Day 10:
We decided it was best to get some more rest and slept in, it was a good call as it was raining that morning, which apparently was the first proper morning rain in months. We made breakfast and enjoyed views of various Honeyeaters coming onto the feeders.
Bridled Honeyeater - always noisy...
Lewin's Honeyeater
White-cheeked Honeyeater - fabulous looking bird
Australian King Parrots were also regular visitors to the lodge, and small flock of them often congregated near the feeder. The Red-legged Pademelons were also regulars here and we enjoyed company of a few of these cute creatures.
Australian King Parrot
Red-legged Pademelon
By mid-morning when the rain subsided, we decided to visit Mount Hypipamee National Park which was only a short drive away. There is a short walk towards the crater, the area is well sign-posted and the trail fairly well maintained. There are supposedly Southern Cassowaries in the area but we didn't see them. A very handsome Boyd's Forest Dragon greeted us and a Northern Barsided Skink stayed still enough for a photo.
Trail entrance at Mount Hypipamee National Park
Boyd's Forest Dragon
Northern Barsided Skink
The crater itself was very interesting, these craters were created by an explosion caused by the volcanic gases blasting through the granite, which left a very big hole in the ground. You can get great views from the viewing platform. There is also a circular trail which goes past Dinner Falls and various rapids.
Overlooking the crater
Dinner Falls
The only bird of interest there was a female Victoria's Riflebird which showed briefly. We did however saw a male Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroo, a species that is endemic to the region. It is now listed as near threatened due to habitat loss. Back at the carpark we saw a very confiding Grey-headed Robin.
Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroo - a large male
Grey-headed Robin
We drove back to the lodge for lunch, upon entering the gate to the property, I spotted two more Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroos! this time a mother and her joey sitting up on the tree along the access road! The joey remained still and didn't lift its head up, while the mother eyed us from above.
Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroo - mother with joey
After lunch we sat on the veranda to relax. A few Atherton Scrubwrens came along but only stayed briefly, I only managed a recognisable record shot of this wet tropics endemic. At the feeder, a female Victoria's Riflebird came in for the bananas, it stayed along enough for me to get some decent shots.
Atherton Scrubwren
Victoria's Riflebird
Christina was kind enough to take us spot-lighting around their property after dinner, and it was extremely productive! We first had a beautiful Striped Possum which is surely one of the most incredible looking possum out there. A Yellow-bellied Glider was also spotted, this interesting looking marsupial is listed as near threatened due to habitat fragmentation, they are especially rare in northern Queensland.
Striped Possum - a beautiful creature
Yellow-bellied Glider
For herps, our best find was a Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko wrapping itself on a tree! This insane looking creature certainly got the most bizarre tail I've ever seen. The rain also helped bring some more frogs out, including a Wilcox's Frog, a few Green-eyed Tree Frogs and a lot of Southern Ornate Nursery-Frogs.
Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko
Wilcox's Frog
Green-eyed Tree Frog
Southern Ornate Nursery-Frog
Christina also put up a moth light and sheet which attracted plenty of insects and moths. A large green cicada came in which was the Green Grocer, although this one certainly don't sell any vegetables. We were also introduced to the 'Christmas Beetles', these scarab beetles belongs to the genus Anoplognathus, all with various metallic colours from red to green. They always emerge around Christmas time, hence their common name 'Christmas Beetles'. There were also a few Cacostomus squamosus, a species of stag beetle.
Green Grocer - Cyclochila australasiae
Christmas Beetles - Anoplognathus sp.
Cacostomus squamosus
A few large moths we were not familiar with dropped by, these belongs to the genus Anthela, they are however known to be extremely varied even within one species, therefore I am not even going to try and identify these...
Anthela sp.
A hawk moth also dropped in, it was a Hippotion scrofa. Although it was clearly outshone by a stunning looking Donuca rubropicta, a Noctuidae found in forests of Queensland and New South Wales.
Hippotion scrofa
Donuca rubropicta
There was also a Bracca rotundata, a very colourful species with beautiful patterns, although this individual was already quite worn out. A smaller moth with scruffy hair was a Aglaosoma variegata, lazily named the Patterned Notodontid. There was another notodontidea, a Epicoma melanospila with an equally lazy common name, the Black Spot Moth.
Bracca rotundata
Patterned Notodontid - Aglaosoma variegata
Black Spot Moth - Epicoma melanospila
Two larger crambidae that night were Palpita margaritacea and a Parotis species, both equally beautiful. There was also a beautiful green Geometridae that is a Comibaena mariae.
Palpita margaritacea
Parotis sp.
Comibaena mariae
There were quite a few Gelechioidea that came to the light, including a very colourful Crocanthes micradelpha was amongst the most eye-catching. There were also a few which I don't know the identity of, but were just as stunning.
