Stunning photo of a male Shining Flycatcher showing the iridescent orange gape taken by Belinda Rafton.

Daintree Wildlife Bulletin
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The Daintree Wildlife Bulletin includes a wildlife checklist, which is completed after every boat tour with Chris Dahlberg on the Daintree River at dawn and a comment on what the wildlife is doing in and around the Daintree Valley from the Daintree Village to Wonga Beach.
The male Shining Flycatcher photo at left was taken by Belinda Rafton from Chris' boat tour on 15 Dec 2007.
 Last updated: Friday, 03 July 2009


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Daintree Wildlife Bulletin:

3 Jul 09. Misty morning, produced Great-billed Herons for the fifth tour in a row. Other good birds followed being Papuan Frogmouths, Azure and Forest Kingfishers, Shining and Leaden Flycatchers, Grey and Rufous Fantails, Golden and Grey Whistlers, Australian Hobby and the list went on.......

2 Jul 09. Eventful morning with Great-billed Herons, Papuan Frogmouths, Little Kingfisher, Azure Kingfishers, Shining Flycatchers, Green Tree Snake being the best and a couple of surprises with Brown Falcon and two female Hardheads (ducks).

1 Jul 09. Great-billed Herons again this morning along with Papuan Frogmouths, kingfishers, flycatchers, other herons and some Green Tree Snakes.

29 Jun 09. Great-billed Herons. We could hear "Crocodile Birds" calling in the pre-dawn and made our way up-stream to try and see them. Sure enough we were treated to good sightings and more calling. These huge herons have been called the Crocodile Bird because of the loud roaring call that is mistakenly attributed to crocodiles. I am hoping to edit some video of this and have it up on YouTube before long.

26 Jun 09. Birdwatchers morning. Great-billed Heron, Little Kingfisher, Papuan Frogmouths and Little (Gould's) Bronze-Cuckoo headed up the birds this morning.

25 Jun 09. Bats. An interesting thing to do over the next month or so is to watch Northern Mastiff Bats prepare to bed down for the day. In the twilight (about 6:20am) before our dawn river trip these small insectivore bats can be seen around the street light near the jetty. They can then be seen as it gets more light circling the green boats before they tuck up into the lifejackets in the roof often swooping low to drink from the river on their way.

21 Jun 09. Oh what a beautiful morning, Saltwater Crocodile, Green Tree Snake, Azure, Sacred, Forest and Little Kingfishers, Papuan Frogmouths, Nankeen Night Heron, Shining Flycatchers and the list just went on............

18 Jun 09. Saltwater Crocodiles, Green Tree Snake, Papuan Frogmouths, Nankeen Night Heron, Azure Kingfishers, Shining Flycatchers caused the most interest this morning.

17 Jun 09. Great-billed Heron, Papuan Frogmouths, Shining Flycatchers, Yellow Orioles, Nankeen Night Herons, Large-billed Gerygone, Sacred and Azure Kingfishers were the best this morning with the healthy tide.

13 Jun 09. Great-billed Heron, Saltwater Crocodile, Papuan Frogmouths, Green Tree Snake, Little, Azure and Sacred Kingfishers led the way for a good wildlife cruise on the Daintree River this morning.

11 Jun 09. Saltwater Crocodile, Green Tree Snake, Eastern Water Dragon this morning in the early morning sun. Good birds too, Great-billed Heron, Papuan Frogmouths, Blue-winged Kookaburras, Yellow-breasted Boatbills and the list went on...

8 Jun 09. Intermediate Masked Lapwing, rare anywhere but especially Daintree. Records for Daintree show that Intermediate Masked Lapwings have been seen here three times in the last 20 years. Great with other birds this morning too. Also lots of Green Tree Snakes were seen in the early morning sun.

6 Jun 09. Saltwater Crocodile. Just one of the many advantages of going out so early is that when we see a crocodile we see it well. At dawn we often see them moving unlike later in the day when they just lie on the bank. Good birds this morning were Double-eyed Fig-Parrots, Papuan Frogmouths, Fairy Gerygone, Yellow Orioles, Shining Flycatchers and Azure Kingfishers.

3 Jun 09. Pied Monarch. As we go into winter the sightings of Pied Monarchs increase dramatically. Despite the high tide we had a good run as the wildlife list shows.

1 Jun 09. Victoria's Riflebird created a lot of interest this morning as it is the only Australian endemic Bird of Paradise. Not all of us got a good view however. Other favourites were Papuan Frogmouths, Shining Flycatchers and to finish off Azure Kingfisher.

30 May 09. Pied Monarch, Great-billed Heron, Papuan Frogmouths, Forest, Sacred and Azure Kingfishers proved most popular with the birdwatchers this morning.

