Winding up 2019: Horsfield's Bushlark, Plum-headed Finch, Oriental Cuckoo on Sunshine Coast; Gull-billed (nilotica) Tern in Brisbane

A bit of birding fun to wind up 2019. An early morning run to Finland Road, Pacific Paradise, proved to be productive, as is so often the case with this site. I located some of the 20+ Plum-headed Finches which have been present here in recent weeks among big flocks of Chestnut-breasted Mannikin. This is a scarce species in coastal South-east Queensland. Stubble, King and Brown Quail were all flushed but no images sadly. King Quail has been regular here for many years but Stubble Quail has turned up just recently, although last year they were present nearby along Burtons Road.

Paul Jensen and I found a Horsfield's Bushlark lying low in a depression. When it flew I realised that two odd-looking passerines I'd flushed earlier were also Horsfield's Bushlarks. This is the first time the species has been recorded for the Sunshine Coast's coastal plain, although I had them last year in the region near Gunalda. We learned later that a bushlark was photographed here yesterday but not reported at the time.

To top things off, a grey phase Oriental Cuckoo flew over. I then moved on to Burtons Road and found a hepatic phase Oriental Cuckoo along the Maroochy River. It's been a good year for the species this season in south-east Queensland. As many as four or five individuals of both colour phases have been seen regularly around Lake Macdonald's Jabiru bird hide, and they've been recorded from multiple other sites around Brisbane and the Sunshine Coast.

A large roost of Nankeen Night-Herons was in mangroves along the river and a Pallid Cuckoo made an appearance in more open habitat nearby. Brown Songlark, another rarity in coastal South-East Queensland, has been present along both Burtons and Finland roads. 

Last week in Brisbane, Andy Jensen found a Gull-billed Tern at the Gregory Road claypan in Mango Hill. I located the bird a few days later. This is the newly split Gull-billed Tern nilotica, now separated from what has been dubbed the Australian (Gull-billed) Tern macrotarsa. It is a rare visitor from Asia to South-East Queensland, though seen more frequently in north-west Australia. The differences in the field between the two species were obvious, including the much smaller size of nilotica and its darker upperparts.