MY BIRDING YEAR--- a non-illustrated story - by Russ Lamb

                                             

Writing an annual review of my birding year used to be a regular event, but I somehow fell out of the habit-----until now. The year started well with a trip to Tassie and my first ever Eaglehawk Neck pelagic which produced 6 lifers, a rare event for me these days. Never thought of myself as a petrel-head, but there I was ticking-off both Grey-backed  and White-faced Storm-Petrel, along with Great-winged, White-chinned and  Grey-faced Petrel. A new tubenose in Buller’s Albatross, and the strange sight of a very southern Brown Booby ended a great day on the water. Morepork was also on my target list and I was woken one morning pre-dawn by the classic call, scrambling to find bins, torch etc. However, a  through two hour search of the bush behind the house failed to locate the bird. I was also determined to see a Satin Flycatcher and located a female feeding a juvenile , finally removing lingering doubts I’d harboured about previous Qld sightings of this species. And no trip to Tasmania is complete without casting one’s eye on my favourite robin , the Pink Robin. Because birding has to include dips as well as ticks, I confess to failing to find the Hudsonian Godwit, despite three valiant attempts.

The highlight of the year was the Cape York trip from Weipa to Cairns guided by Ken and Steve. Although I’d birded most of the route previously in 2006 it was great to see again those Cape and Iron Range specialities, with my stand-out species being Northern Scrub-Robin, Yellow-billed Kingfisher and Palm Cockatoo. One whole day in Lakefield NP was all we had but there were memorable sightings of Emu, Brolga, Sarus Crane, Bustard, Black-throated Finch and Black-breasted Buzzard. The trip ended on a high with the sighting of a Black Bittern in Cairns.

A few days over the border in the Byron/Ballina region allowed visits to some of my favourite birding sites. The magnificent West Byron Wetlands gave me Rufous Songlark and Black-eared Cuckoo, species which I hadn’t seen for many years. A Brown Songlark at Lake Chickiba, Ballina was in the same category.

And local birding on the Sunshine Coast was, as always, varied and interesting. My local birding is structured around , but not exclusive to, a number of Birdlife Australia projects. Surveys at the Yandina Creek Wetlands can be a challenge, but one is always rewarded with a wide range of species, Wood Sandpiper being my pick of the year. Monthly surveys at Jabiru Park/Fearnley Hide for the Wetlands Project are always rewarding, with Black-necked Stork regularly seen, and just this month a number of Oriental Cuckoo appearing and easily seen. Some winter nights were spent on the Powerful Owl Project in the Cooroy/Pomona area, following a fairly strict surveying protocol, with unfortunately no PO’s detected. We did however hear Masked Owl behind some houses, and our last night had Owlet-Nightjar calling in three separate locations. I’m also involved in monthly wader/shorebird counts at the Noosa River mouth, always great to get out on the water and observe the changing species and counts over the year. A pair of Beach Stone-Curlew are resident there, and usually seen. And during the warmer months there’s a couple of  National Latham’s Snipe counts to be undertaken.

As in most years, this year I day- guided overseas and interstate birders from the birding-pal website, from Sweden, NZ, USA, Netherlands, Canada and WA. It’s always a pleasure to show visitors our great habitats and birds, and this year Black-breasted Button-Quail and Regent Bowerbird headed the list. And our last Birding Sunshine Coast mid-week outing produced the spectacular sight of around 200 White-throated Needletail drinking and bathing on the wing over Ewen Maddock Dam.

So a varied year, with many good birds and even better company. I look forward to seeing many of you out there in 2020