Birds of the Mareeba Wetland

During June we took a trip to Nth Queensland and one of our chosen locations to visit was the Mareeba Wetlands. The birding in this area we found to be excellent, particularly the savanna birds. There were a good number of wetland birds as well but not in the numbers and varieties as apparently are around later in the year (wetlands are normally closed during the summer months).  

The birding experience was significantly enhanced by spending a morning with David “Chook” Crawford of Close-Up Birding Adventures (www.closeupbirding.com.au). Dave has intimate knowledge of the Mareeba Wetlands and birding in North Queensland in general. With his help I managed to get some decent photos especially of species specific to the area.

Some of the highlights:

Black-Throated Finch (Poephila cincta)

Rufous Whistler (Pachycephala rufiventris)

Striated Pardalote (Pardalotus striatus - race melancephalus)

Squatter Pigeon (Geophaps scripta - race peninsulae)

White-Throated Gerygone (Gerygone olivacea)

Mareeba Wetlands

During our June trip to Nth Queensland stayed at the Jabiru Safari Park located in the Mareeba wetlands.

The Mareeba Tropical Savanna and Wetland Reserve is an hour and 15 minutes drive west of Cairns, on the northern edge of the Atherton Tablelands (Cairns Highlands). The 2000ha reserve consists of open savanna woodland, grassland, and freshwater wetlands. The wetlands are man made and the whole area is a Conservancy dedicated to the conservation of wetlands and savannah flora and fauna. 

Jabiru Safari Park has deluxe tented accommodation and the main lodge is located on the edge of Clancy's lagoon.

Sunset over Clancy's lagoon

Water lilies in Clancy's lagoon

Birds at Thala Beach

There were extensive opportunities in the grounds of the Thala Beach Lodge for bird photography and bird watching. 

 The following are the stories behind just three of these species:

Large-billed Gerygone

A pair of Large-billed Gerygone had built their nest hanging from a branch over one of the small rock swimming pools at the Lodge This species has an amazing nest of grass, leaves and spiders web that hangs by a very thin thread usually over a stream helping to protects it from tree snakes etc. The birds were constantly taking food into their nest to feed their young.

Following is a picture of one of the birds moments before it enters the nest:

Here is a picture of the nest and if you look closely at the lower left hand side you can see one of the birds passing on food.

 

Nesting Osprey

Thala Beach Lodge has its own pair of resident Osprey. The Lodges resident bird expert tells a great story concerning these birds. The Osprey have nested in the lodges grounds for many years, originally in a dead tree but more recently atop a power pole. A couple of years ago the male disappeared, what happened no one knows.  The female found a new mate who turned out to be a much younger bird her “toyboy” as referred to by the birding guide. Unfortunately in their first year the male, being inexperienced in such matters as nest building, allowed the nest to deteriorate so that the eggs laid fell through and were broken. This year everyone is hoping for a better result. The following was one of the images I took of the nesting pair and perhaps a fitting caption would be – “nothing gets done properly around here unless I do it myself!” 

Double-eyed fig parrots

Literally stumbled across this pair doing what fig parrots do best – feeding on figs. I was following some Bee-eaters at the time and happened to look up and notice these two.  Understand they are not so common so privileged to get quite a few shots. Had to be patient and wait for them to emerge from the shadows and foliage onto this particular cluster of fruit. 

The following species were photographed during our stay in the second week of June 2011:

Helmeted Friarbird (Philemon buceroides), 
Yellow-spotted Honeyeater (Meliphaga notata),

Yellow Orial (Oriolus flavocintus),

Black Butcherbird (Cracticus quoyi),

Papuan Frogmouth (Podargus papuensis),

Sacred Kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus),

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus),

Spangled Drongo (Dicrurus bracteatus)

Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrike (Coracina novaehollandiae),

