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Cape York in the Wet

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VOL. 13 (7) SEPTEMBER 1990 209 AUSTRALIAN BIRD WATCHER 1990, 13, 209-217 Cape York in the Wet by GORDON BERULDSEN, Cape York Bird Weeks, PD. Box 387, Kenmore, Queensland 4069 Although there have been several studies of the birds of Cape York Peninsula (Barnard 1911, Thomson 1935, Mack 1953, Officer 1967, Kikkawa 1976) there is little information from the wet season. I have now had the opportunity of visiting Cape York six times between 1986 and 1989 and here record some of my experiences and the more interesting observations. I do not propose in this paper to list all species observed, just those that I found of particular interest. More detail will follow in a later article. Habitats Between the course of the Jardine River that runs across the Cape from east to west, and Jackey Jackey on the east coast, north to The Tip, there exists a surprising variety of habitats. Even the open forests vary widely in form, content and structure. Habitats range from a wide variety of open forests to heathlands, fresh-water lakes, swamps and streams, salt-water estuaries, monsoon scrubs and forests, including several locations with a stand of tree ferns. There is open grassland around Bamaga (Jackey Jackey) airport and a few other locations. Beaches and wide tidal flats are backed by monsoon forests or casuarina scrub or mangroves. Rocky headlands support low shrubbery in exposed situations and low monsoon scrub in sheltered areas. There are a few small areas of low coastal scrub, similar in appearance to southern coastal heath (Kikkawa 1976). There are extensive fresh-water swamps immediately south of the mouth of the Jardine River. These swamps are generally not accessible in the wet season. Seasons Typical of tropical areas, there is a wet season and a dry season. Unfortunately there are no quantitative or qualitative rainfall records available, nor any other useful detailed information on climate. Nevertheless there are summer rainfall records from Bamaga available for the years 1960 to 1980. However, they do not accurately reflect rainfall patterns or volumes over the Lockerbie Scrub or at or about the tip of the Cape for, according to the locals, the weather pattern differs over and north of the Carnegie Range, including the Lockerbie Scrub. Despite the claimed variation those rainfall figures reveal significant variations in rainfall patterns, in particular in the time of commencement and the time of conclusion of the wet season and in the volume of rain by months through the wet season. Broadly speaking, rain showers commence in December in most years, building up through January to heavy rains in February and March with the volume tapering off in April. The following extracts from the figures will reveal the measure of the variations. (a) In the 1963/64 wet season peak rainfall occurred in January and again in March with little or no rain in February. (b) In 1965/66 the rains ceased in March. (c) In 1967/68 heavy rains ceased in February with showers through March, April and May. AUSTRALIAN 210 BERULDSEN BIRD WATCHER (d) In 1969/70 no worthwhile rains fell until February, then there was moderate rainfall in March. April was dry, but there were some showers in May and a sprinkling in June. (e) In 1966/67 and again in 1972/73 no rain fell in December. A peak in 1966/67 occurred in January, then fell away to showers in February, then another peak occurred in March falling away to showers in April and May. In 1972/73 the peak again occurred in January but then fell away to showers in February and March. However, that year showers persisted through until June. On the matter of temperature and humidity some guide can be had from records available from Thursday Island. The figures are ( 0 C): Month Maximum Minimum January 29.7 24.7 February 29.4 24.6 March 29.5 24.5 April 29.5 24.5 May 28.9 24.1 June 28.1 23.0 July 27.4 22.2 August 27.8 22.5 September 28.6 23.1 October 29.8 24.1 November 30.9 25.1 December 30.9 25.4 On humidity the level is generally above 80° through February, March and April and above 70° through the rest of the year. Generally speaking the hottest months are November and December and the driest period is November and frequently into December. Nesting seasons Despite the relatively short season of rain, there is a surprising spread of variety in nesting seasons. Some birds can be found nesting in almost every month. March is probably the least preferred (and usually the wettest) month. Some species nest as the wet starts (December/January) and some of those species nest again when it ends (March/April). Others nest only in