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Contact Call
Newsletter of BirdLife Northern Queensland Volume 5 Number 3 August–September 2016
Contents Convenor’s report
IBA Healthcheck of Michaelmas Cay
An Aussie has broken North Americas ‘Big Year’
record
Digi-Volunteering – For the birds
Nice weather for ducks
A bird list for Mulgrave Landcare
Owl Box project BY Barron Catchment Care
Observations from a billabong
Recent literature about north Queensland birds
Tablelands Crane Week
The Far-west of Queensland, May 2016
Crocodile Concerns
Cairns Meeting Report, Saturday 23 July
Tyto Wetlands – White-browed Crake
Counting PIPs in 2016
Birding and botanising KK and Mount Kinabalu
Noticeboard and activities
Crane Count, 3rd September 2016
Call for counters
Please contact Virginia Simmonds on 40958302 to
register or for further information. You do not have
to be an expert birder to participate and enjoy this
event.
Crane Count Activities
Day Count:
This activity is a great excuse to explore the back
roads of the Tablelands. You may find yourself in
places you have never been. You will be assigned
an area to explore to count the cranes present.
Keep your eyes open, there are platypus in the
creeks as well as lots of other birds during the day!
Afternoon Roost Count:
Meet at Hastie’s Swamp bird hide at 3pm for the
usual pre-count briefing and to meet your team.
You will be assigned a roost area. Then it is off to
the roost area to count incoming cranes until
nightfall. Take a hot drink and chair.
Dinner:
Meet at the Malanda Hotel, 7pm for dinner (at own
cost) and be entertained, sharing your crane count
experiences and count numbers with the crowd.
After dinner, there will be a special guest speaker,
Graham Harrington, who will present on Kasanga
Conservation Park in Zambia. It will be interesting
to hear how or if things have changed in the years
that Alan has been a tour operator in far north
Queensland.
NICE WEATHER FOR DUCKS
Read the story
about the Innisfail
outing on page 4
BirdLife Northern Queensland
2 Contact Call. Volume 5 Number 3
From the Convenor
I have recently returned from this year's grasswren
survey in western Queensland, designed to assess how
well the two species of grasswren – Carpentarian and
Kalkadoon – have fared after a few years of extensive
wildfires and drought. The excellent news is that they
seem to have done very well, as there was a record
number of grasswren groups encountered, nearly 60 in
all! There was also a record number of 24
participants, who together spent over 260 days doing
systematic surveys, and donating thousands of dollars’
worth of fuel and vehicle expenses! We were also
treated to a chopper lift to get us into some more
inaccessible spots at Boodjamulla National Park. There
are now renewed efforts to support a regional fire
management plan, which will include the two
important bird areas of Boodjamulla and Buckley River.
We should all congratulate the efforts of the
volunteers, property owners, Southern Gulf NRM, and
of course our leader, Graham Harrington. From a
personal perspective, it was a chance to see amazing
country and to meet some of the local landholders
whose hospitality and generosity are truly legendary.
We could never achieve these results without them!
This seems to be the year for records, because at our
last presentation evening which featured Martin Willis
with some of his images of the local birds of Northern
Queensland, we had the largest turn-out of over 100
people to an evening meeting – an outstanding
achievement! Many of those attending were non-
members, so it was a great opportunity to spread the
word about the importance of protecting our native
birds. We received excellent advertising in local
Tablelands newspapers, and the evening's success is
due to the enthusiasm of Tablelands members and
residents.
Looking ahead, we are excited about the first BirdLife
National Twitchathon which will be held the last
weekend in October. This will be a fun and fund-
raising event, to support important conservation
projects. The six Queensland branches will pull
together to share raised funds among our priority
species. We'll have more details on this event closer
to the date.
Other important events coming up include the
September annual Crane Count, Torresian Imperial
Pigeon counts on our coastal beaches, “Welcome the
Waders Back”, BirdLife Aussie Bird Week, and several
interesting outings to new locations, such as Tully
Gorge and Palmer River just south of Cooktown.
Hopefully, we will see you in the field soon!
Kath Shurcliff, Convenor
Grasswren surveying in style!
Your BirdLife Northern Queensland Committee
Convenor – Kath Shurcliff
Deputy Convenor – Martin Willis
Secretary – Renee Cassels
Treasurer – Wendy Cooper
Cairns Area Coordinator – Tom Collis
Tablelands Area Coordinator – Peter Valentine
Cooktown Area Coordinator – Kath Shurcliff
Cassowary Coast Area Coordinator – Ceri Pearce
Stickybeak Coordinator – Golo Maurer
IBA Coordinator – Graham Harrington
Members Coordinator – Sam Willis
Conservation Coordinator – Peter Valentine
Crane Count Coordinator – Virginia Simmonds
Website Manager – Mikey Kudo
Newsletter Editor – Ceri Pearce us:
email:
northernqld@BirdLife.orwww.BirdLifenq.org
BirdLife Northern Queensland
August–September 2016 3
IBA Healthcheck of Michaelmas Cay
One of the ambitions of BirdLife Australia’s Indigenous
Grant program is to build capacity among recipients for
longer-term involvement in bird conservation. So it is
great to see the 2014 winners of the grant—the
Yirrganydji rangers—taking on the IBA Easter Health-
check for Michaelmas Cay. Their ongoing involvement
with site monitoring (supported by the Queensland
Parks and Wildlife Service) and their traditional ties to
the Cay and the sea country surrounding it makes
them ideal guardians for this beautiful IBA.
Yirrganydji rangers take on the IBA health check (from L to
R, Rangers Gavin Singleton, Tarquin Singleton and Shane
Singleton with Gemma Haley QPWS).
AND IN TWITCHING NEWS:
An Aussie has broken
North Americas ‘Big
Year’ record
Australian Reptile Park’s John Weigel has set a new
record for a “Big Year” in North America, spotting over
750 bird species. An it’s only July! Who knows how
many he will see by 31 December. The previous ‘Big
Year’ record holder, Neil Hayward from Massachusetts,
sighted 749 different birds in 2013. To read about
Johns exploits go to:
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/newslocal/central-
coast/aussie-swoops-in-and-pinches-coveted-big-year-
prize/news-
story/c3d7f8566ebd039a4612b616234cc952
Digi-Volunteering – For the birds
Digital technology enables automated monitoring of
almost anything from birds to distant galaxies, plus the
scanning of valuable historic paper records. But, on the
next step, technology does not do so well. To extract
key details from digital images, human eyes (and
brains) are essential.
Several bird-related projects, and others, are seeking
help from internet-connected volunteers to process
digital images in their leisure time, from the comfort of
home.
Currently, volunteers are needed for transcribing
Vermont bird surveys and historic ornithological
journals, and for extracting details from nest camera
images in far north Queensland. I’m involved with the
latter, where the birds are Pied/Torresian Imperial
Pigeons (as some members might have guessed).
The DigiVol system covers a diverse range. As some of
the virtual ‘expeditions’ get completed, and new ones
get started, the selection of projects will change over
time. If you’d like a change from birds, you could help
with transcribing labels of museum specimens, historic
field diaries or camera traps in the bush.
There is no pre-commitment. You can process just one
image, or as many as you like. But a warning, this can
be somewhat addictive. You will be the first person to
study the image, and sometimes you will come across
unexpected and intriguing things.
Have a look here: http://volunteer.ala.org.au/
Julia Hazel
A NestCam example from the DigiVol online system.
BirdLife Northern Queensland
4 Contact Call. Volume 5 Number 3
Nice weather for ducks
INNISFAIL OUTING 14 MAY 2016
When I was woken by very heavy rain at five-thirty
am, I thought, “Good, that’s the rain over with for the
day”. When dawn broke and all I could see were black
clouds I was a little concerned. Arriving at the Driver
Reviver meeting place I thought I was the first to
arrive, but no, there they all were, the Early Birders,
taking refuge from the rain under a picnic shelter. As
more birders arrived from the Tablelands, Tully and
Cairns, plus Bill from Sydney to join the Innisfail group
there was generous sharing of umbrellas, raincoats
and ponchos. Thus decked out in inclement weather
gear we set off in Indian file towards Shaw Road. This
road is part of the old Bruce Highway and goes down
to the old Johnstone River Bridge. There has been
some recent, lawful clearing of vegetation but despite
the lack of cover and the rain, we saw most of the
usual avian inhabitants including finches, fairy-wrens
and kestrel.
