Trip Report – Northern Queensland
December 1 – 5th 2011.
Overview: Two birders based in Brisbane (southern Queensland) birding in the Cairns/Atherton Tablelands/Cooktown region (Rob Dougherty and author Colin Reid). In 5 days we visited most of the major sites on the Tablelands, took part in a successful search for one of Australia’s rarest birds and made a quick trip north of Cooktown for a couple of tropical species.
Getting there and getting around: We flew Virgin having got tickets on a special at $99 each way + $23 checked baggage. As usual the flights were relatively hassle free, although the return flight to Brisbane was delayed for some reason by about 25 minutes.
We hired our car (Toyota Corolla or similar) through Avis as they appeared to be a bit more flexible when it came to driving on unsealed roads, although there is always an element of doubt where that is concerned! When we asked for the possibility of an upgrade the representative offered us a Toyota Rav 4 (All wheel drive with clearance) for $4 extra per day – we took it, of course.
Driving on the tablelands is easy – the roads are good, clearly marked and well signposted. Off road requirements are minimal. The road to Cooktown is sealed bitumen all the way and is probably negotiable in almost any weather. From Cooktown to McIvor River crossing there is approx 40 kms of unsealed road. Some of it was good, Battlecamp Rd was not. Several (currently dry) river crossings on the McIvor section would almost definitely be impassable in the wet season.
We had no issues at any stage and it would appear that improvements are under way, we can probably expect more bitumen in the foreseeable future.
Accommodation: There are a number of accommodation offers specifically targeting birders on the Tablelands – we chose our regular place to stay, Kingfisher Park. There are three levels of accommodation – camping, ‘donga’ and self contained units. We chose the middle option, 2 singles in a smallish room, shared bathroom facilities 80 meters away, shared kitchen facilities 20 meters in the other direction, bedding and cooking equip provided @ $55 for 2 people per night. Its hard to beat Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfishers outside your bedroom…..
Keith and Lindsay Fisher – the proprietors – will provide all the local bird information that anyone could want and it leaves you within easy reach of Mt Lewis, Abattoir swamp, Mt Molloy, Lake Mitchell, Mt Carbine and is a good kick off point for Cooktown (2 hours), other parts further north or the Daintree River (55 mins). www.birdwatchers.com.au
Even if you don’t stay here, a visit to Kingfisher Park is a must for any visiting birder and is easily our choice of places to stay at the northern end of the Tablelands.
Communication: Mobile phone communication was not available at Kingfisher Park and a bit ‘spotty’ elsewhere. We did not investigate any other type of Internet or phone communication. KFP offer internet PC connection at a small additional cost.
Preparation: The initial stimulus for our trip north was an email in August requesting volunteers to search for Buff-breasted Button-quail (BBBQ) from 24th November. Circumstances prevented our presence on that first weekend (26 – 27.11) but we booked flights for 1st December intending to participate in a continuation of the search. As we had been involved in the preparations for the exercise we received backup data and information relating to the bird, so we were as well prepared as anyone for the BBBQ.
Contact had also been established with Alan Gillanders of Youngaburra - specifically relating to the Golden Bower-bird and Rufous Owl (www.alanswildlifetours.com.au) - and with Kath Shurcliff and Dave Houghton of Cooktown for the more tropical species.
We had been monitoring the local sightings website - (http://cairnsbirds.blogspot.com), the KFP blog - http://kingfisherparkbirdwatchers.blogspot.com, Birds Australia emailing and Eremaea listings and sightings for several weeks prior to our trip.
We had pre booked a Daintree River excursion with Murray Hunt having discussed by email and phone the best day for a Great-billed Heron opportunity when we were in the area. This is another must see/must do and highly recommended for the visiting birder - www.daintreerivertours.com.au
Trip Summary – birds.
We had a wish list, as you do, and as we had both previously birded the area fairly extensively our list was relatively short.