28 May 09. Saltwater Crocodile, Green Tree Snake, Great-billed Heron, Papuan Frogmouths, Victoria's Riflebird, Fairy Martin, Shining Flycatcher, Azure, Forest and Sacred Kingfishers heads up a good list of Daintree wildlife this morning.

26 May 09. Great-billed Heron, Papuan Frogmouths, Nankeen Night Herons, Little, Azure, Sacred and Forest Kingfishers provided most of the entertainment this morning in the wet conditions.

24 May 09. Saltwater Crocodile, Green Tree Snake, Papuan Frogmouths, Azure Kingfishers, Shining Flycatchers and Yellow Orioles were our highlights on a beautifully cool morning.

22 May 09. Better weather, crisp mornings and sunny days are helping with the crocodile sightings and other species that sit in the sun on a cool morning. Nankeen Night Heron, Papuan Frogmouths are good examples. Also Great-billed Herons were seen and heard this morning.

20 May 09. Saltwater Crocodile, Green Tree Snake, Great-billed Herons and Papuan Frogmouths lead the interest this morning.

15 May 09. Saltwater Crocodile, Papuan Frogmouths, Azure, Forest and Sacred Kingfishers, Shining and Leaden Flycatchers and two passage migrants; Dollarbird and Channel-billed Cuckoo caused the most interest this morning.

13 May 09. Saltwater Crocodile, Great-billed Heron, Papuan Frogmouths, Azure Kingfishers, Shining Flycatchers and drizzly rain punctuated this morning's trip on the Daintree River.

10 May 09. Little Kingfisher, Green Tree Snake, Papuan Frogmouths, Azure Kingfishers and Shining Flycatchers were a hit this morning in the untidy weather.

8 May 09. Saltwater Crocodile, Great-billed Heron, Little Kingfisher, Papuan Frogmouths and Double-eyed Fig-Parrots were this morning's highlights.

7 May 09. Saltwater Crocodile, Papuan Frogmouths and Little Bronze-Cuckoo were the best during the high tide this morning.

5 May 09. Great-billed Heron, Papuan Frogmouths, Shining Flycatchers, Azure, Forest, Sacred Kingfishers and a Cinderella performance of Black-winged Stilts made this morning's trip in the rain memorable.

30 Apr 09. Snakes alive. As we get into our winter reptiles are seen more and more. There were even more snakes out this morning than 26 Apr, below.

28 Apr 09. Great-billed Heron, and a roll up of more winter birds; White-faced Herons, Little Pied Cormorants, Australasian Darters and Little Egrets.

26 Apr 09. Great-billed Heron and lots of Green Tree Snakes in the early morning sun after a cool night.

25 Apr 09. Raptor activity. It is now that some Daintree raptors will start breeding. Raptors can be seen pairing up and there are two Whistling Kites building a nest in Windy Reach.

24 Apr 09. Saltwater Crocodile, Green Tree Snake, Great-billed Herons, Black Bittern and other birds made for an interesting trip on the flood tide this morning.

22 Apr 09. Great-billed Herons, Green Tree Snake and inter-actions between different kingfisher species were the highlights of this morning's trip.

19 Apr 09. Great-billed Herons, Green Tree Snake and Satin Flycatchers were the main species of interest this morning. The herons because of their rarity, the Satin Flycatchers for their rarity in Daintree and the snake because it is the only reptile we have seen in the last two days.

18 Apr 09. Great-billed Heron, Papuan Frogmouth, Little (Gould's) Bronze-Cuckoo, Channel-billed Cuckoo, five kingfisher species, three flycatcher species and Cairns Birdwing Butterflies proved a hit with our visiting birdwatchers this morning.

16 Apr 09. Great-billed Heron was a treat for our visiting birdwatchers as were Channel-billed Cuckoo, Brush Cuckoo and Little (Gould's) Bronze-Cuckoos.

15 Apr 09. Saltwater Crocodile, Green Tree Snake, Shining Flycatchers, Double-eyed Fig-Parrots, Sacred, Forest and Azure Kingfishers, no rain and sun periods for which we were very grateful.

14 Apr 09. Black Bittern, Black-necked Stork, Green Tree Snake, Shining Flycatchers, Forest, Sacred and Azure Kingfishers were the best this morning in between the rain periods.

13 Apr 09. Saltwater Crocodiles, Green Tree Snake, Papuan Frogmouths, Forest, Sacred, Azure and Little Kingfishers made for a good morning.

12 Apr 09. Great-billed Heron, Green Tree Snake, Papuan Frogmouths and Little (Gould's) Bronze-Cuckoos were the best this morning.