As the rain became heavier we trudged our way back
to the vehicles and made our way to Warrina Lakes, at
the end of Charles Street, in the centre of Innisfail.
Once assembled we set off for closer views of the
Double-eyed Fig-parrots which seem to frequent one of
the small Fig trees near the main picnic area. The feral
geese complained loudly at our presence but as the
rain increased the birders took cover and crowded into
a nearby gazebo and the geese headed off in the
opposite direction under a tree.
The move to the gazebo was a lucky decision since
from there we all saw Plumed Whistling-duck on the
edge of the lake and had very good views of a
Nankeen Night-heron in a nearby tree. The rain eased
and we continued our perambulations only to turn
around to partake of a very early morning tea break as
the heavens opened again.
Fortified with food and drink we set
off once again with a positive
attitude and now nothing was going
to stop us. We explored Warrina
Lakes and the adjacent Botanical
Garden, then the area alongside the
drain and saw Mistletoebird, Varied
Triller, Leaden Flycatcher and Little
Bronze-cuckoo.
The next stop was Etty Bay. At least
two members of the group and Bill
from Sydney were keen to see a
Cassowary. Unfortunately, none of
them were passengers in the vehicle
which passed one on the approach
road to the beach. So while people
were busy with lunch others were
scanning the beach, parking area and Caravan Park for
signs of a Cassowary. A beautiful White-bellied Sea-
Eagle flew overhead and Sulphur-crested Cockatoos
could be heard but there was no sign of the big bird.
Thinking that we should head to the Fish Farm before
people became disheartened we all piled back into the
cars and set off in a convoy away from the beach and
there they were! One adult Cassowary with FOUR
chicks, standing in the middle of the road for everyone
to see. Behind us, birders were hanging out of every
window, cameras snapping, with big smiles on their
faces. It was a happy group who arrived at the Fish
Farm.
We walked to a pond where we often see White-
browed Crake but instead saw a flock of Wandering
Whistling-ducks standing in front of a pile of grey mud.
Everyone got a good look and then the “mud” opened
its mouth! It was a large crocodile. A Kodak moment
with more happy snapping. The presence of the now
submerged crocodile was duly noted, but with Ceri
wearing the official BirdLife First Aid kit, we proceeded
with confidence. This was short-lived when we saw the
next crocodile, bigger than the first, sliding into the
water. This prompted a U-turn and we decided to walk
on the much higher banks between the ponds in the
centre of the farm. A constant stream of bird species
was seen by all. We have certainly seen more ducks
and waders in the summer months, but I don’t think
anybody was disappointed. A sudden splash of water
alerted us to a small croc startled in the pond below,
and that one obligingly floated in the water for a photo
shoot. We walked on and saw Glossy Ibis, Black-
necked Stork, Radjah Shelduck and Black-winged Stilt
to name a few. There was even a lone Pied Heron. I
think the birders were surprised by the variety of
species to be seen at a fish farm, and we are, as
always, very grateful to Linda and Marty Phillips for
allowing us to enter their property. We also thank the
fifteen birders who came to Innisfail for the day, and
stayed until the end despite the rain. Sandra Christensen
BirdLife Northern Queensland
August–September 2016 5
A bird list for Mulgrave Landcare
As the rain poured down John and Llordes Frois,
Darren Phillips and I headed to Gordonvale to meet
Lisa O Mara, the Mulgrave Landcare Coordinator on
Sunday April 10th 2016.
Lisa and Del Richards had hatched a plan for a Bird List
a few months earlier.
On arrival, we met Lisa, and other Landcare members,
Linda and Mark, and Tom, a neighbourhood resident.
After the development of a new residential area on the
western side of the Highway, drainage became a
problem and the course of the drain was reformed.
The Landcare Group were aware that planting riparian
corridors is one way we can help wildlife adapt to the
changing climate. There is a wonderful article in the
January TREAT (Trees for the Evelyn and Atherton
Tablelands) Newsletter about this
http://www.treat.net.au/publications/WnsJan2016.htm
l See Amanda Freeman and Carla Cattrall’s article.
Mulgrave Landcare contacted the council and with their
agreement and funding from the Australian
Government and Terrain NRM, decided to plant a
corridor of trees and have done this in two stages. The
entire drain (to become a creek) will be planted out
within the next two years.
Lisa sought extensive information from the Traditional
Owners, Malanbarra Yidinji.
Lisa sourced knowledge from the relevant scientists
and worked with students from Gordonvale State
School re this ecological niche. Frogs, mammals, birds,
worms, insects as well as the trees and shrubs.
The Landcare Group had the foresight to include and
encourage the local residents in their planning and
where possible planting and intend to do some letter
drops about the Bird List to try to maintain interest
from the local community.
Starting on the Eastern end of Upper Hemmings Creek
under Del’s guidance, they decided to leave a large
patch of tall finch habitat before beginning the tree
planting.
In the first tree planting undertaken in mid-June 2015,
the plants were a mix of tree and shrub species. These
were now all taller than me and doing very well. All
species planted are tried and tested and have to grow
quickly to shade out the grass and hold creek banks.
Examples include Syzygium tierneyanum, Ficus
racemosa, Macaranga tanarius, Cordia dichotoma,
Melaleuca viminalis and others.
The second planting, started in November 2015, are
already shooting up. This included more bush tucker
species as well as ceremonial species like the Slippery
Blue Fig Tree, the Gimuy tree (Ficus albipila).
Rain stopped for a while and we began our list.
Rain started again and we put the brollies up, after the
dry wet season, the rain stopped and started all
morning.
The Bird List was done in two sections, the oldest and
then the newest tree planting. Twenty-nine different
bird species were seen in the older planting and
eighteen in the newer one. Some overlap was
definitely possible due to the wing thing.
I combined the two lists for Eremeae eBird under
checklist S29788634 and sent Lisa two Excel
spreadsheets for their Landcare purposes.
The Sulphur-crested Cockatoos were going berserk as
the sun came out to steam us. Great excitement as the
Brown Goshawk was spied diving into a nearby tree
and then excellent views following.
It was a great morning with progressive people and we
were fortunate to bring along two pairs of young,
efficient eyes in Llordes and Darren.
Of particular interest to Del Richards and Kath Shurcliff
was the appearance of the five Double-barred Finches.
It turns out they are not regulars up here and become
more common the further south you go, starting with
the Townsville Common. We saw four different species
of Finch here so Del’s advice from the word go “to
preserve the finch habitat” was very sage.
It will be great to return in a few years’ time and check
out the progress of the Upper Hemmings Creek
plantings as well as compiling new Bird Lists.
Site details: Leonis Access Rd Drain, or Upper
Hemmings Creek, Gordonvale. Latitude 17.05475,
Longitude 145.773081
Pippy Cannon
BirdLife Northern Queensland
6 Contact Call. Volume 5 Number 3
Owl Box project
Barron Catchment Care (BCC) has
over the last ten years worked with
landholders on an innovative
approach to address rat damage in crops. Part of this
project involved installing owl boxes on farms on the
Atherton Tablelands, with the intention to increase the
number of owls, and consequently the number of rats
taken by owls.
Barron Catchment Care is seeking information from
members of Birdlife North Queensland who have an
owl box on their property; specifically, the level of use
of the box; by what species, the location of the
property and what condition the box is in.
There are also some owl boxes left and a home is
needed for them.
Contact Ian Sinclair on 4095 7109 or 0437 635 043 or
email him at coordinator@barronrivercatchment.org.au
if you have information on your owl box, or would like
an owl box for your property.
Ian Sinclair
Coordinator
Barron Catchment Care
PO Box 922, Atherton QLD 4883
Owl boxes available from Barron Catchment Care. Image
courtesy of Ian Sinclair.
A breast stroking Little Button-quail sighted swimming on a
billabong in Lakefield National Park. Image courtesy of David
Mead.
Observations from a
billabong
Whilst traveling through the Lakefield National Park
about two weeks ago with a group of birders, we came
across a strange occurrence. At a rather large
billabong, a small creature came into view, as it
seemed to bob up and down on the surface of the
water, quite a long way out.
At first we all offered our ideas of what we thought it
was; lizard?, baby injured fish?, frog?, etc. As it came
closer, we began to increasingly believe it was a small
bird trying to make its way to the edge. We all hoped
it was going to keep bobbing towards us, but alas as
soon as it laid eyes on the group of strange beings
gathered on the bank, it stopped dead and didn’t move
again. With this halting of its progress, the bevy of
bino bearing birders behind me, began offering
suggestions, like, “go on Dave, wade out and rescue
the bird, so we can tick it off the list”. I started to scan
the water surface, for any other movements, including
the other resident of Lakefield waterways, 'Crocs' and
crocs big enough to take your big toe off at the neck.
Getting wet feet was not going to happen! What
seemed like hours (three or four minutes) later, we
decided to take a couple of photos and move on, and
hopefully give the bird a chance to find the shoreline
without us distracting it.
On checking later with fellow birders, it looks like our
breaststroking friend was a Little Button-quail (not
noted that far north very often).
David Mead
Great Northern Tours.
Cooktown
BirdLife Northern Queensland
August–September 2016 7
Recent literature about north Queensland birds
Compiled by Don Franklin
BUFF-BREASTED BUTTON-QUAIL
John Young is reported as finding 17 Buff-breasted
Button-quail and six of their nests at Brooklyn Wildlife
Sanctuary west of Mt Molloy. His observations indicate
that the species is polyandrous, with males alone
attending nests.
Anon. 2016. Brooklyn: A stronghold for the Buff-
breasted Button-quail, one of Australia’s rarest birds.
Wildlife Matters, Winter 2016: 11.
CARPENTARIAN GRASSWREN
“ ... Here, we present the results of over 3000 surveys
conducted between 2008 and 2013. We show that
Carpentarian grasswrens are divided into four
populations, although the northernmost one
(Borroloola) now appears to be extinct. The Area of
Occupancy for the southernmost population appears to
have declined by 28%, while only small numbers of
isolated birds now occur at the two intervening
populations. Our data suggest that the four
populations appear to be at different stages on an
extinction pathway, from population decline, to
fragmentation and isolation, to extinction, and this
seems to be related to worsening fire patterns as one
moves northwards. We suggest that the Carpentarian
grasswren be listed as Vulnerable at the State and
Federal level, and that urgent investment in long-term
regional fire management using prescribed burning is
required to reverse the declines in the extant
populations.” (Excerpt from the Abstract).
Harrington GN, Murphy SA. 2015. The distribution and
conservation status of Carpentarian grasswrens
(Amytornis dorotheae), with reference to prevailing
fire patterns. Pacific Conservation Biology 21: 291–
297.
RED-BACKED FAIRY-WREN
A team from the Cornell Lab for Ornithology in New
York and various universities in the USA and Australia
have been and are conducting behavioural studies of
the Red-backed Fairy-wren at various locations
including two sites near Herberton at the back of the
Atherton Tablelands. I believe they may have
concluded work at the Herberton sites, but papers
continue to flow from it including the five papers
summarised and listed below.
Male Red-backed Fairy-wrens may breed in red/black
colour, breed in brown plumage, or be brown non-
breeding helpers in the territory of their birth.
Testosterone levels differ between these groups in the
order red/black breeder more than brown breeder
more than non-breeding helper (Barron et al. 2015),
but differences between groups in singing rates were
not in this order (Schwabl et al. 2015). Evidence
presented by Barron et al. (2015) strongly suggests
that hormone levels are a consequence rather than a
cause of breeding status, and that age is a major
factor influencing breeding status.
Female Red-backed Fairy-wrens sing to their eggs, and
it seems that the developing embryos can sense
(hear?) the calls (Colombelli-Negrel et al. 2016)!
Embryos that were sung to more often were better at
mimicking their mother’s calls when they hatched, and
better mimics were fed more often. Females tended to
call more in years when cuckoo parasitism was higher,
but the full significance of the behaviour remains to be
determined.
Breeding pairs of Red-backed Fairy-wrens sing duets
that overlap rather than following one another. Field
observations suggesting that duets serve to enhance
defense of territories was corroborated with playback
experiments by Dowling & Webster (2016).
Perhaps surprisingly, the benefits of cooperative
breeding don’t necessarily extend to the breeding
male; for example, it doesn’t necessarily improve his
breeding success. However, Potticary et al. (2016)
found that breeding males with helpers didn’t have to
work as hard (guarding, feeding young), and there was
some evidence suggesting that this improved their
subsequent survival.
Barron DG, Webster MS, Schwabl H. 2015. Do
androgens link morphology and behaviour to produce
phenotype-specific behavioural strategies? Animal
Behaviour 100: 116–124.
Photo of pair of Red-backed Fairywrens with male just
coming into breeding plumage. Image courtesy of Ian
Montgomery www.birdway.com
BirdLife Northern Queensland
8 Contact Call. Volume 5 Number 3
Colombelli-Negrel D, Webster MS, Dowling JL, Hauber
ME, Kleindorfer S. 2016. Vocal imitation of mother's
calls by begging Red-backed Fairywren nestlings
increases parental provisioning. Auk 133: 273-285.
Dowling J, Webster MS. 2016. An experimental test of
duet function in a fairy-wren (Malurus) with moderate
cuckoldry rates. Behavioral Ecology 27: 228-236.
Potticary AL, Dowling JL, Barron DG, Baldassarre DT,
Webster MS. 2016. Subtle benefits of cooperation to
breeding males of the Red-backed Fairywren. Auk 133:
286-297.
Schwabl H, Dowling J, Baldassarre DT, Gahr M,
Lindsay WR, Webster MS. 2015. Variation in song
system anatomy and androgen levels does not
correspond to song characteristics in a tropical
songbird. Animal Behaviour 104: 39-50.
PIED IMPERIAL-PIGEONS
“To obtain evidence of any population changes, 1–10
counts were made each breeding season of the
evening flight from the mainland to a nesting colony
on North Brook Island. The counts began in 1965 and
have continued for 50 years. The count represents one
individual of a pair that visits the mainland to feed and
returns in the evening. In the 1965–66 breeding
season, the December count (the count used to
compare years) was 4,692 birds. Over the following
three seasons, numbers declined to a low of 1,451
birds in 1968–69; this decline was attributed to
shooting of up to 1,100 birds at a time. Large-scale
shooting stopped in 1,968 and was followed by a
steady exponential increase in numbers over 23 years
to 29,818 birds in the 1992–93 season. Numbers have
fluctuated between ~25,000 and 35,000 individuals
over the following 18 years. A tropical cyclone of
extreme intensity affected the pigeons’ breeding site
on North Brook Island and their mainland feeding
areas in February 2011. In the following breeding
season of 2011–12, numbers fell to 5,311, but
recovered to 21,088 in the 2012–13 season. The
dramatic drop in numbers was attributed to the
pigeons moving elsewhere for the 2011–12 season. It
is predicted that the post-cyclonic number of 21,088
will take 4 years to recover to 30,000.” (Excerpts from
Abstract).
NB: North Brook Island is offshore from Cardwell.
Winter J, Green D, Thorsborne M, Parsons M. 2016.
Population trends over 50 years of a Pied Imperial-
Pigeon breeding colony on North Brook Island, a
tropical Great Barrier Reef island, Australia. Emu 116:
14-21.
RAINFOREST BIRDS
In the latest of a series of contributions assessing the
value of restored or recovering rainforest to birds by
Amanda Freeman from the School for Field Studies
near Yungaburra, Amanda and others (2015) assessed
the contribution of 10–24 year-old restoration
plantings. Their use by rainforest birds didn’t change
markedly during that age period, and use was “least
among rainforest-dependent species that were also
either endemic or sedentary edge-avoiders”. These
dependant species were more likely to use the
restoration planting if there was more mature
rainforest nearby. “Species predicted to be climate-
sensitive occupied restored habitat at similar rates to
other species.”
Amanda, along with a collaborator, have also recently
provided an accessible overview of their program
findings including results from previous papers
(Freeman & Catterall 2016).
Freeman A, Catterall C. 2016. How useful is
revegetation for Wet Tropics rainforest birds? TREAT
News Wet Season 2016: 4-7.
Freeman and, Catterall CP, Freebody K. 2015. Use of
restored habitat by rainforest birds is limited by spatial
context and species’ functional traits but not by their
predicted climate sensitivity. Biological Conservation
186: 107-114.
ISLAND AVIFAUNAS
“Warul Kawa (Deliverance Island), a small, densely
forested sand cay, is the most north-westerly island in
Torres Strait, far north Queensland. Awaiyal Kawa
(Kerr Islet), a smaller cay, is located 9.5 km to the
south of Warul Kawa and supports low dune
wood/shrub land and patchy grassland. Two bird
surveys in December 2011 and November 2012
recorded 55 and 49 species, respectively. To date, a
total of 70 species are collectively known from these
islands. All 34 species recorded on Awaiyal Kawa are
also reported for Warul Kawa. This paper presents a
comprehensive species list and discusses unusual bird
records. Potential threats to island fauna and
management issues are identified.” (Excerpts from
Abstract).
Watson JJ, Hitchcock G. 2015. Avifauna of Deliverance
Island (Warul Kawa) and Kerr Islet (Awaiyal Kawa),
North-Western Torres Strait. Sunbird 45: 65-77.
BirdLife Northern Queensland
August–September 2016 9
OTHER RECENT LITERATURE
Anon. 2016. Meet the researcher: Ana Leitão.
Australian Birdlife 5(1): 75. [Lovely Fairy-wrens]
Harrington G. 2015. Mimicry is the best form of
flattery. Australian Birdlife 4(4): 59. [Bowers Shrike-
thrush mimicking female Eastern Whipbird in response
to male whipbird call]
Keir AF, Pearson RG, Congdon RA. 2015. Determinants
of bird assemblage composition in riparian vegetation
on sugarcane farms in the Queensland Wet Tropics.
Pacific Conservation Biology 21: 60-73.
Nguyen JMT. 2016. Australo-Papuan treecreepers
(Passeriformes: Climacteridae) and a new species of
sittella (Neosittidae: Daphoenositta) from the Miocene
of Australia. Palaeontologia Electronica 19: Art. No. 1A.
Nielsen L. 2015. Birds of the Wet Tropics of
Queensland and Great Barrier Reef and Where to Find
Them. Lloyd Nielsen, Mt Molloy. [reviewed in Contact
Call 5(1): 5 (2016)]
Peter J. 2016. Anything but wary. Australian Birdlife
5(20): 14. [Cassowary roadkills]
Reside AE, Vanderwal J, Garnett ST, Kutt AS. 2016.
Vulnerability of Australian tropical savanna birds to
climate change. Austral Ecology 41: 106-116.
Roberts E. 2016. Grey-headed Robin. Australian
Birdlife 5(1): 10.
Sumpton J. 2016. Far North Queensland November
2015. Birds of FNQ. Jennifer Sumpton Photography.
[40 pages, apparently mostly photographs;
http://au.blurb.com/bookstore/invited/6224346/6ca11
bd4fbbf7c0bd0268f3f120c3d3d5b1932d1]
Vanderduys EP, Reside AE, Grice A, Rechetelo J. 2016.
Addressing potential cumulative impacts of
development on threatened species: the case of the
endangered black-throated finch. PLoS ONE 11:
e0148485.
Watson C. 2015. Please allow me to introduce myself.
Australian Birdlife 4(4): 42-45. [Spotted Whistling-
Duck]
Tablelands Crane Week
September 19 to 25 2016
Everyone in the region are warmly invited to join us
for this celebration of cranes. Daily activities at the
Malanda Falls Visitor Centre from 10:00am daily:
Children's art and craft including crane puppets
and other activities
Learn the art of origami crane making
Children's crane colouring competition all week
Information displays
If you would like to help or support Crane Week in
2016, please contact us on info@craneweek.org
Friday, 23 September 2016
Sunset and Sarus! Crane watching with wine and
cheese at Bromfield Swamp. Drinks from 5:30pm,
cranes when they arrive! This is a free event,
sponsored by local businesses, but donations from the
event will be made to the International Crane
Foundation to support their valuable work. Due to
restricted car parking, prior confirmation of attendance
is essential and numbers are limited. To reserve a spot
phone 07 4096 6957 or email info@craneweek.org
For more information or to register contact Gwyneth
Nevard on (07) 4089 2307 or email
info@craneweek.org or Caroline O'Reilly on (07) 4096
6957 or email info@malandafalls.com
Contact us: BirdLife Northern
Queensland Committee
Email: northernqld@birdlife.org.au
www.birdlifenq.org
BirdLife Northern Queensland
10 Contact Call. Volume 5 Number 3
The Far West of Queensland, May 2016
In late April and early May, Val and I set out with
fellow Birdlife NQ members Martin and Sam Willis to
explore the far western Queensland habitats for
interesting birds. We planned to begin on the SW with
a focus on the Diamantina and then work our way
north having heard that good rains had fallen. Martin
and I had some photographic targets (especially
grasswrens) and I had at least a couple of lifers
available. We set off from Malanda very early on the
first day and went south via the Lynd and Hughenden
to camp at Bladensberg National Park that night. There
had been rain recently and that had produced a zillion
flies making life a little less comfortable than hoped –
fly nets were de rigeur. We were disappointed not to
find Painted Finches at the usually reliable Scammy
Gorge but did have some great encounters with many
other species including a White-fronted Honeyeater.
Budgerigars were abundant and the next day on the
road to Opalton we saw many exploring nesting holes.
Our primary target at Opalton was the Rusty
Grasswren as this remains a very reliable site. At our
usual campsite, it was distressing to see the effects of
a fire on the billabong trees including the destruction
of the resident Spotted Bowerbird's bower. A male was
seen exploring the old bower site so perhaps he will
build again nearby. In the next couple of days, we
found several grasswren parties as well as Hall's
Babblers and some excellent views of a pair of Red-
capped Robins. Conditions were hot and the flies
persistent!
From Opalton we drove to Lark's Quarry before
heading southwest to Diamantina National Park. The
scenery was spectacular with spinifex and mesas
creating a colourful landscape that kept our cameras
clicking. We realised we were very close to the habitat
of the Night Parrot discovered by John Young. Not long
after entering the National Park we had a good view of
a Grey Falcon – near a microwave tower next to the
road. That was a very exciting start!
We went to the Park HQ and met with the ranger in
charge (Chris Mitchell) and friend and colleague Fiona
Leverington – a very pleasant encounter. We camped
at Gumhole where there was lots of water in the
channels. On the circuit we drove the next day we had
good views of Inland Dotterel – a lifer for me. These
are wonderful birds, so well camouflaged in their short
grass habitat and we saw many more over the next
two weeks. There were also many Australian
Pratincoles, Banded Lapwing, Zebra Finches, Spinifex
Pigeons and Budgerigars amongst others.
From Diamantina we headed west with many birds all
the way including an interesting encounter with a pair
of White-winged Fairywren feeding a juvenile Black-
eared Cuckoo. Our sympathy was with the overworked
wrens!
Our camps were isolated and allowed us to enjoy the
brilliant night skies of this semi-arid environment. We
went in to Bedourie to refuel before camping on Eyre
Creek north of the Cuttaburra Crossing. This was an
astonishing place with the channels filled with
hundreds of waterbirds including huge flocks of feeding
pelicans, cormorants and dozens of ducks with
hundreds of recently hatched chicks as well as herons,
egrets and spoonbills. One day we drove the circuit of
Lake Machattie – disappointed that this feature is on
private land with no public access to the lake.
However, the drive was fantastic with many birds seen
from the road including Gibberbirds, Inland Dotterel
and White-rumped Swallows along one sand dune.
We had searched unsuccessfully for the Grey
Grasswren in the lignam near Glengyle Station (on
Eyre Creek) but decided to try for Eyrean Grasswrens
near Birdsville. We camped on the Diamantina River
near Birdsville and after a successful reconnaissance of
the dunes west of Birdsville went very early in the
morning to try and get some photos. With considerable
patience and persistence, we eventually had great
views of a pair of Eyrean Grasswrens not only hiding in
the canegrass, but hopping in the open and feeding.
