LLOYD NEILSEN'S 'HERBERTON HONEYEATER'

I returned from my spontaneous trip to Geraldton to twitch the Black-headed Gull, in time for my planned trip to the Atherton Tableland in quest of Lloyd Nielsen's so-called 'Herberton Honeyeater,' and the undescribed race of Spotted Quail-thrush. I thought the honeyeater would be easy, but the quail-thrush might prove elusive. I was right on both counts. The honeyeater is recognised as race 'subgermanus' of the Fuscous Honeyeater, but it looks significantly different from other Fuscous Honeyeaters and Lloyd was of the opinion that it deserved species status. Apparently many birders mistakenly write it down as a Yellow-tinted Honeyeater, because it has such a yellow face. It is common and easily seen along Springvale Road in Wondecla State Forest.

The birding was most enjoyable along this road and I added another couple of new subspecies to my lifelist: Spotted Pardalote race 'militaris' and White-throated Treecreeper ('Little' Treecreeper) race 'minor'.

I also found some difficult steep gravel roads to explore hoping for quail-thrush. I didn't detect any hint of quail-thrush but I didn't fall over either, so it was a partial success. The next day I looked again for quail-thrush (and again didn't fall over) and easily added Crimson Rosella race 'nigrescens' (aka Tropical Crimson Rosella) to my lifelist. Despite unfriendly weather, at Mt Hypipamee I saw a female Golden Bowerbird, an Eastern Whipbird, several Grey-headed Robins and a Mountain Thornbill, but couldn't find the local race of Australian Rufous Fantail.

I saw the only Satin Bowerbird of the trip in Ravenshoe. There were dozens of Scaly-breasted Lorikeets throughout the trip, seemingly everywhere we went. At Allumbah Pocket in Yungaburra, we saw three platypus and had the most wonderful birding of the trip. Not only did I finally see my desired Rufous Fantail (race 'intermedia'), I saw Paradise Riflebird, Little Shirkethrush, Spotted Catbird, Silvereyes and Fairy Gerygones all within an entertaining short distance of each other. The weather was generally unkind thoughout the trip; misty and drizzly but, worst of all, very windy. This made looking for quail-thrush plus a couple of thornbills I'd hoped to see, all the more difficult. I did hear the quail-thrush call once, not far from Watsonville, but that's as close as I came to it. I visited Hasties Swamp where I was greeted by a couple of Brown Cuckoo Doves as well as the requisite Plumed Whistling Ducks. However, the mammals were more memorable - there was an eastern bent wing bat in the hide and a couple of platypus playing below. I spent the rest of the day looking for, but not finding, quail-thrush, yellow thornbill (race 'flava') and Buff-rumped Thronbill (race 'squamata'). The White-browed Scrubwren I saw in Kaban State Forest looked more like a Yellow-throated Scrubwren without a yellow throat, than the White-browed Scrubwren I'm used to in Melbourne.

I started Thursday admiring a Singing Bush Lark (race 'athertonensis') at Yorkeys Knob. Other highlights included a Black Butcherbird, a noisy Green Oriole, several colourful Sahul Sunbirds and a flock of Topknot Pigeons flying overhead. At Redden Island I saw Helmeted Friarbird, that we used to call Hornbill Friarbird, and will again one day I hope. At Marshall's Field one Yellow Honeyeater drew attention to himself and then we made a quick visit to the Cairns Esplanade for Varied Honeyeater and Little Heron. At the Botanic Gardens I was delighted to see a pair of Radjah Shelducks, a Pacific Baza and a Grey Goshawk, but disappointed I dipped on Little Kingfisher and Rufous Owl. I came home with a total of 138 species for the four day trip, which included six new subspecies for me, most importantly Lloyd's race of Fuscous Honeyeater he dubbed the Herberton Honeyeater. The elusive quail-thrush remains just that: elusive.

BLACK-HEADED GULL

I am delighted to see any lifer of course, and any new Australian bird outside my annual pilgrimage to Cocos/Christmas is especially welcomed. If I can achieve one in a year, I am pleased. This year, 2026, I've seen an impressive four, and the year's not yet half over. I saw the Indian Pond Heron and Arctic Warbler on Christmas in March, then the Cocos Booby at Lake Macquarie in May, and now the Black-headed Gull in Geraldton in June. How lucky is that! Here's a dreadful shot I took with my phone. At least it's proof:

And here it is enlarged:

And here's one I took using John's camera:

On Wednesday, 3 June, Richard Baxter informed me that there was a vagrant, unidentified gull in Geraldton. I was scheduled to go to Queensland on Monday (to look for the Herberton Honeyeater and Lloyd Nielsen's undescribed quail-thrush) and doubted I had time to organize a trip to Geraldton before then. Richard scoffed. 'You've got four full days!' he said. 'Plenty of time!' On Thursday, I learnt that the unidentified bird was a Black-headed Gull - a bird I'd seen in England, but which I needed for my Australian list. Here's a shot I took last century in England:

I was reluctant to fly to Perth until I had arranged transport to Geraldton, and I spent an anxious few hours discussing options and seeking travelling companions. Finally, thanks to Damien Baxter and the WA What'sapp birding group, I arranged a lift with Geoffrey Groom, who was driving up with John Edmond. He had a Ford Ranger, I was welcome to join them, but there was little legroom in the back seat, Geoff warned. Lack of legroom is generally not a problem for someone on my stature. He agreed to pick me up at my hotel at 4 a.m. on Friday morning. So I flew to Perth and stayed, as usual, at the Sanno Marracoonda. Four a.m. on Friday found me standing in the street outside the Sanno, ready for an exciting adventure. Geoff arrived. We picked up John, and drove directly to Geraldton. We had a very brief stop at the Badgingarra Roadhouse, and arrived in Geraldton a little before 9 a.m. Geoff seemed convinced that we'd have trouble spotting the bird and would have to stay the night in Geraldton. I was hopeful we'd see it immediately and be back in Perth comfortably by tea-time. We parked near the Surf Life Savers yellow building, and while the boys were playing with their camera equipment, I strolled over to the beach to get the lay of the land. Immediately I saw a flock of Silver Gulls, and one gull had a very obvious black head! 'I've got it! I've got it!' I yelled as I ran back to the car. Literally within twenty seconds, and before 9 a.m. we had our quarry. What a relief! Now, all anxiety dispelled, I could concentrate on enjoying the bird. His attractive dark red bill perfectly matched his dark red legs. (I say 'he', but I don't think anyone knows what sex it is.) He seemed to me to be the same size as the Silver Gulls and his pretty brown (NOT black) head, just as I remembered, finished high on his nape and did not give him a complete hood. His partial white eye-rings were most attractive. Let's face it: I wouldn't have cared what he looked like: a tick's a tick! And now here are some proper photos, taken by John Edmond: