GRAND AUSTRALIA PART II: QUEENSLAND, VICTORIA & PLAINS-WANDERER OCTOBER 15–NOVEMBER 1, 2018 Southern Cassowary LEADER: DION HOBCROFT LIST COMPILED BY: DION HOBCROFT VICTOR EMANUEL NATURE TOURS, INC. 2525 WALLINGWOOD DRIVE, SUITE 1003 AUSTIN, TEXAS 78746 WWW.VENTBIRD.COM GRAND AUSTRALIA PART II By Dion Hobcroft Few birds are as brilliant (in an opposite complementary fashion) as a male Australian King-parrot. On Part II of our Grand Australia tour, we were joined by six new participants. We had a magnificent start finding a handsome male Koala in near record time, and he posed well for us. With friend Duncan in the “monster bus” named “Vince,” we birded through the Kerry Valley and the country towns of Beaudesert and Canungra. Visiting several sites, we soon racked up a bird list of some 90 species with highlights including two Black-necked Storks, a Swamp Harrier, a Comb-crested Jacana male attending recently fledged chicks, a single Latham’s Snipe, colorful Scaly-breasted Lorikeets and Pale-headed Rosellas, a pair of obliging Speckled Warblers, beautiful Scarlet Myzomela and much more. It had been raining heavily at O’Reilly’s for nearly a fortnight, and our arrival was exquisitely timed for a break in the gloom as blue sky started to dominate. Pretty-faced Wallaby was a good marsupial, and at lunch we were joined by a spectacular male Eastern Water Dragon. Before breakfast we wandered along the trail system adjacent to the lodge and were joined by many new birds providing unbelievable close views and photographic chances. Wonga Pigeon and Bassian Thrush were two immediate good sightings followed closely by Albert’s Lyrebird, female Paradise Riflebird, Green Catbird, Regent Bowerbird, Australian Logrunner, three species of scrubwren, and a male Rose Robin amongst others. We were definitely on a roll. Glen Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 2 Grand Australia Part II, 2018 Threlfo joined us and soon had the audience in the palm of his hand as pademelons hopped up to us, a Pink-tongued Skink basked at our feet, and butcherbirds vied for his attention. A Peregrine Falcon was scoped feeding two chicks of equal size while a Gray Goshawk soared past us. Later we had excellent success with scarce birds like White-eared Monarch and Red-browed Treecreeper. O’Reilly’s was certainly being kind to us on this tour. What luck—a Koala in the first half hour of searching! This trend continued the following morning with a great view of a responsive Russet-tailed Thrush and good luck with a male Paradise Riflebird. As we birded our way down the mountain, we connected with two more difficult species. First, a pair of Painted Buttonquail tootled across the road; the male narrowly avoided being hit by a car! Then a family trio of Glossy Black Cockatoos were located feeding, as is typical, on the fruits of the Allocasuarina . They allowed a very close approach. A final last hurrah was a Tawny Frogmouth on a nest well spotted by Duncan. Our flight made it on time to Cairns. We made a short walk on the Esplanade, but the tide was high and the light was low. Last year had been very wet in Cairns, and this year was bone dry. It made the birding very different. Our first stop at Centenary Lakes soon had us amongst a myriad of new tropical Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 3 Grand Australia Part II, 2018 Australian birds like Radjah Shelduck, Magpie Goose, and Black Butcherbird. We had great looks at Brown-backed Honeyeater and Olive-backed Sunbird, and bumped into my friend Brian Venables, who placed us on our first Papuan Frogmouths. Thank you Brian. Orange-footed Scrubfowl and Bush Thick-knees milled around while Double-eyed Fig-Parrots gave superb views. After checking out from the hotel, we returned to the Esplanade for a better tide and a good variety of East Asian shorebirds like Great Knot, Terek Sandpiper, and Greater Sand-Plover while Varied Honeyeater almost landed on our heads. We departed Cairns heading for the hinterland, making a variety of stops at tropical wetlands for species like Green Pygmy-Goose; at Eucalyptus woodlands for the scarce Squatter Pigeon, rare and elusive Square-tailed Kite, the amazing Blue-winged Kookaburra, and to enjoy the antics of the Great Bowerbird at its bower; while barren paddocks gave close looks at the superb Australian Pratincole. We settled into Kingfisher Park for our three-night stay where our hosts Carol and Andrew looked after us well. By the time we did the list at the pub we had seen more than 100 species for the day. Albert’s Lyrebird showed well at O’Reilly’s where they can be quite tricky to connect with. Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 4 Grand Australia Part II, 2018 Mount Lewis, at 3,000 feet above sea level in the rainforest, offers fantastic birding, butterflying, and botanizing with a host of endemic birds. These endemic birds behaved well on this day with great looks at Fernwren, Chowchilla, and an amazing Tooth-billed Bowerbird at its display court being especially cooperative. A supporting cast included Bower’s Shrike-thrush, Mountain Thornbill, Atherton Scrubwren, and Bridled Honeyeater. After a siesta we continued tracking down the rainforest endemics of far north Queensland, getting good views of Yellow- breasted Boatbill, Lovely Fairy-wren, and Pied Monarch to mention some. We finished the session with excellent looks at a Platypus as it fed in the clear water of a creek at Kingfisher Park on dusk. Our patience was rewarded. A male Australian Bustard in full display mode makes a striking sight near Mount Carbine. The next morning we were on a boat on the Daintree River spying a couple of Saltwater Crocodiles, colorful Azure Kingfishers, and some remarkably open nesting Papuan Frogmouths. A highlight was watching an Archer Fish shooting droplets of water at an insect! It was hot and dry on the coast, and the birding was not overly scintillating. The afternoon compensated for Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 5 Grand Australia Part II, 2018 this with first a Noisy Pitta perched up, calling away and in the scope: a good result for the dry conditions. We moved to Maryfarms where the displaying Australian Bustards put on a stunning performance. It is hard to believe that this bird can transform its body shape in this fashion. Stunning Red-winged Parrots fed on mangos, an old airstrip hosted the elusive Oriental Plover, beautiful Scarlet and Banded honeyeaters fed side by side, Channel-billed Cuckoos screamed raucously overhead, while classic birds like Pheasant Coucal and Red-tailed Black Cockatoo showed well. After dinner we took a night walk where the highlight was a massive Amethystine Python more than 10-feet-long waiting to ambush mammals coming to a waterhole. Some folks could not believe their eyes. Our timing the next morning could not have been better. We arrived at Cassowary House to find “Gerty,” an impressive adult female, a few meters from us. While admiring her, the male arrived with three chicks only a few weeks old, catching us in a cassowary crush. “Gerty” raised herself up, all feathers erect, a sure sign to make space, which we did with some alacrity. The chicks, all stripes and legs, were diabolically cute and curious. It is rare to have a male and female and chicks all together. Enjoying a great session with these theropod ratites, we moved along enjoying Barred Cuckoo-shrikes and beautiful adult Pied Monarchs. In the dry country we found our first Sarus Cranes, more Squatter Pigeons, and had good looks at Mareeba Rock Wallabies. Following lunch in a delightful café we spent time at Hastie’s Swamp, and it was another good stop, with quite a flock of the rare Freckled Duck and several hundred Pink-eared Ducks spinning like phalaropes in the primordial ooze. We finished the day admiring a stunning Lumholtz’s Tree Kangaroo, but not before we had to break the news to a fellow wildlife enthusiast that the tree kangaroo he showed us was actually a Green Ringtail Possum at a rarely discovered day roost! Luckily, we could show the gentleman a real tree kangaroo, and there were big smiles all around. No one will forget the Southern Cassowary experience we enjoyed in North Queensland. Victor Emanuel Nature Tours 6 Grand Australia Part II, 2018 Our day on the Great Barrier Reef was good. Michaelmas Cay certainly delivered the tropical seabirds in abundance. Our highlights here included three Roseate Terns, an Eagle Ray, and two Lesser Frigatebirds amongst a biomass of noddies and terns and nesting Brown Boobies. The snorkeling at Hastings Reef provided superb fish-watching. Highlights for me were Yellowmask Angelfish, Saddled Butterfly Fish, Leaf Scorpionfish, Teardrop Butterfly Fish, Bicolor Angelfish, Red and Black Anemone fish, Slingjaw Wrasse, a parrotfish species with a juvenile Remora in tow, and a memorable encounter with a toothy Titan Triggerfish that revealed its full dentition as it was cleaned by a cleaner wrasse. Then there were the other two hundred species of stunningly colored tropical fish. If you can, go snorkeling. Stunning views of the rare Painted Honeyeater were a personal highlight for me on this tour. After a hefty travel day we found ourselves transplanted in Victoria from far North Queensland. A profitable stop was made in some box woodlands with Varied Sittellas (not patellas) foraging down the Eucalyptus trunks with stunning male Scarlet Robins enlivening proceedings. Crossing the Murray River into New South Wales, our first genuinely wild Emus were well appreciated. On Part I we had been bowled a few bouncers like the East Coast low that delivered wild winds and torrential rain in Sydney.