TRIP REPORT: 9-13 March, Cairns, Kuranda, Atherton Tablelands, Georgetown, Julatten & Mount Lewis.
Highlights: Golden Bowerbird, Blue-faced Parrot-finch, Spinifex Pigeon, 9 species of Kingfisher & all the Cuckooshrikes.
Tony Keene, Mike Honeyman & I recently returned from a fully-packed 4 night trip around North Queensland – starting and finishing up in Cairns.
Day 1 – Cairns to Kuranda: 345am start in Melbourne for me! Mike & Tony met me at the airport at 830am in Cairns having flown there the night before and we immediately headed off to Redden Island. Our long-shot hopes for Great-billed Heron and Beach stone-curlew were not be (due partly to an extremely high-tide) so we started off in good dipping form! But we picked up a handful of birds in the area including a Sea-Eagle, Bar-shouldered Doves, and Crested & Little Terns. Overall however it was very quiet – the best birds for us Southerners being the Aussie Swiftlets.
Moving swiftly on (pun fully intended!) we took to the mangroves to the north of the Esplanade. Here we picked up lots of Mangrove Robins, a pair of Collared Kingfishers, Barwits picking around in the grass (refugees from the very high tide), along with a real bonus of a Little Kingfisher flying into one of the Fig-trees out on the Grass. Walking north we also saw a Buff-banded Rail and I picked up my first Large-billed Gerygone of the trip and there were many Hornbill (Helmeted) Friarbirds in the area too.
Whilst the tide was still so high we headed up to the Centenary Lakes where we saw Magpie Geese (including 8 goslings), a Comb-Crested Jacana and the first of many Torresian Imperial Pigeons. However there really weren’t many birds out on the lakes themselves. We carried on through to the Flecker Botanical Gardens a picked up Black Butcherbirds, our first Scrubfowl for the trip, and flocks of Metallic Starlings and more (lots more) Torresian Imperial Pigeons. We also had the worlds most expensive cans of coke at the cafe at $4 a can! (Total rip-off, but we were hot and thirsty).
Heading then back to the Esplanade we were amazed to find that the tide had gone from providing no mud for any shorebirds, to now being so far back that we needed the scope in the heat-haze! There were plenty of shorebirds out there and despite the distance, between us we picked up Whimbrel, Curlew, RN Stints, both Knots, Terek & Curlew Sandpipers, a couple of Sharpies, GT Tattlers and Red-Capped Plovers but surprisingly no Sand-plovers. We tried further down the Esplanade at a grassy knoll near the southern end and we did get the Sand-plovers there – we only had two birds – but our luck was in and we got one of each species. We were also entertained here by the very tame and active Varied Honeyeaters flitting around.
Next stop Cattana Wetlands to the north of Cairns. Barely out of the car-park we were greeted by a family of Lovely Fairy-wrens which was an added bonus. Out on the lake we had plenty more Jacanas, and several pairs of Green Pymy-Geese. A Yellow Oriole flew past and in the bushes there we Brown Honeyeaters, Chestnut-breasted Manakins, and Leaden Flycatchers among the bush birds.
With dusk approaching we headed up to Kuranda to check in at Cassowary House – and after a quick dinner at the local fish and chips we took a night drive (in the rain) up Black Mountain Road. The only birds we saw were a couple of Owlet-Nightjars, and other wildlife included a ferocious looking Giant White-tailed Rat, Bandicoots and the endearing Cogger’s Barred Frog.
Day 2 – Kuranda to Georgetown
We were woken to the sound of heavy rain at 6am – but I figured that it wouldn’t put off the crake and ventured out into the wet. The other two wisely stayed put in bed (initially) whilst I sat in the grounds of Cassowary House getting “wetter than an otter’s armpit” (to quote Tony at the time). Of course there was no Crake. Mike then got up to look for me, but instead found the male Cassowary and chicks and managed to find me just in time as they wandered up the road and out of the grounds. I only just managed a quick view – but a tick is a tick! Tony missed out but he was the only one of us who’d had Cassowary before.
The weather then cleared up and we ventured around the grounds and walking the road outside and picked up plenty of nice birds including Spectacled Monarch, Barred Cuckoo-shrike, Fairy Gerygone, MacLeay’s and Yellow-spotted Honeyeaters, Forest Kingfishers, Pale-Yellow Robin and Tony had a Superb Fruit-dove fly past. The highlight, however, was the Yellow-breasted Boatbill that we picked up just outside the grounds in a roadside tree.
By midday it was time to hit the road, and a quick stop off for a hot-dog and a Double-Eyed Fig-Parrot in Kuranda was followed by a drive up to Mareeba. We decided to bird Tinaroo Creek road and were quickly rewarded in one spot picking up a flock of (migrating?) Leaden Flycatchers, several Pale-headed Rosellas, a mixed flocked of finches moving up the road – Mike and I only saw Double-barred Finch and Chestnut- Breasted Manakin but Tony also got onto some Black-Throated Finches too (to make up for the Cassowary). We continued up the road further and whilst the birds quietened down we did get our first of many Needletails for the trip along with some Eastern Gray Kangaroos, Agile Wallabies, and a surprise Whiptail Wallaby too.
A brief stop for out-of-season Cranes at Hastie’s swamp didn’t produce them but we did get loads of Whistling Ducks (both Plumed and Wandering) along with some great views of the Sea-eagles.
After that we had some miles to cover so we hit the roads West and pretty much didn’t stop until Georgetown.
