Leaden Flycatcher and Other Creatures

Leaden Flycatcher (male)

Today, a friend, Greg Roberts, and I trudged the mangroves of Macleay Island looking for Shining Flycatchers and Mangrove Honeyeaters.

Leaden Flycatchers were common and calling. The males are dark and appealing.

We found no Shining Flycatchers, however. The records of this species for the Southern Moreton Bay Islands are few and far between. Kathy Haydon has recorded them from Coochiemudlo Island only once in ten years.

Shining Flycatcher (male). Photo Greg Roberts.

There were many Brown Honeyeaters but no Mangrove Honeyeaters. It is surprising that we could not find Mangrove Honeyeaters but they can be quite spotty in their distribution despite the presence of extensive mangrove stands and good flowering.

We recorded both Mangrove and White-throated Gerygones. White-collared Kingfishers chirruped away and zoomed past like blue exocets.

White-collared Kingfisher

Varied Trillers checked us out. They are occasionally called Frog Birds because their call sounds like that of the Ruddy Treefrog Litoria rubella.

Varied Triller