10 Apr 09. Great-billed Heron, seen perched under the canopy of a large tree in Stewart's Creek. Before that we witnessed two Channel-billed Cuckoos being harassed by a Peregrine Falcon.

We are closed for the wet season from 31 Jan to 10 Apr 2009.

25 Jan 09. Great-billed Herons, Black Bittern were the best birds this morning.

23 Jan 09. Great-billed Heron, Black Bitterns, Little Kingfisher and Double-eyed Fig-Parrots were the best birds this morning.  

13 Jan 09. Great-billed Heron, Black Bitterns, Pacific Baza and Double-eyed Fig-Parrots were the main treats this morning on a flooded river.

7 Jan 09. Saltwater Crocodile, Great-billed Herons, Black Bitterns, Little Kingfisher, female Eastern Koel, Azure Kingfishers, Shinning Flycatchers were the backbone of our wildlife tour this morning.

3 Jan 09. Saltwater Crocodile, found dead in Barratt Creek this morning. This is an usual sighting but it was in an area where crocodiles nest at this time of the year. Good birds as the checklist shows.

 

 

 

 

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29 Dec 08. Saltwater Crocodile, Black Bitterns, Pied Monarch and other great birds this morning.
24 Dec 08. Merry Christmas, we are back on deck 29 December.
21 Dec 08. Cool misty morning set up some good looks at Black Bitterns in the subdued light. Eastern Water Dragon, Green Tree Snake with some good birds made for a good wildlife trip before the heat of the day arrived.
14 Dec 08. Three Swifts; it is a very unusual set of circumstances when you can see 3 swift species in one place. This morning we saw Australian Swiftlet, White-throated Needletails and Fork-tailed Swifts at the same time.
12 Dec 08. Great-billed Heron, Black Bitterns and Papuan Frogmouth were our best this morning.
11 Dec 08. Big high tides in the morning combined with hot weather are not good wildlife conditions over the next few days. Try and go out very early or late in the day.
8 Dec 08. Black Bitterns are almost certain at this time of the year as our detailed checklist shows. Dec08.htm>>
1 Dec 08. December is birdwatching time. Best birds this morning were Pale-vented Bush-hen, Black Bitterns, Latham's Snipe, Channel-billed Cuckoo and Pied Monarch.
29 Nov 08. Muggy weather, it is hard to find some good weather anywhere in Queensland at present. Daintree is very muggy but it is not deterring some good birds as our checklist shows. Best were Black Bitterns, Pale-vented Bush-hens and Papuan Frogmouths.
22 Nov 08. The return of the Drongo. After not seeing a Spangled Drongo for more than a week, they were everywhere this morning from Daintree Village to Wonga Beach. Best birds on the tour were; Great-billed Heron, Black Bitterns and Papuan Frogmouth.
20 Nov 08. Great-billed Heron, Black Bitterns, Pale-vented Bush-hen, Papuan Frogmouth, Nankeen Night Heron, Channel-billed Cuckoo and Little Bronze-Cuckoo were the best of the birds this morning.
17 Nov 08. White-throated Needletails, first for this summer, several WTN's flew over the Daintree Village jetty at 6:00am this morning.
15 Nov 08. Black Bitterns. These next few months are very reliable for seeing Black Bitterns early in the morning in the freshwater parts of the Daintree River. You can see that in the November and December wildlife checklists for the past 5 years: Link>>
13 Nov 09. Great-billed Herons, Black Bitterns, Papuan Frogmouths, Wompoo Fruit-Doves and Pale-vented Bush-hen were the best birds this morning with an immature Green Tree Snake being the only reptile.
12 Nov 08. Great-billed Herons, Pale-vented Bush-hens, Cicadabird and fleeting glimpses of Black Bitterns were the best this morning.
 9 Nov 08. Great-billed Herons. Best birds this morning were several Black Bitterns, Papuan Frogmouth and two Great-billed Herons, one seen and another heard.
 6 Nov 08. Black Butcherbird. As we watched this morning a Black Butcherbird snatched a small bird out of thin air and took it's prey into the trees in the one swift movement. We think the small bird was a female Mistletoebird?
5 Nov 08. Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher. We heard the first call this Spring this morning. There was a sighting at Cassowary House on 1 November.
3 Nov 08. Pale-vented Bush-hen, Black Bitterns and Papuan Frogmouths were the best this morning. It is now birdwatching time in the Daintree.
30 Oct 08. New Field Guide book for Cairns to Daintree. Japanese wildlife photographer, guide and author Jun Matsui presented his new book to me  after the trip this morning. The first edition is in Japanese with the English language edition to be released next year. Contact me for information>>
