RB In FNQ

We are in Far North Queensland or FNQ as it is called. After just one night at Etty Bay with its incredible views of the water and even views of the wondrous Southern Cassowary, we headed on. It is school holidays and that caravan park was a circus of feral children and noisy adults (it really wasn’t that bad, just tiny sites and very crowded).

A bit too crowded for us. 

But the views were gorgeous, even in the rain.

We headed up to have a look at the Esplanade in North Cairns for the Mangrove Robin and we got it! Thank you again, Anne! I am indeed grateful. It is a delightful little robin and we found it in amongst the mangroves looking beautiful in its shady home.
     

Mangrove Robin in the mangroves, as it should be.

Then we had a look at the flats. And there were waders, they are the reason God made telescopes. We got ours out and soon we had two more life birds in the Greater Sand Plover and the Great Knot. Yes it was great! And I am grateful!
       

                   Greater Sand Plover                         

                            

Great Knot

We continued on the insanely gorgeous drive up the coast and we are now in a very nice caravan park just outside of Port Douglas, QLD. It’s nice, but nice in sort of a golf course kind of way. It does have excellent amenities! We also saw a lovely pair of Bush Stone-curlews. The male was lying flat about ten meters from where the female was (we think) sitting on eggs. We did not disturb them, but I made their photos. There was also a Yellow Oriole above us as we walked back to Matilda, a new bird on the trip list. I am grateful.
      

Ms Bush Stone-curlew on eggs we think. 

Mr. Bush Stone-curlew lying flat and being invisible, but not far from the Mrs. 

                 

Yellow Oriole 

Today we head to Kingfisher Lodge. I am quite excited and grateful. Stay tuned, I will keep y’all posted as best I can. We do love having y'all along.

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Cassowary Love

I am editing and culling photos of yet another of my most favorite birds in the world, Southern Cassowaries. Saturday afternoon we saw a dad with four youngin’s on the way to Etty Bay and then we watched a female wander through the caravan park here. I took their photos and I am grateful!

Southern Cassowary, dad and the kids (there are four).             

The fourth... he doesn't keep up well and is a little special I think.

I absolutely love this wonderfully bizarre bird. It is a dinosaur. It looks like Jim Henson created it. The colors on the neck and wattles look fake. The feathers look like hair and it has a “horn” on its head! Damn. I have a difficult time deleting photos of these magnificent birds. I reckon I will somehow choose just a few for the blog.
                    

Southern Cassowary (F) she is a wild Cassowary but she hangs around the caravan park. Regardless of all the signs asking them not to do so, people do feed them.

I love this bird.

I think she is being flirty.

As you might have heard, their feet can be a dangerous weapon.

We also stopped and looked at the Golden Gumboot in Tully, QLD. It is the rainiest spot in Oz. And yes, it was raining. Lynn took my photo standing at the top of the boot. 

        

Then I had a lot of fun photographing Metallic Starlings, the most beautiful Starlings I have ever seen. I saw them in FNQ 5 years ago, but that was in March and they were not in this fine breeding plumage. Their psychedelic iridescence is wondrous. I hope the camera captured it at least somewhat. Bearing in mind that it was raining and overcast, I cannot image what they must look like in bright sun! I am grateful.

          

Metallic Starlings... gorgeous

I now I have some internet here in Port Douglas, QLD and will post this. But first… I am going for a bird-walk around this caravan park.
And now I am back and I want to get this posted! I am so grateful (I got 3 life birds today, but that is another blog and it may be a while. Tomorrow we go to Kingfisher Lodge and I am grateful and excited!).

I will leave you with a Crimson Finch that seems a bit "chesty" to me. She really does appear to have cleavage.

At least it's a Finch and not a Tit.

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Matty In The Palms (Crystal Creek Caravan Park)

It is 4:30 Saturday morning and I am enjoying my coffee. We have spent two nights here with Matilda tucked into the palms. She has her awning out and has been resting. God knows we have pushed her hard over the last few weeks (Eungella was above and beyond). So she got to chill.
 

Matty amongst the palms

The awning is out, "camp" is set up and Matilda is relaxing (Lynn looks comfortable too).

Getting up before five is about normal for me nowadays and I like it. I am grateful. Thursday was quite a Lifer day. Anne Collins told us about a Brown-backed Honeyeater in a park that was just off our route. True to form, she was spot-on. We went to the park, walked to the spot, saw the bird and were back on the road in about ten minutes time. Tick. I am grateful!
   

