Forest Kingfisher at Lake Broadwater

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Rod Hobson
Posts: 509
Joined: Thu Jan 19, 2006 8:03 am

Forest Kingfisher at Lake Broadwater

Post by Rod Hobson »

Folks,

Last Tuesday (August 31st.) I travelled out to Lake Broadwater Conservation Park near Dalby SEQ to establish some waterbird/wader survey and monitoring plots for some upcoming and ongoing work on these birds there. I was accompanied by local Dalby birder and friend Malcolm Wilson on the day. During the course of the morning Malcolm mentioned that he'd seen a Forest Kingfisher there on the previous weekend. I was intrigued by this very western record for this bird but didn't doubt Malcolm's identification knowing full well of his birding skills.

At around midday we were having lunch in the Lake Broadwater Natural History Association's buiding when we were very fortunate in seeing this bird 'on the very same branch' where Malcolm had originally found the animal last weekend. We spent several hours in this area after lunch during which the Forest Kingfisher was regularly seen. I was very happy with this find, as I've never seen this bird west of Toowoomba before. Malcolm, who has regularly birdwatched Lake Broadwater for many, many years said that this was only his second record of this bird for the lake.

I was also pleased to find about five or six of the carnivorous plant Drosera indica flourishing on the mud shores of the lake near to where we found the Forest Kingfisher. All of these plants were about to flower. Drosera indica is one of three sundew species known from Lake Broadwater Conservation Park. Drosera burmanni and Drosera auriculata are the others. Great little plants.

Birdlife was abundant on this day on the lake and in the surrounding bushland. This is a list of species seen this day:

Black Swan (nesting and with cygnets)
Australasian Grebe
Magpie-lark
Torresian Crow
Restless Flycatcher
Australian Pelican (x about 30)
Australian Magpie
White-breasted Woodswallow
Grass Whistling-Duck
Gull-billed Tern (x 5 including two juveniles)
Striated Pardalote (nesting in tree hollow)
Striped Honeyeater
Masked Lapwing
Great Egret
Pacific Black Duck
Grey Teal
Red-rumped Parrot
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Black-fronted Dotterel (x3)
Little Black Cormorant
Great Cormorant
Little Pied Cormorant
Red-winged Parrot
Noisy Miner
Darter
Little Corella
Laughing Kookaburra
Scaly-breasted Lorikeet (nesting)
Australian Reed Warbler
Whistling Kite (x2)
Royal Spoonbill
Willie Wagtail
Yellow-billed Spoonbill
White-faced Heron
Cockatiel
Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike
Forest Kingfisher (x 1)
Apostlebird
Black-winged Stilt
Little Egret
Sacred Kingfisher (x 1)
Weebill
Pied Currawong
Rufous Whistler
Grey Shrike-thrush
Grey Fantail
Eastern Yellow Robin
Chestnut-rumped Thornbill
Common Bronzewing
Golden Whistler
Rainbow Bee-eater
Brown Honeyeater
Galah
White-throated Gerygone (nesting)
Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
Grey Butcherbird
Yellow-faced Honeyeater
Double-barred Finch

also,

Eastern Grey Kangaroo
Spotted Monitor (Varanus panoptes)

and,

Mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki), which was abundant in the shallows, unfortunately.

Regards,
Rod Hobson
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