Crocanthes micradelpha
Gelechioidea sp.
Gelechioidea sp.
Finally, there was a rather large spider of the genus Eriophora. This genus is difficult to identify as many species share similar size, colours and patterns.
Eriophora sp.
Day 11:
We decided to enjoy one last enjoying morning at the Atherton Tablelands Birdwatchers Cabin. A Pacific Emerald Dove came near the veranda to feed below the feeder.
Pacific Emerald Dove
Other than the usual honeyeaters, a Grey Shrike-thrush also came by, although it did not feed on the feeder nor use the bird bath. I guess all the activities from the honeyeaters just attract the attention of other birds in the area.
Grey Shrike-thrush
Before we left, a female Victoria's Riflebird came onto the feeder once again. I am not sure whether it is the same one from the day before, but it was nice to see it one last time before departing.
Victoria's Riflebird - female
Christina was very kind and accompanied us all the way to the gate and bid farewell. At the bottom of the road from their gate was a small creek, here we saw a fairly confiding Azure Kingfisher.
Azure Kingfisher
Before heading back to Cairns we made a stop at Lake Barrine, one of the larger crater lakes in the area. The lake itself was very scenic with forest surrounding the circular lake. The forest around the lake was quite beautiful with interesting plants such as huge Basket Ferns growing out from tree trunks like tree houses. The twin Rough Barked Kauri Pines are probably the most well known botanical feature around the lake, where these two giant trees tower over the canopy, they are estimated to be over 1,000 years old.
Lake Barrine
Basket Fern
Rough Barked Kauri Pines
The forest was home to many rain forest species, we heard birds such as Spotted Catbirds and Victoria's Riflebirds, but none of them showed. A few Atherton Scrubwren made an appearance, and a Yellow-breasted Boatbill also showed well. The lake hosted a few wetland species such as Australian Pelicans, Great Crested Grebes and Eurasian Coots, they were all too far for photos, only the Australian Darter was close enough for a decent photo.
Atherton Scrubwren
Yellow-breasted Boatbill
Australian Darter
There were also more Boyd's Forest Dragons and Eastern Water Dragons along the trail. This is supposedly a good area to look for Musky Rat Kangaroos, although we did not see any.
Boyd's Forest Dragon
Eastern Water Dragon
We arrived at the Pacific Hotel Cairns in the afternoon, it was not a particularly fancy hotel, but it was situated right next to the esplanade and the reef fleet terminal. The funniest (or least funny) thing about this hotel is the name of their restaurant, 'Bushfire Flame Grill' sounds like a really bad joke in the midst of terrible bushfires in New South Wales...
After some rest we went out for a walk along the fabulous Cairns Esplanade, it was a very nice public area with a pool and lawns, the esplanade overlooks the bay which at low tide is a tidal mudflat with many waders.
Mudflat looking out of the esplanade
One of the most prominent species there were a flock of Australian Pelicans which rested near the esplanade. Silver Gulls were fairly common here, while the odd Gull-billed Tern flew past us from time to time.
Australian Pelican
Silver Gull
Gull-billed Tern
Bar-tailed Godwit
Curlew Sandpiper
Pied Oystercatcher
One of the more interesting sighting on the mudflat was a single Royal Spoonbill in full breeding plumage. It was feeding along the tidal pools right next to the esplanade.
Royal Spoonbill
The most common bird species along the esplanade however is not a waterbird, it was in fact hundreds of Torresian Imperial Pigeons, all roosting and nesting around the trees at the esplanade. Amongst the pigeons roosted there we spotted an odd one out, to our surprise it was a Topknot Pigeon! It must have followed the wrong crowd home...
Torresian Imperial Pigeon
Topknot Pigeon
We added two new species of honeyeaters in form of a Varied Honeyeater and the rather nondescript Brown Honeyeater. We only saw Varied Honeyeaters along the esplanade on this trip.
Varied Honeyeater
Brown Honeyeater
Cairns city centre is also home to thousands of Spectacled Flying Foxes which roosts next to the city hall. At dusk they all fly out to feed, making a huge amount of noise.
Spectacled Flying Fox
Day 12:
We decided to head out early to try and bird around the rainforests of Kuranda. The drive wasn't very long and we stopped along Black Mountain Road just north of Kuranda for a spot of birding. Kuranda is a known location of Southern Cassowary, so we thought we would try our luck there. We started with a few Wompoo Fruit Doves, they showed well under the morning sun.
Wompoo Fruit Dove
A Varied Triller perched very high up, while a few Olive-backed Sunbirds gave close views around the roadside bushes.
