters with Platypus, seeing a total of 4 animals on 2 of the 3 small lakes on the property.
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| Platypus |
Paul told us he has seen presumably displaced platypus making their way through forest in search of waterways.
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| Possum Valley Roadblock |
On our way out we were delayed a little by a tree which had fallen over the road.
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| Mt Hypipamee Crater |
We called in at Mt Hypipamee National Park, admiring the awesome crater that never fails to inspire.
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| Bromfiield's Swamp |
We moved on to the dairying town of Malanda for a 3-night stay in the Malanda Falls Caravan Park, passing Bromfield's Crater on the way. This is a nicely positioned park by the falls and river on the edge of the Malanda Falls Reserve, with two walking trail circuits through rainforest close by.
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| Malanda Falls |
Our visit to Malanda coincided with a pleasant weather change from the drizzly, misty conditions that prevailed in the region for several days earlier, including our visit to Possum Valley.
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| Atherton Scrubwren |
There more Atherton Scrubwrens here, along with Large-billed Scrubwrens.
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| Macleay's Honeyeater |
Macleay's Honeyeaters were on the rainforest edge in the park.
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| Bower's Shrike-thrush |
Bower's Shrike-thrushes were present on one of the circuit trails, affording better views than at Possum Valley.
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| Double-eyed Fig-Parrot |
We visited the Nerada Tea Plantation where a small flock of Double-eyed Fig-Parrots was feeding in a fig tree.
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| Pied Monarch |
Pied Monarch was nice to see on the second circuit trail at Malanda Falls. I heard both Masked Owl and Sooty Owl around the camping ground and on the trails but failed to see either. A pair of Bush Stone-Curlews were also present. A full list of birds at Malanda can be found here.
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| Victoria's Riflebird |
We visited Lake Eacham National Park, doing the 3km walk through the rainforest around the lake edge. A male Victoria's Riflebird performed splendidly in the carpark.
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| Curtain Tree Fig |
We had a look through the delightful down of Yungaburra, visited the always spectacular Curtain Tree Fig as well as Lake Tinaroo briefly.
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| Green Ringtail |
That evening we enjoyed some local music in the Malanda pub. Later I went spotlighting and found a Green Ringtail Possum near the main road along with a few Coppery Brushtails.
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| Lumholtz's Tree-Kangaroo |
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| Lumholtz's Tree Kangaroo |
On the final morning I returned to the Nerada Tea Plantation, seeing a female Lumholtz's Tree-Kangaroo with a pouch young perched in a strip of forest that has been a reliable site for this species for some time.
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| Barree Cuckoo-shrike |
A flock of Barred Cuckoo-shrikes was feeding in the same fig tree that the fig-parrots had been in.
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Queensland Road Trip 7: Atherton to Mt Carbine - Sarus Crane, Black-throated Finch
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| Black-throated Finch |
After our visit to Malanda (see following post) we left the rainforests and wet red soils behind for a two-day stay in the Big 4 Woodlands Caravan Park outside Atherton. Bridled Honeyeater was common here but there was little else of interest birdwise.
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| Bridled Honeyeater |
We enjoyed a visit to the nearby historical town of Herberton. Hasties Swamp was checked out a couple of times but nothing of interest there (many thousands of Magpie Geese and Plumed Whistling-Ducks) and I could not find any Sarus Cranes in fields in the area. Red-tailed Black Cockatoos were unusually feeding in large numbers on the ground in open paddocks.
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| Red-tailed Black Cockatoos |
Leaving the Atherton Tableland, we headed north to Mareeba for 2 nights at the Kerribee Park Rodeo camping ground on the Dimbulah Road – a huge complex (Mareeba hosts one of Australia's biggest rodeos) with a pleasant outlook over ranges to the south.
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| Mareeba woodlands |
The area was surrounded by termite-studded savannah woodland. I saw a single Black-throated Finch a couple of times at soaks at the back of the complex but failed to photograph the bird.
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| Little Bronze-Cuckoo |
I had more success with an obliging Little Bronze-Cuckoo.
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| Yellow Honeyeater |
Yellow Honeyeater was common.
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| Bush Stone-Curlew |
Bush Stone-Curlews were also about.
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| Agile Wallabies |
Large numbers of Agile Wallabies and Eastern Grey Kangaroos were on the grounds.