Day 3 – Georgetown, Cumberland Dam and then to Julatten
This was the day I was most looking forward to – and also was the most nervous about as I had nagged the other two that a 400km drive out West for one morning’s birding was worth it. It didn’t disappoint…
The 20kms before we got to the Cumberland Dam was eventful producing a pair of Ground Cuckooshrikes, along with one of our few Brown Falcons for the trip. At the dam it was fairly quiet with just a few Green Pygmy Geese and Jacanas, but then a small flock of Red-tailed Black Cockatoos flew over, as did a mixed flock of Swifts which contained both Needletails, and to my delight, Fork-tailed Swifts too (finally got on to them!) We then walked along the Creek where we picked up Yellow-tinted and Rufous-throated Honeyeaters, along with a pair of Red-winged Parrots. Out by the small dam we had Red-backed Fairy-wren and Black-faced Woodswallow when I saw a Bustard walking in through the long grass – followed by three others.
Back by the main dam we then got onto a Paperbark Flycatcher (shorter bill, and smaller bird than the Restless) and a pair of Great Bowerbirds, and were also entertained by a Hobby going mental at a Channel-billed Cuckoo. The cuckoo certainly wasn’t a bird we were expecting there, but I guess they are on migration at the moment.
Also in the general area before we got back to Georgetown we saw Brolga, Red-backed Kingfisher, Banded Honeyeater, Little Friarbird, Squatter Pigeons – and 4 Spinifex Pigeons – two of which put on a bit of a mating show for us!! They are stunning little pigeons that none of the books do justice to.
Amazingly though we did not get one single Finch or Manakin – the birds that Cumberland Dam is famous for. I guess they had dispersed with all the rain.
Back in Georgetown we picked up a Black-breasted Buzzard by the racecourse and another very tame Bustard before heading back east towards the Tablelands again.
Our next brief stop was at the Dam at Innot Hot Springs where acting on a hot tip from Martin Cachard we got our only Cotton Pygmy-Geese of the trip. To be honest the dam was pretty grotty with some old chemical drums floating in there – but still worth it as we got a nice pair of the Pygmy-Geese here.
That was pretty much it until we reached Kingfisher Park, Julatten. We just had time to get the BB Paradise-kingfishers before the light went. Spotlighting we got the local pair of nesting Barn Owls and a few rodents and frogs but apart from that it was pretty quiet. The one bonus bird here was spotlighting an Azure Kingfisher which bought us up to 9 species of Kingfisher for the trip.
Day 4 – Mount Lewis and the Atherton Tablelands
Up early and a walk around the grounds of KP got us more nice views of Spectacled Monarch, and also our first Black-Faced Monarchs of the trip. Then it was time to hit Mount Lewis Road. Our first of the endemics was a Fernwren that called for a long-time before finally coming out to see us. As we moved up the road we also got several troops of Chowchillas, Grey-headed Robin and Mountain Thornbill. We could hear a Tooth-billed Bowerbird but it wouldn’t show itself. When we got to the top clearing all was quiet. We walked down the road and got on to a small flock of Red-browed Finches (hoping they would turn into Parrot-finches but no luck). However on the way back up the road Tony and Mike were ahead of me and called me over as they had got onto three of the finches.
Then we took the Miners track where Tony assured us that there were Atherton Scrubwrens and Bower’s Shrike-Thrushes in abundance last time he went. Guess what? Not one scrubwren (other than one I was sure was a large-billed) and whilst we could hear the Bower’s S-T they sounded further off. However, that all didn’t matter when we heard a strange electronic buzzing sound. “Golden Bowerbird” Tony and I both called out at the same time. (Let’s be honest there were probably a few four-letter words in there too!) It took a while but in the end we got on to a pair and the male really came out and showed himself off.
That is one awesome bird that none of the field guides do any justice to (unlike, it has to be said, the Parrot-finch!)
Coming down the mountain having got our two top targets, we enjoyed a lunch and beer at the Highlander, where a Graceful Honeyeater joined us for lunch and then we headed to Abbatoir Swamp. The Northern Fantail was behaving exactly as the book said – waiting for us in the trees in the car-park. Also there was a juvenile Brush-cuckoo.
The rest of the afternoon we made our way toward Mareeba. Lake Mitchell was barren, and there was no sign of the White-browed Robin at Big Mitchell Creek. In Mount Molloy we picked up more Squatter Pigeons and Great Bowerbirds, whilst near Mareeba I was surprised to see 4 more Bustards in an Orchard.
Driving up the road towards the closed Mareeba Wetlands, we got a fantailed cuckoo and a female cicadabird along with an agressive Keelback snake (we tried to string it into a Taipan of course!).
Last stop of the day was back at the point where Tony has the Black-throated finches but to no avail – although 200+ Needletails flying very low certainly compensated! We also picked up a Little Bronze-cuckoo and a Lemon-bellied Flycatcher to add to the list.
The evening was a washout and we added nothing new other than a Red-legged Pademelon in the Kingfisher Park grounds and a few frogs.
Day 5 – Cairns and home
We got up and it was pouring with rain. We tried for the White-browed Robin again at Big Mitchell Creek – and could hear one – but it was a long way off in the tall and very wet grass. We hoped that it would be better once we got to Cairns but it wasn’t to be. Still we decided to head back to Cattana wetlands and Tony and I decided to bird there in the pouring rain regardless. We did see a large eel – which was fitting in the conditions. Mike wisely stayed in the car, and when we returned wet-through we then got a Black-necked Stork (the only one of the trip) so mike could feel justifiably smug at remaining dry. Last stops at the Centenary Lakes and the Esplanade revealed nothing new before Mike and I had to head back to Melbourne. We dropped Tony off in town as he was returning to Radelaide the next morning.
After we’d left Tony picked up the Red-necked Crake. It must have been a great image – Tony, standing in the pouring rain, staring through his bins into a flower-bed right outside the local Mental Health Unit.
200+ species, lots of ticks all round, and three absolutely shattered Poms!
