Check my birding map for specific location.
I have been up to Mount Lewis in previous years but in 2022 it is the first time I have been there alone. I was a little nervous about taking my campervan up there but local birders assured me the road was good and a 2WD would make it. So it was early one morning I set off feeling hopeful about catching some rarities. The top of the hill was closed off as unsafe which was fine as I only wanted to get to the clearing area. It had changed a lot since me last visit and was waist high in grass. It wasn't long before I saw my target bird - the Blue-faced Parrotfinch. I watched them for a while and was joined by some other birders. Some of us rather foolishly wandered into the long grass. It was only later that a local reptile expert showed me where a very large scrub python was sleeping, metres away from where I had been walking. While the python is not venomous, he told me there were black-bellied vipers around. I felt a little nauseous.
Thankfully I did get a couple of shots of the finch. It was such a beautiful bird.
Blue-faced Parrotfinch (Erythrura trichroa)
My only sighting in Queensland of the Eastern Spinebill was here. They are tiny, colourful honeyeaters with a large bill. I don't remember having trouble finding them in previous visits so I was just grateful to see them here.
Eastern Spinebill (Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris)
Fluttering around my van were some fantail. I have never managed to get a really good shot of the Rufous Fantail and today was no exception. They just stick in the shadows. The Grey Fantail, however, is always curious and busy looking for bugs. The problem with getting a shot of them is that they never sit still!
Grey Fantail (Rhipidura albiscapa)
Rufous Fantail (Rhipidura rufifrons)
Another rarity I did get was the Mountain Thornbill. I love the little thornbills. They are usually in groups and chatter away as they move through the bush. I have only seen this thornbill a couple of times so I was happy to find them bouncing around and occasionally stopping for a photograph.
Mountain Thornbill (Acanthiza katherina)
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