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| Australian Bustard |
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| Emu |
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| Dave's Dam |
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| Sarus Crane |
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| Sarus Crane |
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| Black-throated Finches |
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| Black-throated Finches |
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Queensland Road Trip 8: Shipton's Flat & White-streaked Honeyeater
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| White-streaked Honeyeater |
Following our stopover at Mt Carbine (see following post) we continued north to the iconic hotel of Lions Den, at the northern end of the coastal Daintree-Bloomfield Road, for a two-night camp.
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| Annan River |
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| Lions Den Hotel |
I've stayed here occasionally over the years and the place maintains its rustic charm, with a few rough edges.
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| Orange-footed Scrubfowl |
The camping ground by the Annan River is pleasant enough, with Orange-footed Scrubfowl scraping around the tents. The river cuts through this charming countryside of hills and valleys with its interesting mix of rainforest, eucalypt and health-like scrub.
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| With Charlie & Lewis Roberts, Shiptons Flat |
The highlight was a day spent in the Shiptons Flat area with brothers Lewis and Charlie Roberts - true bushies by any measure and third generation tin farmers and cattle ranchers. They were close friends with another friend of mine who lived locally, Jeanette Covacevich, who passed away recently. The stamina demonstrated by Charlie and Lewis, with his trademark bare feet, is something to behold.
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| White-streaked Honeyeater |
We spent most of the day going up and down rainforest gullies in an unsuccessful search for Bennett's Tree-Kangaroo. Some compensation was on offer with good birds, notably White-streaked Honeyeater; Shiptons flat is at the southern end of this Cape York endemic's range. We flushed a Rufous Owl but did not manage to track it down for a photograph.
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| Graceful Honeyeater |
Graceful Honeyeater is a tad more mundane but it was good to see one again after so long.
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| Northern Fantail |
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| Yellow-breasted Boatbill |
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| Lovely Fairywren pair |
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| Grey Whistler |
Grey Whistler showed nicely.
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| Pied Monarch |
The distinctive northern race of Pied Monarch put on a show.
Tropical Scrubwren was also present; this species is at the southern end of its range here. However, there is considerable debate about whether these are true Tropical or if this is a hybrid zone with Large-billed Scrubwrens.
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| Tropical Scrubwren |
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| Black Butcherbird |
Black Butcherbird was among other birds present. List of species found in the Shiptons Flat area can be seen here.
We had a look at Black Mountain as we headed on to Cooktown.
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| Black Mountain |
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Queensland Road Trip 9: Cooktown - Kath & Dave & Papuan Frogmouth
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| Papuan Frogmouth |
Following our visit to Shiptons Flat (see next post) we moved on to Cooktown, where we spent 3 days at the home of our good friends Kath Shurcliff and David Houghton. We were most impressed with the building skills that Dave employed to erect their wonderfully tropical abode.
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| Kath & Dave in Cooktown |
We visited several spots around Cooktown including the Botanic Gardens (which adjoins their property) and the lookout where Captain Cook surveyed the reef after The Endeavour ran aground offshore.
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| Endeavour River fromm Lookout Hill |
We checked out Finch Bay, the Endeavour River National Park, the old railway track to the cemetery, Keatings Lagoon, Walker Bay and Quarantine Bay with its granite beach.
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| Quarantine Bay |
We found some more White-streaked Honeyeaters in the national park, just a few kilometres from town.
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| Keatings Lagoon |
At Keatings Lagoon we saw another Little Kingfisher.
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| Little Kingfisher |
And a pair of Green Pygmy-Goose.
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| Green Pygmy-Goose |
Large-billed Gerygone also showed here.
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| Large-billed Gerygone |
A nice Tropical Scrubwren was seen along the road to Walker Bay (again, thanks to Kath & Dave for site information). This bird looked decidedly more marked and colourful than the scrubwrens seen at Shiptons Flat - an area that marks both the northern and southern extremes of the range of quite a few bird species.
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| Tropical Scrubwren |
Helmeted Friarbird and Yellow-spotted Honeyeater were common about Kath and Dave's home. We were bothered by unseasonally wet weather but it was a pleasure to again visit this delightful town, our visit marking the half-way point for our trip both in terms of distance and time..
A Papuan Frogmouth was found at the entrance to the Botanic Gardens.
