Birding Inskip Point, Queensland

Posted on December 17, 2015 by Tara

We had an inauspicious start to the day with the credit card hacking but tried to pull it together to enjoy the last birding excursion to Inskip Point. Two locations were planned – Bullock Point & Inskip Point.

At Bullock Point, a magnificent Brahminy Kite showed off his fishing skills.

Then a short walk up the access road revealed some Honey-eaters, Trillers and a Drongo.

I was still feeling uneasy about the hacking and didn’t want to leave the key in a box accessable by anyone so we had to be back before 10am to check out. We took a brief drive to Inskip Point which is where you get ferries to Fraser Island. It is also a very popular camping area as seen by all the people there. You can’t go all the way in a small car, it’s very sandy and 4×4 track only so we didn’t spend much time before turning back.

The roads here are in much better condition than the one yesterday.

Coming back, we saw several cute Rainbow Bee-eaters hanging out on the phone wires – doing their job and actually eating bees!

Here’s a snapshot of the small town at Rainbow Beach – a few stores, hotels and pubs. Typical holiday town!

This is where we stopped for breakfast, just a short walk from the beach. A Magpie-lark was hanging around hoping to score some leftovers.

The Crested Pigeon blended in so well we almost didn’t see him! Under better circumstances, we would have hung around longer for more birding but I just wanted to get back and make sure my accounts were OK (no more hackings) so we drove back to Brisbane. It was good to get an early start on a Sunday anyways to avoid traffic.

Searching For Eastern Ground Parrots – Queensland Edition

Posted on December 13, 2015 by Tara

Some readers may remember our adventures in Strahan & Melaleuca, Tasmania where I was able to flush a couple of Eastern Ground Parrots. This time, we were trying to at least hear their dusk chorus and see them if we were lucky. Ground Parrots will flush if you walk close to them so usually they have to be pretty close to the road. Then it’s just a blur as they fly up and over around 20 meters and back into the bush.

I was eager to try to see their cousins in Queensland so that was my main reason to join the Birds Queensland camp last week. The location of the Eastern Ground Parrots is pretty hard to find if you haven’t been there before. It’s between Rainbow Beach and Tin Can Bay and you have to watch for a little side road about 16 km from Rainbow Beach.

It’s the red blotch below “29 min 39.3 km”.

I went back the next day to get a shot of the sign while parked on the side road facing Rainbow Beach Road.

The road looks deceptively good for about 300 metres……………….

…………….then it all goes to hell! I drive a Ford Fiesta and BARELY made it as did the other small cars in our group. Some people had 4x4s so they had no trouble at all. You need high clearance to avoid scraping the underside of your car. The rocks are large gravel size, going up to softball size.

You drive for about 2.5 km, then turn left when you see this structure and go about another 2.5 km. The road gets even worse! Do NOT drive this road alone if you are not in a 4×4 as if anything goes wrong you would have to walk back to the Rainbow Beach Road to get decent cell phone signal.

Eventually you come to heath grasslands like this. This is the prime habitat of the Ground Parrots. Walk along the main road or there’s a couple of side trails and you may flush one if you are lucky. The birds call to each other at dawn and dusk. I did hear them around 6pm (in December) but not as many as I had hoped. My recording on my iPhone didn’t work out so try these ones on Xeno-canto.

We got there way too early as it was summer with longer days. Fair warning: There are no toilets out here and no tall bushes to hide in. I postponed my hydration until we got back to the camp.

While we were waiting, this cute little baby Noisy Friarbird was waiting for his parents to come back an feed him. I was worried as he was left alone and would have had no defense against raptors. Thankfully the parents came back!

Way off in the distance, we could see a large flock of Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos. I stretched my zoom to the max and jokingly asked the other birders, “Maybe if we ask them nicely, they will come closer”?

I think they heard us as 3 of them swooped directly overhead and were even kind enough to swoop on the other side so we could have the sun behind us!

On the other side (away from the sun) was a smaller flock of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos. Not to be outdone by the Yellow-tails, one of them kindly flew overhead as well!

It made for an interesting but long day and I think if we ever go back on our own, we would do it in the shoulder season when the days are shorter – April, May, Sept, Oct. With a 4×4, you could make a full day starting at this location for dawn chorus, then drive to Tin Can Bay for shorebirds and breakfast, take a siesta, then come back here for the dusk chorus. Theoretically you could get back to Brisbane that same evening but you really need to spend the night before somewhere in the area to make the dawn chorus. Someday I will have a 4×4 so a return visit is defintely on my list!