Brown-backed Honeyeater

In the early afternoon we arrived here at Crystal Creek Caravan Park, which was another of Anne’s suggestions. She even made us a Google map of what she had seen where. Following her “bird treasure map,” we soon had White-browed Robin (tick), Lovely Fair-wren (tick) and Spectacled Monarch (tick for Lynn). We returned to Matilda to find Hornbill Friarbirds overhead (a split from Helmeted, so another tick for us both) and then after supper, I saw a small honeyeater. We watched it (and heard it) and it was a Yellow-spotted Honeyeater. I had my fifth life bird of the day. I am grateful!

Ms Lovely Fairy-wren. I love her.

Mr. Lovely Fairy-wren. They are not easy to photograph.

White-browed Robin     

Hornbill Friarbird, a different kind of beautiful. 

      

We had Lifer Pie in the form of fancy ice cream on a stick. Mine was Salted-caramel Macadamia and it was pure yum! Yesterday was a quiet kind of day birding around the campground. Lynn also did laundry and some tiding up of Matilda and I truly am grateful.
 

Varied Triller and a very unfortunate Praying Mantis.

Hello, Ladies... like what I have done to the place? (A Great Bowerbird's bower). 

Dusky Honeyeater and flower. 

Olive-backed Oriole 

Spectacled Monarch

A flock of Red-tailed Black-cockatoos flew over the park in the early evening. 

Yes, this is an excellent little spot. We will return. I am grateful. 

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Eungella (Ung Gulla) Honeyeater, Yes Indeed!

Eungella NP (pronounce Ung Gulla, I am pretty sure) sits up on a mountain. The road up to it is the steepest “real” road (not logging road, or trail) that I have ever driven. When I toured fulltime, I used to drive approximately 50-60 thousand miles a year. I have seen more roads than most. Matilda did it. She does not have much power and she is very heavy, but she has heart. I have never “pushed” a vehicle that hard, but she took it and she got us to the top. I. Am. Grateful. Thank you, Matty.
   

From the floor of that valley to where we are standing is about 4.5 kilometers of the steepest road I have ever driven. But it is drivable and worth the effort.

The Eungella Honeyeater only lives in the Eungella NP. If you want to see it, you have to go up there. Once at the top, there is still another 15 kilometers or so out to where you look for them. Thankfully, that is not all straight up, although the roads are mostly dirt and gravel. We looked for a couple of hours, and although we heard them a few times, we could not locate them.

The range map of the Eungella Honeyeater. The blue dot actually a little bit too large.

Then we discovered (thanks to a helpful local lady who was out jogging) that we could continue further on a track about 300 meters to a bushwalk gate into the National Park. We parked Matilda at the gate and began looking. We heard them again, but again they remained hidden. Lynn suggested that we take chairs out and sit and watch. Since we had been staring up into the canopy for hours, this idea was appealing. So we did and within about ten minutes time, a pair of Eungella Honeyeaters flew into the top of the large tree right in front of us. My God, I was grateful!
     

Eungella Honeyeater, Linchenostomus hindwoodi  

The pair.

We got gorgeous views, even though they remained often hidden and in constant motion. I got some barely recording photos, but I was grateful for those. Could I have spent another hour or so using a lot of playback and possibly gotten a better photo? Maybe. But as I have said, this journey is not about the photos. It is about experiencing the birds. And part of the experience of the Eungella Honeyeater is that it is an illusive bird that can be difficult to see. We saw it and I am grateful!

Eungella Honeyeater Lifer Selfie on top of the mountain and on top of the world! We did it!

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Dam Right

We arrived here at Kinchant Waters caravan park at Kinchant Dam early yesterday afternoon. Thanks to Anne Collins info yet again, I had hoped to see Cotton Pygmy-geese here and we did! Life bird before we even parked Matilda. I am grateful.
      

Cotton Pygmy-geese 

Here are a few photos from this lovely spot. Perhaps on the way back down, we will spend another day or two here. It is my (our) kind of place… incredible views, water, palms, tons of birds and even a tavern with decent food and wondrously rustic ambiance. It is a very special place, even if the amenities block is a tad woebegone. I am grateful.
     

Plumed Whistling-ducks

Plumed Whistling-ducks and Magpie Geese and Coots and a Pacific Black Duck 

Plumed Whistling-ducks 

Latham's Snipe right down in front of Matilda

Lynn took my photo.

The taps are a study in patina... beautiful in a weird way.

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.