8 lifers in three awesome days!

On the 18th December, I headed back up to the fantastic D'Aguilar National Park, literally just on the edge of Brisbane. I decided that it would be worth visiting Maiala picnic-ground, three months' after my previous visit, but this time early in the morning. Sadly, with my camera out-of-action, I wasn't able to take any photographs today.

As we drove into the national park, a stop at one of the numerous viewpoints revealed a magnificent Wedge-tailed Eagle soaring high above the forest, a first for me in the Brisbane area and for my challenge total.

The trip started brilliantly, with a female Paradise Riflebird landing in the tree above our car just as we got out. Though it was sadly not the resplendent black and green male, seeing this highly unusual member of the Bird-of-Paradise family was an amazing way to start the day. Hopefully I will see a male at some point!

After the bird flew off, a search around the picnic-ground for it revealed my second lifer of the day, as a stunning Green Catbird appeared, a member of the Bowerbird family. This bird earns it name from its remarkable call, which sounds like a cat shrieking in anguish. This call echoed through the forest all morning, and I ended up seeing at least 14 individuals of the species. I have no idea how I missed it last time!

Other birds seen around the picnic area included at least Topknot Pigeons (including three perched), a White-headed Pigeon, five magnificent Satin Bowerbirds, numerous Brown Gerygones, Buff-rumped Thornbills and Lewin's Honeyeaters and a Red-browed Finch. We then headed down the rainforest track deeper into the forest. Yellow-throated and Large-billed Scrubwrens became common, Rufous and Grey Fantails appeared, while four stunning Australian King Parrots showed very well. I was very pleased when two larger birds foraging in the undergrowth turned out to be Russet-tailed Thrushes, my third new bird of the day. I ended up seeing 12 of this scarce and secretive bird along the walk.

Not long later, yet another new species for me appeared, as a very pleasing Pale-yellow Robin appeared.This great little member of the Australasian Robin family is endemic to the forests of Queensland and New South Wales and was a bird I had been anticipating finding for some time.

Other birds seen along the walk included three of the highly-unusual Brown Cuckoo-Dove, my second-ever sighting of the magnificently dainty Rose-crowned Fruit Dove, a Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo flying overhead, three Regent Bowerbirds (sadly all females rather than the extraordinarily-brightly-coloured male of the species), a Brown Thornbill, five Eastern Whipbirds, a female Australian Golden Whistler, a Black-faced Monarch and three Eastern Yellow Robins. What an awesome place! Sadly I missed Australian Logrunner and Noisy Pitta, but it will certainly be worth returning here as soon as possible!

We had lunch at a restaurant in the small township of Mount Glorious. Watching from the veranda of the restaurant produced some great birds, including very distant individuals of Brown Goshawk and male Regent Bowerbird, a Brown Cuckoo-Dove, numerous Topknot Pigeons and two stunning Crimson Rosellas, my first within the Brisbane metro area.

Our next stop was the Boombanna picnic area, where I hoped to find some dry forest specialities. Sadly it was now later morning and consequently, the area was very quiet bird-wise, with several Rufous Fantails, Lewin's Honeyeaters, Pied Currawongs and Rainbow Lorikeets the only birds seen.

We then headed to the western side of Mount Coot-tha Forest, where once again dry forest birds were the target. Remarkably, Noisy Miners and Australasian Figbirds were the only birds seen in the forest, while a large flock of White-throated Needletails darted about overhead. I think an early-morning visit will be required here as well.

The final stop of the day was Gold Creek Reservoir. Once again, my main target, this time the Pale-vented Bush-hen, failed to appear, and two more Brown Cuckoo-Doves and an unidentified raptor were the undoubted highlights of the visit. On the drive home, however, a bird I hadn't seen for nine years waddled across the road in front of us, followed by another shortly after. It was a Common Emerald Dove, a stunning bright-green-and-dark-pink bird with a bright red bill. It had been a great end to a great day of bird-watching in the area on the western edge of Brisbane.

The next afternoon, we headed down to Surfer's Paradise for the night, in preparation of heading out on a pelagic trip out of Southport the following day.

We were at the dock by half-past-five the next morning. Before we had even left the harbour, I had added a bird to my Australian list, with four Common Terns found among a large group of Silver Gulls, Greater Crested Terns and Australian Pelicans. I don't really know how this species had managed to avoid me in Australia up until now! Several Bar-tailed Godwits and Whimbrels were also seen on a nearby sandbank, along with a pair each of Masked Lapwing and Pied Oystercatcher.

A little way offshore, the first tubenose appeared, unsurprisingly in the form of Wedge-tailed Shearwaters, an abundant bird in the seas off Queensland. I have great memories of seeing many hundreds of this species returning to their nest-sites on Heron Island on the Barrier Reef when I was nine years' old, in fact my only previous encounter with this bird.

