November 07: Gavin Bieber on the second part of his recently completed tour, Australia: Queensland and New South Wales
The second half of our Eastern Australia set of tours kicked off on the idyllic Lady Elliot Island, on the southern edge of the Great Barrier Reef. Here we marveled at nesting Black Noddies just feet from our lenses, as well as a host of other seabirds and a wide array of marine life. A little to the south around the famous O’Reilly’s Lodge where the birds are almost tame, with forest birds often coming to investigate your shoelaces. Wonga Pigeons and the gorgeous Regent and Satin Bowerbirds are common visitors around the lodge, where they look over (or from) your shoulder for any dropped tidbits. We had some rain occluding our visit here (though it didn’t impact our bird list) which brought out an array of frogs including the colourful and impressively large Orange-eyed Treefrog.
After O’Reilly’s we flew down to Sydney where we spent some time in the stunning and large Royal National Park that lies just a little to the south of the city. This park provided a great and scenic backdrop for our final day and a half, with a family group of Powerful Owls on a day roost and very approachable Sulphur-crested Cockatoos. We finished the Eastern Tour with an impressive 300 species, and an amazing 436 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!
Black Noddy
An O'Riellys scene
Wonga Pigeon
Regent Bowerbird
Satin Bowerbird
Orange-eyed Treefrog - Image: Kent Anderson
PowerfulOwl - Image: Bob Pease
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo - Image: Kent Anderson
Posted: November 07, 2018