|
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.
Back
|
|
