Queensland (Part 2)
,Following the Conference, I stayed in Queensland for the weekend. I headed further north to Gympie, a historical goldmining town. Early Saturday morning I went to Rainbow Beach, and then on to Inskip Point. This is a hotspot for Black-breasted Button-quail (BBBQ). I had received mixed opinions on how easy it is to see BBBQ here. Some people had never missed, whilst others had been here multiple times and never seen them.
Within a couple of minutes I had found some platelets (small circular areas scrapped free of leaf litter whilst the bird is feeding), but no site of the bird.
Moving slowly through the bush I found plenty of platelets, plenty of Noisy Friarbirds and Little Wattlebirds. I did manage to get some shots of White-breasted Woodswallows.
Inskip is also a regular haunt for Beach Stone-curlew, so I decided to try for these . No joy at the end of the point, but while walking back to the car, I noticed a huge area of muddy foam moving in with the tide...........except the tide was going out. Closer inspection showed that the "foam" was actually a mass of Soldier Crabs.
As I cut back through the bush I saw a movement in the litter.......BBBQ?......no, a small lizard. Not sure of the ID, I'll check it out when I get home.
I went back to the platelet spot, and stood quietly. Away to my left I heard a rustle in the leaves, slowly I inched towards the sound, and there he was........BBBQ!!
I slowly followed him for about ten minutes until he went through some thick scrub. I had to go round, and never saw him again. By this time I was almost on the beach again, so went to see if any waders (shorebirds) were feeding on the falling tide. As I stepped onto the beach, I surprised three Beach Stone-curlews. Both target birds in the bag!!
With time on my hands I took a slow drive along a few backroads and ended up in Cooloola Cove where a flash of green caught my eye. Although I have never seen one before I knew what this bird was!!
Yes, it's a Red-Winged Parrot. Three new birds in one day......It's a long time since that has happened!! In passing I also saw a few other nice birds including Red-backed Fairywren,
And Scarlet Honeyeater.
Inskip is also a regular haunt for Beach Stone-curlew, so I decided to try for these . No joy at the end of the point, but while walking back to the car, I noticed a huge area of muddy foam moving in with the tide...........except the tide was going out. Closer inspection showed that the "foam" was actually a mass of Soldier Crabs.
As I cut back through the bush I saw a movement in the litter.......BBBQ?......no, a small lizard. Not sure of the ID, I'll check it out when I get home.
I went back to the platelet spot, and stood quietly. Away to my left I heard a rustle in the leaves, slowly I inched towards the sound, and there he was........BBBQ!!
I slowly followed him for about ten minutes until he went through some thick scrub. I had to go round, and never saw him again. By this time I was almost on the beach again, so went to see if any waders (shorebirds) were feeding on the falling tide. As I stepped onto the beach, I surprised three Beach Stone-curlews. Both target birds in the bag!!
With time on my hands I took a slow drive along a few backroads and ended up in Cooloola Cove where a flash of green caught my eye. Although I have never seen one before I knew what this bird was!!
Yes, it's a Red-Winged Parrot. Three new birds in one day......It's a long time since that has happened!! In passing I also saw a few other nice birds including Red-backed Fairywren,
And Scarlet Honeyeater.
Seems you had an exciting day. Great Shots. That mass of crabs is something else.
ReplyDeleteThanks wilma, Yes, thay were amazing - there must have been millions of them - I just wish I had my video camera with me.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on getting photos of the birds you wanted!
ReplyDeleteThanks Mick. It's a beautiful part of Australia. You're so lucky to live there!!
ReplyDeleteYou had a cracking day in the end. Glad you saw you BBBQ in the end. Love that lizard, very striking, did you find out what is was in the end? Beach Stone-curlew was on my wanted list, but we didn't have any luck. Something to aim for next time maybe.
ReplyDeleteHi Jen, Yes, the lizard is a Striped Skink - very common all up the east coast. Beach Stone-curlew has been on my wanted list since I first came over here on holiday way back in 2003........finally got it!!
ReplyDelete