November 21: Gavin on his recently completed Australia Queensland and New South Wales tour
Our 2016 Eastern Australia Tour that covers Queensland and coastal New South Wales kicked off with a very nice week around Cairns and the Atherton Tablelands. From a surprisingly cooperative Azure Kingfisher that allowed close approach by our boat on the Daintree River to a fantastic experience with a pair of Southern Cassowaries in the rainforests near Kuranda, there was a wealth of birds at every turn.
Azure Kingfisher
Southern Cassowary
On our first afternoon we enjoyed close views of the oddly plumaged Rajah Shelduck at the Cairns Botanical Gardens.
Radjah Shelduck: photo by Tim Dolby
Our time up in the rainforest patches on the Atherton Tableland was spectacular, with very cooperative Victoria’s Riflebirds and Spotted Catbird among our best finds.
Victoria’s Riflebird
Spotted Catbird: photo by Tim Dolby
A special mention must go to the areas many species of mammals, especially this day-active Lumholtz’s Tree-Kangaroo, and the very extroverted Platypus that we found near Yungaburra.
Lumholtz’s Tree-Kangaroo
Platypus: photo by Tim Dolby
The dry forests on the north side of the tablelands provided a great contrast to the humid rainforests, and produced excellent views of our hoped for Australian Bustards.
Australian Bustards: Photo by Tim Dolby
After nearly a week inland from Cairns we then returned to the coast… Once back on the coast we spent a great day out on the Great Barrier Reef where we found courting pairs of Brown Boobies and thousands of Sooty Terns and Brown Noddies, as well as a surprising immature Red-footed Booby and great views of Bridled Tern.
Brown Booby: photo by Tim Dolby
Michaelmas Bay
Torresian Imperial-Pigeon: photo by Tim Dolby
The next day we bade farewell to the tropical north and its gaudy Torresian Imperial Pigeons and flew south to Brisbane and the famous O’Reilly’s Lodge.
O’Reilly’s Lodge
The birds around O’Reilly’s are almost tame, with forest birds often coming to investigate your shoelaces. Even normally very shy birds like Eastern Whipbird can be easy to spot here, and more bold birds like the perky Eastern Yellow Robin can be positively pushy.
Eastern Whipbird
Eastern Yellow Robin
The gorgeous Regent Bowerbirds are common visitors around the lodge, with some even hand-tame.
Regent Bowerbirds
Our scheduled pelagic trip out of Sydney was a no-go this year due to high winds and swell, but our backup visit to Barren Grounds National Park gave us superlative views of Eastern Bristlebird. Royal National Park was a great and scenic backdrop for our final day and a half, with Superb Lyrebird showing well. We finished the Eastern Tour with 281 species, and an amazing 411 species for the two tours combined. It is always with a touch of sadness that I board the plane to leave this amazing continent, and I very much look forward to next year’s duo of tours! (Photos by Gavin Bieber unless otherwise listed)
Posted: November 21, 2016