My trip north (Part 1: The way up): 2–5 February 2025

A few weeks off work called for a road trip! This time, my destination was Mackay but with a quick detour to the Gold Coast.

My first outing was to the Coombabah Lake Conservation Park, where I did the beautiful boardwalk circuit.

There were so many kangaroos!

Plus this conked-out koala:

I also caught my first good glimpse of a Striated Pardalote:

And I loved this Lewin’s Honeyeater’s pose and the shapes its tail feathers make:

This Chestnut Teal was taking shelter under the paperbark tree:

And this was my first sighting of a Sahul Cicadabird!

There were quite a few Eastern Yellow Robins flitting around and darting across the path in front of me:

And at first I thought this must be a male Australian Rufous Fantail chasing a female, but it turned out to be a fantail and a female Rufous Whistler:

A rare shot of the Australian Rufous Whistler standing still for more than a second:

And I’m getting better at catching the White-Throated Treecreeper in its quick ascent!

I love this shot of the treecreeper hanging upside-down! They really are very cool birds.

I think this must be a juvenile Leaden Flycatcher, because its orange breast is not quite filled in yet:

And lastly for this session, I found a flock of Australian Wood Ducks in the tall grass:

Next in my Gold Coast birding was a visit to the absolutely stunning Lower Beechmont Conservation Area with Mum. We didn’t see too many birds but the walk was gorgeous.

I had read in the Birds Queensland Gold Coast guide (a fantastic resource) that there’s a spot in this area where you can see Glossy Black-Cockatoos, but we waited there for a little while without seeing anything. Just as we were moving on, three of them flew in and settled in a tree near the track!

The other exciting bird we spotted was the Pacific Emerald Dove (another lifer). It was moving surprisingly quickly though, so most of my photos are a bit blurry, and …

… a lot of them are of its butt as it walks up the hill. (If I could fly, I certainly wouldn’t be walking up hills.)

I’m also on a bit of a streak of getting photos of White-Throated Treecreepers:

My first proper stop on the trip north was Maryborough, where I stayed overnight in the van at the Maryborough Showgrounds. In the morning, I ended up wandering around the (enormous) showgrounds but wasn’t really expecting to see many birds. Well! Twist—I saw lots.

I was excited to see some more Striated Pardalotes and to get some nicer photos of these sweet little birds.

And I loved this photo of a flock of Tree Martins, with one just taking off:

The showgrounds had a lake where I saw most of the birds, including this Comb-Crested Jacana:

And I think the shots I got of this pair of Plumed Whistling-Ducks are really lovely.

I also spotted this Australasian Grebe and loved the water ripple around it.

The same morning I also stopped in at the Fay Smith Wetlands, which were a little underwhelming but still fun.

I think this is just a Spotted Dove, although it doesn’t seem to have developed any spots yet.

And I also spotted this Sacred Kingfisher. They’re so photogenic.

On my way further north I stopped briefly at Miriam Vale and was surprised to see how many bats were in the trees.

My next proper stop was in Tannum Sands, where I really enjoyed doing the circuit walk at Canoe Point.

In the lake area I spotted these turtles and a Peaceful Dove.

There were also loads of baby Dusky Moorhens. This mother with her three chicks reminded me of you, Mum:

Up at the coast section of the circuit I got some photos of this Osprey taking off from its perch with its lunch:

And then back in the picnic area I found some White-Throated Honeyeaters. I loved this one’s cheeky pose:

I was walking along the path in the picnic area when I almost ran face-first into this Blue-Winged Kookaburra, another lifer! It was very patient while I took quite a few photos.

Then right back at the start in the lake area, I found six Red-Tailed Black-Cockatoos! These are slightly different from the other black cockatoos I saw at Lower Beechmont Conservation Area. I love their speckled feathers.

Later that night, I found this Cotton Pygmy-Goose at Lake Awoonga.

The next morning I stopped at Tondoon Botanic Gardens in Gladstone, where I spontaneously walked up Mt Biondello in the rain. The only good photos I got on the whole mountain circuit were these two of some Scaly-Breasted Lorikeets, possibly excavating a nest in this tree hollow.

Back in the main gardens area, I spotted this juvenile Channel-Billed Cuckoo. They look a lot less creepy without the red eyes.

I had a late breakfast at the gardens cafe, where this Laughing Kookaburra sat in a nearby tree and squawked at me:

My last two stops for the trip north were both at Clairview, where I stayed at the BarraCrab Caravan Park and did some birdwatching at the beach in front of the caravan park and the Dugong Sanctuary down the road.

The beach was one of the most interesting ones I’ve ever been to—super rocky and lots of mangroves, which made for a really interesting landscape.