WEEKEND AWAY - KILCOY - JIMNA - KINGAROY - NANANGO - HOME!!

BIRD OF THE DAY [SATURDAY] - Crested Shrike tit. Excellent prolonged views of a pair of this  species near Jimna 

BIRD OF THE TRIP [SEEN SUNDAY] - WHITE BACKED SWALLOW [photo by Cecile Espigole]

We just finished an excellent weekend away into the 'near west'.

WE left Nambour on Saturday morning and had our first birding adjacent to the Kilcoy meat works.

Next stop was near Jimna and the birding was great!!

Rufous Songlark

White bellied Cuckoo-shrike

White bellied Cuckoo-shrike

Restless Flycatcher

Fuscous Honeyeater

White naped Honeyeater

Yellow faced Honeyeater

Dusky Woodswallow

Jacky Winter

Fan tailed Cuckoo

Then via many back roads, yet still in the zone of happiness, onto Nanango.

Buff rumped Thornbill

Buff rumped Thornbill

From Nanango we drove to the Hotel Oasis in Kingaroy and happily took our dinner there as well.

Sunday saw us early at Gordonbrook Dam and we had some very good birding there as well.

Pink Eared Ducks - 2 of approx. 15

Gordonbrook Dam

Gordonbrook Dam

White breasted Woodswallows at Gordonbrook

Bustards

Bustards

Striped Honeyeater

Yellow Thornbill

Lunch at Nanango and a quick look around the East Nanango Fauna and  Flora Sanctuary before a long drive home with a few stops to add some species to our weekend lists.

Yellow rumped Thornbill in Nanango park

Weekend Away Birding Crew!

Birds recorded [thanks Cecile]

1. Apostlebird
2. Latham’s Snipe
3. Azure Kingfisher
4. Laughing Kookaburra
5. Leaden flycatcher
6. Australian Pelican
7. Australasian Darter
8. Little black cormorant 
9. Great Cormorant
10. Pied Cormorant
11. Little Pied Cormorant
12. Caspian Tern
13. Black-winged Stilt
14. Red-capped Plover
15. Black-fronted dotterel
16. Masked lapwing
17. Comb-crested Jacana
18. Black Swan
19. Cotton Pygmy-Goose
20. Australian Wood Duck
21. Pink-eared Duck
22. Australasian Shoveler
23. Grey Teal
24. Chestnut Teal 
25. Hardhead
26. Pacific Black duck
27. Australasian Grebe
28. Great Crested Grebe 
29. White-faced Heron
30. White-necked Heron
31. Cattle egret 
32. Great egret
33. Intermediate egret 
34. Little Egret
35. Australian White Ibis
36. Royal Spoonbill
37. Straw-necked Ibis
38. Glossy Ibis
39. Yellow-billed Spoonbill
40. Purple swamphen
41. Dusky Moorhen
42. Eurasian Coot
43. Australian Bustard
44. Australian Brush-turkey
45. Brown Quail
46. White-bellied Sea-Eagle
47. Wedge-tailed eagle
48. Black Kite
49. Whistling kite
50. Collared Sparrowhawk
51. Black-shouldered kite
52. Brown Falcon
53. Nankeen Kestrel
54. Peregrine Falcon
55. Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo 
56. Galah
57. Cockatiel
58. Little Corella
59. Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
60. Rainbow Lorikeet
61. Scaly-breasted lorikeet
62. Little Lorikeet
63. Australian King-Parrot 
64. Pale-headed rosella
65. Red-rumped Parrot
66. Spotted Turtle-dove 
67. Brown Cuckoo-Dove
68. White-headed Pigeon 
69. Crested Pigeon
70. Peaceful dove
71. Bar-shouldered Dove
72. Topknot pigeon 
73. Fan-tailed Cuckoo
74. Shining Bronze-Cuckoo
75. Forest Kingfisher 
76. Rainbow Bee-eater 
77. Welcome swallow
78. Tree martin
79. Fairy Martin
80. White-backed Swallow
81. White-browed Scrubwren
82. Weebill
83. Striated Thornbill 
84. Yellow Thornbill
85. Brown thornbill
86. Buff-rumped Thornbill
87. Yellow-rumped Thornbill
88. White-throated Gerygone 
89. Spotted Pardalote 
90. Striated Pardalote
91. Superb Fairy-wren
92. Red-backed Fairywren
93. Variegated Fairy-Wren
94. Fuscous Honeyeater
95. Yellow-tufted Honeyeater
96. White-naped Honeyeater
97. White-throated Honeyeater
98. Lewin’s Honeyeater 
99. Yellow-faced Honeyeater
100. Brown Honeyeater
101. New Holland Honeyeater
102. Blue-faced Honeyeater
103. Striped Honeyeater
104. Bell Miner
105. Noisy miner
106. Little Friarbird
107. Noisy Friarbird
108. Eastern Whipbird
109. Grey-crowned Babbler
110. Varied sittella
111. White-throated treecreeper
112. Brown Treecreeper
113. Varied Triller
114. Black-faced Cuckooshrike 
115. White-bellied Cuckoo-Shrike
116. Dusky Woodswallow
117. White-breasted Woodswallow
118. Pied currawong
119. Pied butcherbird 
120. Grey Butcherbird 
121. Australian Magpie
122. White-winged Chough
123. Torresian Crow
124. Satin Bowerbird
125. Australian Figbird
126. Spangled Drongo
127. Olive-backed Oriole
128. Peewee/Magpie Lark
129. Restless Flycatcher
130. Rock Dove/Feral Pigeon 
131. Grey Fantail
132. Rufous fantail 
133. Willie-wagtail
134. Jacky Winter
135. Eastern Yellow Robin
136. Crested Shrike-tit
137. Rufous Whistler
138. Golden Whistler
139. Little Shrike-thrush  
140. Grey Shrike-Thrush
141. Mistletoebird
142. Silvereye
143. Golden-headed Cisticola 
144. Little Grassbird 
145. Rufous Songlark
146. Common Myna
147. Common Starling
148. Zebra Finch
149. Double-barred Finch
150. Red-browed Finch
151. Chestnut-breasted Mannikin 
152. House Sparrow 