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| Helmeted Friarbird |
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| Yellow-spotted Honeyeater |
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| Papuan Frogmouth |
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Queensland Road Trip 10: Great-billed Heron & Daintree River
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| Great-billed Heron |
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| Daintree River |
Our main plan here was an early morning boat ride up the river with Murray Hunt's Daintree Boatman Nature Tours.
While unseasonal wet weather continued to plague us, we managed a relatively fine couple of hours on the river which, as usual, never disappoints aesthetically.
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| Daintree River |
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| Great-billed Heron |
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| Daintree River |
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| Great-billed Heron |
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| Papuan Frogmouths |
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| Amethystine Python |
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| Great-billed Heron juv |
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| Great-billed Heron in flight |
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Queensland Road Trip 11- The Wonderful Daintree
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| Olive-backed Sunbird |
Following our three-day visit to Daintree Village (see following post) we crossed the Daintree River on the vehicular ferry for a two-night stop at Cape Kimberley. This little-known camping ground is beautifully situated by the beach just 10km from the river crossing.
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| Cape Kimberley |
The facilities are a little shabby but this place is hard to beat for location. It is surrounded by a mix of rainforest and melaleuca and mangrove swamp.
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| Cape Kimberley |
Snapper Island is a short distance offshore.
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| Snapper Island |
The Daintree River mouth is an easy 3km walk along the beach. A Beach Stone-Curlew was encountered on the beach.
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| Beach Stone-Curlew |
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| Daintree River Mouth |
Side streams were well populated by mud skippers.
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| Mudskipper |
Birds about the camping ground included Olive-backed Sunbird and Brown-backed Honeyeater.
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| Brown-backed Honeyeater |
We drove to Cape Tribulation, stopping at various sites along the way including Hutchinson Creek, Thornton Beach (where a woman was killed last week by a crocodile), Noah Beach and Cooper Creek.
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| Daintree River mouth & Cape Kimberley from main road |
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| Thornton Peak |
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| Macleay's Honeyeater |
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| Australian Swiftlet |
While Australian Swiftlet was predictably difficult to photograph
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Queensland Road Trip 12 - Out and About Cairns
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| Australian Swiftlet |
After our visit to the Daintree (see following post) we shifted south to Palm Cove for a 2-night stay in the local caravan park, driving down the scenic road from Port Douglas.
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| Port Douglas-Cairns road |
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| Buchans Beach |
The nearby Buchans Point Beach has always been one of my favourite beaches.
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| Catanna Wetland |
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| Green Pygmy-Goose |
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| Green Pygmy-Goose pair and Jacana |
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| White-browed Crake |
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| White-browed Crake |
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| Australian Swiftlet |
Our next destination was Cairns where we stayed with friends Bart Grother and Jane Bentley, with superb views over Cairns from their City View home. I have spent a good deal of time in Cairns over many years and it is always a pleasure to be here.
We checked out the Fletcher Botanical Gardens/Centenary Lakes site where a Radjah Shelduck was keeping company with a Magpie Goose. A pair of shelducks were present on subsequent visits.
Then it was on to the mangroves at the northern end of The Esplanade, where Mangrove Robin was found easily along the mangrove edge about 300m north. One bird was feeding in open parkland on the edge of the mangroves.
I failed to find the Rufous Owl at a couple of known roosting trees in the Cairns CBD so made do with Varied Honeyeater in flowering trees along the esplanade.
Back in City View, Shining Starlings were in surprisingly good numbers for this time of year, while Red-necked Crake and Pale-vented Bush-hen were heard in the distance. |
| Cairns |
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| Radjah Shelduck & Magpie Goose |
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| Mangrove Robin |
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| Varied Honeyeater |
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| Cairns Esplanade |
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| Shining Starlings |
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Queensland Road Trip 13: Etty Bay & Cassowary
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| Southern Cassowary |
Following our visit to Cairns (see following post) we headed south to the pretty coastal settlement of Etty Bay, south-east of Innisfail.
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| Southern Cassowary |
Etty Bay is arguably the best place in Australia to see the Southern Cassowary - the avian icon of the wet tropics. We had a cassowary wandering by the roadside as soon as we arrived at Etty Bay.
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| Arrival at Etty Bay |
We saw the birds repeatedly during our two days camped in the caravan park, seeing about half the local population of 10-12 birds.
