Mackay Region

Our first few days in the Mackay area were spent at Padaminka Nature Refuge. Maureen Cooper who owns the property is gradually turning what was a grazing property into a refuge for wildlife and has made great progress. We stayed at the accommodation at the house and spent hours just sitting on the veranda watching the birds in the garden around the house. My favorite veranda birds were White-browed Robin, Pacific Baza, Red-backed Fairywren, Varied Triller, White-eared Monarch, Leaden Flycatcher, Spangled Drongo, Olive-backed sunbird, Yellow and Dusky Honeyeaters.
At nighttime we could hear Large-tailed nightjar, Southern Boobook and Bush Stone-curlews calling.
One morning we spent several hours walking around many paths at the property and saw a Grey Goshawk, Black-faced Monarch, Lemon Bellied Flycatcher, Tawny Grassbird, Little Shrike-thrush and others too numerous to mention. Altogether we saw 51 species of the 160 species that have been seen on the property. You can see a full list for the property on the Eremaea website at www.eremaea.com.au
Go to Sound Recordings to listen to Figbirds at Padaminka.
Trees at Padaminka

Mangroves from the Hidden Valley track
We visited three of the four short walks that can be taken from near to the Cape Hillsborough Resort and also visited some of the nearby beaches. My favorite places in this beautiful national park were the Diversity Walk not only for its plant diversity but also for the interesting birds we saw here, Andrews Point walk for its incredible views and Smalleys Beach which is a quiet muddy beach with waders. Here are some of our birding highlights of the Cape Hillsborough area.
Diversity walk: Little Bronze Cuckoo, Forest Kingfisher, Black-faced Monarch, White-eared Monarch and Emerald Dove.
Yuibera Plant Trail: Wompoo Fruit Dove, Rose-crowned Fruit Dove and Fairy Gerygone.
Resort beach: Grey Goshawk (white morph), Agile Wallaby.
Smalley's Beach: Striated Heron, Eastern Reef Egret and Grey-tailed Tattler.
Finlaysons Point (Seaforth): Beach-stone curlew.
For more information about Cape Hillsborough visit the QLD EPA website http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/projects/park/index.cgi?parkid=44
View of Wedge Island from Andrews Point Track

Sandfly Creek in Mackay is a mangrove lined creek running out into the Pioneer River, it is a roosting place for waders, however when we visited it was not high tide and the waders could not be seen (not by us anyway). You can access this area from the car park at the end of River Street or by a pathway near Lluka Park at the end of East Gordon Street. A concrete path runs through a grassy area from one end to the other, not a very appealing pathway but it does allow easy access to this interesting area. On our first visit we saw Mangrove Honeyeater, Rajah Shelducks (on the bridge crossing the river) and Rainbow Bea-eaters. If we had our scope with us we may have been able to see the waders that were feeding on the sand spit opposite the shelter situated near the bridge over Sandfly Creek.
We were intrigued by the area so decided to go back for a last minute walk before catching our plane home, in 20 minutes we were able to see 17 species including Brown Quail, Lesser Crested Tern and a Mangrove Gerygone (who sat at the tops of the mangroves and sang for us).

Look closely and you could find a Jacana
The Mackay Regional Botanic Gardens surround a large lagoon which is full of water birds. There is also a boardwalk which heads out onto the north east section of the lagoon. It's also a nice place to see garden birds but the water birds are really the feature here.
We were told by a reliable source that Platypus can be seen in the lagoon, it may also be possible to see the Red-whiskered Bul Bul in the gardens, although we saw neither of these. Birds that we did see in abundance included Magpie Geese, Wandering and Plumed Whistling Ducks, Comb Crested Jacana and Cotton Pygmy Geese. There is also a nice cafe where you can eat lunch overlooking the lagoons.
You can find more information about the gardens and a map for birdwatching around Mackay at www.mackayregionalbotanicgardens.com.au