We were driving off at 5.10 a.m, yet another early awakening - but we do go to bed much earlier than normal. I'm glad we did. The roads were empty, the sky blue and the scenery brilliant - if you like gum trees and blossom as much as we do. This is one of our favourite birding trips, leaving Brisbane City to the west via The Gap, climbing in increasingly steep 'curves' (that' s what the road signs say)to the top of Mount Nebo. The Mount Glorious run into Brisbane Forest Park. We make three birding stops en route. McFee for Striated and Spotted Pardalotes, then, Bell Bird Grove - which was empty to-day apart from a ranger armed with a leaf blower in each hand. In the middle of the rain forest....at 6a.m. Jolly's Lookout is the best. Stupendous views to the sea on a clear day and plenty of birds.
All these stops are parking/barbecuing areas of varying facilities and extent.
One more roadside stop to tick off the very noisy but elusive Bell Miners, before the parking area for Maiala Rainforest walk. Here most birds are seen from the wooded parking lot looking up the hill.
After seeing King Parrots, Crimson Rosella, Regent and Satin Bowerbirds, Black-faced Monarch, Green Catbird etc we made a short foray into the forest adding just a Whipbird.
By now we'd eaten breakfast and our sandwich lunch and were hungry. It was over 4 hours since we'd got up. So, we checked the cafe and found it didn't open until 9. We watched the 'closed' sign turned to 'open' and we were there. They feed the birds so we sat out on the verandah to eat a double bacon toasted sandwich (me) and an egg and bacon one for Pam.Very few birds around to-day, the feeders looked empty. Until our food was delivered when, an Aus Magpie and a Pied Currawong appeared to almost salivate over it. We had to use the menus to deter them as they sidled ever nearer.Pam had a Kookaburra sink its beak into her cake last time we were here! She won.The best birds were two Wompoo Fruit-Doves which crept onto a hidden feeder. They're very secretive rainforest summer migrants, usually heard and not seen.
An alternative route down the mountain via Samford and Dayboro took us down to Kobble Creek parking area overlooking what had always been an expanse of dried reed and bushes but labelled Lake Samsonvale. To our astonishment, it was now a proper lake not just nominally. All three grebes fished as did a host of Gull-billed and Whiskered Terns. Anhingas did their thing and Aus. Pelicans did their stately glide-through and crash landing. We tried out my home made digiscoping adaptor ( a coke bottle, glue, tape and some rubber) for the first time too, quite successfully.
Next stop Samsonvale cemetery. Again we were used to an arid expanse with a distant pool. To-day it looked like this.
We concentrated on looking at the remaining scrub, adding Rainbow Bee-eater, Aus Pipit, Superb Fairy-wren and Rufous Whistler. As we were leaving, a large, apparently black bird with a chunky orange beak flew into the trees followed by another. After a lot of puzzling it came to me. A Dollarbird, an Australian tick migrant from PNG and north. It's not black at all, just looked it in the tree shade. They were very wary - my excuse for a very average photo.
Crawling along the track out, waiting for the aircon to kick in, Pam spotted a family of Tawny Frogmouths in the heavy shade of a tree. Well spotted. Weird birds but strangely attractive.
One stop in Samford to buy some much needed water - it got up to 40C in Pam's rucksack to-day - and some Codral, we both have an infection. B planes. Straight home, soon followed by a very early Sara. She gets to work before 7 and adds up her hours for an early finish on Fridays. Friday is sweeties day for the boys. Josh sat beside me and ate a 4 bar KitKat by peeling back the wrapper and munching across all 4 bars. Sara told him that was so wrong. Looked good to me, must try it some time. Harry went off to the computer and Josh played Soccer 08 (the teams are last year's) on the Wii, providing a running commentary as he plays both teams. We found he was playing England against Bournemouth. That seemed wrong too!
Later, we all went out for a very nice Indian meal at a place just round the corner. Sara and Mike have now gone to the late night movies and both boys are in bed. We shall not be long.
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