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| Southern Cassowary checks out the campervan |
Cassowaries wandered freely through the camping ground and along Etty Bay's small street, oblivious to human interlopers other than hoping to be fed. Feeding the cassowaries is discouraged but people were doing it anyway.
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| Southern Cassowary |
The female cassowary appears to be larger with brighter wattles. The birds were mostly singles but occasionally a pair would wander through the camping ground.
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| Cassowary on road |
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| Etty Bay |
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| Blue Ulysses |
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| Shining Starlings |
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| Spectacled Flying-Fox |
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| No stranger to humans |
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Queensland Road Trip 14: Tully to Townsville
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| White-browed Robins |
Following our visit to Etty Bay (see following post) we headed further south to Tully for an overnight stay with friends Jason Grotherr and Debbie Grant. Then onwards to Ingham for a brief visit to Tyto Wetlands.
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| Tyto Wetlands |
Like Catanna near Cairns, this is another artificially created wetland on former sugar cane land, and an example of the potential for developing the Yandina Creek Wetland on the Sunshine Coast as a first-class wetland and waterbird habitat.
A male Crimson Finch emerged from the vegetation at the start of the Tyto trailhead.
Then I found a pair of White-browed Robins in a shady glade; this species had unexpectedly eluded me until now. |
| Crimson Finch |
White-gaped Honeyeater was common here.
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| White-gaped Honeyeater |
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| Big Crystal Creek |
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| Fernwren |
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| Chowchilla |
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| Macleay's Honeyeater |
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| Victoria's Riflebird male |
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| Victoria's Riflebird female |
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| Spotted Catbird |
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| Satin Bowerbird |
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| Crimson Rosella |
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| Lemon-bellied Flycatcher |
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| Rockslides, Big Crystal Creek |
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Queensland Road Trip 15: Eungella & Mackay
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| Eungella Honeyeater |
Following our visit to Paluma (see following post), we had a two-day stay at Townsville's Rowes Bay which was pretty well birding-free, although I saw a pair of Black Falcons hunting in the distance on the Town Common.
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| Eungella Range |
We continued south to Eungulla, the isolated plateau of highland rainforest and dairy farms west of Mackay. We had booked online for a two-night stay in the Eungulla National Park's Broken River camping ground, but it was crowded out with freeloaders and day-trippers, so we squeezed our camper trailer into a tent site at the nearby Fern Flat camping ground.
The performance of Queensland national parks authorities in managing camping areas is woeful.
Eungella has two claims to fame. It is probably the easiest site in Australia to see Platypus, and we found them quickly in the Broken River day use area.
It is also the only site frequented by the Eungella Honeyeater. This is a fairy scarce bird that can be difficult. I tracked one down along Diggings Road but it proved difficult to photograph in the gloomy light conditions.
I trawled without success for Sooty Owls in the early morning; they are reported from Eungella but the subspecies is uncertain. The weather was lousy during our stay.
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| Diggings Road, Eungella |
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| Platypus |
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| Eungella Honeyeater |
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| Topknot Pigeons |
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| Sandfly Creek, Mackay |
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| Mangrove Robin |
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| Broad-billed Flycatcher |
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Nesting Glossy Black Cockatoo & Powerful Owl
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| Powerful Owl male |
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| Glossy Black Cockatoo - male feeds female at nest tree |
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| Glossy Black chick at nest hollow |
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| Female Glossy Black with chick |
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| Female Glossy Black with chick |
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| Bush Stone-Curlew |
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| Tawny Frogmouth |
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| Powerful Owl female |
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| Powerful Owl chick |
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| Powerful Owl chick |
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| Pink-eared Ducks |
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| Cotton Pygmy Goose |
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| Spotted Harrier |
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| Spotted Harrier |
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Land-Clearing in Queensland: On the Brink
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| Clearing on Olive Vale Station, Cape York: Wilderness Society |
The fate of vast tracts of Queensland bushland hangs in the balance as a group of Cairns-based indigenous leaders led by Noel Pearson pressures the state MP for Cook, Billy Gordon, to vote against the Palaszczuk Labor Government's new tree-clearing laws.
