Plumed Whistling Duck
According to the campsite owner,
these birds are wild!
They fly off to feed at dusk every night & use the
campsite as a safe refuge during the day.
The 11th December was glorious! Saw around 20 Plumed Whistling Ducks in the
campsite. These are wild birds, but are tame due to daily feeding. Blue winged
Kookaburra was also present.
Ceggy on top of the very
dry falls!
Photo courtesy of Rowan James
Drove north & called in
at Cedar Falls. Unfortunately due to
the drought, no falls!
Feeling a bit cheated, we
pressed on to the Big Mango! Yet
another of the big’s around Australia!
A quick photo stop was in order!
Alligator Creek
Australian Brush Turkeys seem to be in every
car park ,along this stretch of coast.
Peaceful Dove
Yellow Honeyeater
Our next stop was at Alligator Creek picnic area in the Bowling Green Bay National Park. This
proved to be a bit of a gem, deserving of longer than the hour we spent there.
I quickly saw Yellow Honeyeater
& asked Rowan to look out for Australian Swiftlet, which she did
admirably, by spotting five birds a few minutes later! That’s my girl! Two new
birds in a few minutes!
Photo courtesy of Rowan James
Photo courtesy of Rowan James
Photo courtesy of Rowan James
Australian White Ibis colony in the mangroves.
Sharing the mangroves with hundreds of fruit bats.
Silver Gull minus a foot!
Pied Imperial Pigeon was common
in the mangroves.
Brown Honeyeater
Varied Honeyeater
We stayed at Rowes Bay in Townsville & then we had a walk
along the coast called The Strand.
It was a beautiful & interesting walk in the late afternoon, early evening.
Townsville looks a nice place to live with lots of outdoor facilities
beach side.
Best birds were:
Astralian Bush Turkey; 80+
Magpie Goose; 20 Plumed Whistling Duck; 2 Radjah Shelduck; White faced Heron; 2
Striated Heron; 100+ Australian White Ibis; 3 Whistling Kite; 2 Australian
Black Kite; Swamp Harrier; Brown Goshawk; Red Billed Gull; 5 Little Tern; 2
Pied Imperial Pigeon; Peaceful Dove; 3 Red-tailed Black Cockatoo;
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo; 75+ Rainbow Lorikeet; 2 Scaly-breasted Lorikeet; 5
Australian Swiftlet; 2 Blue-winged Kookaburra; 6 Rainbow Bee-eater; Weebill; 2
Noisy Friarbird; White-gaped Honeyeater; Varied Honeyeater; 2 Yellow Honeyeater; Brown Honeyeater; White-throated
Honeyeater; Magpie-lark; Figbird; White-breasted Woodswallow; Australian
Magpie; Pied Currawong; Torresian Crow; 10+ Great Bowerbird; Welcome Swallow; Olive
backed Sunbird & Mistletoebird.
It rained most of the night
but we stayed in a cabin! Good choice! The 12th
December was overcast with showers. I walked along the beachfront again
seeing White bellied Sea-Eagle; Caspian Tern; Mangrove Gerygone & Nutmeg
Mannakin.
Townsville Common, this looks a brilliant spot,
but is extremely large & will have to wait
for another day.
Australian Brush Turkey
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
a very common & widespread species
in this area.
We then explored the Townsville Common, which is a well
known birding site. This area is huge & I just had a scout around seeing
Tawny Grassbird, a few Pied Imperial Pigeons and two Chestnut breasted Mannikins.
Will have to come back here another time & spend a full day birding.
Townsville from the hill.
Photo courtesy of Rowan James
Rowan & Ceggy at the hill viewpoint.
A quick trip up Castle Hill, gave great views over the
town & a local race of Peregrine, which was really dark.
Agile Wallabies
We motored north, & next
stop was the Tyto Wetlands, near Ingham. This proved to be a gem of a
place, but something unfortunate & very fortunate happened! When we all set
off into the wetlands it was raining a little, but this soon turned to heavy
rain & Ceggy & Rowan turned back & I gave them my camera to keep it
dry. Bad decision! They had only been gone a few minutes when a Lewin’s Rail walked out of the reeds,
stopped & looked in horror at me & promtly turned tail & ran back
in! It was a four to five second view, whether I would have got a shot of it is
debatable, but no camera! I then walked on to the next wetland and spotted a Spotless Crake right out in the open!
Unbelievable! It just fed there in full view. I could have had my fill of
photos!
Best birds were:
Magpie Goose; 14 Green Pygmy
Goose; 3 Wandering Whistling Duck; 2 Plumed Whistling Duck; Black fronted
Dotterel; Austtralian Jacana; Horsfield’s Bronze Cuckoo; Brush Cuckoo; Brown backed Honeyeater; Yellow
Honeyeater & 4 Crimson Finch.
Here is the species that Ceggy & Rowan saw
& photographed with my camera!
Bush Stone Curlew
On arriving back at the car
Ceggy & Rowan asked me to identify two birds which they had photographed
with my camera. They turned out to be Bush
Stone Curlews! I never saw them!
I have to come back to this
place for a full days birding. The potential is enormous.
Mission Beach
Photo courtesy of Rowan James
Photo courtesy of Rowan James
Southern Cassowary
This is a male, with two immature well grown chicks
in attendance.
A spectacular bird!
My only sighting, then they were gone!
Another hour saw us at the
camp ground in Mission Beach. There
are signs everywhere saying beware of Cassowary. I was in the office completing
formalities when Rowan burst in & said there were Cassowaries just outside!
I ran outside, picked up my camera & shot a few frames of a male with two
chicks! Unbelievable stuff!
White breasted Woodswallow
Agile Wallaby
I had a little walk around
some forest in late afternoon but the only birds of note were two Black
Butcherbirds. We then had a little drive around & went to the beach but
rain stopped play. What a day though! Two mega species seen well & this is
not a birding trip!
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