We regularly do a trip 'down river' to check on the Black-necked Storks but it is also great to do a day list and check out all other species encountered as well. We usually record over 100 species of birds, sometimes as many as 120 or more, but the numbers aren't as important as the quality of the beautiful and rare or uncommon species observed. Out latest trip saw us record 109 bird species as well as one mammal, two reptile and three frog species.
Starting at home at Coutts Crossing we ticked off 32 species before venturing too far. These included some wetland species at the local wetlands, Brothersons and Deadmans Swamps. One Comb-crested Jacana and an adult male Chestnut Teal were at the former wetland while Deadmans had a pair of Black-winged Stilts and a Great Cormorant. The Magpie Geese and Plumed Whistling-Ducks were still present at the former poultry farm dams north-east of Coutts Crossing. There were 82+ Geese and 65+ Whistling-Ducks.
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| Magpie Geese and Plumed Whistling-Ducks NE of Coutts Crossing |
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| Magpie Geese, Plumed Whistling-Ducks and Australian Wood Ducks |
We found 85+ more Plumed Whistling-Ducks at Butterfactory Lane, north of Graton, after driving through the city. There we also had another Comb-crested Jacana and two Yellow-billed Spoonbills. A morning tea break in Southgate State Forest produced some good forest birds including the Black-chinned Honeyeater, 2+ Rainbow Bee-eaters, Red-backed Fairy-wren, Restless Flycatcher and Common Bronzewing.
South of Round Mountain Road, south of Lawrence, we came across an adult female Black-necked (Satin) Stork foraging at a small wetland. A check of the former nest tree there, which hadn't been used for some years, showed that some sticks had been placed on the old nest location, suggesting the beginnings of a new nest. Watch this space. Our second Stork for the day was an adult male bathing and drying his wings at 'Arndilly' at Tullymorgan, not far from the nest there. The Nankeen Night Herons were in their usual Moreton Bay Fig but we only counted nine birds. There are usually a couple of dozen of these handsome birds here.
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| Adult Nankeen Night Heron hiding in foliage of Moreton Bay Fig |
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| Adult Nankeen Night Heron in Bloodwood |
The Lawrence Egret Colony Swamp had a little more water than on an earlier visit and a few Freckled Ducks and Pink-eared Ducks had returned. We counted 5+ Freckled Ducks and 20+ Pink-eared Ducks, well down on previous counts.
The full species list is as follows:
Birds: Magpie Goose (T), Plumed Whistling-Duck, Freckled Duck (T), Black Swan, Australian Wood Duck, Pink-eared Duck, Grey Teal, Chestnut Teal, Pacific Black Duck, Hardhead, Australasian Grebe, *Rock Dove, White-headed Pigeon, *Spotted Dove, Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Common Bronzewing, Crested Pigeon, Peaceful Dove, Bar-shouldered Dove, Australasian Darter, Little Pied Cormorant, Great Cormorant, Little Black Cormorant, Pied Cormorant, Australian Pelican, Black-necked Stork (T), White-necked Heron, Eastern Great Egret, Intermediate Egret, Cattle Egret, White-faced Heron, Little Egret, Nankeen Night-Heron, Australian White Ibis, Straw-necked Ibis, Royal Spoonbill, Yellow-billed Spoonbill, Eastern Osprey (T), Black-shouldered Kite, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Whistling Kite, Brahminy Kite, Brown Goshawk, Swamp Harrier, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Nankeen Kestrel, Brolga (T), Purple Swamphen, Dusky Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Black-winged Stilt, Black-fronted Dotterel, Masked Lapwing, Comb-crested Jacana (T), Caspian Tern, Crested Tern, Silver Gull, Galah, Little Corella, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Rainbow Lorikeet, Scaly-breasted Lorikeet, Australian King-Parrot, Eastern Rosella, Laughing Kookaburra, Rainbow Bee-eater, Superb Fairy-wren, Red-backed Fairy-wren, Spotted Pardalote, Striated Pardalote, Yellow Thornbill, Brown Thornbill, Eastern Spinebill, Lewin’s Honeyeater, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Fuscous Honeyeater, Noisy Miner, Little Wattlebird, Brown Honeyeater, Black-chinned Honeyeater, White-throated Honeyeater, Blue-faced Honeyeater, Noisy Friarbird, Little Friarbird, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, Golden Whistler, Rufous Whistler, Grey Shrike-Thrush, Australasian Figbird, Grey Butcherbird, Pied Butcherbird, Australian Magpie, Pied Currawong, Grey Fantail, Willie Wagtail, Torresian Crow, Restless Flycatcher, Magpie-lark, Jacky Winter, Eastern Yellow Robin, Golden-headed Cisticola, Silvereye, Welcome Swallow, Tree Martin, *Common Myna, Mistletoebird, Red-browed Finch, *House Sparrow, Australasian Pipit.
Mammals: Eastern Grey Kangaroo.
Amphibians: Common Eastern Froglet, Dusky Toadlet, Plains Toadlet.
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