Day 5: 31st July 2025 - Gold Coast
Today was our only full day at the Gold Coast, and during the morning we visited the Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary. Most of the animals there were captive, but I did some some wild birds including Rainbow Lorikeets, Eurasian Coots, Pied Currawongs and Black Kites.
Eurasian Coot
Pied Currawong
Black Kite
There were more birds seen by the lake, including Australian Ibises, Pied Butcherbirds and Dusky Moorhens, Magpie Geese, Plumed Egret and Pelicans.
Australian Ibises
Dusky Moorhen
Magpie Goose
Plumed Egret
Australian Pelican
I also had an interesting find of a pair of Maned Ducks with four ducklings, they were following the female around, and when I approached they went very defensive. I also saw a few Gray Teal resting on the other side of the lake.
Maned Ducks - ducklings with female
Gray Teal
Currumbin is also famous for it's animal rescue centre, and the rescue centre there is famous for being the world's best! We were able to see how they treated their animals through a glass, and while me and my family were there we watched them use anesthetic on a Kookaburra and give it injections.
Vet giving anesthetic gas to Kookaburra
For the afternoon, while my mom and sister stayed at Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary to do their Tree Top Challenge, me and my dad headed over to the nearby Schuster Park to try and locate a pair of Barking Owls there. The first bird which I saw once we got there included Pied Butcherbirds, Noisy Miners, Australian Brushturkey and Rufous Whistlers.
Pied Butcherbird
Noisy Miner
Australian Brushturkey
Rufous Whistler
I had no idea where the other owls were in the park, and so I decided to ask some of the locals there if they knew where they were. After some asking around, I found out the owls were near the playground and the undercover area with some benches. Me and my dad looked around for a while, but I only found a sleeping Koala.
Koala - asleep
In terms of birds, while looking for the owls I found a few Little Black Cormorants, Scaly Breasted Lorikeets, Great Egret, Blue Faced Honeyeaters and Gray Fantails.
Little Black Cormorant
Great Egret
We were on the verge of giving up, since we had looked for this owl for two hours already. Me and my dad decided 15 more minutes, then we would leave. At this point, I had already given up hope - until I heard the distinctive "hu-woof-woof" call of the Barking Owl. I rushed over to the spot where they were calling, but they were hiding deep in the woods. After a burst of playback, I spotted two brown raptors flying right at me! Me and my dad had amazing views of the pair for the next 20 minutes, before they flew back into the woods.
Barking Owl
We picked up my mom and sister who had just left Currumbin, and we headed for dinner. After dinner, we prepared for an early start the next day.
Day 6: 1st August 2025 - Gold Coast to Lamington National Park
Me and my family woke early to pack up and prepare for the hour and a half drive to O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat in Lamington National Park. Just before we left, I headed down to the beach to see what I could find. I only found a few Tree Martins.
After breakfast, we started our hour and a half drive towards Lamington National Park. The drive itself was pretty uneventful, I did pass a field full of Magpie Geese and Ibises.
Field full of Magpie Geese and Ibises
Before we arrived at O'Reilly's, we stopped over at O'Reilly's Canungra Valley Vineyards next to Canungra Creek. I saw a few birds on the lawns, including Pacific Black Ducks, Magpie Larks and a few Galahs feeding on some cages which held some sheep.
Pacific Black Duck and Magpie Lark
I spotted a few small birds flying from the trees and into a slanted, muddy bank. After a quick look, it turned out that they were Striated Pardalotes, and they were building a nest in the muddy bank there they dig a hole as a nest. I only got photos of the male.
Striated Pardalote - male
Along the Canungra River, I spotted a Willie Wagtail and a Australian Grebe.
Willie Wagtail
Australian Grebe
We left the vineyards, and we drove the rest of the way up to O Reilly’s. The road twisted and curved left and right making me feel dizzy. Before we arrived, I spotted a Red Necked Wallaby on the side of the road.
Red Necked Wallaby
When we arrived to O’Reilly’s I saw a few Lewis’s Honeyeaters and a Gray Shrikethrush by the entrance cabin. Before we headed to our villa, we headed over to the parrot feeding area, where I spotted birds like Crimson Rosellas and Australian King Parrots.
Lewin's Honeyeater
Crimson Rosella
Australian King Parrot
When we arrived at our villa, we left our luggages in the room and had a quick lunch. I noticed a few small birds flitting around outside out balcony, turns out they were a few Golden Whistlers.
Golden Whistler - male feeding on stick insect
Since it was almost 3PM, we decided to walk the Tree Top Walk, a short 30 minute loop which offers a good view of the forest canopy. The birds on the boardwalk was very confiding, and they often approached within arm's length. Eastern Whipbirds, which usually don't show themselves were jumping out from the trees, there were adults and juveniles all around.