Buff-breasted Button-quail (BBBQ) – being the original reason for our trip and one of the rarest birds in Australia must come first on the list. The previous weekend’s efforts by the volunteer team had produced results in the Mt Molloy area and we were naturally pretty keen to follow in their footsteps. We did and spent 4 hours along the slopes with 10 other birders eventually flushing a bird within 20 meters of the car park which provided satisfactory views to all involved to convince us of our success.
Great-billed Heron – this was for me. The Daintree boat trip with Murray Hunt was booked a month ahead as a priority and considered the best opportunity to see the bird at this time of year - it proved successful, but only at the last minute!
Black-throated Finch – Again just for me, the most likely place to see this finch was, in our minds, Mareeba wetlands and so it proved. We tried for it elsewhere but without success.
White-streaked Honeyeater – we researched it for north of Cooktown in the McIvor River crossing area, but saw a rare wanderer at Abattoir swamp near KFP – we never did find any further north.
Black-winged Monarch & Tropical Scrubwren were our other two McIvor River targets – we got both at the crossing.
We dipped, unexpectedly, on Spotted Whistling Ducks, a group of which had been present at Wonga beach, 40 minutes north of KFP for some time – local disturbance may have been the reason. We had, or at least I, had expected to get them fairly easily.
We also couldn’t find Rufous Owl where we had been advised to look – there will always be a next time.
Black-backed Butcherbird eluded us and we failed to find any of the 3 Wagtails that had turned up three weeks previous to our visit – but hadn’t be seen again, so it wasn’t just us!
These were some of our target birds and lifers. We did see lots of other great birds which will be described in detail below…
The Trip
Thursday 1.12.11 We arrived in the heat of Cairns on time at 9.00, negotiated an upgrade to our hire car successfully and, with Rob driving, headed up the range for Kuranda. We needed a cup of coffee after our early (4am) start from home and after driving in circles around Kuranda chose a coffee/pie shop and had one of each each – not to be recommended, but the Black Butcherbird unusually exposed on the overhead power line was a nice little kick start.
We had a rough plan in mind for the 5 day visit and our first target was Rufous Owl at Emerald Creek Falls. “look along the river bed in the thickest canopy in the taller trees” was the advice. 5 kms before Atherton we turned left and after about 10 kms of ‘not suitable for caravans’ unsealed, but good condition, road arrived at the creek
We wandered the creek bed, especially downriver – for about 90 minutes but were unable to locate the bird. We did have a pair of Bush Stone Curlews under the trees and Yellow Honeyeater, Cicadabird, a pair of Black-chinned Honeyeaters and Cicadabird among more common species.
Hastie’s Swamp south of Atherton was our next stop. Hoping for Sarus Crane again, we were disappointed. There were heaps of other birds of the usual expectations including 6 Glossy Ibis and 3 Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, which was nice, but nothing much else to write home about.
On to our next target – the Golden Bowerbird’s bower at Longland’s Gap. We had both seen female GBB before, but not a male. We had got very specific direction to the bower’s location, but as someone had disguised the entrance to the thin track it took us a precious hour to actually find the bower.
We had just settled down to await the male’s expected arrival when I thought I saw a bushy rear end and tail of some mammal going down a tree trunk about 30 meters away. I brought it to Rob’s attention and we watched the area while we listened for the GBB. A few minutes and Rob spotted a movement and we had our first, very exciting, Lumholtz’s Tree Kangaroo. This was a huge bonus as far as we were concerned, having both expressed hope of seeing one as we had driven in that morning! It sat placidly watching us as we photographed it again and again and again. Unfortunately its height in the tree put it against the light and the gloom and intervening leaves and branches were inclined to absorb a lot of the flash – however, we did manage photos that we could be happy with considering the status of this, relatively rare and long hoped for, mammal.
The male GBB had arrived back just as we located the Kangaroo, but it had been summarily dismissed at that stage in favour of our find – now however we settled down again and within 10-15 minutes the bird was back, appearing quietly on a chosen perch within 10 or 15 meters of the bower. I have to admit I was a little disappointed – this was a long wished for observation and it wasn’t as spectacular as I’d hoped. However, it was nice to finally see the yellow male and hear it’s call in the sunlight challenged forest.
