Lamington National Park Day One

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Day 9 – Trip to Lamington and Day One – 15th of June

The morning started with a surprise new bird just ten minutes before we were about to leave the hotel room, a Blue-faced Honeyeater flew up and landed on our balcony before flying away again a couple of seconds later. An excellent start. The new transport that we had arranged to get us to Lamington National Park would pick us up from outside the hotel so we waited there, starting 15 minutes early just to be sure we would get it. About ten minutes after it was due to arrive but still hadn’t, we gave the coach company a call and they said that it would be coming but it was running late due to traffic. 45 minutes late, it arrived, and a very nice car it was too - a very new and fancy 4x4, and I enjoyed the drive sitting in the front which gave a very nice vantage point to look for birds. There were many Masked Lapwings in gardens and fields by the side of the road and I saw several Spangled Drongos on lamp posts. We also passed a field with a huge number of Magpie Geese in it which made me wonder whether a small group I had seen on the main lake in Currumbin Wildlife Sanctuary may have been wild. There were also loads of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos flying around and many other birds too though, they couldn’t be identified as we drove past. I also really enjoyed the scenery as that went by, leaving the Gold Coast suburbs and driving into the bush. We also drove through a military area which was interesting, though there was no live shooting that day. We soon started to drive up into the mountains on a winding, narrow road which was rather fun with really nice views as we went too. Our driver also told us about the history of the area we were driving through and I was able to identify both Eastern Yellow Robins and Red-browed finches from the car. Not species I had any difficulty seeing in the national park, but nice to see.

We soon arrived in Lamington National Park, specifically O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat which was the accommodation that we stayed at and is in the rainforest section of the national park known as the Green Mountains. As we drove in it was drizzling but this soon cleared to a very nice day. We had booked the cheapest room there with a money saving deal, which was still the most expensive accommodation of the whole trip but the room was very nice with a view over the mountains. We checked in and went to our room and I stood on the balcony and looked out. The first thing I saw was a White-headed Pigeon perched on a railing a few metres away. I was a little overwhelmed with the stuff around me though because a tree a little further away was filled with King Parrots and Crimson Rosellas, and in the bush right below the window was an Eastern Spinebill. Both parrots were ridiculously common on guesthouse grounds and I saw several spinebills here and there, but this was the only time in my three days that I saw the White-headed Pigeon! How lucky was that?


After a quick unpack and a snack lunch we were ready for our first afternoon in Lamington National Park. We had a look at the activity list of things we could do. There was a very early morning bird walk every morning which we decided to do all three mornings we were there, we also saw that there were two displays featuring captive animals, Wildlife Encounters (with a picture of some people looking at a Quoll) and a Bird of Prey Display. We had already missed the Wildlife Encounters for that day and were doing full day birding the next two days so we couldn’t go to that, but the Bird of Prey Display was only an hour from then so we decided to go to that. First though we had a look around the guesthouse grounds and very nearby forest. On one of their large pines I spotted a male Regent Bowerbird sitting prominently, though it flew off too quickly to get a picture, and also around were many Lewin’s Honeyeaters with their prominent ‘machine gun’ calls. There were also loads of Brush Turkeys wandering around and we also looked at a little area set aside as a bird feeding area where seed was available to feed the King Parrots and Crimson Rosellas. Before we could feed the birds ourselves, it was time for the Bird of Prey show so we went down to watch it.

There were only half a dozen people at the show so it was a more personalised experience than in most zoo bird shows and the person doing the show was very passionate about everything he said. The show had the following species: Barn Owl, Barking Owl, Black Kite, Brown Falcon, and Wedge-tailed Eagle and lasted for around 40 minutes.

After the show we decided to feed the wild birds in the designated bird feeding area. Although not really a good idea to feed wild birds, O’Reilly’s had a permit from the National Park, they also only allowed the feeding in one specific area of the guesthouse, and only with their seed that is sterilised to prevent germination and appropriate to be fed to birds. Most of the birds were King Parrots which were not shy to land on shoulders, heads, and hands to grab seeds as well as several Crimson Rosellas which were not scared of people but were a bit scared of the King Parrots.

Also on the floor beneath the bird feeding area were several brush turkeys and a flock of Red-browed Finchespicking up spilt seed.


After feeding the birds we went for an afternoon walk. We started by doing the short boardwalk that is located near to the guesthouse and just goes through some nearby bits of rainforest. The forest itself is really cool with vines and epiphytes and all that sort of cool rainforest-y vegetation stuff. There were also many birds to be seen, the first were many Eastern Yellow Robins perching on the sides of tree trunks and vines looking down. They were such cool birds, and everywhere in the forest, though their lack of staying still and the very dark environment of the rainforest made getting sharp pictures impossible (for me). The next bird we saw was even more amazing. I thought they were some sort of little mammal at first running around and foraging in the leaf litter, but they turned out to be Logrunners. Through drab looking at first, on closer inspection with binoculars they are really pretty with a weird behaviour of kicking the leaf litter to the side rather than behind or in front. There was a pair of them, and I saw several pairs on each day of our time in Lamington. The cool birds continued with several White-browed Scrubwrens flitting about around the boardwalk but what I really wanted to see was the bird that was making the most noise in the surrounding trees, there were loads of extremely loud penetrating ‘whip crack’ sounds which were the male Eastern Whipbirds, and these were then followed by the replies of the female. I was looking up into the canopy to see them but I soon realised that was stupid of me because they were hopping about on the ground and low bushes. I had, however, been told that I would get much better views of them on the morning bird walk.