BIRD SURVEY OPPORTUNITY

BIMBLEBOX NATURE REFUGE

Bird Survey 5-7 September 2019

Eric Anderson & Diana O’Connor

We are planning to resurvey the nine permanent sites we first established in October 2003 at the 8,000 ha Bimblebox Nature Refuge. This will be our 6th survey with others being conducted in Aug 2005, Dec 2011, Apl 2012 and Sep 2015. The permanent sites are GPS located and are based on the Birdlife Australia Area Search method where all birds are recorded in a 500 m radius around a point (= 80 ha) over a period of 60-90 minutes.

To participate you need, as a minimum, a moderate level of fitness and own a hand held GPS and binoculars. The tracks on the property are rudimentary so a relatively high clearance vehicle is necessary. The ‘camp site’ has power and water and facilities for cooking and showering. We will be bringing a camper trailer however there is a double bed and a separate bunk bed available if needed. You will need to provide all of your own food and beverages.

There are seven ecosystems on Bimblebox with the most prominent being Silver-leaved Ironbark (Eucalyptus melanophloia), Poplar Box (Eucalyptus populnea) woodland and Heathland. The property is located approx. 50 km NW of the central Qld town of Alpha, which is approximately 450 km west of Rockhampton. Alpha is located on the Capricorn Highway between Emerald and Barcaldine.

If you are interested in joining us and/or finding out more details please contact us by email (plainswanderer@powerup.com.au).

SEPTEMBER – WEDNESDAY - MID WEEK OUTING - DATE CHANGED!

SEPTEMBER – WEDNESDAY - MID WEEK OUTING

Group –  Sunshine Coast

Leader/s and contact details – Russ Lamb lambrk49@yahoo.com.au

Location 1 - Hamilton Road, Lake Macdonald

Location 2 - Cooroy Sewerage Treatment Works

Date – 11^th September, 2019  [WAS 4^TH]

Time –  7am start

Time –finish at 10am with morning tea & bird call, possibility of extension To Cooroy STW

What to bring – hat, sunscreen, insect repellent, folding chair, morning tea.

Other details –Unitywater require all visitors to wear enclosed footwear, long sleeved shirt, and long trousers

Subject: 17 AUGUST 2019 – SATURDAY OUTING - BIRDLIFE AUSTRALIA SUNSHINE COAST

Dear all,

A reminder about our Saturday August outing – details below.

Please note – details of this outing have changed since the publishing of it in the year programme.

