This month it was exciting to see more of the summer migrants arrive and settle around the place... it was my birthday at the start of the month which is also exciting! I decided to spend my birthday checking out Elliott Heads to look for the Beach Stone-Curlew. I kind of knew they were there as always and as it was rather windy I figured they would be taking shelter in the Dr May's Island dune. Being a fragile and important micro-habitat for the beach birds, I like to keep off the island to minimalise erosion and, in this case, not disturb the birds from their shelter. While walking around the river mouth though I saw a nice variety of waders, such as Curlew Sandpiper, Red-necked Stint, Greater and Lesser Sand-Plovers, Ruddy Turnstone and Grey-tailed Tattler. I also took a walk along the nature trail at Riverview to see what was around; not much as it turned out except for Rufous Whistlers, Mistletoebird, Lewin's and Mangrove Honeyeater.
The following week was bound to be full of good birding and good times. I drove down to Brisbane at 4am in the morning to meet Julian Teh at the airport who was coming to visit us for a couple or days. His plane was due until midday-ish so I took the opportunity to try hopelessly to find me a Pale-vented Bush-hen and Lewin's Rail. Will I ever see one? Once we arrived back in Bundaberg I took Julian straight to Baldwin Swamp where several Cotton Pygmy-Geese awaited him. First thing the next morning we were out at Gengers Rd where some more lifers awaited, such as Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove, Fairy Gerygone, Mangrove Honeyeater and Pacific Baza. While the Black-breasted Button-Quail was almost a lifer for Julian, we didn't manage to put eyes on one despite disturbing a couple. Later we drove all the way to Elliott Heads, and the only time I would step foot on the island was to show Julian the Beach Stone-Curlews. All worth it in the end having our legs sandblasted and Julian cutting his foot on a barnacle-covered rock. After this we got home and slept, went out again after dusk and failed on finding a Large-tailed Nightjar before meeting the parents for dinner. The next day we were due to leave for Girraween NP, a little trip for my birthday, however we weren't leaving until 1300. So we had organised to spend the morning at the Port and Burnett Heads, and ironically the Asian Dowitcher that Julian wanted so bad was nowhere to be found (I found it again a few weeks later and he wasn't happy). Before heading home we detoured to Kirby's Wall so Julian could at least get one more lifer, Collared Kingfisher. We dropped Julian off at the airport that afternoon before heading for Girraween. The trip report for Girraween will be here soon.
The outing this month was lead by me to Sharks Nest. It started out as a dismally drizzly morning as we met at 6am but the rain held back while we birded and cleared up around midday. The place was audibly quiet, however the list grew slowly yet steadily with Little Shrike-thrush, Spangled Drongo, Spectacled Monarch and Cicadabird being seen. Adjacent to the track flows the Elliott River where Brahminy Kite and White-bellied Sea-Eagle were seen cruising around. After walking to the end of the track and back it was time for a quick morning tea before moving on. A crossing in the river further upstream offered slightly different habitat as Fairy Gerygone, Silvereye, Olive-backed Oriole, Azure Kingfisher and Purple Swamphen were added to the list. I decided to conclude the outing at Elliott Heads and with some waders (always good to finish with some waders). On the way a flooded paddock from the morning's rain produced Gull-billed and Caspian Terns, White-necked Heron and various egrets. Overall a good morning birding the local area. Until I catch up with last month's blog, happy birding.
Brandon
