Cooby Dam is a popular recreational water spot just north of Toowoomba. To say it was low on water at the time of our visit is something of an understatement. It was around 35% full!
Despite the lack of water the site still supports a vast array of birdlife, and is one of the best birding sites around Toowoomba, and we had a very enjoyable time on the day we visited.
The birdata listing has 192 species for the whole site, but we decided to concentrate on the area around Loveday Cove.
Roger designed the survey sites and as a group of 4 we concentrated on the ones on the southern end, and then Roger did the ones on the northern end separately later.
If you want to survey these sites yourself and add to our knowledge of the area here they are in kml and gpx format.
Altogether across the northern and southern sites we counted 62 species – in order of most frequently seen, to least:
| Weebill | Smicrornis brevirostris |
| Torresian Crow | Corvus orru |
| Superb Fairy-wren | Malurus cyaneus |
| Red-backed Fairy-wren | Malurus melanocephalus |
| Yellow-faced Honeyeater | Caligavis chrysops |
| Laughing Kookaburra | Dacelo novaeguineae |
| Brown Honeyeater | Lichmera indistincta |
| Brown-headed Honeyeater | Melithreptus brevirostris |
| Noisy Miner | Manorina melanocephala |
| Striated Pardalote | Pardalotus striatus |
| White-faced Heron | Egretta novaehollandiae |
| Brown Goshawk | Accipiter fasciatus |
| Galah | Eolophus roseicapilla |
| Pale-headed Rosella | Platycercus adscitus |
| Rainbow Lorikeet | Trichoglossus moluccanus |
| White-throated Gerygone | Gerygone olivacea |
| Speckled Warbler | Pyrrholaemus sagittatus |
| White-browed Scrubwren | Sericornis frontalis |
| Rufous Whistler | Pachycephala rufiventris |
| Pied Currawong | Strepera graculina |
| Australian Magpie | Gymnorhina tibicen |
| Pied Butcherbird | Cracticus nigrogularis |
| Grey Butcherbird | Cracticus torquatus |
| Grey Fantail | Rhipidura fuliginosa |
| Golden-headed Cisticola | Cisticola exilis |
| Welcome Swallow | Hirundo neoxena |
| Black Swan | Cygnus atratus |
| Pacific Black Duck | Anas superciliosa |
| Crested Pigeon | Ocyphaps lophotes |
| Pheasant Coucal | Centropus phasianinus |
| Dusky Moorhen | Gallinula tenebrosa |
| Eurasian Coot | Fulica atra |
| Black-winged Stilt | Himantopus leucocephalus |
| Black-fronted Dotterel | Elseyornis melanops |
| Masked Lapwing | Vanellus miles |
| Whiskered Tern | Chlidonias hybrida |
| Australian Pelican | Pelecanus conspicillatus |
| Intermediate Egret | Ardea intermedia |
| Straw-necked Ibis | Threskiornis spinicollis |
| Little Pied Cormorant | Microcarbo melanoleucos |
| Little Black Cormorant | Phalacrocorax sulcirostris |
| Australasian Darter | Anhinga novaehollandiae |
| Whistling Kite | Haliastur sphenurus |
| Nankeen Kestrel | Falco cenchroides |
| Musk Lorikeet | Glossopsitta concinna |
| Scaly-breasted Lorikeet | Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus |
| Variegated Fairy-wren | Malurus lamberti |
| Striped Honeyeater | Plectorhyncha lanceolata |
| Noisy Friarbird | Philemon corniculatus |
| Blue-faced Honeyeater | Entomyzon cyanotis |
| White-throated Honeyeater | Melithreptus albogularis |
| White-naped Honeyeater | Melithreptus lunatus |
| Spotted Pardalote | Pardalotus punctatus |
| Yellow-rumped Thornbill | Acanthiza chrysorrhoa |
| Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike | Coracina novaehollandiae |
| Willie Wagtail | Rhipidura leucophrys |
| Magpie-lark | Grallina cyanoleuca |
| Mistletoebird | Dicaeum hirundinaceum |
| Double-barred Finch | Taeniopygia bichenovii |
| Australasian Pipit | Anthus novaeseelandiae |
| Fairy Martin | Petrochelidon ariel |
| Tree Martin | Petrochelidon nigricans |
And finally here’s Cooby in wetter times! 🙂
