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Trip Report – September 2019

Comments: This was a very brief stop on the way to Papua New Guinea and we had some very specific birds that we were looking for so this isn’t a full trip report but some of the sites are worth noting and so is the guide. On the whole I only list our life birds in this report.

Day 1: We landed in Brisbane at 6.30 am, picked up our car and went birding! Kedron Brook Wetlands is only about 15 minutes from the airport and delivered our first life bird – Mangrove Gerygone. It was quite birdy but nothing else new for us here. We spent the rest of the morning enjoying a number of other sites that were all quite close to each other, Dowse Lagoon, Tinchi Tamba Wetlands and Lytton Shorebird Hide but there was nothing new for us. Headed into our hotel in Brisbane – night at The W.

Day 2: Started early and took ourselves up to the Maiala area in D’Aguilar National park. On the way up to the park we started to hear a tinkling sound so stopped and realized it wasn’t the car but a colony of Bell Miners – which was new for us so we were thrilled.

When we got to our destination there was a ton of work being done so we couldn’t enter the normal area. We found another way in but I think the work disturbed the birds and we didn’t see a whole ton. Everything was great though because we don’t get down here that often. We really did luck out however with Russet-tailed Thrush which was great.

Decided to have a lazy afternoon and deal with our jet lag!

Day 3: Our guide, Matt, picked us up at 5.00 and we drove a couple of hours up to O’Reilly’s In Lamington Park. We were limited to this area because of recent forest fires but it was a great spot because they had feeders! The day started with about 6 Regent Bowerbirds (lifers for us!) at the feeder along with Crimson Rosella, King Parrot and Satin Bowerbirds. Our guide then took us on a short walk for Albert’s Lyrebirds which he found fairly quickly. That was it for us up high so we drove down to a location that Matt knew for Barking Owl which was fabulous.

It was so incredibly dry in the area that much of the grass had been cut and that created a problem for us with Double-barred Finch which should have been fairly easy but eluded us all afternoon.

We ended the day at a lovely wooded spot by the river which was quite birdy and offered great views of both White-throated Honeyeater and White-eared Monarch. Night in Brisbane and The W.

Day 4: Matt picked us up early again and we spent the day driving to a number of spots in the area. They were somewhat random spots but he was really targeting in on our required species. The drought has clearly played havoc here with species changing their usual habitats and even leaving the area but with Matt’s hard work we added Grey-crowned Babbler, Speckled Warbler, Cockatiel and, at last, Double-barred Finch. Last night at the W before leaving for Papua New Guinea.

Hotels

The W Hotel – Brisbane

Guides & Resources

Guides: Matt at Faunagraphic

Field Guides: Field Guide to the Birds of Australia – Knight & Pizzey.

Bird List