Daintree Wildlife bulletin.
 Chris Dahlberg's Daintree River tours.

PHONE 07 40987997

 

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.

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.
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.
19 Sep 08. Saltwater Crocodile, Black Bittern, Pacific Baza, Grey Goshawk, White-browed Crake, Papuan Frogmouths, Double-eyed Fig-Parrot, Barred Cuckoo-shrikes, Shining Flycatchers and Azure Kingfishers were the best of the wildlife on a calm sultry morning.
18 Sep 08.
Great-billed Heron,
Amethystine Python and Papuan Frogmouths were the best of this morning's wildlife.
17 Sep 08. Memorable moment, one of the memorable moments this morning was sitting in the boat in the glassy smooth water and watching hundreds of Australian Swiftlets zipping around the boat swooping down and drinking on the wing. Amethystine Python, Papuan Frogmouths, female Eastern Koel and Double-eyed Fig-Parrots were some of the others.
15 Sep 08. Saltwater Crocodile, Green Tree Snake, Amethystine Python, Papuan Frogmouths, Nankeen Night Heron and Bush Stone-curlew were some of this morning's wildlife - 3 reptiles and 3 nocturnal birds.
14 Sep 08. Three reptiles, Green Tree Snake, Eastern Water Dragon and Amethystine Python this morning with some good birds; Papuan Frogmouths, Wompoo Fruit-Doves, Azure Kingfishers, Large-billed Gerygones, Shining Flycatchers, Channel-billed Cuckoo and Bush Stone-curlew.
12 Sep 08. Black Bittern, is the second one since winter and maybe one that stays around? Other good birds included Papuan Frogmouths, Wompoo Fruit-Doves and Double-eyed Fig-Parrots.
10 Sep 08.
Saltwater Crocodile,
Green Tree Snakes, Papuan Frogmouths, Double-eyed Fig-Parrots and other good birds kept interest at a high level throughout our 2 hour dawn trip. A Pacific Baza in the carpark topped it off nicely.
9 Sep 08. Good birds this morning but no reptiles, Papuan Frogmouths, Black Butcherbirds, Shining Flycatchers, Large-billed Gerygones, Channel-billed Cuckoos, Double-eyed Fig-Parrots, Forest, Sacred and Azure Kingfishers.
7 Sep 08. Great-billed Heron, Papuan Frogmouths, Double-eyed Fig-Parrots, Wompoo Fruit-Doves and Saltwater Crocodile proved the most popular of the wildlife species this morning.
6 Sep 08. Latham's Snipe on the boat ramp was our first bird this morning and, as happens in spring, the area upstream from the Daintree Village jetty was the most active with bird flocks around the fruiting trees.
5 Sep 08. Old friends back, Glen Holmes and HG Karlson put in an appearance today with a group of birdwatchers from Sweden where HG works as a museum curator. Conservationist, scientist, consultant and birdwatching guide Glen now lives in Stanthorpe but still makes it up to the far north with specialised groups. Stunning weather, low tides and that amount of experience made for nice outing around the Daintree River in the early morning.
3 Sep 08.
Warm windy weather
again for the next few days and a good time to look out for the Asian swifts that visit during our warmer months. Good close-up views of Shining Flycatchers, Azure and Sacred Kingfishers on the low tide. Unfortunately no reptiles and an indication of what happens with reptiles in the warmer months.
30 Aug 08. Copulating Colubrids, or mating Green Tree Snakes in Barratt Creek added interest to our wildlife trip this morning and another sign of spring.
29 Aug 08. Blustery wind conditions return. We make the best of these conditions, that can last for days, by going out early and running our trip inland from the coast. The really strong wind does not even reach Windy Reach until about 9:00am and so it was this morning. We are coming into really good low tides for dawn over the next few days as we get closer to the new moon.
28 Aug 08. The Storm Birds are back, this morning we started off with five Channel-billed Cuckoos in a tree near the jetty. Known for their raucus calls and arriving on the east coast of Australia at the time of the spring thunderstorms these huge cuckoos are called storm birds by the locals.
26 Aug 08. Wedge-tailed Eagle this morning which is unusual on the eastern side of the Great Dividing Range.
24 Aug 08. Busy section. Within 150 metres of a rainforest creek, this morning, we saw; Saltwater Crocodile, Green Tree Snakes, Cicadabird, Little (Gould's) Bronze-Cuckoo, Shining Flycatchers, Little Kingfisher and Yellow Oriole.
22 Aug 08. Saltwater Crocodiles, Green Tree Snakes, Great-billed Heron, Papuan Frogmouths, Double-eyed Fig-Parrots, Wompoo Fruit-Dove, Black-necked Stork, Azure Kingfishers head up our wildlife list this morning.
21 Aug 08. Saltwater Crocodiles. The three crocodiles that we saw this morning were all in the water suggesting that the water temperature is rising. This is not surprising as the last rain here was more than three weeks ago.
20 Aug 08. Blustery conditions, but probably the second last day of the strong S-E trade winds. The low tide helped with nice views of Azure Kingfishers, Shining Flycatchers and swimming Saltwater Crocodiles.
19 Aug 08. Pacific Bazas performed for us this morning by gleaning frogs and insects of the shiny green leaves in a rainforest creek. The under-wing pattern is stunning and we all saw it well and several times during the overhead maneuvers only metres from the boat.
17 Aug 08. Superb Fruit-Dove, Barred Cuckoo-shrike, Wompoo Fruit-Dove, Double-eyed Fig-Parrots, Papuan Frogmouths, Nankeen Night Heron, Saltwater Crocodile, Amethystine Python and Channel-billed Cuckoo form the basis to our list this morning.
13 Aug 08. Pacific Baza.
Spectacular but not seen very often Pacific Bazas are generally vocal and in pairs or family groups. We briefly saw two on the wing in Barratt Creek this morning. They can be found around the Daintree Village sometimes early in the morning and located by their repeated "Ee-chew, Ee-chew" call. 

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