Gordon was the indigenous Labor candidate elected for the Cape York seat in north Queensland in the January 2015 election but was forced to resign from the party soon after when details of his criminal history were revealed. He now threatens to betray the people of Cook who thought they were voting for a Labor MP by supporting moves to scuttle the tree-clearing laws by the Liberal National Party, the state farmers' peak body AgForce, and Pearson and his acolytes in Cairns. The minority Palaszczuk Government needs Gordon's vote to pass the legislation.
The legislation expected to be voted on soon reverses the gutting by the Campbell Newman LNP Government in 2012 of the Beattie Labor Government's landmark 2004 law to control land-clearing. Since Newman's move, more than 1 million hectares of bushland have been cleared, including almost 300,000 hectares in the year to June 2015 – the equivalent of 360,000 football fields. A third of the clearing took place in catchments adjoining the Great Barrier Reef.
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| Cook MP Billy Gordon: Cairns Post |
The quantity of greenhouse emissions resulting from the relaxed tree-clearing laws rose from 16 million tonnes in 2010 to 52 million tonnes in 2014, undoing much of the reduction in emissions achieved by the federal Government's direct action policy. On just one station on Cape York, Olive Vale, a permit was issued to bulldoze 33,000 hectares of woodland that is habitat for threatened species such as Buff-breasted Buttonquail and Red Goshawk. The consequences overall of the widespread clearing for biodiversity are grave; it is likely, for instance, that populations of many woodland birds will decline precipitously, as they have in south-eastern Australia.
The new law reverses Newman's act of environmental vandalism, which allowed landholders to make their own assessments about whether or not vegetation on their land could be cleared. Newman allowed unlimited clearing for “high value” agriculture, which can mean just about anything.
Gordon's fellow Cairns-based MP, Rob Pyne, also sits as an Independent after resigning from the ALP post-election. Pyne voted with the LNP and the two MPs from Katter's Australian Party last March to defer the government's new law so it could be considered by a parliamentary committee. The move is likely to have prompted “panic” clearing by farmers and has allowed its opponents to launch a concerted campaign against the legislation. The parliamentary committee was unable to agree on a path forward, but Pyne has indicated he will vote for the legislation when it returns to parliament soon.
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| Noel Pearson: Sydney Morning Herald |
Leading the LNP cheer squad has been Pearson and his mates, who control various Cairns-based organisations including the Cape York Institute and the Balkanu Cape York Development Corporation. Prominent among them are Noel's brother Gerhardt Pearson and Cape York Land Council chairman Richie Ahmat. They say the new law will prevent the development of indigenous agricultural and other development projects. The Government responds that such projects will be able to proceed with environmental safeguards in place.
Noel Pearson also led the charge against the Beattie Government's wild rivers legislation, which protected the catchments of environmentally significant watercourses on Cape York and elsewhere. That law was similarly overturned by Campbell Newman's LNP Government. Pearson claimed at the time he had the unanimous support of north Queensland indigenous leaders, but in fact his stand was opposed by many including Carpentaria Land Council head Murrandoo Yanner, North Queensland Land Council chairman Terry O'Shane, and Mapoon Council chairman Peter Guavara. The LNP and Pearson's mob increasingly sing from the same songsheet.
It wasn't always thus. The founders of the Cape York Land Council in the 1970s were of a different ilk. Highly regarded indigenous leaders such as Mick Miller, the CYLC founding chairman, and boxing champion Clarry Grogan, were at one with the environmental movement in opposing large-scale, destructive development on Cape York and in championing the cause of preserving the outstanding wilderness values of the region. These leaders agreed that at the same time, provisions could be in place to allow development to improve the lot of indigenous communities, and for the active inclusion of communities in environmental management and protection. Kakadu in the Northern Territory is a fine example of how conservation can work in the interests of promoting the economic and social interests of indigenous communities.
In 1984, Mick Miller wrote and narrated a documentary film, Couldn't be Fairer, about his people. The film noted the view at the time of the Queensland Graziers Association that indigenous people should be divided into “true Aborigines” and “hybrids”. The peak farming group these days is AgForce, which has joined forces with the LNP and Pearson in promoting a disinformation campaign to undermine attempts to control land-clearing, although state government figures show that the agricultural sector did not suffer during the years that clearing controls were in place. Many environmentally aware farmers oppose the stand by AgForce.