Birding Tin Can Bay, Queensland

Posted on December 11, 2015 by Tara

Tin Can Bay, Queensland is the gateway to Fraser Island (which is an adventure unto itself) but you don’t need to leave the mainland to find some good birding. It’s a 3 hour drive from Brisbane so you should spend at least 1 night here to maximize birding time either in a holiday park/campground, hotel or backpacker lodge.

We started the morning looking for Shorebirds at Cooloola Foreshores arriving around 7:30am. We were greeted by a Whistling Kite in the car park at Mullen’s Creek.

I’m the first to admit that Shorebirds are not my area of expertise but it was still interesting to look for them. Some of them make huge journeys from Asia & North America to spend winter (Aussie summer) in the warmer climates. More information can be found on Birds Queensland & Birdlife Australia. My photos aren’t good enough to represent the individual species as the tide was out pretty far and I wasn’t up to wading out there. We did get a repsectable bird list for the area with sightings of: White-faced Heron (that’s the one near the boat), Whistling Kite, White-belied Sea-Eagle, Godwit, Pacific Golden Plover, Red-capped Plover, Greater & Lesser Sand Plover, Whimberel, Eastern Curlew, Red-necked Stint, Gull-bill Tern, Little Tern, Sulphur Crested Cockatoo, Leeuwin’s Honey-eater, Golden Whistler & Peaceful Dove.

Next we moved on to the Tin Can Bay Foreshore Bird Walk. It was getting hotter by now so I only visited a couple areas but still managed to see two lifers – Mangrove Honey-eater & Collared Kingfisher via a fellow birder’s scope. There were also some more common species such as a Pelican being chased by a Whistling Kite, Masked Lapwings, Noisy Friarbirds. Closer to the picnic area we found Galahs, Rainbow Lorikeets, Magpies and a very handsome Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike.

Birding North Of The Sunshine Coast, Australia

Posted on December 8, 2015 by Tara

This last weekend I joined a Birds Queensland weekend camp to Rainbow Beach which is located just north of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland. It’s an easy 3 hour drive north of Brisbane. I recommend refueling in Gympie as prices are cheaper there.

We birded 3 main areas each with different specialty birds which I will be going into detail in separate posts. They are marked in red on the map below.

Rainbow Waters Caravan Park (nice variety of birds in the grounds but beware of midges)!
Tin Can Bay Foreshore (good for waders & shore birds)
Noosa Plains ( Ground Parrot area near Cooloola Cove)
Inskip Point (another shore bird area with some forest species)

I chose to join this camp because of the Eastern Ground Parrots. Even though they are difficult to see unless you flush one out, you can still hear them calling at dusk and dawn. Stand by for detailed posts on all these areas with photos!

O’Reilly’s, Lamington Park

Posted on November 22, 2015 by Tara

O’Reilly’s is a great place to practice your bird photography skills as you can see several species very close and they are predictable. If you start early, you can make this a day trip from Brisbane with a 2.5 hour drive. It’s not really far but the road to the top of the mountain is very twisty. Exact directions are on their website. They also have some lovely eco-villas overlooking the rainforest and some good deals can be found mid-week outside of school holidays. Every year, they have a Bird Week in November.

Bird feeding is touristy but fun. The area is open daily from 10:00am – 4:00pm (weather dependent) and costs $4.00 per tray (suits 2 people). Get up close and personal with some of Lamington’s iconic birds, such as King Parrots, Crimson Rosellas, or you might be lucky enough to see our ‘mascot’, the Regent Bowerbird.

I’ve been there a few times, usually to take friends up or to practice photography. Here’s a few scenes from the bird feeding. They gather in the trees and come down when someone offers a tray of seed or drops seed on the ground.

They also have a canopy walkway in the rainforest – get here early enough and you can have it all to yourself before the tourists arrive!

They have a nice gift shop and restaurant with seats overlooking the spectacular view. You can also see birds out here. There are signs telling you not to feed the birds but the birds have discovered that sometimes they can beat the waiters to the leftovers before the scraps can be cleaned up.

Another Tambopata Adventure

Posted on November 21, 2015 by Tara

I found this trip report of another blogger who has been to Tambopata more recently than I have. Just thought I would share!

If you want to go, I have lots of information here to help you get started.

Tambopata Research Centre

Single Worst Devaluation: Australia – Sri Lanka……& What You Can Do About It

Posted on November 19, 2015 by Tara

One thing that seems to have escaped most other travel/miles/points bloggers regarding the American Airlines devaluation is that Sri Lanka has shifted to the Middle East/Subcontinent category as of 22 March 2016. Although redemptions from the USA to this region and the Asia 2 region are now equal in cost, there is a HUGE difference for Australians!

