Lake Macdonald - Timbeerwah, Queensland

This was quite a large lake which had a small hide for Bird Watching, the information board boasted 150 species, it looked really good so Luke had kindly dropped me down there early a.m for 3 hours.

Lots to see straight away with a pair of Kookaburras terrorising the local Myna’s, they really don’t like them and mobbed them constantly, suspect the bigger Kookaburras would be a threat to eggs and young of a lot of birds.

From the off I also had Whiskered and Caspian Terns quartering the lake, especially Whiskered, at least double figures present, lots of other birds immediately on show also like Comb Crested Jacana, Ground Cuckoo Shrike, Australian Darter, Little Pied and Little Black Cormorant, Pied Goose, Purple Swamphen along with Australian Pelican.

Little Black Cormorants follow the Pelicans around, would imagine the Pelicans are disturbing fish etc with their size and the Cormorants are mopping up.

You have to be a bit careful over here if you want to go exploring, already been warned about staying on the main trail, it’s not like the UK, Snakes and Spiders are in your head so to speak, however during the course of the holiday only saw one venomous snake, a Dugite. 

On arrival in the half light I did see something very distantly(below) on the other side of the lake, more on that later.

In semi darkness what would you think this was?

Moving on towards the hide through the trees(on the path) and it was alive with birds, Olive Backed Oriole, Willy Wagtail, Brush Wattlebird, Pied Butcherbird, Blue Faced Miner and various LBJ’s that I could not get on. 

2 Great Egrets were seen straight away along with Australasian Grebe, very similar to our Little Grebe, also a couple of Masked Lapwing in the adjoining field.

A distant Pacific Heron was then also seen along with 2 Magpie Larks, these like the Willy Wagtails seemed quite common.

This was in the hide,nice looking spider

Spent a lot of time in the hide taking photos of Whiskered Tern, it’s not often you get to see one of these closely unless I go to Spain. 

Time was marching on so I retraced my steps, there was a lot more out there in the Woodland, could hear loads of different calls, bit frustrating could not go off piste rummaging around but given the density of the undergrowth and what might be in it, decided not to.

Summing up, the thing that I saw distantly in the half light referred to earlier, at the time I thought Bloody Hell it’s a Croc, as the light grew got a clearer image and it turned out to be a dead tree, quite amusing and shows what an active imagination does for you. 

My 'Croc' a dead tree