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| Mick Miller |
That earlier spirit of co-operation between indigenous and environmental groups culminated in the Cape York Heads of Agreement in 1996. The agreement laid the groundwork for co-operation between conservationists and indigenous communities, but how things have changed. Pearson now regards the environmental movement as the main enemy and the big developers as friends and saviours. It is not lost on observers that some Cairns-based indigenous groups have over the past couple of decades been the beneficiaries of lucrative contracts with mining companies and other developers.
Noel Pearson is an articulate exponent of what he regards as the best interests of his people, but he is also a foul-mouthed bully. When I was a journalist with The Sydney Morning Herald, I dared to write about connections between some north Queensland indigenous organisations and big mining companies. I was subjected to a 30-minute raging rant on the phone from Pearson, during which he called me a f...ing c..t on no fewer than 15 occasions. As has been written elsewhere, there is a deeply disturbing side to this man which the public has not largely been privy to.
Small wonder that Billy Gordon is feeling the heat. When Gordon ventured the view earlier this year that he might support the new tree-clearing law, he was immediately vilified. He was described as a “blackfella who went walkabout” on his constituents. Pearson warned Gordon that passage of the legislation would mean the “death of a thousand cuts” for indigenous communities; a ludicrous proposition. However, Gordon is now signalling that he will oppose the bill. The omens are not good.
Anybody concerned about this issue can contact Billy Gordon, asking him to do the right thing by Queensland and his constituents by voting for the legislation. Email addresses: Billy.Gordon@parliament.qld.gov.auand Cook@parliament.qld.gov.au. Phone (07) 4223 1100.
It also would be helpful to contact Rob Pyne along the same lines. Rob.Pyne@parliament.qld.gov.auand Cairns@parliament.qld.gov.auTwitter @RobJPyne. Phone: (07) 4229 0110
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Sunshine Coast Pelagic August 2016
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| Black-bellied Storm-Petrel |
A pod of wonderful whales and a big fish were the stars of the show for the August 13 pelagic trip off Mooloolaba on the Sunsine Coast, with nice birds including Black-bellied Storm-Petrel, Kermadec Petrel and good numbers of Sooty Tern.
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| Providence Petrel |
We departed the marina on a crisp winter morning at 6.45am with a gentle 5-8 knot E-SE breeze that varied little during the day. A Fluttering Shearwater and a Brown Booby were seen early on the way out along with small numbers of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters and Australasian Gannets. We reached the shelf at 9am, stopping 32 nautical miles offshore in 360 metres - S 26, 36, 075; E 153, 43, 477 - and began laying a trail of berley.
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| Wilson's Storm-Petrel |
Small numbers of Providence Petrels and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters soon came into the slick, to be joined before long by a couple of Wilson's Storm-Petrels. The gentle breeze in a swell of under a metre did not bode well, but an intermediate phase Kermadec Petrel livened things up. After drifting slowly for a while be decided to move 1.5km eastwards to lay another berley trail.
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| Sooty Tern |
A second intermediate phase Kermadec Petrel appeared, but both birds of this species kept their distance. A couple of Sooty Terns showed before we noticed in the distance what appeared to be a good flock of birds.
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| Hutton's Shearwaters |
We headed towards it, encountering a decent flock of Hutton's Shearwaters. Feeding on what appeared to be schools of fish 37 nautical miles offshore in 900 metres were good numbers of Wedge-tailed and Hutton's Shearwaters along with an unusally solid number of Sooty Terns.
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| Black-bellied Storm-Petrel |
A Black-bellied Storm-Petrel made a welcome appearance, soon to be joined by another. Then a large Manta Ray came to the boat and hovered close by for a while. We didn't know whether it was attracted to us or the berley, but several in the group donned a snorkel (water temperature a mild 21) to get a better look at the huge fish.
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| Manta Ray Watching |
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| Manta Ray |
Another Brown Booby flew by as did a single Tahiti Petrel, a scarce visitor in winter.
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| Black-bellied Storm-Petrel |
As we were preparing to head back, a pod of Short-finned Pilot Whales turned up, entertaining us for some time as adults of both sexes and juveniles, clearly curious, circled the boat. We headed back at 1pm, returning to the marina at 3.10pm.
