Australian Good Birding Guide: Southern & Central Queensland. Ted Wnorowski
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A small carpark is provided at the Kidspace Playground.
Dawnfall Creek Bikeway runs through the reserve. The site’s good facilities include picnic tables, shelters and toilets.
Over 100 species are on the reserve’s birdlist. Key species are Bush Stone-curlew, Buff-banded Rail, Long-billed Corella and Olive-backed Oriole. Other birds of interest include Pale-headed Rosella, Scaly-breasted Lorikeet, Pheasant Coucal, Scarlet Honeyeater, Dollarbird, Sacred Kingfisher, Rainbow Bee-eater and Leaden Flycatcher. Rarities here include White-headed Pigeon, Black-chinned Honeyeater, Apostlebird and Varied Triller.
A family of Bush Stone-curlews took residence under the trees along Murphy Rd in the Marchant Park. White-breasted Woodswallows can usually be spotted bunched up on the power lines along Murphy Rd and also at the intersection with Gympie Arterial Rd.
Olive-backed Orioles nest near walkway; we found one of the nests in the trees near the bridge. Their monotonous call can be heard through the reserve in summer.
Buff-banded Rails feed regularly along the Dawnfall Creek. In the waterhole, you can expect Intermediate Egret, Little Egret, Dusky Moorhen and Royal Spoonbill. In the long grass along the creek and waterhole look for Golden-headed Cisticola, Double-barred Finch, Tawny Grassbird, Variegated Fairy-wren, Red-backed Fairy-wren, White-browed Scrubwren, Pheasant Coucal and Brown Quail. Striped Honeyeater can be found in the patch of casuarinas near the waterhole.
White-browed Scrubwren
On the lawn between the trees, Pale-headed Rosella, Long-billed Corella, Little Corella and Bar-shouldered Dove may be spotted. Check the fig trees, when fruiting you may see White-headed Pigeon, Australasian Figbird and Olive-backed Oriole.
Other species recorded in this reserve include Restless Flycatcher, White-throated Honeyeater, Lewin’s Honeyeater and Eastern Whipbird.
Chermside Hills Reserves
Chermside Hills Reserves in Chermside West protect 129ha of natural bushland in the see of suburbia, 10km north of Brisbane CBD. The site consists of three parts: Chermside Hills Reserve, Raven Street Reserve and Milne Hill Reserve that links the other two. The reserves are part of the Mountains to Mangroves green corridor that extends from the D’Aguilar Ranges in the west to Boondall Wetlands in Moreton Bay. The reserves’ hills are covered by open woodland with the understory of beautiful grass trees. Dry rainforest dominates along the Downfall and Cabbage Creeks. In particular, the Chermside Hills Reserve features good stands of grass trees which are fantastic for honeyeaters when in bloom.
Access to the reserves is as follows:
Raven Street Reserve: from Rode Rd;
Chermside Hills Reserve: from Trouts Rd;
Milne Hill Reserve: from Hamilton Rd.
A carpark and picnic shed are provided in the Raven Street Reserve where also the Downfall Creek Environmental Centre is located. A good network of tracks runs through all three reserves. For further details see the Chermside Hills Reserves Track Map, downloadable here: https://www.brisbane.qld.gov.au/sites/default/files/20150220-chermside-hills-track-map.pdf.
Over 130 species have been recorded in the area. Key species are Brush Cuckoo, Australian King-Parrot, Eastern Spinebill, Golden Whistler, Olive-backed Oriole and Brown Cuckoo-Dove. Other birds of interest include Australian Brush-turkey, Spangled Drongo, White-throated Gerygone, Brown Thornbill, Variegated Fairy-wren, Southern Boobook and Pacific Baza. Among the rarities are Oriental Cuckoo, Common Cicadabird, Black-faced Monarch, Little Lorikeet, Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove and Grey-crowned Babbler.
