Sadly, I slept through three alarms and I wasn't out until half-past-seven in the morning, missing a considerable amount of valuable birding time. I headed towards Grange Forest Park, picking up some decent species on the way. My first, unsurprisingly, was Noisy Miner, followed by Welcome Swallow, Rainbow Lorikeet, Torresian Crow, Australasian Figbird, Crested Pigeon, Magpie-Lark, Australian Magpie and Blue-faced Honeyeater, all within the first ten minutes. I decided on a small detour to a nearby 711 shop, where I had seen White-breasted Woodswallow and my first Noisy Friarbird in Brisbane a couple of days previously. Thankfully, both were still present, along with Common Myna, Spotted Dove and Feral Pigeon. I was on 14 species without even leaving the roadside pavement. A little further on, I was extremely pleased to find a group of five White-throated Needletails flying overhead. This was only my second-ever sighting of this magnificent Siberian-breeding bird, and soon a further 20 or so appeared, rapidly darting through the sky in pursuit of insect prey.
A little later, I reached Grange Forest Park. Unsurprisingly, additions to my day total were in abundance, with Masked Lapwing, Maned and Pacific Black Ducks, Dusky Moorhen, Little Pied Cormorant and Black-fronted Dotterel all around the brook, Australian Reed Warbler, Double-barred and Red-browed Finches, Tawny Grassbird and Brown Honeyeater in the reeds, and Rainbow Bee-eaters and Tree Martins joining the abundant Welcome Swallows and White-throated Needletails overhead. Laughing Kookaburras chuckled, magnificent Channel-billed Cuckoos shrieked loudly and Silvereyes and Variegated Fairywrens chirped from the undergrowth. Numerous Black-faced Cuckooshrikes, Eastern Cattle Egrets, Australian White and Straw-necked Ibises and Sacred Kingfishers flew overhead. I was (mildly) pleased to see my first Common Starling in Brisbane fly over me rapidly, while three Pale-headed Rosellas (only my second sighting of the species) also headed over. I headed into the forest, where I found a Lewin's Honeyeater and an Australian Brushturkey, followed by three Grey Butcherbird. With midday rapidly approaching, I decided to continue on along the Kedron Brook Bikeway. Despite missing a number of birds at the park, I felt that 42 species was a decent effort at this stage. Just as I headed away from the park, I had a fantastic moment of luck as a magnificent Brown Goshawk shot over my head carrying some unidentifiable prey. What an awesome bird to see right in the middle of a large city!!
Continuing along the bikeway, I reached Kokoda Park some time later. I was pleased to find Pied Butcherbird and Scaly-breasted Lorikeet in the surrounding trees, while a White-faced Heron was strutting about the brookside bank and both Willie Wagtail and Pied Currawong were seen on a neighbouring rugby field.
This White-faced Heron was my 46th bird of the day
It was great to see a large flock of Straw-necked Ibises feeding on a rugby field
I then enjoyed the most surprising sighting of the day. A large number of Noisy Miners appeared to be mobbing something in a large tree next to the path, so of course I went over to investigate. It turned out to be a truly stunning Pheasant Coucal, a magnificent brown-and-black member of the Cuckoo family, reaching up to 70cm in length. I enjoyed distant views of it for some time, what an incredible bird!
Right next to it, several Fairy Martins flew over in a mixed hirundine flock, my 50th species of the day.
The next stop was Kalinga Park, a forested area of parkland surrounding the Kedron Brook Bikeway. Here, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo and Galah were additions to my list, the latter being a very lucky find as I tried to photograph a Laughing Kookaburra.
Galah at Kalinga Park
By this point, after five hours of walking in the baking heat, I had to head to the supermarket to get some water. This certainly was not somewhere I expected to find a Brisbane tick, though as it was a House Sparrow, it was hardly a surprising location to find one in! This is seemingly a scarce bird in Brisbane, though as the fact that I barely registered seeing it at the time shows, I may well have been ignoring them.
The next location was the fantastic Kedron Brook Wetlands Reserve. Sadly, it seemed as though the reserve had dried out considerably since my last visit, making waterbirds few and far between. An Australasian Swamphen was in the same location as I had seen one on my last visit, just next to the reserve entrance, while Golden-headed Cisticola, Brahminy Kite and Chestnut-breasted Mannikin were quickly found. Two Grey Fantails were a surprise in that I hadn't seen one on my previous visit and the same was the case for an Eastern Osprey and three Whistling Kites that flew overhead. I headed over to the small lake, which thankfully still contained water, and found that the resplendent White-headed Stilts and Red-necked Avocets had remained present, while an Australian Pelican was also there. Two Red-backed Fairywrens were creeping about the undergrowth nearby and I flushed an Australian Pipit from the path, my 60th bird of the day.
I was extremely pleased to find this magnificent White-bellied Sea Eagle perched next to the brook. What a beast!
White-bellied Sea Eagle. Such an awesome bird.
Returning to the area which had held numerous Glossy Ibises and waders on my previous visit was very disappointing. It now consisted of a large open area of dry mud, which surprisingly still had several White-headed Stilts, Black-fronted Dotterels and a single Sharp-tailed Sandpiper on it. It seems like a wasted journey for this Siberian-breeder to travel all the way to Australia to spend its non-breeding season on a dry field!
It was nice to pick up a couple of the reserve's specialities before I moved on, as three Mangrove Gerygones and five Mangrove Honeyeaters appeared.
I was now absolutely exhausted, and decided that my next stop, the Nudgee Waterhole Reserve, would be my last. On the way, I added Black-shouldered Kite, Whimbrel, Australasian Darter and Varied Triller to my day's total, bringing it up to 73 species. I finally reached the reserve, where I quickly found Hardhead, Australasian Grebe and Eurasian Coot on the lake, but sadly no Whistling Ducks, while my final tick of the day was also a Brisbane tick for me, with a Grey Shrikethrush, which I found in the surrounding forest. After nine hours' of walking in 30 degrees, I was extremely tired, but pleased to have found 77 species in a single day without using any transport from home.
I believe I could reach 100 species in a day if I were to get a bike and start a little earlier, so I will be attempting this at some point!
Well done Gregor, in achieving 77 species, during 9 hours of walking in such intense heat, predominantly, throughout your sejourn. Rather you than me !!
ReplyDeleteIt would be interesting to see what a difference doing the same walk at different times of the year / in different seasons might make. Certainly, it would hopefully be cooler, if say you did the walk in 3 months time, rather than at the height of the Ozzie summer.
Thank you for continuing to post about your birding outings, which are always an enjoyable blog read.
Best wishes, Carol Baldock ( nee Rushton )
Thanks Carol! It certainly will be interesting to do the same walk again at different times of year. I shall be doing it in February and will post on the blog what I see!
ReplyDeleteThanks Carol! It certainly will be interesting to do the same walk again at different times of year. I shall be doing it in February and will post on the blog what I see!
ReplyDelete