The Flockstars Of Fraser Return In April...

April saw our Melaleuca blossom in and around Kingfisher Bay Resort and bought with it a change in the birdlife we spotted on Fraser.

With such a bounty of food available in and around the Wallum – an area that’s just a stone’s throw from the resort’s centre complex that is characterised by floristically-rich shrubland and heathland on deep, nutrient-poor acidic sandy soils - there was certainly no shortage of nectar feeders in our midst.

As the month progressed, flocks of Rainbow Lorikeets started arriving  from the mainland and congregating on the western side of Fraser Island.  This literal ‘tide’ of colour peppered the greenery surrounding the resort.

The more elusive upper canopy nectar feeders such as Dusky Honeyeaters and Scarlet Honeyeaters were also easily spotted feeding in the Wallum.  And in other Honeyeater news, our resident White-cheeked Honeyeaters started their second nesting cycle. With the freshly fledged ‘teenagers’ adding their boisterous behaviour to the mix, taking a wander through the Wallum has certainly been filled with excitement and colour.

A rare up close cameo of one of our Buff-banded Rails provided an early morning treat for our eagle-eyed bird watchers. Whilst sharp-eyed beach walkers have been fortunate to catch the splash of aquamarine as our resplendent Sacred Kingfishers surveyed the dunes.

Closer to home, our resident Kookaburra family (see above - pic by the very talented Lachie in the Jetty Hut) kept our guests amused down at the Sand Bar bistro and The Jetty Hut.  These cheeky, and very social, Kookaburras are best known for their unmistakable call, which sounds uncannily like loud, echoing human laughter – good-natured, but rather hysterical, cackling.  

Kookaburras are carnivorous and eat lizards, snakes, insects, mice, other small birds – they’ll also try to snatch tidbits from the plates of unwary diners – though we definitely try to discourage that.

For the fisherfolk amongst us, the past month saw an astounding start to the annual Mullet run. Locals will always know best and our resident Whistling Kites have been up early to beat the fisherman.  Closer to shore another regular, our White-faced Heron, was spotted busy patrolling the shallows; standing near motionless for extended periods before deploying a swift and effective strike.    

With the blossoming bounty expected to continue, we’re expecting plenty more avian antics to amuse over the coming weeks and into May, so stay tuned. 

Our Nectar Loving Nightlife…

Hi there welcome to our April wrap up from gorgeous Fraser Island.  With the weather cooling in the sub-tropics (but most definitely not on the same scale as our friends in the southern states), many of the Eucalyptus and Paperbark trees in and around Kingfisher Bay Resort’s grounds have started flowering.

The nectar from these flowers fills the night air with a deliciously sweet aroma - attracting an array of nocturnal feeders to a flowery feast. One such species is the Grey-headed Flying Fox, which has been known to travel up to 70 kilometres of an evening in search of food plants.

As well as feeding on nectar, this species also eats fruit and pollen - making them an important means of seed dispersal and pollination for many indigenous tree species.  It's fair to say that guests on our night walks have been enthralled by their antics.

Another nectar loving nocturnal is the Sugar Glider. These cute and furry marsupials are particularly active during the autumn months, again due to the abundance of flowers on which they feed. They are also actively seeking out as much food as possible as they need to increase their body mass before winter. Due to their dainty size it can be quite difficult keeping warm in cooler weather but gliders combat this by living in colonies with up to 15 individuals living together in one tree hollow!

Recently, the Ranger team at Kingfisher Bay came across a baby Sugar Glider, which was found lying under a tree on Fraser after a stormy night (see above pic of Ranger Kelly and our little mate taken by our very own canoe-guide guru, Lachie from the Jetty Hut).  Ranger Kat, and her partner Nikko, nursed it for a day and then handed it over to some carers to supervise its re-release.  Because gliders are colony nesters, they must be released in groups with other gliders, otherwise they won’t survive.  The hard-working and dedicated team of wildlife carers, that the resort collaborates with, hold on to Sugar Gliders until they have at least six to release together – so we’re confident our furry friend is happy and healthy with his new family.

The Eucalypt woodland that fringes the resort is also home to many small nocturnal animals – and we often spot them on our guided night walks. Grassland Melomys and Bandicoots, both sighted on numerous occasions during our night walks, make their homes amongst the understorey vegetation including one of the island’s most ‘eye catching’ plants - the Fox Tail Sedge – so named because its bushy foliage that looks like a fox’s tail – albeit a green on. These vibrant green plants and their fluffy ‘tail-like’ foliage provide our furry friends with cover and protection from their predators during the day.

If you’re headed our way, we’d love to see you on one of our fantastic guided walks – they’re all jam packed with information on Fraser Island’s fabulous flora and the animals that rely on them.

Until next time, hooroo tree huggers!

Change of Species; Change of Season: Goodbye Curlews And Welcome Woodswallows…

Last month the bird watching in and around Fraser Island’s western side was wonderful - with dozens of species being recorded by our Kingfisher Bay Resort ranger team and our guests on our morning guided walks.

As autumn began, we’ve started to experience some changes in the types of birds spotted around the resort.

In March, many Eastern Curlews (see above left) start their long journey back to their breeding grounds in the northern hemisphere. These impressive waders will not grace Fraser Island’s shores again until August, when they make their triumphant return.

As one bird flies the coop, so to speak, another species takes their place… and we’ve spotted White Breasted Woodswallows, which have been migrating up our way, from the southern parts of their range, to experience a milder winter. Dozens of these handsome birds can be seen on autumn and winter mornings perched along tree branches basking together in the warm morning sun.