Eastern Whipbird - adult and immature
I noticed a few other smaller birds, including White browed Scrubwrens, Yellow throated Scrubwrens and a pair of Australian Logrunners.
White Browed Scrubwren
Australian Logrunner - female
The rest of the trail was pretty uneventful, and we decided to walk the lawns of the main cabin area, where I saw some birds including Red-browed Firetails, Superb Fairywrens, Eastern Yellow Robins and a few more Gray Shrikethrushes.
Red Browed Firetail
Superb Fairywren - male and female
Eastern Yellow Robin
Gray Shrikethrush
Once it started to get dark, we had an early dinner, because we had joined a Glow-worm tour which started at 6:30PM. Our guide was Rahula, and he gave us red lights so that we could see where we were walking. After a brief bus ride and a half and hour walk, we arrived at the location where we could see glow worms, and I saw many small lights glowing from the other side of the river. The species of glow worm found in Lamington National Park is the Arachnocampa flava.
Arachnocampa flava - little specks of light if you look closely
They weave webs like spiders, and then glow a soft, yellow light to attract insects to the trap. They live near streams since one of their main insects which make up their diet are mayflies. I also learnt from Rahula that the more hunger the glow worms are, the brighter the light will be in order to attract more insects. Lucky for us, we only had a few glow worms with a bright light was seen. On the way out, there were already a few burrowing spiders, I was able to find one which legs was in view but was still covered partially by the burrow.
Spider inside burrow
A few Red-necked Palemelons were seen on the field, but I only got a blurry shot.
Red-necked Pademelon
We went to bed early since we had a big day the next day, with a full day birding.
Day 7: 2nd August 2025 - Lamington National Park
We woke up early, since we wanted to get to the Early Morning Bird Walk to see some bowerbirds. Once we got to the feeders, there was already a large group of people waiting for the feeding to start, and I saw many Regent Bowerbirds and Satin Bowerbirds. Rahula soon came, and many bowerbirds hopped onto his hand and started feeding on the food!
Regent Bowerbird - male
Satin Bowerbird - male
Satin Bowerbird - immature male or female
Regent Bowerbird - feeding from Rahula’s hand
We walked into the boardwalk, where I spotted more common birds, including Eastern Whipbirds and even an Albert’s Lyrebird!
Eastern Whipbird
Albert's Lyrebird
Me and my dad headed off to eat a quick breakfast, since we had a full day tour with Rahula to try and find the Rufous Scrub-bird. We met up with him at 8AM, and we started walking the Border Track. On our way the the area where the Scrub-birds occur, we only found a few Brown Cuckoo Doves and Large Billed Scrubwren.
Brown Cuckoo Dove
Large Billed Scrubwren
We arrived at the Antarctic Beech trees where the Scrub-birds inhabit after around 2 and a half hours of hiking. Me and my dad waited out in front, while Rahula continued to try and look for the Scrub-bird. After a few minutes, I saw Rahula coming at a brisk pace, and he told us that he had heard the Scrub-bird!
Antarctic Beech Trees
We headed over to where Rahula heard the bird, and few a few seconds I heard the distinctive call of the high pitched cheep of the Scrub-bird. We waited for more than 40 minutes, but it did not call any more. On our way back, we heard many lyrebirds calling, but before we could get halfway back, the sky got dark, and it started hailing! Luckily it did not last long, and it soon cleared up.
Hail
Near O’Reilly’s we saw more birds including Lewis’s Honeyeaters, Australian Logrunners and Russet Tailed Thrush.
Lewin's Honeyeater
Australian Logrunner - male
Russet Tailed Thrush
Before we said farewell to Rahula, he showed us a Satin Bowerbird bower, it was in a slightly secluded area, with vines covering the bower. The bower was made with sticks, with blue plastic like bottle caps or some wrapping on the forest floor in front of the bower. We soon spotted the owner of the bower, and he hopped in front of us as if saying hi before flying back into the bushes. We said thanks to Rahula and headed back to our villa.
Satin Bowerbird - bower
Satin Bowerbird - male
Once we arrived at our villa, I cut up some apples and waited for some birds to fly in, and sure enough, I found lots of Regent Bowerbirds and a few Lewin’s Honeyeaters.
Regent Bowerbird - immature male
Regent Bowerbird - adult male
Lewin's Honeyeater
It soon got dark, and we decided to head over to the restaurant for dinner. The restaurant had placed out cut-up apples, and we saw a Long-nosed Bandicoot and Short-eared Brush Tailed Bandicoot.
Long-nosed Bandicoot
Short-eared Brush Tailed Bandicoot
Me and my dad were very exhausted, and so we had we slept early and prepared for travelling tomorrow.
