The on-site briefing for our joint BirdLife-TBO contribution to the LUCI bird survey project was interrupted when a passing vehicle flushed two or three Glossy Black-Cockatoos.
Our hosts, who knew this to be a hotspot for these birds, graciously were not upset when we marched off to get better views. Subsequently, we enjoyed watching a pair feeding in the understorey she-oaks, the nipping sound as they chewed into the cones punctuated with soft calls.
The location for this outing was the escarpment and upper area on East Egypt Road, Egypt—a locality with several theories as to its naming! The team worked along the base of the escarpment, accompanied by the landowner and his daughter, listing 38 bird species.
Highlights were two brown-phase Rose Robins, ten Golden Whistlers, several Varied Trillers, a few Brown Cuckoo-Doves and a pair of Wedge-tailed Eagles overhead.
Habitat was varied, partly open, but including semi-evergreen vine-thicket on the slope, dominated by impressive large fig and silky oak trees.
Later, after enjoying morning tea at the weekender retreat, admiring the expansive view to Mount Whitestone, we explored eucalypt woodland nearby. Here we added two White-bellied Cuckoo-shrikes. Silvereye was the most abundant species, followed by figbirds and Noisy Friarbirds.
Overall, a fairly typical late winter result for our combined bird survey effort with Toowoomba Bird Observers, in support of Lockyer Uplands Catchments Inc.
| Australasian Figbird | Sphecotheres vieilloti |
| Australian King-Parrot | Alisterus scapularis |
| Australian Magpie | Gymnorhina tibicen |
| Bar-shouldered Dove | Geopelia humeralis |
| Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike | Coracina novaehollandiae |
| Brown Cuckoo-Dove | Macropygia phasianella |
| Brown Thornbill | Acanthiza pusilla |
| Eastern Whipbird | Psophodes olivaceus |
| Eastern Yellow Robin | Eopsaltria australis |
| Glossy Black-Cockatoo | Calyptorhynchus lathami |
| Golden Whistler | Pachycephala pectoralis |
| Grey Butcherbird | Cracticus torquatus |
| Grey Fantail | Rhipidura fuliginosa |
| Grey Shrike-thrush | Colluricincla harmonica |
| Large-billed Scrubwren | Sericornis magnirostra |
| Laughing Kookaburra | Dacelo novaeguineae |
| Lewin’s Honeyeater | Meliphaga lewinii |
| Little Friarbird | Philemon citreogularis |
| Magpie-lark | Grallina cyanoleuca |
| Mistletoebird | Dicaeum hirundinaceum |
| Noisy Friarbird | Philemon corniculatus |
| Noisy Miner | Manorina melanocephala |
| Pale-headed Rosella | Platycercus adscitus |
| Pied Currawong | Strepera graculina |
| Rainbow Bee-eater | Merops ornatus |
| Red-backed Fairy-wren | Malurus melanocephalus |
| Red-browed Finch | Neochmia temporalis |
| Rose Robin | Petroica rosea |
| Rufous Whistler | Pachycephala rufiventris |
| Shining Bronze-Cuckoo | Chalcites lucidus |
| Silvereye | Zosterops lateralis |
| Spotted Pardalote | Pardalotus punctatus |
| Striated Pardalote | Pardalotus striatus |
| Torresian Crow | Corvus orru |
| Varied Triller | Lalage leucomela |
| Wedge-tailed Eagle | Aquila audax |
| Weebill | Smicrornis brevirostris |
| Welcome Swallow | Hirundo neoxena |
| Whistling Kite | Haliastur sphenurus |
| White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike | Coracina papuensis |
| White-browed Scrubwren | Sericornis frontalis |
| White-throated Honeyeater | Melithreptus albogularis |
| Yellow-faced Honeyeater | Caligavis chrysops |