The return of the Eyebrowed Thrush; Seen this morning

Hi Folks, We saw the Eye-browed Thrush this morning and just missed Barbara. We arrived about 0810 and were lucky to see it within 2 minutes of arriving as it was on the ground in the open. It flew back into one of several orchard trees in the grassed area and spent about 10 minutes resting before pouncing back onto the ground for periods of 5-10 minutes, foraging for worms for which it was very successful. This was the pattern it followed for the next 1½hrs we were there. It is very wary of movement and best watched from beneath the Lychee tree (mentioned by Alan and Mike), located a bit before and to the left of the house, there are some bricks and a canoe under the tree. Due to it being very shy of movement we stayed put and waited for the bird to approach us. It did not come too close (8-10m) and was chased off by Buff-banded Rails on several occasions. A large Carpet Python was nearby climbing up a Banana Tree, lets hope it does not find the thrush!

Thanks to Alan and Mike for keeping us updated and to Terry and Michelle for allowing us onto their property, extra thanks to Terry for mowing the lawn in the orchard area and making the habitat suitable for the thrush again..

Also of interest was 3 Cotton Pygmy-goose (2 Adults and a juvenile) on the nearby Hasties Swamp (downloadable brochure http://www.birdsaustralianq.org/pdfs/Hasties-Swamp-No-10.pdf ). There was also one juvenile Green Pygmy-goose at the other end of the swamp, apart from that not much else to be seen.

Cheers, Keith & Lindsay.

Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge RN 6 Mt. Kooyong Road Julatten QLD 4871 Ph : (07) 4094 1263 Web Site: www.birdwatchers.com.au Blog: http://kingfisherparkbirdwatchers.blogspot.com/

Winner: Wet Tropics 2010 Cassowary Award for Nature Based Tourism

On 16/02/2011 8:22 AM, Mike Carter wrote: > Barbara Harvey just rang to say that she saw the Eye-browed Thrush > this morning at 07.20 having followed my directions – except that the > second turning that you pass is Carson not Curson Road. It flew in and > perched very prominently in a tree. > > Mike Carter > 30 Canadian Bay Road > Mount Eliza VIC 3930 > Tel (03) 9787 7136 > > —– Original Message —– From: “Rita & Ian” > > Sent: Wednesday, February 16, 2011 8:44 AM > > >> Hi >> The name of the road is Andricksen Road. There are numerous other >> ways of getting there as the tablelands is a bit of a maze, but the >> route selected by Mike is a good one. >> Good luck everyone.! >> cheers >> >> Ian Sinclair >> >> —– Original Message —– From: “Mike Carter” >> >> >>> Several people have asked me for directions to Terry & Michelle’s >>> property where this bird may be seen – see Alan’s message below. >>> As I recall, from the centre of Malanda it is about 5 km. Driving >>> towards Atherton take the third turning to the left after leaving >>> the outskirts of the town. The first turning is the Upper Barron >>> Road and the second is Curson Road. The third, which you take, has a >>> name beginning with A and is about 3 km out of Malanda. The sign >>> post is/was barely visible and is mounted on the right side of the >>> Atherton Road and was pointing the wrong way, that is out into the >>> paddock opposite the turning. It is grey bitumen road. After about 2 >>> km the name of the road changes to Stonehouse Road and this is well >>> marked. The colour of the bitumen changes to ‘orange’. The first >>> house on the left has a number 380 marked on a star picket. 100 m >>> beyond this there is a driveway with a similar star picket bearing >>> the number 370, your destination. Turn into the drive and drive up >>> the house and park on the grass to the left of the house. The bird >>> tends to frequent the lawn near to the fence about 35 m >>> perpendicular to that parking spot and can be viewed from there or >>> from the west side of the lychee tree that Alan mentions. This is >>> now a little to your left and slightly behind you. I recall it as a >>> dome shaped tree 4-5 m tall with dense dark green foliage. >>> >>> Mike Carter >>> 30 Canadian Bay Road >>> Mount Eliza VIC 3930 >>> Tel (03) 9787 7136 >>> >>> —– Original Message —– From: “Alan Gillanders” >>> >>> To: “birding-aus” >>> Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2011 7:30 PM >>>

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