Eyrean Grasswren west of Birdsville Red-capped Robin at Opalton Inland Dotterel west of Diamantina
BirdLife Northern Queensland
August–September 2016 11
With big rains forecast (and road closures certain), we
packed up and headed north enjoying some great birds
including a flock of about 1000 Australian Pratincoles
occupying the road over a stretch of a kilometre or so.
There were more Lapwings and several Inland
Dotterels including a pair with chicks. We were
delighted to see a pair of Flock Bronzewings feeding
along the side of the road that allowed close approach
in the vehicular hide.
Just ahead of the rain we camped north of Boulia but
the next day we were stopped at Djarra by the flooded
Carbine Creek – a day of rest while the water rose and
then gradually retreated. As we went north we enjoyed
several encounters with Kalkadoon Grasswrens in
spinifex covered rocky ridges between Djarra and Mt
Isa. We also saw many Painted Finches (including
young) and near Djarra itself saw Pictorella finches.
After re-supply at Mt Isa we headed further north to
McNamara Road in search of Carpentarian Grasswrens.
From our camp we spent three days in the area
enjoying many birds but did struggle to find the
grasswrens. We did have a great day at a creek
crossing along Gunpowder Rd where birds were
coming in to a small waterhole. These included Long-
tailed Finch, Painted Finch, Spinifex Pigeon, Silver-
crowned Friarbird, Grey-headed and Grey-fronted
Honeyeaters, Budgerigars, Cockatiels and many
others. Eventually, near our camp at McNamara Rd,
we saw one pair of Carpentarian Grasswren in a patch
of suitable spinifex but were unable to photograph
them. But we did enjoy good views of the Black-tailed
Treecreepers (many), Varied Lorikeets, Cloncurry
Parrots and Grey-headed Honeyeaters amongst others.
We were pleased that BNQ member Dominic Chaplin
had rebuilt the rock cairn on McNamara Road and
provided a notebook to allow birders to record
sightings of the grasswrens and we duly filled in our
record. The bitumen road certainly makes this site
much safer now but there has been a lot of clearing
around the roadside. The effects of the fire were very
evident with most of the spinifex too young to support
grasswrens. However, it was good to know the birds
persist.
We finished our trip with a little time at Riversleigh and
Boodjamulla National Park where we enjoyed some
fantastic birds including Buff-sided Robins, Purple-
crowned Fairywren and several honeyeaters. The road
past Riversleigh was diabolical and caused a broken
axle on our caravan (well it is 18 years old) so the trip
was slightly truncated as we arranged for transport to
Camooweal and eventual repair. It was a terrific
birding trip and the good news is that since then there
have been many storms and rain events throughout
the western Queensland areas and all are now likely to
be abundant with birdlife. It's not too late to enjoy this
remarkable season in the inland.
Images and story by Peter Valentine
Rusty Grasswren at Opalton
Flock Bronzewing north of Birdsville
Gibberbird east of Bedourie
White-backed Swallow near Bedourie
BirdLife Northern Queensland
12 Contact Call. Volume 5 Number 3
More images from Western Queensland:
Painted Finch near Djarra
Pictorella Finch near Djarra
Kalkadoon Grasswren south of Mt Isa
Purple-crowned Fairywren at Boodjamulla NP
BirdLife Northern Queensland
August–September 2016 13
Crocodile Concerns
What can be done about a crocodile turning up in your
favourite fishing hole? Not much really. He’s bigger,
tougher and meaner than you are.
Recently we were living in Peppimenarti Aboriginal
Community where my wife Llane was working as a
Remote Area Nurse and I was photographing the local
birds. A small pond near an extensive floodplain was
full of fish and a favourite of various herons, egrets,
cormorants, darters and nankeen night herons. That is
until a crocodile appeared. Suddenly, wading in the
water was a risk. I noticed those species capable of
doing so changed their feeding procedures. Pied
Herons, Intermediate and Little Egrets, took to
watching from the bank and on spotting a fish, flying
out ‘hovering’ briefly (if a heron can be said to hover)
and stabbing at the fish and flying back to the shore.
They were quite successful using this method but also
stood on the bank and caught what they could from
around the edges.
However, the Great Egret didn’t appear able to fly out
over the water and stab at fish it saw, so simply waded
in as usual. It did, however, seem to be aware of
where the crocodile was situated and searched for fish
at the other end. The Little Black Cormorants had no
choice but to swim and dive. For a long time, they
would watch from the shore, until one would make a
move followed by the rest of the flock. There would be
some frantic fishing and then all would fly back to
shore. Then when hunger overtook their fear back in
they would go again. Once or twice a heron was very
close to the crocodile and I wondered if it would meet
its end but they all survived during the hours I
watched.
Don Hadden
The pool with the crocodile at Peppimenarti Aboriginal
Community.
BirdLife Northern Queensland
14 Contact Call. Volume 5 Number 3
Cairns Meeting Report
SATURDAY, 23 JULY
Nineteen people attended the Cairns meeting to hear
Hidetoshi (Mickey) Kudo talk about his recent
mangrove discoveries in the Cairns area, as well as
participate in Toms bird quiz.
Mangrove Puzzling is how Mickey described his latest
passion for identifying the mangroves present in the
Cairns area. Mickey said, “it’s akin to Pokémon Go
only more rewarding. All you need to do is to identify
as many species of mangrove in your neighbourhood
as you can, without trespassing”.
Mickey has discovered two new mangrove species in
the area, Bruguiera cyclindrica and B. hainesii.
Bruguiera cylindrical was previously only known to
occur in Australia from the Jardine River (Cape York)
to Cooktown, so this is a 170km range extension. “The
trees, in the Trinity Inlet area, would have to be over
100 years old” Mickey said.
The discovery of Bruguiera hainesii nearby was even
more surprising. This species has previously not been
recorded in Australia, and is listed as Critically
Endangered by the International Union for
Conservation and Nature. Mickey has discovered 49
mature individuals in the Trinity Inlet area. Go Mickey!
Plants are afoot to have the plants in the Cairns area
protected under the federal Environment Protection
and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. A proposal
has also been made to propagate the species and
include them in a ‘Cairns mangrove exhibit’ at the
botanical gardens.
Mickey finished his presentation by talking about the
overall diversity of Cairns’ mangrove species and the
importance of the extraordinary mangrove system that
links the wet tropic rainforests with the reef.
The talk was inspiring. Little is known about these
plants in our own backyard, their ecology, pollinators,
and distribution. Let’s hope Mangrove Puzzling takes
off as there may still be many other species, waiting to
be found in this undervalued ecosystem.
Following a cuppa and catching up with friends, the
next item of entertainment soon had everyone
laughing. Tom Collis, our Cairns area co-ordinator,
excelled in putting together the quiz, which delivered a
humorous variety of questions from birds calls and
visual challenges (and they were mostly local birds
too) to identify bird species, to more general birding
trivia. The winning team were Dominic, Brian, Darren,
Graeme and Andrew with a total of 30 points out of
30. Close behind with 29 points was Andy Anderson's
group, the Back Seat Boys.
Join us on Facebook
BirdLife Northern Queensland
August–September 2016 15
I’ve just gotten back from a couple of days in
Townsville, so I decided to take the opportunity to
spend a little bit of time at Tyto Wetlands in Ingham.
I’ve stopped there about a dozen times before and was
lucky one day to see the White-browed and Spotless
Crakes at the same time. But alas that was the only
time I ever saw either species. That was until last
Sunday.
After creeping out there before the sun came up and
positioning myself in the bird hide, I waited patiently
for an hour or so. Thankfully, the temperature that
morning was a few degrees warmer than the 12
degrees that I experienced in Innisfail the morning
before, and I was dressed for the occasion, so waiting
was no real hardship.
The patience paid off because to my great pleasure, a
White-browed Crake appeared on the mat of dead
vegetation in front of me. I always get such a rush of
adrenalin when I get the chance to see a new species
in detail for the first time and needless to say, I took
dozens of photos from the hide, hoping to get THE
SHOT. Each time the bird appeared, I willed it to come
closer, but after a while the photographer in me took
over so I decided to try to get closer.