Besides occasional sightings of 'Wedgies,' the next two hours or so were very quiet. This changed when a black-and-white tubenose was seen flying away from the boat. Sadly this potentially very interesting bird remained unidentified. Not long later, a Masked Booby was spotted distantly behind the boat. This species is rather scarce off Southport, and was in fact my second Australia-tick of the day. My third soon appeared, as an equally-distant White-tailed Tropicbird passed in front of the boat. It really was an awesome start to the day!

Not much later, one of the guides spotted an interesting dark tubenose seemingly approaching the boat with several Wedge-tailed Shearwaters. This larger bird had a noticeably more aggressive way of flight, and it soon revealed itself to be a Black Petrel, a New Zealand breeding-endemic that is very occasionally sighted in the waters off Australia's east coast. With its nesting range restricted to the Great and Little Barrier Islands of the Hauraki Gulf, this is a species not found off New Zealand's South Island, the location of my only previous pelagic birding trips, and was consequently an immensely-pleasing lifer for me. This impressive large Petrel is classified as vulnerable, being highly at risk due to its small range, regularly dying as a fishery by-catch and invasive mammals species destroying its burrows and eggs on the Barrier Islands. Amazingly, it proceeded to follow the boat for most of the day!

Black Petrel, Southport Pelagic

While we were stopped, numerous Wedge-tailed Shearwaters started to appear and soon we were surrounded by at least thirty of the species.

Wedge-tailed Shearwater, Southport Pelagic

It was fantastic to watch a tiny Storm-petrels gliding towards the boat. It turned out to be a Wilson's Storm-petrel, another lifer for me. At only 17cm, this Antarctic breeder has the remarkable ability to use the wind conditions perfectly to patter along the surface feeding on plankton close to the surface. During the non-breeding season, this bird disperses an immense distance from its breeding grounds, reaching both coasts of the USA in large numbers, India, Europe in small numbers and of course Australia. 

As the numbers of seabirds around the boat began to dwindle, we headed onwards. Almost immediately, perhaps the main target of the day, a Tahiti Petrel headed past the boat. Our next stop produced at least eight of this stunning range-restricted bird.

Tahiti Petrel from the Southport Pelagic. This pelagic is undoubtedly the most reliable way to see this fantastic species which breeds in the rainforest of remote Pacific islands. Their magnificently-effortless flight low over the water was awesome to watch.

A huge number of Greater Crested Terns and Wedge-tailed Shearwaters were also seen here, along with five Wilson's Storm-petrels. A great group of Bottlenose Dolphins also passed the boat, taking advantage of large amount of fishy bait thrown into the water in attempt to draw seabirds close to the boat. 

After some time spent enjoying these species, something amazing happened. A small Pterodroma Petrel appeared, allowing great views on both sides of the boat. It was immediately clear that it wasn't the expected Gould's Petrel, and the consensus quickly became that it was a Black-winged Petrel, a scarce species in this part of the world that would have been a lifer for one of the guides (and, unsurprisingly for me as well!). I was very pleased to manage to take a photograph of this great new bird for me, though sadly it really was an atrocious picture! Thankfully, another birder had taken several brilliant photos showing the under-wing of the bird. Careful deliberation of these pictures and a seabird identification book revealed something extraordinary. The under-wing pattern was clearly wrong for a Black-winged Petrel, while its long bill ruled out Pycroft's Petrel. The bird was, in fact, clearly a Cook's Petrel, a New Zealand endemic and true rarity in Australia, with most records coming from Tasmania and this being the first-ever record for Queensland! It really was a privilege to have been on-board when a Queensland first was sighted.

My only photograph of a Queensland-first (and of course a first for me!), the Cook's Petrel.

It was soon time to head back inshore, and nearly four hours' later, we were back on the dock in Southport, feeling extremely pleased with the day. In the harbour, I had seen an Eastern Osprey and another Common Terns in among the more expected species. What a great trip!

We headed back north towards Brisbane, where we decided to try and find an Eastern Grass Owl at Kedron Brook Wetlands. Sadly, we failed to find one, though a Striated Heron and Buff-banded Rail were pleasing birds to see. It was very frustrating to see on ebird that another birder had seen one while we were there! I shall have to attempt to find one on another day.

Earlier, on the 16th December, I found three new species for what has become my local patch, the Grange Forest Park in the middle of Brisbane. The first was a magnificent Pheasant Coucal, my second in three days in the city. It was followed by a majestic Great White Egret and finally an Olive-backed Oriole, bringing my total at the location up to 60!