Birding Bowra Part 2 – Pond & Homestead Area

Posted on October 23, 2015 by Tara

There are some great places to see birds just a few steps from the shearers cabin at Bowra Station. Getting up at dawn, bringing a chair outside and watching the birds wake up is very rewarding!

Black-winged Stilts are very common here.

White-breasted Woodswallows

Black-fronted Dotterel

Another stilt

Red-winged Parrot

Rainbow Bee-eater

Spoonbill

Red-rumped Parrot

Spotted Bowerbird with Bower

Kangaroos

Paddy Melons – food for hungry parrots

We’ve all seen pet Budgies but nothing beats seeing them in the wild! They have nests in the trees near the homestead.

Red-rump Parrot

Diamond Dove

Red-winged Parrot

More Budgies

Beautiful Red-winged Parrot posing nicely

Red-rumps are usually in the trees around the pond

Birding Bowra Part 1 – Road To Homestead Area

Posted on October 19, 2015 by Tara

Since there are so many places to see birds, I am breaking this down into several parts. The first area to explore is the part where you first enter Bowra Station at the letterbox and drive the main road to the homestead – about 5 or 6 km. This is a fantastic area for parrots, as you can see from the photos below we saw many species just in this area such as Cockatiels, Mallee Ringecks, Galahs, Major Mitchell Cockatoos, Mulga Parrots and various Honey-eaters, an Emu and of course lots of kangaroos! I also saw a Bluebonnet flying away at the speed of light near the gate.

Bring boots as sometimes you have to walk through the bush!

Lodge Review: Bowra Station, Queensland

Posted on October 18, 2015 by Tara

It may be a long drive out here but Bowra Station is well worth it – it’s a birder’s paradise! Over 200 species of birds have been reported here so try to spend at least 3 days to give yourself a chance to see as many as possible. I can promise you it will be the highlight of your birding trip to Queensland!

Bowra Sanctuary is open to bird watching visitors from March to October each year. If you are coming from overseas, you will fly into Brisbane so make sure you are coming at the right time of year. You should avoid the wet season which is mostly Sept to early March anyways and if the roads flood you won’t be able to get through.

You must book in advance by ringing 07 4655 1238 or email bowravolunteers@gmail.com. They only have accommodation for 15 people in the shearers quarters and separate cabin if you aren’t prepared to camp. If Bowra is full and you can’t change your dates, ask the volunteer on duty if you can stay in Cunnamulla and make day visits. Bring cash as they don’t take credit cards. You can either prepare your own meals or drive 16 km to Cunnamulla to eat. I recommend doing your shopping in Brisbane and bringing your own food, maybe go into town for lunch and internet while the birds are resting.

They have a daily bird call around 5pm at the caretaker’s house so be sure to share your sightings for the day!

MORE INFORMATION ABOUT BOWRA STATION

Birds Queensland

Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary

Australian Wildlife

Outback Australia

Detailed map of Bowra Station

This is the mail box you need to look for.

It was still light when we arrived which was nice as we could enjoy the welcoming committee while driving to the homestead.

The light didn’t last long and we soon got to enjoy the sunset.

Homestead where the caretakers live. Check in here first.

Shearers quarters which has several rooms with twin beds, a fully equipped kitchen and dining room. The toilets and showers are outside.

Sorry about the sideways pic, the WordPress photo editor isn’t working. Since your neck is already getting a work out, why not enjoy this beautiful tree refelcting in the pond just outside the shearers’ quarters!

In future posts, I will go into more detail about the birds as there are sooooo many to cover!

Cunnamulla – Gateway To Bowra Station

Posted on October 15, 2015 by Tara

Cunnamulla is a very welcome sight after a long drive from Brisbane – especially if you’ve done it all in one day! You’ll pass through here enroute to Bowra Station and possibly come here for shopping and meals during your stay.

Scenes around town

They do have accommodation although I highly recommend birders stay at Bowra Station.

Banking/ATM available

Boulders is a great place to eat and check your emails.

There wasn’t much in the way of souvenirs – a real gap in the market as they could do well selling Aboriginal art and paintings of wildlife.

The resident flock of Little Corellas can sometimes be seen at the town park and sometimes down by the river.

