Birdlife Southern Qld Outing 11/07/16

11 July 2016

BIRDLIFE SOUTHERN QUEENSLAND - DAY OUTING

Today I was fortunate enough to be invited to tag along on the Birdlife Southern Queensland day trip around the greater Toowoomba Region on a birding expedition led by Judith Hoyle & Mick Atzeni.

The day started for me just up the road from our house, showing the group where I had seen the Plum-headed Finch & Diamond Firetail earlier in the year.  Red-backed Fairy Wren's, Golden-headed Cisticolas and Pale-headed Rosellas were a few of the birds seen during the morning in this area.


LOVEDAY COVE - COOBY DAM

We travelled onto Loveday Cove in search of Musk Dusks, and they certainly took a bit of finding, hiding on the very opposite side of the lake, located by Mick and his keen eye.  It was a very long way away for a photo, but I have included a couple that you can zoom in on which shows a Musk Duck in the centre of the shot. Other birds at this site included Black-fronted Dotterels, Black-winged Stilt, Black Swan, Hardhead, Grey Teal, Eurasian Coot, Australian Pelican, Yellow-billed Spoonbill, Royal Spoonbill, Golden-headed Cisticola, Double-barred Finch to name a few.

You'll have to look hard, but in the centre of the photo there is a Musk Duck on the water at Cooby Dam 11/07/16

Zoomed in version of the same photo showing the Musk Duck somewhat! 

CROWS NEST NATIONAL PARK

Within the first few metres of entering Crows Nest National Park, this sleepy Koala was spotted not far from the track, thankfully for me, it was a healthy looking one. Not far along, Mick spotted the gorgeous male Rose Robin - this was a lifer for me, having only seen the female before.  My photo is fairly blurry, but I had to add it for proof!  Plenty of little birds were high in the tree tops and included Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Striated Pardalote, Golden Whistler, Grey Fantail.  White-browed Scrub wrens were aplenty and another highlight was seeing a (vulnerable) Brush-tail Rock Wallaby on a steep rocky cliff face on the opposite side of the gorge - with an obvious bump in her pouch too!  

Sleepy Koala at Crows Nest National Park, 11/07/16

Male Rose Robin - Crows Nest National Park, 11/07/16

Can you see me??  White-browed Scrub Wren, Crows Nest National Park, 11/07/16

Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby with bulging pouch, Crows Nest National Park, 11/07/16

Brush-tailed Rock Wallaby, Crows Nest National Park, 11/07/16

RAVENSBOURNE NATIONAL PARK

On to Ravensbourne National Park, at the Gus Beutel Lookout.  Lewin's Honeyeaters were the prominent bird (as always in this location) along with plenty of Eastern Yellow Robins.  Grey Shrike Thrush was enjoying the sunlight out in the open.  Within the rainforest itself, I was thrilled to see two 'lifers' including the male Paradise Riflebird and Large Billed Scrub Wren.  A catbird was well disguised high in the leafy tree tops, but the Noisy Pitta eluded me again.

Eastern Yellow Robin, Ravensbourne National Park, 11/07/16

Grey Shrike-thrush - Ravensbourne National Park, 11/07/16

Green Catbird, Ravensbourne National Park, 11/07/17

Lewin's Honeyeater, Ravensbourne National Park 11/07/16

Lewin's Honeyeaters, Ravensbourne National Park 11/07/16

Thanks to everyone who welcomed me into the group today, I had a great time and it was lovely to spend the day with so many like-minded people.

Judi