Australia's Unique Wildlife: Birds and Beasts Down-under

[janzin]

So I'm trying to whip through the end of this report as we leave in a couple of days for Kenya I'll keep going...

 

The rooms at the Kingfisher Birdwatcher's lodge are set around an inner courtyard which of course has feeders and a water feature. Here are a few birds that happened by while we ate our lunch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was also this guy living on the porch. Totally harmless, but I made sure to give him a wide berth every time I passed by. Spiders are not my favorite and yes, he was BIG...this isn't a macro shot! Must have been 6-8 inches across.

 

 

 

After lunch, we wandered the grounds a bit looking for another target: the Double-eyed Fig Parrot. We'd seen several during the trip, but always up high. Here they sometimes fed low and we were really thrilled to find one lunching at eye level on the entrance road to the lodge. A gorgeous bird who deserves multiple images.

 

He was a bit of a sloppy eater, though.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jilm]

ohhh I hate spiders...will freak outfit I see them

 

[janzin]

56 minutes ago, jilm said:

ohhh I hate spiders...will freak outfit I see them

 

 

@jilm oh I hate them too...but you will see them...we had them in our room in a couple of places--none as big as this, though, just little ones.

[Tom Kellie]

3 hours ago, janzin said:

@jilm oh I hate them too...but you will see them...we had them in our room in a couple of places--none as big as this, though, just little ones.

 

~ @janzin 

 

Generally speaking, web-dwelling spiders I'm able to reluctantly accept.

 

It's the crawling spiders which trip a wire in my composure.

 

The most immense web spiders I ever saw just about caused a coronary when I was about 30.

 

There were three Java Forest Spiders in the mountains south of Surabaya. Colorful but huge.

 

Spiders are so useful in the environment. I just wish that they'd go about their business far from me!

 

Tom

 

 

 

 

[janzin]

After lunch we went out traveling the area to pick up a few more birds that we needed for the list. Honestly I don't remember exactly where we went  

 

One beautiful new bird we got was this Yellow-breasted Boatbill, a lovely flycatcher. We had great looks but he refused to turn away from that annoying branch!  Someone with better Photoshop skills could probably fix this, but not me. You can see though why he is called a "boatbill."

 

 

 

We went to another spot with a bit of a boardwalk (no idea where!) that led to a blind that looked out over what was in season a wetland, but now just a dry field. There, we found another target. So many lovely honeyeaters in Australia.

 

 

We stopped at an overlook to a large pond and Steve was very excited to find this Cotton Pygmy Goose; apparently they are uncommon and usually found later in the season. We were quite far so I am only including this as a record shot.

 

 

We made quite a few more stops but not much more in the way of photos for the day. In one field, this male Eastern Grey gave us a last look--interestingly in this part of Queensland we did not see nearly as many 'roos and wallabies as we'd seen elsewhere. I'm sure they were around...we just didn't see many.

 

 

Back at the lodge, we tried again before dinner for the Red-necked Crake, but again no luck. And after another excellent dinner at the Highlander Tavern, we walked around the grounds for a last look for owls--but no luck there either, even though Steve had heard one calling the previous evening.

 

So tomorrow we head back to Cairns, but we have another couple of stops along the way. Maybe we can pick up one or two more lifers....

[janzin]

Our last full day of the trip. The plan was to head to Barron Gorge National Park for one last boat ride on the Barron River. We had one more target bird Steve wanted to find for us. We stopped at a small park and camping area to look for White-browed Robin, endemic to northeastern Australia. After a short walk down to the river, we heard it singing and before long...we saw it!

 

 

Also spotted this nice little lizard among the rocks.

 

 

Steve wasn't really sure why Bellbird had included the Barron river boat ride in our itinerary--and in retrospect it really wasn't worth the detour. It leaves from the town of Kuranda, which is a pretty little tourist town that people come to either by scenic railway...

 

 

or by a combination of the railway and cable car.

 

 

The boat ride was pretty lame, and we didn't see any birds we hadn't seen before. The river is pretty--and but really too wide for birding. This is definitely a ride geared towards the general tourist and not birders. We did stop to feed some turtles, which seemed to really excite the other tourists

 

 

The one new creature we did see was the Freshwater Crocodile. These are smaller than the Saltwater variety we saw up north, and not as dangerous.

 

 

Well, the ride was a relaxing way to end our trip but I wouldn't go out of my way for it. We had a nice lunch in Kuranda but then it was time to head back to Cairns, and say goodbye to Steve, as he had a plane to catch in the late afternoon. He was heading home and then the next day heading out to the USA for the American Birding Expo!

 

So we sadly bid our farewell. We went out about town for a bit, looking for souvenirs. Cairns had what they call a "night market" which is essentially a tourist trap with a lot of junk but I did get my customary fridge magnet.  We were bummed not to find any interesting crafts to buy--but as we walked towards our dinner reservation I spotted a sign which said "Aboriginal Art Centre." Lo and behold it was open and a really wonderful gallery. We actually purchased two small artworks which we now have hanging to remind us of our trip.   https://doongal.com.au/

 

 

As for dinner, I had made a reservation at a very nice seafood restaurant in Cairns.  http://www.thafish.com.au/

 

A final toast to a very successful, and fun trip!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 9, 2019 by janzin

[janzin]

Oh, not quite the end We had a last free morning in Cairns on our own, and we spent it birding on the esplanade; many of the photos I posted at the beginning of this section were actually taken on this last morning. Then it was back to Brisbane for a truly final night at the Ibis Airport hotel...before winging our way back to the USA. 