the dry season, yet others towards the end of the dry, and a few nest usually only as the wet season is tailing off. Migration Almost year-round, migrating birds are moving through the area. The locally breeding land birds that come in from the north in the wet season usually arrive with the early storms from December or January, breed, and are mostly gone by the end of April. Other migrants which continue farther south, such as Rainbow Bee-eaters Merops ornatus, Dollarbirds Eurystomus orienta/is, Channel-billed Cuckoos Scythrops novaehollandiae, Spangled Drongos Dicrurus hottentottus and so on arrive earlier but leave about the same time as the locals, that is April/May. In April 1989 it was obvious that many migrants were moving north through the area. There were many flycatchers, both adult and immature, in the forests and scrubs and large numbers of Dollarbirds, Bee-eaters and lesser numbers of both Sacred and Forest Kingfishers Halcyon sancta and H. macleayii and Common Koels Eudynamys scolopacea around. Therefore I decided to spend an hour or two each evening over the last few days of March and the first week of April 1989 sitting on the cairn on VOL. 13 (7) SEPTEMBER 1990 Cape York in the Wet 211 the highest point of The Tip. On evenings when the wind was from the south-west through south to the south-east, large numbers of birds headed out over Torres Strait. All were flying north-north-west. On evenings when the wind was from the east through north-east and north to north-west, very few birds left The Tip. Occasionally a flock left, headed out towards York Island, then turned around and came back, settling into the mangroves on the western side of The Tip or farther back in forest trees. Generally only the Dollarbirds 'tested' the wind although on one occasion a flock of Tree Martins Cecropis nigricans went out and came back, and on another occasion a flock of Metallic Starlings Aplonis metallica left then came back (the only Metallic Starlings I actually saw fly past The Tip). Selected systematic list Frigatebirds Fregata spp. Both Least F. ariel and Great F. minor have been seen in the air over The Tip, in all plumage phases (adult and juvenile). Great-billed Heron Ardea sumatrana Observed fleetingly several times along Crocodile Creek, the nearest mangrove creek to The Tip. At least three pairs are known to be resident in the mangroves of Jackey Jackey inlet. Those mangroves cover a vast area and almost certainly other pairs hold territories there. Rufous Night Heron Nycticorax caledonicus One evening in April 1989, in rapidly failing light, small (5-9) floc ks of this species were seen heading out across Torres Strait. It was too dark to see whether the flocks included adults and immatures or just adults, or just immatures. They were calling occasionally as they flew. It was the call that first attracted attention. Black-breasted Buzzard Hamirostra melanosternon A pair appears to have a territory adjacent to the Bamaga (Jackey Jackey) airport. They have been seen there on a number of occasions. Quail sp. In April 1989 an unidentified call could be heard coming from tropical grassland at the northern end of the Bamaga (Jackey Jackey) airport. As several of us searched through the grassland, two quail flushed from the grass and flew south for some distance. The species could not be identified. However, they appeared to be similar in size and colour to Stubble Quail Coturnix novaezelandiae, but the call was wrong. Although I know the call of most quails this part!~ular call was completely unfamiliar to me. Sarus Crane Grus antigone A pair observed from a helicopter close to the mouth of the Jardine River in January 1988. There was a flock of Brolgas Grus rubicundus not far away. Migratory waders Sixteen species have been identified so far, despite the lack of a concerted effort to seek them out. Pigeons Two quite distinctive and unidentified calls have been heard in the closed forest. From the published description of its call one almost certainly was a Zoe Imperial Pigeon Ducula zoeae, a New Guinea species. Kikkawa (1976) commented, 'Most closed forest birds nest towards the end of the dry season (early summer). Exceptions include the Wompoo Pigeon Ptilinopus magni.ficus laying in July'. Barnard (1911) also found the Wompoo Fruit-Dove nesting between October 1910 and January 1911 inclusive, but did not say which months. In the Lockerbie and other closed forest areas in the vicinity of the tip of the Cape I found the species nesting in January of both 1988 and 1989. Good rains had fallen in both those months before my visit. Palm Cockatoo Probosciger aterrimus Not common but widely scattered.
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