I was able to fit in two final wildlife-watching trips before university. The first was a return trip to Lake Samsonvale on the 17th February, where I hoped for better luck in finding some of the special birds that have been there in recent months. Sadly I chose an extremely hot day to visit, and consequently birds were very hard to find, though I did end up seeing 47 species. My attempts to find the Musk Duck, a potential lifer for me, on the lake itself unfortunately proved futile, though finding nine Great Crested Grebes among a great selection of the more common waterfowl was pleasing. A magnificent White-bellied Sea Eagle flew low overhead, as did six Australian Pelicans and a pair of Whistling Kites. Passerines were rather scarce, but it was great to find two Brisbane-area year-ticks in the form of Varied Triller (four) and Shining Bronze Cuckoo (two), while a decent selection of other woodland seen included four Bar-shouldered Doves, seven Striated Pardalotes, four Common Cicadabirds, twelve Rufous Whistlers, nine Leaden Flycatchers, three Double-barred Finches, an Eastern Yellow Robin and a Grey Shrikethrush.
Two days' later, I headed to Mount Coot-tha in search of a final addition to my 600 challenge. My first stop was the Botanic Gardens, where a pair of Plumed Whistling Ducks had been reported the previous day. Unsurprisingly, my search drew blank, though a great number of waterbirds were present, including a large flock of Hardheads and several Australasian Swamphens.
My next stop was the JC Slaughter Falls, where I held a vague hope of discovering a roosting Powerful Owl. This did not happen, and virtually no birds were seen, so I moved on to my final location, Simpson's Falls. As I got out of my car, I was very pleased to hear a fantastic chorus of bird song. Fantastic numbers of passerines were showing, presumably due to the impending thunderstorm. Striated Pardalotes, Large-billed and White-browed Scrubwrens, Brown Thornbills, a pair of Australian Golden Whistlers, Olive-backed Orioles, Lewin's and White-throated Honeyeaters, Spangled Drongos, Rufous Fantails, Eastern Yellow Robins and both Black-faced and Spectacled (a year-tick) Monarchs were all showing well, along with a Grey Shrikethrush. A flock of White-throated Needletails darted overhead, while a Sacred Kingfisher made for a nice sight in the forest. It felt as though a final addition to my 600 challenge must have been hiding somewhere, and so it proved when a fantastic Wonga Pigeon flew across the path in front of me, bringing my final total up to 680 species between finishing school in June and starting university. I am immensely proud of this total, which includes a fantastic total of 207 lifers (78 in Kenya, 70 in the USA, 50 in Australia, 8 in New Zealand and 1 in Italy). What an awesome time it was, especially considering everything else that happened in that time, from travelling across the USA, up New Zealand, visiting the Kakamega Forest (somewhere I have always wanted to go), and of course moving to Australia.
On the 21st February, I arrived at my college at the University of Queensland to begin my fresher week, bringing to an end the amazing period of my 600 challenge. Since then, I have been immensely busy settling into my biology course, which I really hope provides me with some fantastic opportunities.
The 19th March was my first opportunity to go birding since starting university, and I was lucky enough to be going out on a pelagic trip out of Southport that I had booked in January. After an extraordinary first trip, on which I was lucky enough to see a Queensland first in the form of a Cook's Petrel, along with another rarity in Black Petrel, I was immensely excited. After a terrible night's sleep in a backpacker hostel in Southport, I was on-board the boat by half-past-five in the morning. I was pleased to find a pair of Bush Stone-curlews in the port carpark, while several Far Eastern Curlews and numerous Greater Crested Terns were seen as we began to head out to sea. Just offshore, we caught site of an Arctic Jaeger, which was shortly followed by at least six more of the species, along with six Pomarine Jaegers, only my second-ever sighting of the bird, following a flock of 28 off England in 2014. These remarkable birds breed across far northern tundra and taiga, from Alaska to Scandinavia and Siberia, and spend the northern winter as far south as South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. It was a fantastic privilege to see such extraordinary birds so well and in such numbers, and both were firsts for me in Australia. Not long later, the first of many (at least 400) Wedge-tailed Shearwaters of the trip appeared, however things remained rather quiet for the next two hours or so. We enjoyed the bizarre sight of a pair of White-faced Herons flying low over the ocean as we headed out to the shelf, apparently most likely birds from Lord Howe Island relocating to the mainland, while a further Pomarine Jaeger was the only other thing of note seen before we arrived at the shelf. After four hours' of travelling out to sea, we finally came upon what we were searching for- a large flock of seabirds. Unfortunately the flock appeared to consist only of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, though eventually the first Tahiti Petrel of the day appeared, before a Hutton's Shearwater (a bird I had previously only seen in New Zealand, and consequently my third Australia tick of the day) appeared.
Wedge-tailed Shearwaters
Baiting the water successfully drew in more birds, and before long, close to 300 Wedge-tailed Shearwaters were around the boat, along with at least 12 Tahiti Petrels, two Flesh-footed Shearwaters and three Wilson's Storm-petrels. Two unidentifiable large sharks and a school of Offshore Bottlenose Dolphins also made visits to the bait, making for a truly awesome spectacle. It was hugely exciting when another birder called out a Pterodroma species heading towards the boat. It turned out to be a Kermadec Petrel, an enormously pleasing lifer for me. This bird breeds across the Pacific, from Lord Howe Island to Juan Fernandez Island, and is a rare visitor to Australian waters. I was overjoyed at seeing the bird, but frustratingly missed out on the opportunity to photograph it. Thankfully, a second individual bird appeared a little later, giving fantastic views as it circled the boat. Again, I very nearly missed out on photographing the bird, but thankfully I managed to take one decent record shot!
Kermadec Petrel (top) with a Tahiti Petrel below it. What an awesome privilege to be able to see both these birds at the same time!
Sadly, with a large swell building up, it was soon time to head back to shore. On the extraordinarily rough return journey, we encountered many more Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, several Tahiti Petrels and at least ten more Hutton's Shearwaters. I am sure that had we been able to stay out on the shelf we would have seen some fantastic birds, but sadly it was too dangerous. After four hours' of clinging onto the deck for dear life we finally got back to Southport, where a Brown Booby struggling to fly into the wind just off the beach made for a fantastic end to a great trip.
The final totals of the day were:
Wedge-tailed Shearwater- 400+, maybe closer to 600
Hutton's Shearwater- 11+
Flesh-footed Shearwater- 2
Wilson's Storm-petrel- 3
Tahiti Petrel- 16+
Kermadec Petrel- 2
Brown Booby- 1
Pomarine Jaeger- 7
Arctic Jaeger- 7+
What an awesome trip!
Meanwhile, with my three additions in February, my Brisbane year total has progressed to 174.
Brisbane year total: 174, additions: 3 (Shining Bronze Cuckoo, Varied Triller, Wonga Pigeon)