Previously it had been in the Asia 2 category which made the beautiful eco-tourism destination of Sri Lanka a much cheaper award with AA miles – 25k in economy and 35k in business increasing a mere 5k to 30k economy and 40k business. Look at it now – a whopping 42.5k in economy and 80k in business class! It’s more than doubled in cost!

Sri Lanka has some of the best birding in the world, see my reports on Kithulgala and Sinharaja. So what can we do to get there at a more reasonable rate?

United Airlines is now a better option than American. Most Aussies will fly via BKK on Thai as Singapore rarely releases J seats for partner awards. However most Australians can’t get United miles unless they buy them during a “buy miles promo”.

60k miles would cost me $1050 USD, that’s $1488 AUD at today’s rate! Ouch!

So what about Singapore Airlines? Most Aussies can earn them easily enough from credit cards. It’s still going to cost over 60k miles & fuel surcharge of $472 AUD in business class. Better than both options so far!

But can we do better and still get to Sri Lanka in a lie flat bed? Enter Air Asia. Better known as a low cost carrier, they still provide pretty good service. We flew them in Y last year from Surat Thani to Kuala Lumpur. Check out the prices from the Gold Coast (nearest airport to Brisbane they serve) to Sri Lanka. Economy is dirt cheap and premium flatbed is still excellent value!

You don’t have to spend miles and you are only paying $371 AUD more to travel in a lie flat bed. So it all comes down to whether you would rather save 61,000 SQ miles (or use your credit card points elsewhere that doesn’t have fuel surcharges) or would you rather spend an extra $371 AUD for this?

BOTTOM LINE

If you want to go to Sri Lanka on American Airlines miles, book it before 22 March 2016!! Otherwise, I think it’s time to get better acquainted with Air Asia!

Birding Stanthorpe Area Back Roads

Posted on November 14, 2015 by Tara

Girraween may be the main draw to Stanthorpe but it’s not the only game in town. Drive down virtually any back road and keep your eyes and ears open, you are bound to see lots of birds!

See that yellow line – Pyramids Road? Keep an eye out here for Eastern Rosellas, King Parrots and Red-browed Finches. Notice the interesting colouration of the juvenile? I though at first it was a hybrid!

On the main road near Ballandean.

If you are staying at Banjo’s Retreat or any of it’s sister properties, you’re bound to see Crimson Rosellas, Superb Fairy-wrens, Red-browed Finches and Kookaburas.

The back roads around Amiens are a great place to spot Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos and Turquoise Parrots.

Stanthorpe & Girraween Area For Birders

Posted on November 3, 2015 by Tara

Just a 3 hour drive from Brisbane, Stanthorpe and the nearby Girraween National Park are a popular weekend getaway for Brisbanites for the scenery and wineries. The area is also rich in birdlife so it’s a great addition to a SE Queensland itinerary.

Now let’s take a closer look at Girraween National Park. I have highlighted some of the best birding trails. The access road – Pyramids Road from Ballandean is a great place to look for birds too.

Even just having breakfast at the picnic tables can be very entertaining. I had a Kookaburra snatch half a croissant right out of my hand while I was chatting to some fellow birders!

Hanging around the picnic area looking to steal food.

Girraween is well sign-posted and has several educational signs about the trails and wildlife.

Sorry, please turn head to the left!

There’s a Satin Bowerbird bower near the toilet block. The Bowerbirds and some of their neighbours have learned that if they sit near the water fountain, eventually a friendly human will come and turn it on so they can grab a drink! Love those purple eyes!

I have no idea why these photos aren’t loading right ways up, that’s how they are on my computer but WordPress is turning them for some reason. Sorry, please turn head to the left again. Bringing blue bottle caps will make a Bowerbird very happy – free home decor!

A lovely Red-Wattlebird

Crimson Rosellas were everywhere!

WHERE TO STAY NEAR GIRRAWEEN

There’s all kinds of accommodation in the surrounding towns of Stanthorpe, Ballandean, Amiens and Storm King – everything from camping sites to pricey romantic cottages. We ended up renting a 3 bedroom house as we had other people with us. More about that in the next post. The usual booking engines – Pointshound, Wotif and Cobb ‘n Co have some good options.

Birding Bowra Part 3 – Deeper Into The Property

Posted on October 28, 2015 by Tara

In this section we will see birds that are found as you leave the Bowra homestead area and turn in the opposite direction of the main road, heading deeper into the property. Of course it’s pot luck which birds will be there at any given time of year and depending on rainfall. Most cars can make it about 5km down the road but depending on road conditions you will probably need a 4WD to go further. Always check with the caretaker before heading out.

Look in dense bushes for Fairy-wrens, Homey-eaters and Crimson Chats.