We continued down this track until we reached a tree top walk which was pretty cool. The canopy is very high and it was nice to get a slightly different perspective. There were lots of cool vines and orchids and stuff like that but no birds or other animals could be seen from here. I thought we had now seen everything that we could on this track, the most used of all the rainforest tracks and too close to O’Reilly’s so we headed back. On the way though I saw the first mammal of Lamington National Park, a Red-necked Pademelon in the undergrowth. A very cute little thing. When we got back we decided to ask the bird guides about what routes are recommended. Next to the lobby of O’Reilly’s Rainforest retreat is a room with a mini museum with some skulls and butterflies and things like that as well as a live Carpet Python and Blue-tongue Skink but the important thing here is that this is the office for the bird/wildlife guides that are employed by O’Reilly’s and were very useful in helping me find stuff, I believe there are three permanent guides as well as one other person who is there on certain days. After speaking to them a bit, I decided to try the ‘Python Rock’ track. Partly because the name sounds cool, but mostly because of the possible birds that I could see. We walked down to the start of the track past the rest of the guesthouse grounds and the campsite. We also stopped at the national parks office on the way down which was unmanned, but there were several maps that we picked up of the trails. Just after the start of the track I saw several different birds in the understory in some dense shrubbery. It took a long time to get views of them, but they turned out to be one Golden Whistler, and several of each of Large-billed Scrubwrens, Brown Gerygones, and Brown Thornbills. Also while I was looking at those a fourth species turned up and joined the group of birds, at least one White-throated Treecreeper though the forest was too dense to see if there were more. We continued along the track for a while hearing loads of whipbirds and seeing Eastern Yellow Robins and White-browed Scrubwrens as well as lots of little brown jobbies that I didn’t manage to see properly to identify. The canopy was really high up so it was difficult to see what was up there but in one tree I managed to spot something largish moving about. After a while staring straight up and rather hurting my neck, the bird came sufficiently into view to be identified as a Green Catbird which I was rather pleased about since it was one of my target species there. We also passed a small group being taken on a tour by one of the bird guides (getting advice from them is free, and there is also a free morning birdwalk, however other guided walks have to be paid for which we decided wasn’t worth the money) who said they had heard lots of lyrebirds further up the track but they didn’t spot any. He also did an imitation and description of the call so I knew what I was listening out for. A little later I spotted a pair of Logrunners moving swiftly through the undergrowth and soon I heard the call of the lyrebirds, I think there were at least three coming from different directions, but one was much closer. I waited a while to see if I could spot anything and I saw something moving around in the undergrowth probably about fifty metres away through dense vegetation. Through the binoculars I managed to get enough of a view to count it as a sighting but not really as good as I had hoped. Soon after that sighting we had to turn back though, not quite making it to the end of the track (and a lookout), because we wanted to be back before dark. There were no new birds as we walked back through the forest, though one new mammal – a Red-legged Pademelon which unlike the Red-necked that were all over the open grassy areas, were more retiring and stayed in the dense forest.

After finishing the trail with a little time before sunset, we stopped at the campsite on the way back to the room to have a look. There were loads of Red-necked Pademelons with some young ones grazing on the grass which weren’t too shy
and there were also several yellow robins sitting on posts. Also around the campsite’s toilet was a Russet-tailed Thrush which obligingly sat around long enough for me to identify it and separate it from the Bassian Thrush that also occurs in the area.

After dinner and a short rest in the room, we went out spotlighting. We started by going down the boardwalk a bit and looking in the treetop walk that we had been to during the day, but there was nothing around at all apart from spider eyeshine. A little disappointed we headed back down the boardwalk and did find something on the ground by the boardwalk, a Long-nosed Bandicoot foraging not too far away. Once we got back after the boardwalk I didn’t want to give up yet so went down along the road looking into the trees on the sides hoping the more open area would be better. As well as loads of Red-necked Pademelons on the lawns, there were many Common Ringtail Possums in the trees and even running along the ground. These were very cool looking with a nice golden colour and a white-tipped tail.

We also saw and actually heard a bat flying over, and I was told that the only bat possible in Lamington that is audible is a White-striped Freetail Bat. So we had a successful night walk in the end, and a very successful first day in Lamington National Park!

New birds seen:
Blue-faced Honeyeater
Magpie Goose
Spangled Drongo
Red-browed Finch
Eastern Yellow Robin
White-headed Pigeon
King Parrot
Crimson Rosella
Eastern Spinebill
Regent Bowerbird
Logrunner
Eastern Whipbird
White-browed Scrubwren
Brown Thornbill
Large-billed Scrubwren
Brown Gerygone
White-throated Treecreeper
Green Catbird
Albert's Lyrebird
Russet-tailed Thrush

New mammals seen:
Red-necked Pademelon
Red-legged Pademelon
Common Ringtail Possum
Long-nosed Bandicoot
White-striped Freetail Bat

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