Using a great deal of stealth, I crept under the hide as
I carefully as I could as I kept behind a large
paperbark and other ground vegetation in an attempt
to get as close as I could.
I was successful to
a point, I did get
closer without
alarming the bird,
but it remained just
across the channel
of water between
the hide and the
closest island.
I managed to take
a lot of photos that
morning, but as the
sun still hadn’t
crept above the
clouds on the
horizon, so the
light wasn’t the
best, and because
I’m not the
photographer that I
would like to be, I
was not happy with
my many attempts.
I had an
appointment in Townsville at 8am the next morning so
I had to move on that afternoon, but I knew that I’d
get another chance on the return trip, so I was
determined to have another go on the way home.
I got back to Tyto a few days later, leaving Townsville
a couple of days early as BOM had predicted rain and
bad weather was on its way. Once again, I went out to
the hide at an early hour, not quite as early as my last
foray, and waited patiently for some activity. The
weather was kinder to me this time, there were no
clouds on the horizon and some beautiful golden light
shone down on the wetlands. To my delight, the crake
appeared on the vegetation mat again, and then flew
across the channel to the reeds directly in front of the
hide. Once again I crept down under the hide and
using the cover of the tree trunk, I managed to get
just a few metres from him. I even managed to get
some half-decent shots.
Although I didn’t hear or see a Spotless Crake, over
those couple of mornings I had a truly delightful time
with the White-browed Crake and I hope you all get to
experience a similar experience for yourselves. In the
meantime, I hope you enjoy this photo as much as I
do. By the way, if you look carefully you’ll see he has
something in his beak.
Lynette Ensor
Tyto Wetlands – White-browed Crake
BirdLife Northern Queensland
16 Contact Call. Volume 5 Number 3
WHEN: Saturday, 19 November 2016 starting at 4pm
WHERE: Choose your own site anywhere on the coast from Gladstone to Cape York, keeping safety and
comfort in mind. You can take a picnic or to make it even more fun, you can also organise your friends to count
at nearby sites, then get together afterwards to compare results. Counts are needed everywhere along the
coast. Zero counts also provide important information.
For the best sites, ensure you have a clear view of the shoreline, so you can see any PIPs that fly out to sea
from the land, or heading towards islands where they roost and nest.
Counting starts at 4pm and concludes around 6pm. If you have enough light to continue for another 15–30
mins or so, then please do. If you can’t participate on 19 November, don’t despair, you can do a PIP count on
any afternoon November to January, and the more you can do, the better. Counts repeated at the same place
each year are also valuable.
WHAT TO DO:
Print the data sheets in advance, and fill in location details for your site. If possible, get a GPS position too
and bring a compass (some mobile phone apps can help you do this). Record wind strength, wind direction,
sun, cloud, rain. etc. Identify your compass points (we usually mark them on the sand) north, south, east
and west and points in between.
From 4:00pm keep a continuous watch for PIPs until you have insufficient daylight.
Count PIP numbers as they leave the coast and note the approximate direction they are heading.
For each 15-minute time period, use a new column on the count sheet.
If no PIPs are seen in any time period, write zero (don’t leave it blank).
If your watch gets interrupted, mark X in the time period you were unable to watch.
Record any extra details and comments on the last page.
Submit your results to Julia Hazel: julia.hazel@jcu.edu.au
Please write your email address clearly on the count sheet so Julia can send you a report after the count
data has been collated. You can also read PIP reports on pipwatch.net
You can download your PIP count sheet and the instructions at http://www.pipwatch.net or you can request
them by email.
For further information, please contact Julia: julia.hazel@jcu.edu.au or text/phone: 0407 431 382.
Counting PIPs in
2016
Pied Imperial Pigeon (PIP, aka Torresian
Imperial Pigeon) are special birds for
BirdLife Northern Queensland. They are
even on our logo! This year we are
trialling a new initiative. Instead of the
annual Mission Beach PIP count event in
November, Birdlife Northern Queensland
is seeking volunteers to undertake
synchronised PIP counts anywhere along
the coast, on Saturday November 19th
2016 starting at 4pm. The intention is to
capture PIP count data from multiple
sites on the same day and provide this
valuable information to Julia Hazel and
PIPwatch.
BirdLife Northern Queensland
August–September 2016 17
Common Iora
Chestnut-hooded Laughing-thrush
Chestnut-crested Yuhina
Rafflesia
Birding and botanising KK
and Mount Kinabalu
Sabah in eastern Malaysia has a lot of attractions and
demands repeated visits. In April, I spent 10 days in Kota
Kinabalu (KK), the capital, and at Mount Kinabalu NP and
World Heritage Area, botanizing and birding.
Kota Kinabalu is a city of some 450,000 and remarkably
similar to Cairns, both in aspect and climate. It is the second
busiest international airport in Malaysia and entréport for a
large nature-based tourism industry. I always plan to be in
town on Sundays to attend the street markets in Gaya
Street that runs parallel to the main drag. This is followed by
a visit to Borneo Books across the road in Wisma Merdeka to
catch up on the latest offerings by Natural History
Publications (Borneo), who are located upstairs, and to
purchase field guides. Then it is off to The Likas Wetlands
just east of town for a stroll around the boardwalks and
marvel at the amount of rubbish in the waterways and the
birds wandering amongst it. Then it is back to town for the
obligatory beer on the boardwalk while checking the herons
returning to their roost as the sun sinks into the South China
Sea – all demanding stuff. For those intending to visit, CK
Leong’s http://borneobirds.com/around-kota-kinabalu/ is a
useful starting point.
Mount Kinabalu looms large above KK. At 4,095m it is the
highest mountain between the Himalayas and New Guinea
and, despite losing some height in a recent earthquake, is
still rising. It is a centre of biodiversity and has high rates of
endemism. Eighteen of the 62 endemic Bornean birds are
found around Mt Kinabalu. As a botanist, a particular feature
of interest is the ultramafic capping, which results in a
distinct, high-percentage endemic flora, particularly in
orchids and Nepenthes pitcher plants. The compilation of a
large geo-located collection and database of plants from the
mountain has enabled exploration of the Mid-Domain Theory
of Distribution. NHP and Kew (2011) co-published a 5.5 kg
two volume boxed set of the Orchids of Mount Kinabalu that
supports this exploration – it is an impressive piece of work
and the ecology notes are worth reading by those intending
to visit the mountain.
I stayed at Ayana resort, a kilometre short of the park
entrance, and sallied forth each day to explore further;
climbing the mountain was not on the schedule this visit.
The resort faces a patch of rain forest and the birding there
was outstanding. I first saw the endemic Chestnut-crested
Yuhina everetti and recently split Chestnut-Hooded Laughing
Thrush Rhinocichla treacheri from my second storey room.
Kinabalu Park HQ is at 1,560 m is in Montane Forest and I
walked from it as high as the Timpohon Gate at 1866 m and
along the Kiau Trail, which parallels the access road.
BirdLife Northern Queensland
18 Contact Call. Volume 5 Number 3
Situated 1½ hrs north of Cairns in Tropical North
Queensland we offer accommodation in self-
contained units – – single or two bedroom – and
bunkhouse rooms. The property is a rainforest
wildlife sanctuary catering for birdwatchers and
naturalists.
We are central to a variety of habitats and provide
bird species lists, area maps and Wi-Fi internet
access.
Guiding is available by arrangement.
We offer packages for individuals and small groups.
Carol and Andrew Iles
RN6, Mt. Kooyong Road
Julatten QLD 4871
Ph: (07) 4094 1263
Email: sootyowl@bigpond.com
www.birdwatchers.com.au
I frequently encountered University of Montana
students there for a semester studying birds. They are
banding birds and tracking the dispersal of fledglings
using small transmitters – advances in technology
have made possible things that were not a few years
ago.
As I was not working across a range of altitudes and
habitats I missed a number of species but found plenty
to concentrate on. I did, however, miss the third-ever
Siberian Rubythroat Lascinia calliope for Sabah, which
was showing well near the Power Station. The arrival
of a ‘mega-tick’ species like this results in an
extraordinary response amongst photographers, with
more long barrels on display than in the adjacent US
Fleet.
