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Western Queensland - Winter 2023 Part 1: Longreach to Mt Isa
Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrushWe set out with much anticipation for a string of bird, mammal and other wildlife targets in far western Queensland. Unseasonal rain prevented access to some planned sites...
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Western Queensland Winter 2023 Part 2 -Boulia to Cuttaburra Crossing
Letter-winged KiteFollowing our travels through Longreach, Winton and Mt Isa (following post) we headed south from Mt Isa to Boulia, with rain dashing hopes for further stops for Kalkadoon Grasswren....
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Europe 2023 Part 1 Wolverine
Wolverine had long been around the top of my must-see list of the world’s mammals. This hulking, shaggy, loping, secretive denizen of far-flung corners of the Palearctic is mesmerising. It’s the stuff...
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Europe 2023 Part 2 Birding Finland & Scotland
Hazel GrouseOur trip to Europe was more about culture and aesthetics than chasing critters, as there aren’t too many in Europe that I’ve not seen. A few though remained sought after, with Wolverine...
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Europe 2023 Part 3 Birding Portugal and Spain
White-headed DuckFollowing our visit to Scotland (following post) we checked out the English town of Liverpool before flying to Porto in Portugal. A few days sight-seeing here before hopping on to the...
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Birding Oman: Sociable Lapwing steals the show
Sociable LapwingAfter a lengthy tour of five European countries (Italy, Finland, United Kingdom, Portugal and Spain: see following posts) we had a few days in Muscat, Oman, on our way home. Our hotel...
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Ringed Plover Twitch to Bundaberg
Ringed PloverBirder Scott Fox did well to spot a small plover on the far side of a rapidly shrinking freshwater pool midway between Bundaberg and Bargara in south-east Queensland on November 24....
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Turquoise Parrot and 2023 Sunshine Coast critter highlights
The year 2023 ended on a high note with a male Turquoise Parrot seen this morning at Peregian Beach on the Sunshine Coast, in the Emu Swamp (southern) section of Noosa National Park. The bird was...
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More wetland protected on the Sunshine Coast
West Coolum WetlandIn a new win for the environment on the Sunshine Coast, an additional 120ha of wetland and grassland has been acquired by the Sunshine Coast Council for protection as environmental...
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Notes on the outlook for Coxen’s Fig-Parrot, Night Parrot & Buff-breasted...
The following is the transcript of my news feature in The Weekend Australian of 10-11 February, 2024.Coxen's Fig-ParrotA 17-year-old mystery surrounding the identity of a tiny parrot is having...
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Southport Seamounts Pelagic, February 2024
Band-rumped Storm-PetrelHighlights of the 3-night, 2-day Southport Seamounts trip organised by Paul Walbridge from February 9-12 included Band-rumped Storm-Petrel; a Collared Petrel; good numbers of...
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Night Parrot: Death by Barbed Wire
The Night Parrot found by Shorty CupittRobert (“Shorty”) Cupitt remembers well the warm September day in 2006 when he was doing maintenance work around stock routes and fences in the vicinity of...
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Taveuni in Fiji: Silktail & Orange Dove
Taveuni Silktail A 6-day stay on the delightful island of Taveuni in Fiji was the first cab off the rank for our recent overseas tour. I’d been to Fiji before but not to Taveuni, famed for two...
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Lesser Antilles Cruise Part 1 – Antigua to Martinique
Martinique OrioleWe opted for an 11-day cruise of the Lesser Antilles with a schedule giving options for the highest number of potential bird specialties and endemics in that timeframe. I’d previously...
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Lesser Antilles Cruise Part 2: St Lucia
White-breasted ThrasherFollowing our visit to Martinique (next post) we sailed south to the island state of St Lucia in the southern Lesser Antilles. St Lucia has something of a mixed reputation. Fine...
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Lesser Antilles Cruise Part 3: Dominica to Grand Turk
Red-necked ParrotAfter a successful clean-up of targets on St Lucia, our cruise vessel headed north to Roseau, the capital of the island state of Dominica (often confused with the Dominican Republic...
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Canada & United States – a month of mountains, critters, friends and snow
Northern Pygmy-OwlFollowing a week-long visit to the island of Taveuni in Fiji and an 11-day cruise through the Lesser Antilles, we had almost a month in the United States and Canada. First off was a...
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Itinerary for a Planned Birding Tour of Papua in 2025 - A Feast of Avian Gems
Red Bird-of-ParadiseA 22-day birding tour of Papua – the Indonesian-owned western half of the island of New Guinea – is planned for June 2025, with November 2025 being a second option. Papua is...
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Hudsonian Godwit Twitch
Hudsonian GodwitTwo days ago, May 25, birding gun Andy Jensen found a Hudsonian Godwit at a high tide roost off the end of Gregory Road, Mango Hill, in the northern suburbs of Brisbane (within the...
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The endangered Black-breasted Buttonquail and the dilemma that is the exotic...
Black-breasted Buttonquail femaleHere is a dilemma in need of urgent attention. For 20+ years I have been observing a healthy population of Black-breasted Buttonquail near Imbil, in the Sunshine Coast...
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Australia Road Trip 2024 - Part 1: Queensland
Carpentarian Grasswren We embarked on June 22 this year on a 78-day journey with the caravan through outback Queensland, much of the Northern Territory, bits of South Australia, and southern and...
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AUSTRALIAN ROAD TRIP 2024 - Northern Territory Top End
Chestnut RailAfter crossing the Queensland-Northern Territory border we overnighted at the Barkly Homestead campground heading west, where birds included large numbers of Diamond Dove, Masked...
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AUSTRALIA ROAD TRIP 2024 – Part 3: Southern Northern Territory & South...
Western GrasswrenHeading further south through the Northern Territory, we left behind the savannah woodlands of the Top End for more arid environs, camping at the Tennant Creek Caravan Park overnight....
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AUSTRALIA ROAD TRIP 2024 -Part 4: New South Wales
Spotted-tailed QuollCrossing the South Australia border into Victoria and then NSW, we had 3 nights at the Euston Club RV Camp on the banks of the Murray River, catching up with our friend Kathy...
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Biting off more than you can chew – Noisy Miner & Carpet Python
I was distracted in my Nambour garden in the Sunshine Coast hinterland this morning by a cacophany of alarm calls from Noisy Miners, Blue-faced Honeyeaters and assorted others. That usually indicates...
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