Security guard for the laundry!

The other welcome sign on the east-bound road.

A Drive Through Outback Queensland To Cunnamulla

Posted on October 14, 2015 by Tara

This is a trip I took back in March 2014 that I’m just getting around to blogging about. The destination was Bowra Station near Cunnamalla, but in this case getting there was half the fun! Outback Queensland has some quirky cafes, cool little towns and lots of wildlife.

It’s at least a 10 hour drive, could be more if you run into roadworks and of course you will need comfort and lunch stops so you want to leave as early as possible in the morning. The aim is to reach your destination by dusk to avoid the hazard of kangaroos on the roadside. See my other posts on planning a birding trip in SE Queensland and road trips in general.

Once you get past Toowoomba, just follow the signs to St George. There’s a town named after me along the way. OK, it’s not named after me but it should have been!

Road works can slow you down as they often close one whole lane of traffic.

In this next group, some of the photos are sideways. They are not this way on my computer, they display properly. However when I try to load them to the blog, they are being flipped sideways and WordPress won’t let me edit them. So I apologize for you having to twist your head to see them.

On the outbound, we had lunch at a small town called Moonie with a very quirky cafe, even quirkier restrooms and souvenirs!

Lunch on the return trip was this cool little place in St George.

Your chances of seeing a koala while driving along at 80-100 kph is nil but keep an eye out anyway in case they are crossing the road.

We did arrive at Bowra Station before dark. I don’t remember what time we left but it was around 5am-ish so we made pretty good time. For a future trip, I would probably break the journey somewhere like Lake Coolmunda (excellent birding!) for a night. It was a very exhausting drive!

Return To Mosquito Creek Road & Coolmunda

Posted on October 10, 2015 by Tara

The final day of the Birds Queensland Camp was a visit to Mosquito Creek Road & Lake Coolmunda including a private property near the lake. I was really hoping to get a good look at Bluebonnets and hopefully some photos this time. The nice thing about birding with a group is that you have a lot more eyeballs at work and one of the group did spot a pair of Bluebonnets that I probably wouldn’t have found as they were well camouflaged and being very quiet. Once they were pointed out to me, I was able to follow them with my 400mm lens and grab a few shots – none of which came out well other than to prove we saw Bluebonnets! I’ve included some untouched shots and some cropped ones to show just how far away the birds were and how difficult they are to see.

Another highly sought after bird was the White-winged Fairy-wrens bustling around in bushes. They weren’t too keen on being photographed either!

Luckily a few birds were happy to pose for photos. First up is a Pale-headed Rosella who looks to have some hybrid blood in him. Oddly enough Pale-headed Rosellas often breed with Eastern Rosellas around here though there is no reason they couldn’t find a partner of their own species.

Sacred Kingfishers also put in an appearance.

Here’s a few more random shots.

We had a nice spot to have a picnic lunch by the lake and watch some Little Corellas play in the trees. After lunch, Ina & I took off as I wanted to make it back to Brisbane before dark and also have a quick look-in at the Durikai Watering Hole enroute. Traffic back to the city does build up in the afternoon on a Sunday so bear this in mind when planning your journey.

Birding Durikai State Forest – Near Karara

Posted on October 8, 2015 by Tara

Durikai State Forest is better known for fossicking but those who look deeper can find some wonderful birds here. Last year, someone even spotted a rare Regent Honey-eater although I was not so lucky this year! It is located about 3 hours drive from Brisbane, 7 km from Karara and around 40 km from Warwick and you can access it from the Cunningham Highway. On the right side of this map, the red line is a gravel road leading into the forest. We were there around 2pm so there weren’t many birds around but the highlight was a lovely Mistletoe Bird. The yellow splotch is across the road and a bit hard to find.

To find the Durikai Watering Hole, you look on the left if coming from Warwick (around 44 km) for this sign. The turn-off to the watering hole is pretty well concealed but you can see a white Jeep coming out from it.

If you are coming from Coolmunda or Karara, look on the right for these signs about 7 km past Karara.

