Bird Survey 2003

27 March - Fig Tree Pocket by Rod Brown

On a fine sunny autumn morning, the twelve participants were rewarded by seeing 62 species. The excursion commenced at the Fig Tree Pocket boat ramp on the Brisbane River and headed north-west to an area of swamp land. We then crossed paddocks at the Queensland Equestrian Centre that contained scrub filled gullies and emerged on the river bank at Seventeen Mile Rocks. The group then walked southward along the river, arriving back at the boat ramp three hours later. The drought breaking rains during February and March had produced rapid vegetation growth and an explosion of insect life, however the prolonged drought had impacted on the number of small bush birds. In the swamp, an Australasian Grebe was swimming with its two young, and a pair of Wood Ducks was accompanied by nine ducklings. A family of about 15 ducklings and a pair of adult Wood Ducks were grazing in the horse paddock.

The species recorded: Brown Quail, Australian Wood Duck, Pacific Black Duck, Hardhead, Australasian Grebe, Darter, Pied Cormorant, Little Black Cormorant, Intermediate Egret, Cattle Egret, Striated Heron, Straw-necked Ibis, Purple Swamphen, Dusky Moorhen, Eurasian Coot, Masked Lapwing, Rock Dove, Spotted Turtle-Dove, Crested Pigeon, Bar-shouldered Dove, Galah, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Rainbow Lorikeet, Scaly-breasted Lorikeet, Australian King Parrot, Pale-headed Rosella, Common Koel (H), Pheasant Coucal, Sacred Kingfisher, Laughing Kookaburra, Superb Fairy-wren, Variegated Fairy-wren, Red-backed Fairy-wren, Spotted Pardalote (H), Striated Pardalote, White-browed Scrubwren, Mangrove Gerygone, White-throated Gerygone (H), Blue-faced Honeyeater, Noisy Miner, Lewin's Honeyeater, Brown Honeyeater, Eastern Yellow Robin (H), Eastern Whipbird (H), Golden Whistler, Grey Shrike-thrush (H), Magpie-lark, Rufous Fantail, Willy Wagtail, Spangled Drongo, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, Figbird, Grey Butcherbird, Pied Butcherbird, Australian Magpie, Pied Currawong, Torresian Crow, Double-barred Finch, Welcome Swallow, Silvereye, Common Starling, Common Myna. 

 

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