29 Oct 08. Saltwater Crocodiles interaction. Two large crocodiles zeroed in on a steer carcass this morning. The larger one turned and chased the smaller one away and then attacked the carcass in earnest taking huge bites of it. We photographed this and will post some photos soon. Other items of interest were two Black Bitterns upstream from the village and Papuan Frogmouths on their nests.
25 Oct 08. Australian Reed-Warbler. Another of the 2008 name changes, we had exceptionally good views of Australian Reed-Warbler this morning and first sighted it without any vocalisations to draw our attention. Papuan Frogmouth sightings are very regular now and are likely to remain so until the new year.
23 Oct 08. Black Bittern, Latham's Snipe, Wompoo Fruit-Doves, Nankeen Night Heron and Papuan Frogmouths head up this morning's wildlife list.
 22 Oct 08. Great-billed Herons. The undoubted highlight for this morning's birdwatchers were the sightings of two Great-billed Herons.
19 Oct 08. Papuan Frogmouths. The drought with frogmouths is over until the new year. Basically Papuan Frogmouths nest from now until the new year and we now have two nests where the birds can be seen without intruding on them. It is likely that over the next few days we will have some more.
17 Oct 08. Dollarbird performance. We were treated to an extraordinary performance this morning by Australia's only roller. The Dollarbird "rolled" through the air as it took several drinks of water on the wing. Dollarbirds migrate through Daintree during the night on their way to breeding grounds further south during spring. They are normally seen perched high up in the open.
15 Oct 08. The Daintree River turns it on. The main wildlife species this morning were; Saltwater Crocodile, Green Tree Snake, Great-billed Heron, Black Bitterns, Little Kingfisher, Papuan Frogmouths, Wompoo Fruit-Doves and Double-eyed Fig-Parrots.
13 Oct 08. Raptor attack, halfway through this morning's wildlife trip we saw a prolonged attack on a Whistling Kite made by Masked Lapwings who were nesting in the field below. On the way Home I saw from the road an attack on a Brahminy Kite by a White-breasted Woodswallow. These smaller birds are protecting their young, very effectively it seems.
12 Oct 08. Black Bittern heard and seen this morning along with Wompoo Fruit-Doves, Double-eyed Fig-Parrots, Wedge-tailed Eagle and Papuan Frogmouth.
9 Oct 08. Peregrine Falcon, it was hard to pick the highlight of this morning's wildlife tour but the Peregrine Falcon would be hard to beat. An adult male sat on a branch for us, and the cameras, in the sun preening. Nature's top gun is normally seen on the wing.
6 Oct 08. Early morning is best for seeing wildlife and the Daintree River is the best place to see it up here. We know this because we have been doing it since 1992 and it is especially so right now as the warm weather arrives. The most interesting sighting today was a male Satin Flycatcher which is a rarely seen passage migrant in Daintree.
3 Oct 08. Spectacular sight. As we finished pottering around in the light rain this morning the sun came out on a huge fig tree which was covered with hundreds of sun-baking Pied Imperial Pigeons just across from the jetty. Other things of note were the appearance of Green Tree Snakes after the overnight rain. Some Sacred Kingfishers moving through, second Dollarbird and a Common Greenshank on the beach.
1 Oct 08. Great-billed Heron, Saltwater Crocodile, Papuan Frogmouths and lots of cuckoos. Great start to the month.
29 Sep 08. Warm weather is upon us and it is getting lighter earlier. We have not seen a reptile since 23 Sep and the reptile sightings will be sparce until next year. It is now birdwatching time and the earlier the start of a wildlife tour the better.
27 Sep 08. Dollarbird. First Dollarbird of the summer this morning.
25 Sep 08. Black Bitterns. It seems certain now that Black Bitterns have arrived for the summer. Not only are we having more sightings at dawn but they are vocal on dusk in the fresh water creeks in the Daintree Valley. During previous years Black Bitterns arrive closer to the beginning of November.
24 Sep 08. Peregrine Falcon. There are quiet times with birds around the Daintree Village and this could be attributed to a very lively Peregrine Falcon which we saw this morning. It landed on the high side of Stewart Creek Road close to the village.
23 Sep 08. Glossy Ibis are rarely seen in Daintree but can pop up in spring in the drier years. One appeared this morning which could mean that it is getting dry out west and could be a sign of things to come.
21 Sep 08. Saltwater Crocodile, Amethystine Python, Green Tree Snake, Eastern Water Dragon, Papuan Frogmouth, Barred Cuckoo-shrikes headed up our wildlife checklist this morning.

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