While migratory birds provide us with seasonal variation, so too do our precious resident species through their feeding and breeding cycles. Red-backed Fairy-wrens were spied nesting amongst a Midyim thicket (an Australian bush tucker plant that produces small, white flower and blue-grey spotted fruit which ripen about now) right next to the resort’s main pool! The vibrant male showed no qualms parading his mating plumage, while the demure female stayed well hidden along with the pair’s well concealed nest.

March saw our resident Rainbow Lorikeets congregating in the freshly flowering Eucalyptus Robusta that fringe our Wallum wetlands. Flocks of these highly decorated and rambunctious parrots are often accompanied by a few of their green headed relatives, the Scaly-breasted Lorikeets.   Next time a flock of screeching ‘Lories’ flies over, keep your eyes peeled for the odd ones out!

Until next month, keep on Twitchin’!

Autumn Marches Onto Fraser Island

The start of autumn is a magical time of year here on Fraser Island. This change of season, in particular, is one of the most noticeable for us as the southerly breezes roll in and whisks some traces of summer away. Lucky for us – autumn is fabulous on Fraser Island with gorgeous sunshine-filled days.

During the wetter summer months the influx of fresh water flowing out of the Mary River system into the Great Sandy Strait (a double-ended sand estuary that borders the Hervey Bay mainland and Fraser Island’s western shore) encourages a change in the types of marine life in the waters alongside our jetty.

The Great Sandy Strait itself consists of intertidal sand and mud flats; extended seagrass beds – which provide food for the local dugong population; mangrove forests; salt flats and saltmarshes as well as coastal wallum swamps and freshwater Melaleuca wetlands.

Patterned fens (networks of peat that are devoid of trees) have been recorded in the Great Sandy Strait – these are rare in Australia and have not been recorded in subtropical regions of the world.

Our Great Sandy Strait watery wonderland is an exceptionally important feeding ground with in excess of 20,000 migratory shorebirds, 17 species of shorebirds, waterfowl and other seabirds along with dolphins, sea turtles, crustaceans and oysters enjoying this habitat.

Last month, Banana prawns could be seen jumping about in the clear waters under the jetty with their tails fanned and legs flailing. They’re easy to spot as their large eyes reflect red in our spotlight’s beam.

The nights are gloriously clear in autumn and perfect for gazing at the amazing night sky above Fraser – which adds a fabulous element to our Ranger-guided night walks. As the Southern Cross follows its track through our skies - at this time of year it is perfectly positioned above the resort when looking backwards from our jetty.

The constellations actually have different meanings for different people. Close to the Southern Cross is a dark cloud of interstellar dust, called the Coalsack by astronomers. To many Aboriginal tribes it represents the head of the emu in the sky. The emu's body stretches down to the left dominating the southern Milky Way.

The onset of autumn also marks the beginning of dingo mating season. During this time dingoes tend to be more active as they search for mates. It also means that they tend to howl more at night.

This March we were lucky enough to hear distant howling as we stood on the Jetty during one night walk; the beautifully eerie sound reminding us of the evolutionary link that these special canines share with wolves. As we approach Easter, we take this opportunity to remind all guests to not feed native animals on Fraser Island and to please be dingo safe when in the Great Sandy National park. http://www.derm.qld.gov.au/parks/fraser/dingo-safe.html

Until next month, hooroo from the team here at Kingfisher Bay!

A February Chorus Line - Fraser Island style

The end of our summer wet season has given Fraser Island a refreshing new lease of life… amphibian life that is!

Throughout the Wallum heath and Paperbark forest – just a stone’s throw from Kingfisher Bay Resort’s Centre Complex - our charismatic amphibians filled the air with a chorus of calls.

Each night, guests and Rangers alike listened intently for the sounds of the Wallum Rocketfrog with its fast ‘quacking’ or ‘yapping’, the Striped Rocketfrog’s intermittent ‘chirping’, the shy Cooloola Sedgefrog with its ‘reek… pip pip’ and the Wallum Sedgefrog’s ‘creek… crick’.

Occasionally, Green Tree frogs (picture courtesy of Grant Webster's photostream on Flickr) would also join in the Fraser Island choir.

Did you know that frogs are the only Amphibian native to Australia. Toads are frogs, but there are no true toads native to Australia! Cane Toads – including the ones found on Fraser Island - are actually introduced pests.

One February night, as we strolled through the Wallum with our guests in tow, a rustling in the undergrowth caught our attention. What could it be? As we waited and watched in silence the creature started to emerge… it was a Bandicoot!

These endearing nocturnal marsupials spend their nights digging for insects and plant roots under the sand. They also have one of the shortest gestation periods of any mammal in the world – it’s only twelve days from conception to birth! After birth, the joey climbs through the mother’s fur into the pouch where it feeds on milk until it’s developed enough to emerge.

The waters of Great Sandy Strait, on the lee side of Fraser Island, were alive with all manner of creatures over the past month – and all clearly visible - whether sailing on the Shayla Cruise, paddling on a Jetty Hut canoe, or up close on one of our Ranger Guided night walks.

Over the past month we’re spotted Blue Spotted Rays, Logger Head Turtles, Barramundi, Squid, Mud Crabs and Solider Crabs to name a few. For guests headed our way, the Jetty is a great spot to see our marine life in full glory – as is the journey from River Heads to Kingfisher Bay Resort - so keep your eyes peeled.

The Milky Way, containing over 200 billion stars, provided an impressive back drop as we searched the tree tops for Sugar Gliders, Tawny Frogmouths and the many Microbats that frequent the island.

We look forward to seeing what March brings and to showing you all that's wild and wonderful on gorgeous Fraser Island.