Varied Triller - male
Olive-backed Sunbird - male
We saw yet another female Victoria's Riflebird (Where are the males?) foraging on a tree trunk, their harsh calls always often giveaway their location. A few Little Shrike-thrush sang beautifully in the undergrowth, only came out to the edge of the vegetation briefly before disappearing into the forest again.
Victoria's Riflebird - female
Little Shrike-thrush
We didn't get the cassowary in the end, although along the road we added a Grey Goshawk which flew past. Next we visited the famous Barron Falls, the walk to the waterfall was pretty easy going, and the viewpoint was excellent, there wasn't a lot of water at the waterfall due to the limited rainfall in recent months.
Barron Falls
Before we headed back to Cairns we went to Cattana Wetlands just north of Cairns city. As soon as we parked the car I noticed a bird walking around the carpark, to my surprise it was a Helmeted Guineafowl, a species I have previously seen at South Africa. This was either an escaped from someone's farm or a feral bird.
Helmeted Guineafowl
The wetland was really scenic, although the lack of waterbirds was unexpected, whether this was seasonal I do not know. Not far from the entrance we saw a few Yellow Honeyeaters and many Australian Figbirds on a fruiting tree.
Lakes at Cattana Wetlands
Yellow Honeyeater
Australian Figbird - female
There was only a single Glossy Ibis feeding along the lake, I scanned for Black-necked Storks but didn't see any. I spotted a Bronze-cuckoo in a tree nearby, this was a juvenile Little Bronze-cuckoo.
Glossy Ibis
Little Bronze-cuckoo - juvenile
A female Mistletoebird came down to eye-levels, but it was so quick that I couldn't get a good photo. Numerous Willie Wagtails around the reserve were far more cooperative. We also added a few Brown-backed Honeyeaters.
Mistletoebird - female
Willie Wagtail
Brown-backed Honeyeater
I finally spotted a few ducks swimming on the water, these were Spotted Whistling Ducks, they soon took flight when they saw us coming, their speckled breast showed well inflight. This is a species which had shown range expansion southwards from Cape York. A pair of beautiful Green Pygmy-geese were swam past us, their metallic green backs were especially bright under the sun.
Spotted Whistling Duck
Green Pygmy Goose - female on left, male on right
There were a lot of Rainbow Bee-eaters around the reserve, some perched fairly low for a good look. I scanned the long grass and saw a red bird feeding on grass seeds, it was a Crimson Finch! We later saw a few more of these stunning birds, although they were quite shy and flew off as soon as we got closer. Chestnut-breasted Munias were far more cooperative.
Rainbow Bee-eater - juvenile
Crimson Finch
Chestnut-breasted Munia
Hoiling found a Golden-headed Cisticola, which sang from the top of the grass. In Hong Kong we rarely see one in breeding plumage. A Black-faced Monarch was also spotted in the nearby trees.
Golden-headed Cisticola
Black-faced Monarch
We got to a pond with many floating plants, just as I thought this was perfect for Jacanas, a Comb-crested Jacana flew in! Soon we realised it was tending to a few chicks, the family showed very well, demonstrating to us their super power to 'walk on water'.
Comb-crested Jacana
We saw yet another juvenile Little Bronze-cuckoo. A beautiful Yellow Oriole came into a fruiting tree and gave great views. We also added a Helmeted Friarbird which looks similar to the Noisy Friarbird, only with 'hair' on it's head.
Little Bronze Cuckoo - juvenile
Yellow Oriole
Helmeted Friarbird
We went back into Cairns for lunch and rested in the hotel room, mainly to get away from the heat. Around 4:30pm we headed back out despite the slight drizzle, we visited the Centenary Lakes around Cairns Botanic Gardens. Having missed Papuan Frogmouth at Julatten, we were hoping to find one in the botanic garden, but finding such a cryptic bird in amongst all the vegetation proved to be more difficult than one expect...we did however got great views of many Black Butcherbirds.
Black Butcherbird
There were a few Common Cicadabird foraging above, we saw a male caught what looks like a mantis in it's beak. A small flock of Large-billed Gerygone came through giving excellent views.
Common Cicadabird
Large-billed Gerygone
At the lake we saw Magpie Geese, they somehow resembles oversized Muscovy Ducks. Along the bank of the lake were a flock of Little Black Cormorants. We looked for Radjah Shelduck here but couldn't find any.
Magpie Goose
Little Black Cormorant
Just before we were about to leave, I noticed the song of Fairy-wrens in amongst the mangroves, surely enough these were Lovely Fairy-wrens, a female was accompanied by two males. Males look almost identical to Variegated Fairy-wrens, although females have a completely blue head and probably the prettiest out of all female Fairy-wrens. Unfortunately, the female did not like coming out into the open for photos, so I only got photos of the males, but it was still great to see this north eastern Queensland specialty.
Lovely Fairy-wren - male
To be continued...
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