Rob had never been to Mt Hyppamie and The Crater and so we headed there, parked up and marched fairly quickly in after checking a Grey-headed Robin at the door….. A sign indicated an ‘aggressive Cassowary’ was present – which, much to our disappointment, didn’t appear. We did see a couple of Shining Bronze Cuckoos, heard a Spotted Catbird and an Orange-footed Scrubfowl hot-footed it ahead of us up the track. A quick look at the Crater – hey, it’s a big hole in the ground? And down to Dinner Falls where a Grey Wagtail had been seen two weeks previously – it had obviously departed for parts unknown so we headed back to the carpark and had a discreet Bower’s Shrike-thrush and a pair of Bridled Honeyeaters squabbling overhead as several Grey-headed Robins foraged on the grass. Then it was off to Mareeba in the gathering dusk and food shopping at Coles. Finally arriving at KFP at 20.00 we cooked and ate while chatting to two American researchers – Eliot and Bryan.
Friday 2.12.11 Up at 4.30, a quick cereal and coffee and the 55 minute drive to the Daintree River. 2 Black Bitterns flew past as we waited on the dock for Murray to organise the boat. Great-billed Heron was our target bird, but with a high tide and being out of season it seemed unlikely, however we were optimistic.
On our 2 and a half hour river ‘cruise’ we saw a Black Bittern nest with adult sitting, a pair of Shining Flycatcher in similar circumstances, 2 Papuan Frogmouth nests with adults sitting, one with a large fluffy chick who eyed us with curiosity, 2 tree snakes at close quarters, a pair of courting Azure Kingfishers, 2 crocodiles (starts to sound like the famous Christmas song, really) and a partridge in a pear tree… Not quite, but just as we had given up all hope and, as you would have it, approached the boat ramp to disembark, a Great-billed Heron marched up the grassy slope opposite, peered at us over the edge of the ‘dyke’ and then strode nervously into cover behind a tree where it promptly disappeared. A view to die for - we were well satisfied!
We shared a cup of coffee with Murray and discussed the search for the BBBQ discovering that several participants were intending to gather at 6.30 the next morning – we agreed to meet and headed south again.
Our next target, Spotted Whistling Duck, had been found in a small dam on private property half way to Wonga Beach from the highway. It appeared that a misunderstanding between visiting birders and the neighbour had caused a problem and, although the house on the property was up for sale, there were no boundary fences, dogs or any other impediment, the neighbour had seen fit to erect a sign barring all entry ‘beyond this point’ which restricted access to viewing from the road. Distance wise it was nothing, approx 50 meters to one pond and 80 meters to the other, but the lack of elevation made seeing into the dam difficult. We did our best and could see approx a dozen Wandering Whistle Duck and a few Black Duck, but no sign of the spotted ones. There was no sign of the neighbour either, although a motor mower noisily circled the house next door, and being unwilling to compromise the local birders future opportunities we moved on.
We stopped at the Newell Beach turn off and checked the swallows around the farmer’s shed - all Welcome, I had had Barn and Red-rumped here on a previous visit, but not this time.
We dropped into KFP to touch base with Keith and Lindsay as they hadn’t been around when we arrived last night. Local knowledge updated we headed off again – this time just down the road to Sidings road, a grassy track off to the left where we slowly walked the 100 meters or so to the edge of the cane field seeing Brown Cuckoo Doves, Graceful Honeyeater and both Black-faced and Spectacled Monarchs. This track has produced the goods before but not today.
On to Abattoir Swamp, another 5 minutes down the road, and parking up walked the boardwalk to the hide. Brown, Brown-backed, White-throated, a single Scarlet and Yellow Honeyeaters and eventually, the bird we had come to find, the wandering White-streaked Honeyeater. A first year bird, this was the furthest south one had been recorded in recent times and had been on site for several days. It was very active and tended to shyness so we spent some time catching glimpses of it here and there and trying for photographs. While thus engaged two more birders turned up – Chook, the original finder and a client. Chook was very excited as he had just had a second bird a few kilometres away at Mt Molly and had dashed down to make sure the Abattoir Swamp bird was still present.
