Photo of the trip, don't know why I like this shot so much but I just do... 
I have just returned from a few days with Stuart in the area of "Queensland's Outback" well, it is more like "Bush" than outback but it was a good trip and we both enjoyed it. We went to an area called Bowra which is around 850Km west from Brisbane which took around 9 hours to drive to. We hired a 4 wheel drive vehicle which came in really handy for "Off Roading". The area of Bowra was once a cattle ranch staton but is now owned by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. The area consists of open plain's, woodland, scrub and waterholes which is of particular interest to Australian and over-sea's birders for species such as Chesnut Breasted Quail Thrush, Hall's Babbler and Grey Falcon. These were 3 species that Stuart hadn't seen before and so was quite keen to visit the site in the hope of seeing these specialities. 
The road from Brisbane to Cunnamulla, which is a small outback town near to Bowra is a long and un eventful journey, however getting nearer to Cunnamulla the habbitat changes and opens up to more "Plains" like habbiat then that of tight scrub. Emu's become present and were at times seen crossing the road like the individual in the photo above. 
Photo above shows the road /track once inside the Bowra estate and the photo below shows the small lake near the accomodation where we stayed at. This lake was quite productive with plenty of different species dropping in to feed at different times. 
There were around 20 Black fronted Dotterel ( 3 photo's below) present on this lake throughout our time and I have seen this species on a previous trip to Austraia within the Sydney area. 
Two photo's below show a Masked Lapwing where at least 2 pairs were present on the lake and again I haved seen this species on a previous visit to Australia. 
Photo below shows a Banded Lapwing and this bird was part of flock of around 18 birds present on one of the open plain's within the Bowra estate. This species was actually a new species of wader for me and the 4 wheel drive came in to it's own as we used this to off-road to see this species. 
Photo below shows a part of the flock present and like most species of Lapwing they look better when seen in flight.
There were a few mammals seen this trip including lot's of Kangaroo's of which many were seen as "road kill" on route to and from Bowra. Also seen were wild pig's, Possom's and Fox. 
Photo above shows the 4 wheel drive off road and the poor record photo below shows one of the target species in the form of Chesnut Breasted Quail Thrush. After initially not doing so well for this species on the first evening and the first 2 hours on the first morning we managed to find at least 3 of these "Ground Dweller's" on the track when we were driving along it. There was at least 1 pristine male and we saw this species 3 times in total at the exact same location, on the track, from the vehicle each time. Also seen was one of the other speciality target species for Stuart and that came in the form of a small party of Hall's Babbler's, however Grey Falcon eluded us throughout our time on site. 
Photo below is from the highest point providing enough viewing away from the bush to search the sky for Raptors. The red track you can see going through the middle is where we saw the Chesnut Breasted Quail Thrush. 
Raptors were few and far between at Bowra with a few Wedge Tailed Eagles seen on route (photo above), 2-3 Little Eagles, a single Black breasted Buzzard just after departing Bowra, Black Shoulded, Black, Whistling and Square tailed Kite's, Brown Goshawk's, Nakeen Kestrel's, a single Black Falcon, and Brown Falcon's (2 photos below) being the second most numerous after Nakeen Kestrel. 
Bowra is full of Parrot's and big flocks can be seen and heard throughout the area. I am one not to fussed for Parrot's but I did take to these Galah's (2 photos below) due to their contrasting colours.
Photo of the trip, don't know why I like this shot so much but I just do... 
I have just returned from a few days with Stuart in the area of "Queensland's Outback" well, it is more like "Bush" than outback but it was a good trip and we both enjoyed it. We went to an area called Bowra which is around 850Km west from Brisbane which took around 9 hours to drive to. We hired a 4 wheel drive vehicle which came in really handy for "Off Roading". The area of Bowra was once a cattle ranch staton but is now owned by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. The area consists of open plain's, woodland, scrub and waterholes which is of particular interest to Australian and over-sea's birders for species such as Chesnut Breasted Quail Thrush, Hall's Babbler and Grey Falcon. These were 3 species that Stuart hadn't seen before and so was quite keen to visit the site in the hope of seeing these specialities. 
The road from Brisbane to Cunnamulla, which is a small outback town near to Bowra is a long and un eventful journey, however getting nearer to Cunnamulla the habbitat changes and opens up to more "Plains" like habbiat then that of tight scrub. Emu's become present and were at times seen crossing the road like the individual in the photo above. 
Photo above shows the road /track once inside the Bowra estate and the photo below shows the small lake near the accomodation where we stayed at. This lake was quite productive with plenty of different species dropping in to feed at different times. 
There were around 20 Black fronted Dotterel ( 3 photo's below) present on this lake throughout our time and I have seen this species on a previous trip to Austraia within the Sydney area. 
Two photo's below show a Masked Lapwing where at least 2 pairs were present on the lake and again I haved seen this species on a previous visit to Australia. 
Photo below shows a Banded Lapwing and this bird was part of flock of around 18 birds present on one of the open plain's within the Bowra estate. This species was actually a new species of wader for me and the 4 wheel drive came in to it's own as we used this to off-road to see this species. 
Photo below shows a part of the flock present and like most species of Lapwing they look better when seen in flight. 
There were a few mammals seen this trip including lot's of Kangaroo's of which many were seen as "road kill" on route to and from Bowra. Also seen were wild pig's, Possom's and Fox. 
Photo above shows the 4 wheel drive off road and the poor record photo below shows one of the target species in the form of Chesnut Breasted Quail Thrush. After initially not doing so well for this species on the first evening and the first 2 hours on the first morning we managed to find at least 3 of these "Ground Dweller's" on the track when we were driving along it. There was at least 1 pristine male and we saw this species 3 times in total at the exact same location, on the track, from the vehicle each time. Also seen was one of the other speciality target species for Stuart and that came in the form of a small party of Hall's Babbler's, however Grey Falcon eluded us throughout our time on site. 
Photo below is from the highest point providing enough viewing away from the bush to search the sky for Raptors. The red track you can see going through the middle is where we saw the Chesnut Breasted Quail Thrush. 
Raptors were few and far between at Bowra with a few Wedge Tailed Eagles seen on route (photo above), 2-3 Little Eagles, a single Black breasted Buzzard just after departing Bowra, Black Shoulded, Black, Whistling and Square tailed Kite's, Brown Goshawk's, Nakeen Kestrel's, a single Black Falcon, and Brown Falcon's (2 photos below) being the second most numerous after Nakeen Kestrel. 
Bowra is full of Parrot's and big flocks can be seen and heard throughout the area. I am one not to fussed for Parrot's but I did take to these Galah's (2 photos below) due to their contrasting colours. 
Wood Swallow's were present throughout the area but only a handfull of Little Woodswallows were seen (photo below) 
White Breasted Woodswallow's (2 photos below) were common throughout and were often seen in the tree's around the lake nearby our accomodation. 