17 AUGUST 2019 – SATURDAY OUTING

Group –  Sunshine Coast

Leader/s and contact details – Steve Popple, 0499944233

Location – Pinbarren

Location –  Meet initially at the red dot [on the map above] on Upper Pinbarren Road, Pinbarren, meeting point is 300 metres from the end of the bitumen there is a parking spot on the left hand side. The walk will transfer to Steve and Carol Popple’s residence for the bird call and a wander through the garden

Date –  17 August, 2019

Time – [beginning] – 7-45am for an 8am start.

Time – [ending -estimated] – walk will end at c. 10am followed by morning tea with bird call

What to bring – hat, sunscreen, insect repellent, folding chair, morning tea.

Other details – Roadside birding along Upper Pinbarren Road with its open farmland habitat combined with remnant vegetation offers an interesting mix of bird species. Steve & Carol have a small rural block that they are converting from predominantly grass to native vegetation to increase biodiversity and hopefully attract more birds year round. Species seen at the property to date total 120 species.

Coucal Hill Outing

Rose Robin [P. Colley]

Our saturday outing for April by every measure was quite successful. We were hosted by Julia at her beautiful property, Coucal Hill.  Her property is a beautiful 42 acre macadamia farm on the Northern end of the Blackall Range above Yandina, with magnificent views overlooking the Sunshine Coast. Over the past 10 years a weed ridden gully, dissecting the property, has been turned into great habitat with help from environmental grants and LFW.  The property backs onto Mapleton National Park. 

Some 54 people were in attendance - a number only slightly eclipsed by the number of bird species seen!

Sulphur crested Cockatoo

obliging Fan tailed Cuckoo

Parklakes Birding

Alright - Take 127.

Attempt to get the Blog going again....

Calling all SC members please contribute photos, articles, opinions, rare sightings for this blog please!

I have just been birding at Parklakes - first Australian birding for a couple of months at least and saw a few nice things before the rain came down...

One of the prettiest Australian birds - Azure Kingfisher

the abundant Brown Honeyeater

an uncommon honeyeater here on the Sunshine Coast - Striped

White faced Heron and reflection

YTBC munching Banksias

Hide during construction

September Outings

Dear all

It is very, very nearly September and I would like to announce our next two outings!

Our first outing is on the Saturday 8 September meeting at Toorbul [southern end of the esplanade] at 7am. Hopefully we will be able to note some of the first migrants arriving. The high tide is scheduled for 8-45am so we should have some time as the birds fly in to the roost as the tides rise. Please remember to be sun safe and also bring chairs and morning tea. Scopes are a useful addition for wader watching as well.

World Shorebird Day 2018 is on the 6 September 2018 however wader bird counts are happening globally between the 5^th and the 11^th September and we hope to contribute to them. More information about the programme can be found here; https://worldshorebirdsday.wordpress.com/

From the website; ‘Healthy populations of shorebirds depend on healthy wetlands—and so do thousands of human lives around the world. Action on a global scale is needed to help connect people and shorebirds.  World Shorebirds Day has been created with the following aims:

1. To raise awareness of the need to protect shorebirds and their habitats throughout their life cycles;
2. To raise public awareness of the need for continued shorebird research, monitoring, and conservation;
3. To connect people with shorebirds through wetland sites around the world

I hope to pen an article, hopefully to be published in local papers, about the day and our counts.

Also in September Paul Jensen will be hosting at his local patch, Park Lakes at Bli Bli, on Wednesday 12^th. Please meet at 8am at the park [adjacent to the child minding centre]. Some good birds have been seen here recently including Latham’s Snipe, Buff banded Rail and Spotless Crake.

Our last weekend away, a little jaunt through Kilcoy, Mt Mee, Lake Samsonvale on the Saturday and Sheep Station Creek and Brolga Lakes on the Sunday resulted in some excellent birds including Little Eagle, Pallid cuckoo, Yellow rumped Thornbill, Great crested Grebe, nesting White throated Tree creepers and Fuscous Honeyeaters, Painted Buttonquail, White bellied cuckoo Shrike [including an uncommon dark phase bird], Pink eared duck, Glossy Ibis, Dusky Woodswallow, Baillon’s Crake, Latham’s Snipe – to name a few…. Hopefully you can plan to join a weekend away next year….

Cheers now and good birding