I spent quite some time in the Botanical Garden in the
Park – it is not quite what it used to be – the signage
could be improved – but the range of plants on show,
including the Critically Endangered ultramafic-obligate
orchid Paphiopedilum rothschildianum, is terrific.
Rafflesia (Bunga Pakma) is the State Flower of Sabah
but not found on the mountain. However, blooms were
showing at nearby lower-altitude Kundasan and are a
major tourist draw card, and at Poring in lowland
rainforest at 570 m in the southeast margin of the
Park. Sabah Park Service has a web-based reporting
service on where Rafflesia is blooming but it was not
operating on the several occasions I checked it.
On the way back down to KK the effect of the current
El Niño was everywhere apparent; I have never seen it
so dry and fires so frequent. This is a recurring theme
in much of Malaysia at the moment; \coupled with
unprecedented high temperatures, lack of rain, and
smoke and smog, conditions are quite uncomfortable.
Back in KK I visited Tanjung Aru Beach and the
adjacent Taman Prince Phillip near the airport, a
reliable site for the Near Threatened Blue-naped Parrot
Tanygnathus lucionensis, now nearly extirpated from
its former Philippines stronghold. I managed an
acceptable image of the Common Iora Aegithina tiphia
and views of the established exotic Chinese Crested
Myna Acridotheres cristatellus before the politics of
wandering along a beach covered with bikinis girls
while carrying a 500 mm lens got the better of me and
I retreated to a coffee shop to cool off.
Was a 10-day visit enough? No. Will I be going back?
Probably…
Article and images courtesy of Gary Wilson
BirdLife Northern Queensland
August–September 2016 19
Inaugural National Twitchathon
for Fun and Conservation Funds
Birdlife Australia will conduct an annual Twitchathon as a National Event for the first time on October
29 and 30 this year. There will be three events:
a 24 hour race
an 8 hour race
and a new event called the Birdathon – in this participants can use three separate hours over a 24
hour period
Each state/region will run local events, however there will be:
National results
Dedicated Birdlife Australia national webpage
National promotion campaign
It's time for North Queensland Branch members to get their teams together and start planning their
strategies to see the greatest number of birds and to raise the greatest amount of money for the birds.
With our outstanding habitat and great diversity of birds our teams should go very well in the races. If
you have never tried before this could be a great chance.
Last year NSW members raised $25,000. In Victoria their funds were targeting mallee bird
conservation, especially the Mallee Emu-wren. In Queensland last year funds raised went to assist the
Carpentarian Grasswren.
WHAT ARE THE RULES?
1. Teams competing in the 24hr race must start between 2pm and 6pm on Saturday and finish their
race 24hrs after start time. Minimum of three members and majority of members must see/hear each
bird.
2. Teams competing in the 12hr race must start between 6am Saturday and 6am on Sunday and finish
their race 12hrs after start time. Minimum of two members with majority recording each species.
3. Team start times must be pre-determined and included on the registration form, but can be
changed by contacting the race coordinator up until 6pm on Sunday, 23 October 2016.
4. The Birdathon involves each participant selecting three separate hours (within a 24-hour period) in
which to identify the maximum number of species.
5. Results must be completed by 6 pm on the Sunday at the latest.
FUN FINISH
The Branch Committee will be arranging a social event on the Cairns Esplanade to mark the end of the
Twitchathon – most likely at about 4pm on the Sunday with a chance for teams to finish their race with
a BBQ social. Final scores will be tallied and sent to the National Coordinator so provisional winners can
be identified. Complete lists will need to be emailed to the State/National Coordinators as soon as
possible after the event.
Members should form their teams and let the local Coordinator know as soon as possible to be kept
informed about final rules, prizes and activities. There will be a website established soon. Volunteers to
assist organise and coordinate the NQ Branch event are being sought. Please contact Peter Valentine if
you can help (peter.valentine@jcu.edu.au). Updates will come out through BLNQ eNews courtesy of
Doug Herrington (will there be a team called Doug's Drongos?). Peter Valentine
BirdLife Northern Queensland
20 Contact Call. Volume 5 Number 3
Byerstown (Palmer River) 1 – 3 OCTOBER 2016
I would like to invite you to my place at Byerstown
(Palmer River), just 16kms off the Mulligan Hwy, for
the October long Weekend.
I am fortunate enough to live at Byerstown on a very
large dam that was left by a gold-mining company 30
odd years ago. The dam is about 6 kms in
circumference and we have very few full-time
neighbours, three adults and a dog, so the bird life can
be amazing. Over the last 13 years I have personally
seen 131 bird species, either in my yard, around the
dam or between my place and the highway.
We have the usual permanent residents like Jacanas,
Australasian Grebes, Bustards, Lapwings, Great
Bowerbirds, Squatter Pigeons, Common Bronzewings,
Double-barred Finches, Pale-headed Rosellas, Red-
winged Parrots, Grey-crowned Babblers, Laughing &
Blue-winged Kookaburras, Azure, Forest and Sacred
Kingfishers, Little Pied and Little Black Cormorants,
and Darters. We also have annual visitors such as Red-
tailed Black-Cockatoos, Banded and Scarlet
Honeyeaters, Black-throated Finches, with White-
bellied Sea-Eagles and Wedge-tailed Eagles also
visiting from time to time. In recent years a Red-
backed Kingfisher has visited, as have Red-kneed and
Black-fronted Dotterels, Horsfield’s Busklarks, Black-
faced, Masked and White-browed Woodswallows and
Budgies. October is the time of year when other water
sources are starting to dry up, so birds move to our
place and our permanent water supply.
There is a lot of country to explore around my dam
and its surrounds. We can also check out the Palmer
River crossing that’s just over the dam from my place,
the Little Palmer River crossing, and other locations on
Old Maitland Station.
The Palmer River Roadhouse has a great BBQ on
Saturday nights for just $10 per head. I thought this
would be a great chance to catch up with friends and
to have a few quiet drinks. They also have a range of
accommodation options, including cabins, donger
accommodation and powered or unpowered sites.
Everyone’s welcome to join me for what I hope will be
an enjoyable weekend. If you have any questions,
please ask.
By the way, the Palmer River crossing in the photos is
near my place. The river is still flowing at the moment,
but it may not be in October, I’ll keep you posted.
Cheers Lynette Ensor
Contact Details: lynetteensor@yahoo.com.au
Accommodation Bookings:
Palmer River Roadhouse or phone (07) 4060 2020
Double-barred Finch
My dam
Palmer River Crossing
Striated Pardalote nesting
BirdLife Northern Queensland
August–September 2016 21
Cairns Birding Festival Birding Festival, daily bird walks, competitions, big-day bird race,
bird watching, bird-fun – Cairns, Australia.
27 August to 4 September, 2016
FESTIVAL PROGRAMME
Saturday, 27 August
0730–1700 Michaelmas Cay on Ocean Spirit. Enquiries to Andy, aabirdo@gmail.com / 04 7616 7713;
1600–1800 Esplanade bird-watching with the 4 o'clock club;
1800–2000 A bird quiz and talk with Tom Collis, at Cominos House; for all ages.
Sunday, 28 August
0730–1030 Black Mountain Road bird walk, with Birding Cairns & Birdlife North Queensland;
1400–1800 Welcome the Waders return, with Birdlife North Queensland & Paul Fiske;
1600–1800 Esplanade bird watching with the 4 o'clock club.
Monday, 29 August
0630–0730 Esplanade bird walk with Andy or Doug, meet opposite the RSL;
0800–1030 Yorkey's Knob bird walk;
1200–1600 Meet Colin on the Esplanade, sitting opposite the RSL;
1600–1800 Esplanade bird watching with the 4 o'clock club.
Tuesday, 30 August
0630–0730 Esplanade bird walk with Andy or Doug, meet opposite the RSL;
0830–1030 Botanic Gardens-Lakes bird walk with John & Brian;
1200–1600 Meet Colin on the Esplanade, sitting opposite the RSL;
1600–1800 Esplanade bird watching with the 4 o'clock club.
Wednesday, 31 August
0630–0730 Esplanade bird walk with Andy, meet opposite the RSL;
0800–1000 Redden Is. bird walk;
1200–1600 Meet Colin on the Esplanade, sitting opposite the RSL;
1600–1800 Esplanade bird watching with the 4 o'clock club.
