Monto Survey Jul 9-14 2007
Six
members of Birds Australia Southern Queensland (BASQ) spent five days carrying
out bird surveys in the Monto area for the Bird
Monitoring in Regions Project. For more information, see the 
Starters
Kit (435 kb pdf file).
This project aims to find out more about the birds in 10 regions around Australia - what habitats they use, where they breed, and how people and their activities affect them. In this region the project is being run by BASQ in partnership with the Burnett Mary Regional Group for Natural Resource Management. The activity was undertaken after Birds Australia members had conducted Atlas workshops the previous week in Monto and several other North and South Burnett centres. Local landholders and members of the Monto Landcare group assisted in the surveying and although they were not serious birdwatchers before we arrived they were very keen to learn and will be much better equipped to carry out surveys in the future.
Les Turner, president of North Burnett Landcare, guided the BASQ members to woodland and scrub areas on properties owned by himself, Col List, Peter Jamieson and Alan Knight. National Park Ranger Neil Teague led the group through the Grevillia and Coominglah State Forests. Rosanne Campbell showed the party around Goondicum Station.
A highlight of the trip was at Goondicum Station where we surveyed the Goondicum
Creek and West Burnett River Gorges. Much of Goondicum Station is part of
a huge caldera (a feature formed by the collapse of land following a volcanic
eruption) and from a vantage point this formation is very discernible. Sadly
a mining company holds a lease over a large area of the station and this
spectacular volcanic feature may be a thing of the past in years to come.
Minerals coming from the Goondicum mine include feldspar, ilmenite, apatite
and titanomagnetite.
One day was spent travelling (and bird surveying) west through the Coominglah State Forrest to the former township of Old Rawbelle on the banks of the very dry Nogo River. All that remains of the township is a small graveyard with four headstones in it.
We recorded 104 bird species in Monto Shire and a total of 112 for the Eidsvold, Gayndah and Monto areas. 33 Atlas reports have been submitted. All landholders involved have been sent a copy of the surveys done on their property, together with the overall Monto list, and a copy of Birds on Farms
| Emu Australian Brush-turkey Brown Quail Australian Wood Duck Pacific Black Duck Grey Teal Australasian Grebe Great Crested Grebe Little Pied Cormorant White-faced Heron White-necked Heron Intermediate Egret Straw-necked Ibis Yellow-billed Spoonbill Black-shouldered Kite Spotted Harrier Brown Goshawk Wedge-tailed Eagle Brown Falcon Nankeen Kestrel Brolga Australian Bustard Black-winged Stilt Masked Lapwing Brown Cuckoo-Dove Crested Pigeon Peaceful Dove Bar-shouldered Dove Wonga Pigeon Galah Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Cockatiel Rainbow Lorikeet Scaly-breasted Lorikeet Little Lorikeet |
Australian King-Parrot Pale-headed Rosella Fan-tailed Cuckoo Pheasant Coucal Laughing Kookaburra Blue-winged Kookaburra Rainbow Bee-eater White-throated Treecreeper Superb Fairy-wren Variegated Fairy-wren Red-backed Fairy-wren Spotted Pardalote Striated Pardalote White-browed Scrubwren Speckled Warbler Weebill Brown Gerygone White-throated Gerygone Brown Thornbill Buff-rumped Thornbill Yellow-rumped Thornbill Yellow Thornbill Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater Striped Honeyeater Noisy Friarbird Little Friarbird Blue-faced Honeyeater Noisy Miner Lewin's Honeyeater Yellow-faced Honeyeater White-eared Honeyeater White-throated Honeyeater Brown Honeyeater Scarlet Honeyeater Jacky Winter |
Rose Robin |