Day 8: 3rd August 2025 - Lamington National Park to Gold Coast
We woke up early once again, as I wanted to do some birding before heading towards the Gold Coast. Before we left the villa, we put out some apples, which attracted Pied Currawongs, Satin Bowerbirds and Regent Bowerbirds.
Pied Currawong
Satin Bowerbird - male
Satin Bowerbird - female
Regent Bowerbird - male
Regent Bowerbird - immature male
Before we headed for breakfast, I decided to briefly walk the first 100 meters of Border Track, to try and look for Riflebirds which we had missed yesterday and try and get a photo of Catbirds which we had only spotted yesterday. We started to walk the track, but we only got a pair of Willie Wagtails and an Albert’s Lyrebird.
Willie Wagtail
Albert's Lyrebird - deep inside bush
Near the opening with a few large trees, I noticed some bird movement above, and soon spotted a few common Gerygones and Thornbills. I did not have time to photograph this, as soon I spotted a largish bird hopping from branch to branch, and it turned out to be a Green Catbird.
Green Catbird
Suddenly, I noticed a bowerbird-sized bird hopping from branch to branch, and when I looked at it through my binoculars, I shouted "Riflebird!" I scrambled to get photos, but I suddenly lost the bird! I soon views of a female Paradise Riflebird pecking on an oak tree! Me and my dad observed the bird for the next few minutes, before it flew into the trees and dissapeared from view. We quickly headed to breakfast, since we had to leave O'Reilly's and head to the Gold Coast.
Paradise Riflebird - female
We drove the hour and a half long drive to Sea World in the Gold Coast, where we would spend the rest of the day. While we played some rides, I did not see much birds, only a few common ones, including Rock Pigeon, Pied Butcherbird, Blue Faced Honeyeater, Silver Gulls and Common Mynas.
Rock Pigeon
Pied Butcherbird
Blue Faced Honeyeater
Silver Gull
Common Myna
On mamy of the waterways, there were a few waterbirds around, including Australian Pelicans and Little Black Cormorant. I also added my lifer Pied Oystercatcher, which was the only encounter of the trip.
Australian Pelican
Little Black Cormorant
Pied Oystercatcher
It was dark by the time we left Sea World, it was nearly dark, and we checked into Sea World. Resort. I decided to take a stroll behind the hotel's grounds, and I saw a few Ibises, Brushturkeys, Black Swans and a Great Crested Tern.
Australian Ibis
Australian Brushturkey
Black Swan
Great Crested Tern
After dinner, we headed to bed and packed a bit, since we would be heading back to Hong Kong the next day.
Day 8: 4th August 2025 - Gold Coast to Hong Kong
Before the rest of my family woke up, I decided to do some birding before we headed to Brisbane Airport. I found on Ebird that there was a hotpspot named "The Spit- Federation Walk", and it seemed to have quite a few birds, and it was right across the road from Sea World Resort. As I started walked on the track, I saw common birds such as Crested Pigeon, Australian Brushturkeys, Willie Wagtail and a few Rainbow Lorikeets.
Crested Pigeon
Australian Brushturkey
Willie Wagtail
Rainbow Lorikeet
Brown Honeyeaters kept calling everywhere along the track, but they were very shy, I only managed one shot of a distant one perched up on a branch. I saw a few birds feeding along the footpath, and they turned out to a be few Bar shouldered Doves.
Brown Honeyeater
Bar Shouldered Dove
Just before I turned back to go to my hotel, I flushed a few small birds feeding on the track. They turned out to be Double Barred Finches, and I had good views of it for the next few minutes before the flushed.
Double Barred Finch
As I walked back, I picked a few more new birds, including Spotted Doves and a pair of Brown Quails crossing the road right in front of me!
Spotted Dove
Brown Quail - male
Right before the crossing the road back to my hotel, I went to check out a path by the beach, where I added a Sacred Kingfisher!
Sacred Kingfisher
That was the last of the birding, and after breakfast we drove towards Brisbane Airport, where we returned our car and caught the flight back to Hong Kong at 1PM.
Brisbane from the air
All in all, I think that our trip to Brisbane and the Gold Coast was quite successful, with me getting 136 species in total (seen or heard), with myself getting 51 lifers! I consider myself very lucky, since I was able to get most of my target species, even within a limited time frame. For other birders visiting, you can consider going to the nearby Sunshine Coast, where you can find a few species of Buttonquails endemic to the area.
Thanks a lot to Rahula for guiding me and my dad for the full day birding. He was very knowledgeable, and I learned many new things which I didn't know and wouldn't have know without him. Thanks to my parents for planning the trip.
To learn more about my trip, you can check out my Ebird Trip Report: https://ebird.org/tripreport/398630/557057
No comments:
Post a Comment