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| Short-finned Pilot Whale |
PARTICIPANTS: Lachlan Tuckwell (skipper), Greg Roberts (organiser), Luke Bennett, Devon Bull, Phil Cross, Jo Cullinan, Erin Donaldson, Rick Franks, John Gunning, Nikolas Haass, Elliot Leach, Raja Stephenson, Ged Tranter, Jamie Walker, Chris Watts.
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| Short-finned Pilot Whale |
SPECIES TOTAL [MAX AT ONE TIME]
Kermadec Petrel 2 (1)
Providence Petrel 12 (4)
Tahiti Petrel 1 (1)
Wedge-tailed Shearwater 60 (20)
Hutton's Shearwater 80 (40)
Fluttering Shearwater 1 (1)
Black-bellied Storm-Petrel 2 (1)
Wilson's Storm-Petrel 10 (3)
Australasian Gannet 12 (5)
Brown Booby 2 (1)
Sooty Tern 30 (14)
Crested Tern 20 (4)
Silver Gull 2 (2)
Short-finned Pilot Whale 10 (6)
Inshore Bottle-nosed Dolphin 2 (2)
Pantropical Spotted Dolphin 1 (1)
Humpback Whale 2 (1)
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All Four Australian Tyto Owls in One Night (Plus Marbled Frogmouth)
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| Sooty Owl |
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| Masked Owl |
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| Masked Owl |
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| Tawny Frogmouth |
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| Marbled Frogmouth |
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| Marbled Frogmouth |
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| Sooty Owl |
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| Sooty Owl |
So we headed over to the coastal lowlands and the sugar cane farms of the Bli Bli area. Here we quickly saw one, then two Eastern Grass Owls flying high over the grasslands. This was about 11pm, much later (early evening) or earlier (early morning) than I usually look for this species. However, a full moon meant the owls were easy to see in flight.
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| Eastern Grass Owl |
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| Eastern Barn Owl |
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Winter Visit to Lockyer Valley
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| Yellow-billed Spoonbills |
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| Red-tailed Black Cockatoos |
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| Yellow Thornbill |
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| Common Bronzewing |
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| Jacky Winter |
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| Dusky Woodswallow |
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| Striated Pardalote |
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| White-throated Gerygone |
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| Yellow-rumped Thornbill |
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| Apostlebird |
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Nestling Musings: Do Australian Bushbirds Commit Siblicide?
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| Little Wattlebird adult & young |
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| Little Wattlebird |
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| Wattlebird eggs |
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| Twin wattlebird fledglings |
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| Wattlebird nestling |
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| Adult feeding Youngster in Garden |
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| Carpet Python |
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| Wonga Pigeon |
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| Yellow-faced Honeyeater |
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| White-eared Monarch |
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| Eastern Grass Owl near Toorbul: Pic - Matt Harvey |
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| Sooty Owl in care: Pic - Matt Harvey |
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Black-breasted Buttonquail Looking Good
Black-breasted Buttonquail is endemic to the dry lowland rainforests of south-east Queensland. It is at or close to the top of the wishlists of visiting birders, and is one of my favourites.
I first found a population of this species in Imbil State Forest in the late-1990s. The birds have been there consistently ever since, though usually they are hard to see in the thick lantana on the edge of Hoop Pine plantations that they inhabit. On this score, I'm convinced that caution needs to be exercised in eliminating this foreign weed. With the great bulk of the bird's natural dry rainforest habitat gone, lantana appears to be playing an important role in securing the bird's future. Lantana is also used extensively by Lewin's Rail and Pale-vented Bush-hen, among others, along with numerous butterflies. The weed presumably supplies a degree of protection from feral cats and other predators.
At Imbil, the birds live side-by-side with their cogener, Painted Buttonquail, and with Brown Quail. Please don't ask for site details. It's a small area that I want to avoid being trampled. Those wanting to see this species can do so at the well-known site at Imbil Point, where the birds inhabit more open habitat and are easier to see.
I've often been to the Imbil site and not seen buttonquail. Their distinctive platelets are always evident but vary in frequency, suggesting that the population fluctuates.
Yesterday, fresh platelets were plentiful, and excellent, prolonged views were had of 3 different female Black-breasted Buttonquail. A list of birds seen at the Imbil site can be found here.
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| Black-breasted Buttonquail calling |
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| Spectacled Monarch |
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| Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo |
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| Red-legged Pademelon |
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| Wallum heath near Noosa |
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