Thursday, 1st Sept – Torresian Pigeon Day
0630–0730 Esplanade bird walk with Doug, meet opposite the RSL;
0830–1230 Birds from the Bus – for the old and infirm – get picked up to watch and photograph birds
around the town from the vehicle. Ring Andy on 04 7616 7713, or email aabirdo@gmail.com, for a seat;
1600–1800 Esplanade bird watching with the 4 o'clock club.
1600–1800 Cattanna Wetlands bird and nature walk with David Anderson.
BirdLife Northern Queensland
22 Contact Call. Volume 5 Number 3
Cairns Birding Festival continued
Friday, 2 September
0630–0730 Esplanade bird walk with Andy, meet opposite the RSL;
0800–1030 Crystal Cascades bird walk;
1200–1600 Meet Colin on the Esplanade, sitting opposite the RSL;
1600–1800 Esplanade bird watching with the 4 o'clock club.
Saturday, 3 September
Big Day bird race, midnight to midnight or less if you prefer; see below for rules.
Sunday, 4 September
0630–0930 The monthly Cairns Birds Centenary Lakes Walk.
Meet on Greenslopes St, opposite the phone box.
1600–1800 Esplanade bird-watching with prizes to:
the first to have seen a Beach Thicknee during the festival;
the first to have seen a newly arrived Torresian Pigeon this season;
Bird Photo Competition;
Junior Bird Photo Competition; and
Big Day winners.
BIG DAY BIRD RACE RULES
Teams of two or more must be registered with Birding Cairns (txt to 04 7616 7713 or email
aabirdo@gmail.com) before the competition starts at 2400 hrs on 2 September = 0000hrs on 3
September
All species identified by sight or sound by a majority of team members and found on Cairns Area List
Bird Race teams may start and finish at any time during the calendar day
All teams must keep in normal voice contact at all times
Driving teams may have a non-participating driver
There shall be no advice whatsoever ON THE DAY to team members from the public, including a non-
participating driver, by sign, voice, mobile phone, etc.
No artificial objects may be used to attract birds
Teams must use surface travel only (walking, biking, driving) during the 24 hrs and count only the
species within a day's surface travel of Cairns (e.g. Georgetown with a mostly new suite of species is
less than 5 hrs drive to the west of Cairns and the Golden-shouldered Parrot at Artemis Station is about
the same distance to the north)
The competition is on the calendar day of 6 September, i.e. it finishes at midnight 6 September
Final numbers could be sent by text to 04 7616 7713 or emailed to aabirdo@gmail.com or completed
entries to be presented to the judges before 1600 hrs at the Esplanade on 4 September
Any violation of these conditions will result in disqualification
The judge’s decision will be final
Results will be announced at the Esplanade 4 September, at 1600
Please note, the program may change due to unforeseen circumstances. For more information
about any of the above events and to register: contact Andy, aabirdo@gmail.com / 0476 167 713.
BirdLife Northern Queensland
August–September 2016 23
Noticeboard
From the Editor
Once again a big thank you to all our contributors to
this issue of Contact Call.
Please keep the images, articles, observations, activity
and trip reports and reviews coming in. Please email
them to birdlifenqnewsletter@gmail.com
FINAL Newsletter deadline for 2016
Monday, October 10 for the December edition
Please note, if you have requested to receive printed
newsletters from BirdLife Australia, these are usually
posted out with the Australian BirdLife Magazine. The
electronic version of Contact Call is available earlier,
via email or on our web site, usually in February, May,
August and November/December each year.
Want to advertise in Contact Call?
Advertisements and sponsorship help support BirdLife
Northern Queensland. Any profit is used for education
and conservation projects. The advertisements must
be relevant to BirdLife Northern Queensland members
and compatible with BirdLife Australia objectives and
fund raising guidelines.
Quarter page advertisements for four issues can be
purchased for $80 plus GST, or $25 plus GST for
single-issue advertisements. Contact the Editor of
Contact Call for further information.
Activities
Check out the BirdLife Northern Queensland activities
lined up for the rest of 2016 in the event calendar.
Please do come and join us. You do not have to be a
BirdLife member or an expert birder. Most of us are
still learning and keen to share the fun. Everybody is
welcome.
For more information about an event, contact the
leader listed or check the website.
Do you want more?
The Cairns Birding Group holds regular birdwatching
walks on the first Sunday of each month at Centenary
Lakes and a field trip to various locations on the third
Sunday of each month. Contact John Seale on 4052
1195 or check their website at
www.cairnsbirding.blogspot.com. Please note this
group is not BirdLife Australia affiliated but many
members of the group are BirdLife members too.
National Bird Week
National Bird Week 2016 will take place
between Monday, 17 October and Sunday,
23 October
You can celebrate National Bird Week by taking part in
the biggest citizen science project to hit Aussie shores!
From 17-23 October 2016, thousands of people from
across the country are heading out into their
backyards, local parks or favourite open spaces to take
part in the third annual Aussie Backyard Bird Count!
The Nation counted 1,009,894 birds (563 species) in
2015. That is the record to smash in 2016. Go to:
www.aussiebirdcount.org.au for more information
BirdLife Northern Queensland
24 Contact Call. Volume 5 Number 3
What’s on in FNQ 2016? Date Time Locality Meeting place and other information Contact the leader
Thursday 18 Aug
7:30pm
Malanda
Hotel Dining Room
Guest speaker Dr Clifford Frith
will talk on – Darwin's contributions to ornithology
Peter Valentine peter.valentine@jcu.edu.au
26–29 Aug All areas Queensland Twitchathon (please note this is not a BirdLife event)
http://www.birdsqueensland.org.au/twitches.php
27 Aug – 4 Sept
Cairns Cairns Birding Festival (see pages 21-22) Andy, aabirdo@gmail.com 04 7616 7713
Saturday 3 Sept
Malanda area
Crane Counts Day, late afternoon roost count and/or dinner (See front page of this newsletter)
Virginia Simmonds 07 4095 8302
Saturday 10 Sept
7:30pm
Cominos House, 27 Greenslopes St, Edge Hill
Talk on Tooth-billed Bowerbirds by Graham Harrington and Amanda Freeman
Graham Harrington 0448 055 077 or Riflebird1@gmail.com
19–25 Sept Tableland Crane Week (please note this is not a BirdLife event)
Gwyneth Nevard: 4089 2307 or email info@craneweek.org or Caroline O'Reilly, 4096 6957 or email info@malandafalls.com
1–3 Oct Palmer River Byerstown (Palmer River) long weekend (see details page 20)
Lynette Ensor lynetteensor@yahoo.com.au
14–17 Oct Yourka Bush Heritage Bird Survey of Yourka Station Graham Harrington 0448 055 077 or Riflebird1@gmail.com
17–23 Oct Aussie Bird Count and National Bird Week (See page 23). Additional local events may also be arranged in each area
http://BirdLife.org.au/get-involved/whats-on/bird-week/
Thursday 20 Oct
7:30pm Malanda Hotel Dining room
Talk – on “Night Birds” and spotlighting session
Peter Valentine peter.valentine@jcu.edu.au or Martin Willis 0412 642 141
29–30 Oct All areas INAUGURAL NATIONAL TWITCHATHON (See page 19 for details)
Peter Valentine peter.valentine@jcu.edu.au
19 Nov 4–6pm Any coastal area
2016 PIP Count (see page 16 for details)
Julia Hazel julia.hazel@jcu.edu.au or 0407 431 382
November or early December
4pm Ayton Weary Bay PIP Count Kath Shurcliff 07 4096 5051
Nov Cairns Brian Venables and Return of the White Birds (to be confirmed)
Tom Collis 0401 783 795 or motom4@bigpond.com
3–4 Dec All areas Challenge Count http://BirdLife.org.au/get-involved/whats-on/challenge-count/
Thursday 15 Dec
Malanda Christmas Party Sam and Martin Willis 0412 642 141 martinwillis@mac.com
Thursday 29 Dec
Cooktown New Year’s Party – Endeavour River boat cruise
Kath Shurcliff 07 4096 5051
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