Raven Street Reserve
Australian Brush-turkeys are everywhere, with several mounds easy to find. Good birding area is along the creek. We got there Australian King-Parrot, Golden Whistler, Dollarbird, Rufous Fantail, Little Shrike-thrush, Black-faced Monarch, Brown Thornbill and Pacific Baza. In May, when banksias are flowering, these shrubs can be teeming with honeyeaters such as Eastern Spinebill, Yellow-faced Honeyeater, Scarlet Honeyeater, White-throated Honeyeater and Blue-faced Honeyeater. Also in autumn, Rose Robins appear in the reserve to spend the winter there. In summer, the site is ringing with the calls of cuckoos. Particularly audible is Brush Cuckoo but you may also hear Shining Bronze-cuckoo, Channel-billed Cuckoo and Eastern Koel. In April 2018, Oriental Cuckoo was found in the reserve. It stayed near the bat colony.
Juvenile Brush Cuckoo
During spotlighting at night, you are nearly guaranteed to see or hear Southern Boobook. Bush Stone-curlew and Tawny Frogmouth can also be located.
Chermside Hills Reserve
The most visible and audible bird in this reserve is Grey Butcherbird. Birds commonly found in the area include Golden Whistler, Rufous Whistler, Olive-backed Oriole, Scaly-breasted Lorikeet, Pale-headed Rosella, Forest Kingfisher, Spangled Drongo, Variegated Fairy-wren, Eastern Whipbird and Peaceful Dove. During the autumn migration, flocks of Rainbow Bee-eaters appear at this site.
Bunyaville Conservation Park
Bunyaville Conservation Park is a true wildlife sanctuary in the middle of suburban spread. It is located 15km northwest of Brisbane CBD between the suburbs of Albany Creek and Everton Hills. The park protects the last well-preserved pocket of dry rainforest in Brisbane. It has been a favourite recreational destination for the locals, tourists and birders alike as is a good wildlife-spotting area.
Access to the park is off Old Northern Rd. From the CBD take Lutwyche Rd (A3), turn east to Stafford Rd (5) and then right onto South Pine Rd that becomes Old Northern Rd in Everton. The Park is well signposted from this road. Drive through the gate and go along the road until you’ll find several carparks.
Extensive picnic sites are provided, equipped with barbecues, picnic tables, shelters and toilets. A network of good walking tracks runs along shadowed gullies and past many waterholes and creeks. Five of the tracks start from the picnic grounds. Further down the road you’ll find the Bunyaville Environmental Education Centre. For further details see Bunyaville Park maps, downloadable here: https://www.npsr.qld.gov.au/parks/bunyaville/pdf/bunyaville-cp-map.pdf and https://www.npsr.qld.gov.au/parks/bunyaville/pdf/bunyaville-track-map.pdf.
Over 150 bird species have been recorded in the Bunyaville Conservation Park. Key species are Powerful Owl, Black-chinned Honeyeater, Yellow-tufted Honeyeater, Square-tailed Kite and Grey Goshawk. Other notable birds include Little Lorikeet, Scaly-breasted Lorikeet, Bell Miner, Fuscous Honeyeater, Scarlet Honeyeater, White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike, Rose Robin, Common Cicadabird, Common Bronzewing, Brown Cuckoo-Dove and Buff-banded Rail. Rarities at this site include Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater, Striped Honeyeater, Dusky Woodswallow, Forest Kingfisher and White-throated Needletail.
The star attraction of the Park is Powerful Owl which can be heard through the area at night. The owls often roost near Jinker Tk. They were also found in the trees near the Environmental Education Centre. Other nocturnal birds here include White-throated Nightjar (often calling from the southeastern corner of the park) and Southern Boobook (everywhere).
During one of our visits, in winter 2015, the site was teeming with birds. We started with Buff-banded Rail which was skulking in the lomandra clumps near the second and third carpark. Also, a large mixed flock of lorikeets was hanging out there. Rainbow, Scaly-breasted and Little Lorikeets were flying