Sorry for the lateness in getting this blog to you - spring is such an exciting time for birding and this October was no exception – so we’ve been away from our desks and out on Fraser Island, wandering the wallum and seashore with guests in search of new and exciting feathered friends to add to our burgeoning bird count!This month we’re pleased to report that Kingfisher Bay Resort’s resident Grey Shrike Thrushes are nesting for a second time this season. Each year we bear witness to the development of their young from just eggs; to noisy chicks constantly nagging for food; to anxious fledglings that can’t wait to explore their new surrounds; and to the adults that that become part of our Kingfisher family.
To experience this breeding cycle twice in such close succession is a real treat and we’ll keep you posted with the progress of the new families over the coming months. If you’ve visited Kingfisher, chances are you’ve seen these intelligent birds around our Centre Complex area and in the Wallum. Working in pairs, they’ve perfected the art of the ‘fly by’ to gain access to our main reception and Maheno areas – one flies past the sensor to activate the doors and the other zips inside.
In other egg-citing news, a pair of Tawny Frogmouths has also produced a chick, which we spied early one morning on our Ranger-guided Bird Walk around Kingfisher. This small fluffy ball of down was spotted testing out its wings under the watchful eye of both parents. Although these birds are nocturnal, the new addition to the family means little sleep for attentive parents.
Sound familiar?
The Wallum lakes – within a stone’s throw of the resort - sported a flurry of activity this month with Red-backed Fairy-wrens, Noisy Friarbirds, Lewin’s Honeyeaters and Bar-shouldered Doves all sighted in and around the lake banks. A new addition – a Darter - made a cameo appearance much to our delight. This graceful bird was spotted on several bird walks either wading through the tea-coloured water in search of a meal, or perched in a lakeside Paperbark - wings outstretched, drying off in the warm morning sun.
The Wallum was definitely the place to be this October with our most exciting sighting of a species never before recorded on our bird walks - a Spotless Crake (pictured above, beautiful photo courtesy of aadvark on Flickr) – and right in front of our Hervey Bay Bird Watching Group – we couldn’t have planned it better!
This pint-sized wader had bird watchers spellbound as it surreptitiously emerged from amongst the vegetation for a look around, before quickly darting back under cover. This was a rare and special sighting of this uncommon and nomadic species.
We can’t wait to see what November brings… until then this is Ranger Kat saying hooroo.