This watering hole is a magical spot where you can set up a camp chair, chill out and watch beautiful little Yellow-tufted Honey-eaters, White-naped Honey-eaters, Noisy Friarbirds and Little Lorikeets frolic through the trees and come down to drink water. I also got a glimpse of Turquoise Parrots shooting through but unfortunately they didn’t stop to pose for photos. I was really lucky to get decent shots of the Little Lorikeets which had been eluding me in tree branches for ages!

Meanwhile back at Karara apparently these Little Corellas missed their train!

Birding Around Karara, South-east Queensland

Posted on October 4, 2015 by Tara

If you are driving to Lake Coolmunda, a worthwhile stop for birding can be in the small town of Karara and the back roads nearby. On the map below you can see the town of Karara on the left and the Back Creek Road is the blue line in the middle where we saw a lot of parrot species. Further to the right is the Durikai National Forest which also has excellent birding.

Although the Striated Pardalote and Tawny Frogmouth pictured below were on a private property (I was with a Birds Queensland group) the species are local to the general area.

Can you see the Tawny Frogmouth? He blends in very well! If you ever see one resting like this, please don’t disturb him as making him fly in the daytime could cause predators to spot this bird.

This gorgeous little Striated Pardalote was a real supermodel, turning every which way so I would get his best side, even giving me an open wings shot!

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo hiding in a tree.

Karara Sports Ground – camping available although mine was organized by Birds Queensland. I recommend going to Lake Coolmunda Caravan Park and making an excursion to this area.

Back Creek Road, about 4km down the road from Karara proved to be a treasure trove for parrots! We saw Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, Little Corellas, Galahs, Scaly-breasted Lorikeets, Pale-headed Rosellas, Eastern Roselllas and Red-rumped Parrots all within 1 hour early in the morning. Coming back to Karara to rejoin the BQ group, there was also a Red-winged Parrot flying overhead near the roadhouse.

Sorry, the editor isn’t working so please tilt your head left to see the Cockatoo Tree!

Birding Mosquito Creek Road Near Lake Coolmunda

Posted on September 30, 2015 by Tara

Mosquito Creek Road is one of the top birding sites near Lake Coolmunda and less than 4 hours drive from Brisbane.

It’s signposted from both directions and there is an Olive Farm at the beginning of the road.

You’ll be driving down a well-maintained gravel road. The properties on both sides are fenced and for private use so you have to do your birding from the roadside. It’s a great place to bird though as the wide open grassy areas and sparser trees make it easier to find the birds. You can drive past a small pond a few km to a more densely forested area but I found the birdlife decreased from entering that area so we went back to the grassy area near the pond.

We made a couple trips to Mosquito Road with just Ina & me, then returned a couple days later with the Birds Queensland group which I will cover in a separate post.

Plenty of kangaroos so drive slowly, don’t add to the road kill!

We saw lots of Little Corellas & Galahs.

There was a tree that had a lot of Zebra Finches who sometimes came out to the wire fence to pose for photos.

Willie Wagtails are found here and basically all over Australia.

For me, the highlight was seeing wild Cockatiels. Cockatiels are very special to me, they are the first bird I had as a pet which ultimately led to my interest in birding and conservation.

Horsfield’s Bushlark

Very tempting!

Australasian Darter

Apostlebird

Pale-headed Rosella

Birding Lake Coolmunda Caravan Park & Surrounds

Posted on September 26, 2015 by Tara

The area between the Cunningham Highway to roughly the railway tracks has plenty of birdlife.

Once again, it was a great place to look fro parrots! Red-winged Parrots were hanging around just outside the caravan park while Scaly-breasted Lorikeets & Crested Pigeons were easily found inside the park.

The stretch of road just opposite this fancy house is good for Red-Rumped Parrots foraging in the grass.

The grassy area just outside the park was also good for fairywrens. I was a bit far from the bush they were hanging out in so had to zoom quite a bit. At first I was thinking they were all Superb Fairy-wrens.

Zooming in on this photo showed that I had also found a flock of White-winged Fairy-wrens!

Meanwhile a Laughing Kookaburra kept watch.

And a Black-shouldered Kite put on an amazing display of hunting. He hovered like a ……………………. well a kite!

Aha, spotted something!

The kite swooped quickly and withdrew to a pole holding a rat. I was so impressed I would have gladly offered him a job keeping my home free of rats if I could be sure that was all he would eat!

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