Mount Lewis Road, Queensland

This was our main day to bird Mount Lewis. We didn't really have any exact spots to try for the specialities so just 'winged it' in the grandest sense. So we headed up there early and it wasn't very far at all from Kingfisher Park before we made our first stop. There was nothing doing so we drove higher and walked along the road for a bit. A pair of Chowchillas were feeding in the leaf litter beside the road and showed really well...

Chowchilla

We also saw the first of many Yellow-throated Scrubwrens here before reaching the clearing where we parked for the rest of the morning. An Atherton Scrubwren showed well and sang right in front of us, a Fernwren appeared just for me, Bridled Honeyeater appeared, and a Bower's Shrike-Thrush put on a great performance.

Atherton Scrubwren

Bower's Shrike-Thrush

We followed a trail for several kilometres, watching warily for any snakes that we had previously been warned about! No snakes fortunately but our first Tooth-billed Bowerbird and Varied Triller were nice. We also saw several Victoria's Riflebirds at a fruiting tree, with several Spotted Catbirds as well. And this Fernwren gave really close views for several minutes as it sang from various open perches...

Fernwren

By lunchtime we had pretty much cleaned up and headed back to Kingfisher Park. Andrew gave us some ideas of where to find more lifers so instead of just chilling around the gardens we drove just over an hour to a site in an arid area where a group of Apostlebirds were coming to drink. The bonus here was a few Black-throated Finches also flying in to drink that brought my life list up to 5,985. The dream of getting 6,000 on my 50th birthday in a few days lives on......