Satin Flycatcher (Myiagra cyanoleuca),

Varied Triller (Lalage leucomela),

Large-billed Gerygone (Gerygone magnirostris),

Bar-shouldered Dove (Geopelia humeralis),

Rainbow Bee-eater (Merops ornatus),

Spotted Turtle-dove (Streptopelia chinensis),

Magpie-lark (Grallina cyanoleuca),

Peaceful Dove (Geopelia striata),

Mistleltobird (Dicaeum hirundinaceum),

Gould's Bronze-Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx russatus) male,

Gould's Bronze-Cuckoo (Chrysococcyx russatus) female,

Double-eyed Fig-Parrot (Cyclopsitta diphthalma- race macleayana) male,

Double-eyed Fig-Parrot (Cyclopsitta diphthalma- race macleayana) female

Thala Beach Lodge

On recent trip to Nth Queensland we stayed at Thala Beach Lodge located about 15 min south of Port Douglas. The Lodge is situated on about 150 acres of private land on the northern end of Oak beach.  The immediate area provides excellent bird watching/photographing opportunities (more to follow).

Oak Beach looking south

View towards Port Douglas

Tawny Frogmouth

We recently has a visit from a Tawny Frogmouth that decided to spend the day sleeping in our Jacaranda tree close to the house. All was fine until the local Currawongs tried to run him out of the area and decided to move to the tennis court fence. At least in this position I was able to get some good shots of him. By next morning he had moved away.

Warracknabeal

Recent trip to the Victorian Wimmera-Mallee region highlighted the changes to the landscape following the extreme wet conditions of the last six months. There is water lying in areas not seen for many many years. The Yarriambiack Creek in Warracknabeal, which was the subject of severe flooding early in the new year, now looks a picture.

Bird photography was a bit more difficult. There are no doubt many more birds as a result of the good conditions but with water so easily available they are spread out over a wide area. At least managed to get some good shots of a pair of Eastern Rosellas

Ku-ring gai Wildflower Garden wildlife

While photographing birds at the Ku-ring-gai Wildflower Garden recently I looked across to a sunny patch in the undergrowth to see a large Red-bellied Black Snake keeping an eye on me. He was partly obscured by the foliage but got a few good shots - glad I had the 500mm lens fitted so could keep a far enough away as not to frighten him off. We were next to a large pond that has lots of frogs and as he slithered back into the reeds around the pond I could see from the size of him that the frogs kept him well fed!

Got some reasonable bird photos as well here is a one of the Yellow Robins that were very active that morning.

This one is an Eastern Whipbird that was very active in the undergrowth, as they normally would be, but occasionally would fly into a tree or in this case on a bridge.

Birds of Norfolk Island

Had some good opportunities to photograph various bird species while visiting Norfolk Island. In particular there were several good locations to observe and photograph the Red-tailed Tropicbird which is one of my favorite birds for in-flight shots.

At Point Ross there were some nesting Black-winged Petrels which was a pleasant surprise. I have only seen this species on Lord Howe Island previously. They fly at an amazing speed looking for all the world like jet fighters. Makes flight shots particularly difficult but rewarding if you can manage one or two decent images.

Saw a number of Sacred Kingfishers which are also difficult to "shoot" as they are wary and keep on the move if you approach them too quickly.

Just like Lord Howe there were numerous White Terns, another beautiful little bird. By all accounts Terns pair up for life and return to the same spot to breed each year. They have a particularly long migration each southern hemisphere winter the birds migrate to the far north around the Arctic Circle.

Norfolk Island

Just returned from a trip to Norfolk Island. Great coastal scenery, historic ruins of the penal colony that existed in the late 1700's and early 1800's (Kingston a world Heritage Site)and plenty of bird photography opportunities made for an enjoyable visit.

View from Cooks Memorial

Kingston - Quality Row

Kingston Pier and Slaughter Bay

Fairy-Wrens feeding a family

On a recent trip to Mt. Tomah in the Blue Mountains I witnessed a pair of Superb Fairy-Wrens feeding a family of chicks. I was amazed at the constant activity and the speed at which each bird left the nest, only to return with more food a few moments later, feed the chicks, and then head off again. I could not see the nest as it was buried deep in a dense bush and I did not want to cause undue stress to the parents by getting too close.