Sunrise on Coochie

We have led many day tours to this lovely little island, but that way we miss out on the charming sunsets, sunrises and early morning birding.  There is now the possibility of staying overnight in comfortable cabins near a picturesque  beach and a walking track  through the coastal woodland.

Unlike some other islands nearby, the shores are protected by the “Emerald Fringe” of native woodlands.  –  no high-rise buildings or indeed any buildings coming right to the beach (and there are no high-rise buildings anywhere on there island). The Coochiemudlo Island Coastcare group work hard to keep introduced weeds under control and to prevent foreshore erosion.

If you’ve never seen a bush stone-curlew and would like to, you shouldn’t have much trouble finding them here. They have an unforgettable stare with those big yellow eyes, and there’s plenty wandering around the island, sometimes with chicks following.

There are plenty of bush stone-curlews wandering around the island, and their weird, wild calls at night add to the atmosphere.

As the tide recedes we see hundreds, sometimes thousands, of blue soldier crabs marching across the beach.  If you go too close you’ll startle them and they quickly bury themselves in the sand, but if you then stay still and quiet for a few minutes they’ll slowly re-emerge.

Meals can be at the cabins, picnics on the beach, or the Red Rock Cafe, with fresh seafood and many other options.

Red Rock Cafe, Coochiemudlo Island

The name “Coochiemudlo” refers to the red rock from these cliffs (below) that were important to the local Aborigines, who used them for painting their bodies for ceremonies and trading for other goods far inland on the mainland.

Quiet beaches beckon. We often have these to ourselves even during the day, but even. more so by staying overnight and walking early in the morning or late afternoon.

Several mangrove species grow along some shores. These ones almost  look as though if we turn away they’ll start approaching us like Triffids.

Getting up early on the island allows for good birding experiences.

Blue-faced honeyeater

Brahminy kite

Oyster catchers

Walking along the beach at low tide reveals shells of many local molluscs and fragments of local coral.

Seashells on the shores of Coochie

Sea-grass – important for dugongs and green turtles – is sometimes also  washed ashore

Staying overnight gives an opportunity to see fruit bats when they visit the island to feast on nectar in certain flowering seasons, and sometimes also frogs, frogmouths, owls and the intriguing (and harmless) net-casting spider.

There is also the delight of moonlit nights and wonderful sunrises

So, if you’d like to not only  spend a day on this scenic little island so close to Brisbane but also stay overnight in a comfortable little cabin close to a quiet beach and a woodland trail, please let us know.

While waiting for dolphins at Fingal last year, a group of three little black cormorants  were quietly watching the waves from the basalt columns.

Little Black Cormorants at Fingal, New South Wales

Suddenly a beautiful brahminy kite appeared above us.

Brahminy Kite

He delighted us but startled the cormorants by suddenly plunging to the water to catch his dinner

and then the dolphins arrived….

I tend to think of Fingal as the Gold Coast before it became the Gold Coast (although there are a few natural parts of the Gold Coast as well).

Eagleby Wetlands wet again

It’s great to see the Eagleby Wetlands full of water again after so many months of drought earlier this year and late last year (a drought in our wet season? yes, it does happen)

Part of Eagleby Wetlands looking like Drylands last November

And now the tea trees are flowering we’re also getting nectar-feeding birds (including the beautiful little scarlet honeyeater) and insectivorous birds coming in after nectar-feeding insects.

Here are a few recent photos

Flocks of pelicans have returned, along with stilts, black swans, dotterells and others: this lagoon was never as dry as the one above, but it did diminish considerably

ok, nothing unusual about seeing white ibis near Brisbane, but they do look rather nice flying in a flock

Red-browed finches in a sheoak

brown honeyeater visiting tea tree (Melaleuca) flowers

A rufous whistler seeking insects from foliage and bark

A whistling kite soaring over the wetland

Two little brown birds: golden-headed cisticola (right) and female of one of the blue fairy-wrens (superb or variegated: the males are easily distinguished but not the females). I don’t think either of these deserted during the drought

Royal spoonbills and two species of ibis rst in a tree by a lagoon

We hadn’t run a Coochiemudlo Island trip for a while, so it was very pleasant to be back on the island, this time with a gentleman from England who had been on three of our other tours and his friend from USA.

Low tide below the red cliffs

The tide was low as we arrived, so as we neared the red cliffs the island derives its name from I was scanning the beach for soldier crabs hoping they hadn’t already finished their foraging and headed back into their burrows.

Soon they appeared as a vague shadow moving across the sand, so we hurried over for a closer look. A white ibis was also very interested, and it was at least good to see one eating something natural rather than picnic scraps

When disturbed, the crabs quickly bury themselves, then reappear a few minutes later.  After feeding, they will all o so and wait for the next low tide.

Birds seen that day included the following:

Brahminy kite

Striated heron

Pied oyster catchers

Whimbrel

Bush stone-curlew, subject of annual counts on the island

Laughing kookaburra, just after pouncing from above to catch an insect on the ground

A pied butcherbird apparently helping to protect island residents

and an Australian pelican taking a nap near the mainland jetty

The banksias were starting to bloom, and should soon attract lots of nectar feeders

I almost expect the mangroves here to start walking like triffids

but this rather tattered eggfly found them safe enough to settle on

After a seafood lunch at Red Rock Cafe we headed back to the mainland to look for wallabies for our American guest, and found them at two locations within Redands before our final journey back to the city

 Twice before we’d booked for snorkelling at Cook Island, which we had so many times looked towards on the third day of our tours while watching for dolphins, but had never visited, with Cooly Dive. Each time the weather had been so bad they had to cancel the cruise. With the cyclone up north I was afraid we’d get some rough weather down our way as well.

We had just led a three-day wildlife tour, but added a couple of extra days at the request of our British guest, to include snorkelling and Aboriginal culture, and he was flying out the following day.

The sea is always a little rough as you enter it from the mouth of the river, and we were all given life jackets as a precaution

Unfortunately it was rough enough to make my stomach a bit queasy on the way (I hadn’t bothered with seasick pills as it seemed such a short distance, but maybe I shouldn’t have been taking so many photos while clinging to the edge of the plunging boat)

We soon reached Cook Island, well-known for nesting seabirds and turtles 

Ronda underwater

We soon saw what the dives here are famous for – a turtle (unfortunately the visibility wasn’t good enough for a better photo).

If you look closely you can see the shell, head, tail  and flippers of the turtle

We saw another later in the dive, also a wobbegong shark (a small harmless species, and regrettably I didn’t manage a recognisable photo), toadfish and lots of other fish and scattered bits of coral. Our English guest also saw a pike fish.

Unfortunately the water was too murky that day to see the colours of the coral

Then finally back to the boat:

Darren heading back to the boat

Maybe next time the water will be a little clearer and we’ll get some better photos, but apart from my seasickness (which worsened on the return trip – must remember those pills next time!) it was a nice introduction to diving at the island.