Hawks Nest September 2014 - Part 3, 24th September: Quolls, Pythons and Pigeons

This post details my first encounter (and I dearly hope not my last!) with a Spotted-tailed Quoll, along with some other reptiles and birds at the Rainforest Walk in Myall Lakes National Park. It also describes the bird life found around Viney Creek Rd and more birding around Swan Bay.

24/9/14

We all headed down to the rainforest walk in Myall Lakes National Park at about 11:30am after a late start. This track runs through some littoral rainforest between Mungo Brush  and Dees Corner camping grounds (both noted on google earth), as well as swamp forest dominated by Cabbage Tree Palms. Small patches of this habitat are scattered throughout the national park along the lakeside. This particular section is known for what is described to be an isolated population of Regent Bowerbirds. This species still eludes me at this site.

We parked at the Mungo Brush Camping Ground and payed the $7 parking fee to the NPWS meter. Figbirds, Pacific Black Ducks, Lewin’s Honeyeaters, Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, Superb Fairy-wrens and Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo were all observed around the camping ground. On entering the swamp forest at the beginning of the track, we immediately flushed a pair of Topknot Pigeons which had been roosting in a fig high above us. They flew into a clump of mature Cabbage Tree Palms. These trees were fruiting, producing large black ‘palm-nuts’, which appeared to be the food source luring the pigeons to the area.

Palm fruits

A single Pied Currawong lurked above us and Golden Whistlers called loudly. A medium sized laced monitor was flushed off the ground and up a tree as we approached the NPWS shelter. At this shelter a White-headed Pigeon was found roosting low down. More Topknots flew over, and throughout the walk, we must have encountered at least 60 of these pigeons, either flushed from the trees as we walked by, or flying overhead.

Laced Monitor

We took the left/straight track, which eventually loops around and joins the main track at the shelter. Proceeding about 20m up this track, a Land Mullet wandered past us in the undergrowth, skilfully avoiding my camera, and Golden Whistlers, Grey Fantails, Large-billed Scrubwrens, Brown Gerygones and Eastern Yellow Robins were observed. This is the start of the littoral rainforest habitat. As we started the small climb, marked by man-made steps and numerous fallen palm fronds, more topknots flushed from around us. Mum pointed out a small stocky bird sitting atop a moss-covered rock, which with some excitement was identified as a female Logrunner. This is the first time I have observed a logrunner in the Myall Lakes region, so I was quite stoked. A Yellow-throated Scrubwren also accompanied the lone Logrunner as it jumped about stirring up the leaf litter.

Mum in the rainforest

Female logrunner

We encountered Eastern Whipbirds, Variegated Fairy-wrens, more Golden Whistlers and Topknots all the way along the track until it opened out at an intersection. Here we were given a choice of a dry or wet weather track. We have walked both before, and the dry weather track is almost always more rewarding, although the wet weather track does stick closer to the littoral forest. We chose the dry weather track and were rewarded by the almost immediate flushing of around a dozen topknots from right over our heads. Little else was seen until we took the right hand turn near Dees Corner Camping Ground, to continue the loop. After crossing a group of large puddles (gee I was glad I was wearing my waterproof boots!), we found the first Brown Cuckoo-dove for the trip. It first attempted to hide from us, moving behind some palm fronds, but it eventually gave up and went back to feeding on some figs. After prolonged views, we continued our walk.

Brown Cuckoo-dove

Brown Cuckoo-dove 2

Another 20m along the track, we stopped to watch a Brush Turkey drink and then slowly wander off the trail. Slightly further along, I noticed another Brown Cuckoo-dove roosting on a palm frond. The sound of palm-nuts falling near to it was too much to be just the wind, so after a quick squiz through the bins I picked out a feeding Topknot Pigeon hungrily tugging at a clump of fruit.

Spot both pigeon species!

Eventually, we ended up back at the shelter. Mum and dad were keen to head back to the car, but they let me have another 15 minutes in the rainforest. I headed off back towards where the logrunner had been seen, so see if I could relocate it and perhaps find a noisy pitta – a species which is intermittently reported here. Well that was the plan. Some loud crunching and regular bashing of the leaf litter and palm fronds caught my attention. After a quick bush bash towards the sound, I could see a small rounded thing, moving about near the base of a Cabbage Tree Palm. My first impression was that it was an echidna, however, after raising my bins and having a proper look, I took a step back and a short string of expletives may or may not have been uttered. It was furry…. brown…. and spotty! As I watched, it raised its head and looked at me, before returning to its business. A SPOTTED-TAILED QUOLL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! By the time I’d gotten over the shock of what it was, I realised that not only had I happened across the incredibly rare event of getting a view of this species active in the day, but that it was also hunting. This process involved ramming whatever its prey was under the tree, backing up about 20cm and ramming again. Eventually after a short tussle and quite a few rams, is snatched whatever it had caught, which I was unable to identify, and ran over the fallen fronds and leaves to a small, densely covered shady area. As I approached, it climbed a short way up a tree, where I took a few photographs of it. It then climbed a little further and hunkered down behind a big cabbage tree palm frond and a staghorn, on a low, solid branch. I then quickly called my parents, accidentally directing them to the wrong spot, but eventually they joined me and we approached. It remained on the branch for the whole time we were there, providing some stunning, although slightly obstructed views from about 4-5m away. At one point it appeared to doze off and 5 minutes later, we left, the quoll still dozing on its branch. Needless to say, I didn’t follow up on the optimistic pitta hunt, my quota of rarities filled for the day. What a fantastic walk!

Quoll!!!

Scaling the tree

Snooze time!

Dad dropped mum and I back home, and I quickly blew the quoll images up on the laptop. After about 15 minutes, dad returned, announcing that there was a python at the end of the road. I jumped up from the sofa and was out the door in an instant. I could see a white cat where dad told me the python was, and after quickly looking through the binoculars I could make the small 1½m Diamond Python out in front of the cat, head back in a defensive position. The cat had a few goes and the python responded before I could get near enough, but I quickly scared the cat away. The python was still in its defensive position as we stood next to it, so I crouched down to its level, about 1m away and took some portraits of it. Eventually, it moved off into a dense bush in a nearby backyard.

Smile!!

Diamond scales

About one hour later, the neighbours came over and asked us if we knew anything about snakes. Our python friend had somehow made its way into their kitchen and was snooping around their sink. They had called WIRES to come and collect it, but we wanted to ensure it didn’t go under the fridge, or somewhere where it would be difficult to catch. After about 10 minutes of attempting to coax it into a black sports bag with the back of a mop, dad gave up and grabbed it, just behind the head, shoving it into the bag, closing the zip quickly afterwards. We left the bag on the neighbours’ veranda and when we returned an hour later (after having had a quick look at the dolphins under the singing bridge); WIRES had taken the python into the national park.

Pelicans at sunset

25/09/14

This morning brought a dark overcast sky and some rain. It cleared up pretty early though, but I couldn’t bring myself to get out of the house until about 11 o’clock, when mum offered to drive me up to the ridge road. This road (Viney Creek Rd) runs along an elevated ridge above Tea Gardens, before the final descent into the town if approaching from the highway. The specialities for the Hawks Nest/Tea Gardens area that can be observed here include Square-tailed Kite, Spotted Harrier and Tawny Grassbird.

Mum dropped me off just past the lookout (-32.639510, 152.144256), about 50m along the road. From here, having noticed considerable eucalypt blossom, I crossed the road and walked along the edge of the eucalypt forest that runs along the side of the road. I suspect this is private property, although it is not fenced. Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrikes, Olive-backed Orioles, Rufous Whistlers, Golden Whistlers, and Little Wattlebirds were heard and seen here. A pair of Black-faced Monarchs, a species that seems to be quite reliable here, were chasing each other through the canopy, calling ecstatically, and a number of Spotted Pardalotes foraged swiftly above my head. Two Fantailed Cuckoos were seen very well. Other birds seen around here included: Variegated Fairy-wrens, Lewin’s Honeyeaters, Grey Fantails, Eastern Spinebills, Laughing Kookaburras and Satin Bowerbirds.

Black-faced Monarch

Fan-tailed Cuckoo

Parrot Pea type

Pea-ce out

'Milkmaid's' Burchardia umbellata

Yellow-faced Honeyeater

I crossed to the other side, where a barbed wire fence ran along the side of the road. Some long grass lay on the other side of this fence, and it took only a few seconds before I heard a Tawny Grassbird call. The call quickly led me to the bird, and after a bit of mimicry, I could see at least two birds, probably three, jumping around through the grass. All along this stretch, wherever the grass is long and dense enough, these grassbirds thrive. It is the only place I have ever seen them in the Hawks Nest/Tea Gardens/Myall Lakes National Park area.

My camera refused to focus on the grassbird...

I took a small step closer to the fence, which resulted in an explosion from near my feet as a Brown Quail flushed, calling, from about 30cm away on the other side of the fence. It alighted about 10m away, called once, and disappeared. Proceeding along the road, towards the massive water tank, I encountered little else, aside from a distant Nankeen Kestrel sitting on top of a dead tree 500m away on what may well have been a nesting hollow, and an Eastern Grey Kangaroo, which jumped out onto the road, before realising I was only 20m away, and quickly disappeared into the bush from whence it came. 

Distant Kestrel

A pair of King Parrots flew across the road in front of me, followed by a troop of Eastern Rosellas, and three Pied Butcherbirds called from the wires nearby.

On the way back, we stopped by the Eastern Osprey nest on the telecom tower in Tea Gardens. One bird which I am guessing was the male, was sitting above the nest, whilst the other adult was hunkered down in the nest, its head popping up from time to time. It is reasonable to assume they were incubating eggs.

Osprey nest site

Stretch...

STREEETTTCHHHHH!

Foot stretch showing the unique talon arrangement of the osprey

As we arrived home, 50 Topknot Pigeons circled high above the house, which was quite a spectacle to see. Not long after the pigeons had disappeared heading south, a Pacific Baza flew low overhead. This is only the second time I have seen one in the area.

Small group of topknots

Baza silhouette

At about 2pm, I headed out for my last snoop around the Swan Bay track. I arrived at the regent bowerbird tree to find 12 White-headed Pigeons snoozing in the canopy. Peering further into the swampy forest, I found a beautiful juvenile pigeon, with a black back, square tail, and light grey breast and cap with a bright white cheek.

Well hidden adult White-headed Pigeon

Beautiful juvenile White-headed Pigeon

The usual suspects were all around, with the addition of a pair of Eastern Yellow Robins, and the Brown Goshawks were calling loudly again. The fact that they can be consistently found here, and are incredibly vocal, indicates to me that there is a large possibility that they are building a nest nearby.

Calling Goshawk

In the late evening, I observed the pair fly low over the house, both carrying sticks in their talons which confirmed my suspicion. I find it quite interesting that I have not seen one of the Collared Sparrowhawks that successfully raised two young only 1km away from where these Goshawks are now nest building. The Southern Boobook of Kurrawong Avenue hoots away yet again as I write this final post for my Hawks Nest trip, to be followed up... in due course... by a report of The Scrubbird Hunt, with Josh Bergmark and Nathan Ruser at Barrington Tops National Park.