Leaving Abattoir we headed to Mt Molloy for a well deserved icy cold Coke - and Squatter Pigeons at the school basketball court. We also found Great Bowerbirds and their large active bower in the school grounds as above Red-winged Parrots and Rainbow Lorikeets waged war on a large Goanna that had climbed high up an isolated tree.
The afternoon was getting on so we headed back to KFP stopping off to check out a dead snake on the bridge near Mt Molloy and then sitting for an hour or so beside the pond waiting for the Red-necked Crake’s evening performance – however stage fright took hold and he never showed.
Saturday 3.12.11. The search for the BBBQ began with a meeting of interested parties at Quaid’s Dam south of Mt Molloy at 6.30. Once all had arrived we headed 2 kms further down the road and parked at a truck stop. Then it was ‘form a line and walk through the bush’. There were 9 birders to start with, joined by Murray half an hour later and another local birder, Cate, 30 minutes or so after that. The going was a bit rough – flat, sparsely grassed, rocky ground flanked by a steep little hill broken by wash outs, boulder clumps and thinly treed. The area had been burnt in the last few months, and the grass had re-seeded but there was still a lot of open ground between the sprouting clumps. The recommended habitat was basically the lower slope and bottom of the ‘curve’ of the slope.
In the first 200 meters we flushed several quail/buttonquail. None was positively identified although opinions suggested Painted Buttonquail to be the most favoured. A small covey of Brown Quail were flushed from the flatter area and seen well - then came 2-3 hours of very little. At one point the group came across a Brown Goshawk stranded on the ground with what appeared to be a broken wing. After a short chase we managed to grab it and get it into an empty backpack. Later it was dropped off at a local vet and latest reports have it recovering from its damaged wing - and loss of dignity.
Around 10.30 a couple of birders dropped out and the remainder of us agreed to a final sweep – which produced nothing. Walking back to the car in a straggling group we were all re-energised as a large buttonquail-type bird rose from in front of myself and Murray. It flew low for approx 50 meters and dropped out of sight. The team formed up again and advanced on its last known location – and it flushed again, having run right about 20 meters. This time it flew 80 meters before landing again and again we advanced and approached the spot slowly. For a third time the bird rose and this time flew about 100 meters before dropping at the base of the steep hill. We moved forward to cover the ground fairly quickly and suddenly there were calls of “its on the ground, there, there….” Some got a view of it on the ground, some weren’t so lucky – I did, Rob didn’t. No one got photos, despite the wealth of camera gear available. It ran through the grass, ducking and weaving and then flushed again, flying straight up the hill and landing behind a fallen tree. Three of us moved up the hill, but did not succeed in re-locating the bird.
So ended the great BBBQ hunt of December 3rd. We did flush another, smaller bird as we returned to the vehicles, one that was identified as a probable female Painted BQ.
Consensus agreed the bird we had flushed was most likely a Buff-breasted Button-quail. It’s large size, flight type, the appearance of darker wing tips contrasting with body colour, lighter head and streaked nape and upper back all indicated that species, several observers got ‘extended’ (in terms of buttonquail) views on the ground from a range of about 10 meters as it ran ahead of the pack. One observer claimed chestnut shoulders indicating a Painted BQ, however, no one else saw colour to that extent on the bird and my personal sighting was a three quarter view slightly behind and from the left side taking in the head, neck, shoulders, upper back and flanks and there was no evidence of strong colour anywhere. Unfortunately no one got a clear view of the bill as the bird was either running or flying away. The two observers who had had prior experience of BBBQs both agreed it was the most likely candidate.
At this time, barring any further evidence, we are happy with the identification.
Following discussion and an exchange of opinions and details Rob and I headed off to Mareeba and a date with another icy Coke and Mars bar in celebration. Then it was into the wetlands and coffee and cake on the veranda while Green Pygmy Geese, Black Swans and various ducks hung out on the lake below in the midday heat. A family of Emus wandered around the back of the reception centre with 6 chicks in tow – so tame I wondered if they were really wild?
Our target here was Black-throated Finch – for me – and the sub species of Brown Treecreeper was a possibility too. We took the Pandanus Walk after paying our $10 each and followed the dusty track through the bush to the favoured site for the Finch. Nothing much moved in the still heat – it was the middle of the day, an active group of Grey-crowned Babblers wee the only noticeable birds until we approached the hide half way around. A few duck, Pied Geese and a pair of Brolgas (the only ones of our trip) were visible from the hide.
After a short sit we headed back the same way and this time came across a pair of Brown Treecreepers who performed well for us, providing excellent views of their smaller size, darker ‘look’ and more visible eyestripe then their southern cousins – race melanota.
Nothing much else happened until we reached the junction of the lake edge walk and the Pandanus walk and then Rob called ‘finches’ – a few seconds and we had located a pair of the target species drinking at the lake’s edge. We advanced and managed to get some nice photos and excellent views of (one pair only) Black-throated Finch – very pleasing, lovely little bird.
Leaving the wetlands we grabbed another Coke and Mars bar at the service station and headed south for a couple of Ks before stopping at a small wetlands on the corner of Brady Rd. An Eastern Wagtail had been reported here two weeks previously so we were keen to check it out.
No wagtail, but a nicely confiding pair of Radjah Shelducks and a number of other wetland species were present.
We headed back through Mt Molloy and the BBBQ site again and spent 30 minutes walking the area close to the car park without flushing any quail, then it was back to KFP and another fruitless session at the waterhole waiting in vain for the Crake to appear. Rob and I went for dinner at the Highlander, the hotel just down the road for a credible pub style meal and a couple of drinks before returning to crash in preparation for an early start.
Sunday 4.12.11. I was up at 4.15, Rob at 4.30 and we left KFP at 5 heading north. Through Mt carbine and out onto the ‘unfenced, stock on road’ northern highway - and immediately there were stock on the road - and wallabies. Heaps of them just waiting to run across in front of us. However, 2 hours of careful driving (I reckon if the cattle are feeding they are probably not going to move – it’s the ones with their heads up or young calves that are the problem) and we had reached Cooktown, we just kept going and an hour later pulled up at McIvor River Crossing.
We stepped out of the car and a White-browed Robin was the first bird we saw! Nice start. Within 2 or 3 minutes we had our first target bird – Black-winged Monarch, only briefly, but a clear and unequivocal view. More ‘good’ birds followed as we searched for our second target – Fairy Gerygone, Wompoo Fruit Dove, Macleay’s, Yellow-spotted, Graceful, Brown-backed and Dusky Honeyeaters, Azure and Forest Kingfishers, Grey Whistler, a pair of Shinning Flycatchers, Rose-crowned & Superb Fruit Doves and Shining Bronze Cuckoo calling and finally on the other side of the creek, our second target bird, Tropical Scrubwren, followed shortly after by overhead views of a couple more.
2 and a half hours and we decided we had seen all there was to see so we headed back to Cooktown but only after spending a few minutes chatting to a local on a quad bike who owned the property around the crossing and gave us, a little belatedly, permission to access the riverbank as far as we wanted!
Fish and chips in Cooktown on the wharf were very acceptable, then it was back on the road towards ‘home’. We wanted to get clear of the unfenced part of the road before dusk as we preferred to not have a steer or wallaby as a bonnet trophy…
We stopped at Palmerston Roadhouse and enquired about Butcherbirds. Playing Black-backed Butcherbird via the iPod in the beer garden brought in a Pied - and a gardener, the latter describing a purple bird with a long bill he had seen many years ago ‘up the cape’. Sounded like a good story, but appeared to be a genuine belief - makes one wonder what has been blown in or landed as a single vagrant in an area that is not at all well explored.
We turned off at Hurricane Rd, approx 20 kms north of Mt Carbine and stopped after 4 kms at Dave’s Dam on the left hand side of the dirt road. The dam is on private property but we understand the owners are generous with birders.
A surprising number of species - 2 Black-necked Storks, 4 Brown Quail, 20 Black Duck, 10 Grey Teal, a White-necked Heron, a Darter and about 5 Apostlebirds took off as we approached! We noted a small flock of Double-barred Finches, Great Bowerbird, Pale-headed Rosella, Weebill and Grey-crowned Babblers while a Black-fronted Dotterel called and another pair of those northern Brown Treecreepers yelled constantly from nearby trees.
Arriving back at KFP Rob went down to the dam for another session trying for the crake, while I showered and relaxed with a book for a while. After dinner we went for a spotlight and turned up some good stuff. Northern Leaf-tailed Geckos and a Green Ringtail Possum and while we were showing Bryan the former – he found a stunning Striped Possum!
Returning to have a coffee with Eliot and Bryan before hitting the sack a Boyd’s Forest Dragon ran into the kitchen grabbed a large longhorn beetle and scuttled off with legs and antennae hanging out of his mouth! Bryan ran and grabbed his camera and took some stunning photos of it at ground level where it posed obligingly before gulping down its prize.
Monday 5.12.11 A late start at 6.00 and a cooked breakfast set us up nicely for a trip up Mt Lewis. We had no particular targets in mind, but were keen to re-establish acquaintance with the Mt Lewis specialities. We parked in the clearing and walked up the track to the dam and back. There were, unfortunately, no Parrot finches – none had been seen for a couple of weeks, but we did have Victoria’s Riflebird, Tooth-billed Bowerbird, Grey-headed Robin, Spotted Catbird, a couple of Noisy Pittas, Macleay’s, Scarlet, Graceful, Bridled and Lewin’s Honeyeaters, close views of Fernwren, Fairy Gerygone, Eastern Spinebill, Bassian Thrush, Barred Cuckoo-shrike, Wompoo and Superb Fruit Doves (heard only), Mountain Thornbill, Atherton Scrubwren, Bower’s and Little Shrike Thrush, Rufous Fantail and a pair of examples of the minor race of the White-throated Treecreeper.
Down from the tablelands and the temperature climbed three degrees – back to Wonga Beach for another go at the Spotted Whistling Duck location – no luck, even less duck here than a few days ago. We did talk of borrowing step ladders or standing on the roof of the car to see better into the dams but abandoned both ideas as being 1. impractical and 2. expensive. Rob did spot an Oriental Cuckoo at the end of the road – flighty as usual, gone before he could get his camera on it.
Stopped at Mossman for a coffee and sandwich/pastie in the main street, then on down the coast to Cairns.
The Botanical Gardens or the Esplanade? The tide was not high until 18.00 or thereabouts so @ 14.00 we decided the gardens offered the best opportunity. Walked the boardwalk and tried for Red-necked Crake with no result. Usual few birds around including a Green Pygmy Goose on the lake, but nothing unexpected, so to the esplanade, arriving at 14.40.
Grabbing scopes and bins we charged out to the middle – right outside Muddie’s playground – set up and started scanning the waders. The tide was much higher than I had expected and the birds were in excellent view, ignoring the walkers, cyclists and pram pushers moving only meters away.
A Striated Heron, 150+ Great Knot, Black-tailed and Bar-tailed Godwits, Curlew and Terek Sandpipers, Lesser and Greater Sand Plover, Grey-tailed Tattler, Eastern Curlew, Red-necked Stints and is it? Yes, it’s a Broad-billed Sandpiper – a nice finish to the weekend!
Back to the car, dash off to the service station, fill up with fuel, change clothes, pack bags, arrive airport at 15.35, dump car, check in baggage, get a coffee, flight called at 16.00, board and arrive in Brisbane 2 and a half hours later, 25 minutes later than planned.
Learnings: Preparation and research once again played a big part – enquiries prior to arrival enabled us to make the most of our time and resources and ensure we were in the right place at the best time. Although we didn’t get all our targets (6 out of a possible 10) we did pretty well and in addition saw some great mammals we hadn’t expected.