 

Thanks to everyone who has read along and for all the wonderful comments.

 

For those who are interested in these things, here is our final bird list.

 

Species: 282
                        

MAGPIE GOOSE
Magpie Goose                  

DUCKS, GEESE, AND WATERFOWL
Plumed Whistling-Duck         
Wandering Whistling-Duck      
Black Swan                    
Radjah Shelduck               
Green Pygmy-Goose             
Cotton Pygmy-Goose            
Maned Duck                    
Pacific Black Duck            
Gray Teal                     
Pink-eared Duck               
White-eyed Duck               

MEGAPODES
Australian Brushturkey        
Orange-footed Scrubfowl       

GUINEAFOWL
Helmeted Guineafowl           

GREBES
Australasian Grebe            

STORKS
Black-necked Stork            

CORMORANTS AND SHAGS
Little Pied Cormorant         
Little Black Cormorant        

ANHINGAS
Australasian Darter           

PELICANS
Australian Pelican            

HERONS, EGRETS, AND BITTERNS
Pacific Heron                 
Great Egret                   
Intermediate Egret            
White-faced Heron             
Little Egret                  
Pacific Reef-Heron            
Pied Heron                    
Cattle Egret                  
Striated Heron                
Rufous Night-Heron            

IBISES AND SPOONBILLS
Glossy Ibis                   
Australian Ibis               
Straw-necked Ibis             
Royal Spoonbill               

HAWKS, EAGLES, AND KITES
Australian Kite               
Black-breasted Kite           
Pacific Baza                  
Little Eagle                  
Wedge-tailed Eagle            
Swamp Harrier                 
Spotted Harrier               
Gray Goshawk                  
Red Goshawk                   
Black Kite                    
Whistling Kite                
Brahminy Kite                 
White-bellied Sea-Eagle       

BUSTARDS
Australian Bustard            

RAILS, GALLINULES, AND COOTS
White-browed Crake            
Australasian Swamphen         
Dusky Moorhen                 
Eurasian Coot                 

CRANES
Brolga                        

THICK-KNEES
Bush Thick-knee               

STILTS AND AVOCETS
Pied Stilt                    
Red-necked Avocet             

PLOVERS AND LAPWINGS
Black-bellied Plover          
Pacific Golden-Plover         
Masked Lapwing                
Lesser Sand-Plover            
Greater Sand-Plover           
Red-capped Plover             
Red-kneed Dotterel            
Black-fronted Dotterel        

JACANAS
Comb-crested Jacana           

SANDPIPERS AND ALLIES
Whimbrel                      
Far Eastern Curlew            
Bar-tailed Godwit             
Black-tailed Godwit           
Ruddy Turnstone               
Great Knot                    
Red Knot                      
Red-necked Stint              
Sanderling                    
Latham's Snipe                
Terek Sandpiper               
Common Sandpiper              
Gray-tailed Tattler           
Common Greenshank             
Marsh Sandpiper               

PRATINCOLES AND COURSERS
Australian Pratincole         

GULLS, TERNS, AND SKIMMERS
Silver Gull                   
Gull-billed Tern              
Caspian Tern                  
Whiskered Tern                
Great Crested Tern            
Lesser Crested Tern           

PIGEONS AND DOVES
Rock Pigeon                   
White-headed Pigeon           
Spotted Dove                  
Brown Cuckoo-Dove             
Pacific Emerald Dove          
Crested Pigeon                
Squatter Pigeon               
Partridge Pigeon              
Chestnut-quilled Rock-Pigeon  
Wonga Pigeon                  
Diamond Dove                  
Peaceful Dove                 
Bar-shouldered Dove           
Wompoo Fruit-Dove             
Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove       
Torresian Imperial-Pigeon     
Topknot Pigeon                

CUCKOOS
Pheasant Coucal               
Channel-billed Cuckoo         
Little Bronze-Cuckoo          
Fan-tailed Cuckoo             
Brush Cuckoo                  

OWLS
Rufous Owl                    
Barking Owl                   

FROGMOUTHS
Tawny Frogmouth               
Papuan Frogmouth              

SWIFTS
Australian Swiftlet           

KINGFISHERS
Azure Kingfisher              
Little Kingfisher             
Laughing Kookaburra           
Blue-winged Kookaburra        
Red-backed Kingfisher         
Forest Kingfisher             
Torresian Kingfisher          
Sacred Kingfisher             

BEE-EATERS
Rainbow Bee-eater             

FALCONS AND CARACARAS
Australian Kestrel            
Brown Falcon                  

COCKATOOS
Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo     
Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo  
Galah                         
Little Corella                
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo      
Cockatiel                     

PARROTS; PLATYCERCINAE, PSITTACELLINAE, LORIINAE, AGOAPORNITHINAE, PSITTACULINAE
Australian King-Parrot        
Red-winged Parrot             
Crimson Rosella               
Northern Rosella              
Pale-headed Rosella           
Hooded Parrot                 
Double-eyed Fig-Parrot        
Varied Lorikeet               
Rainbow Lorikeet              
Scaly-breasted Lorikeet       

PITTAS
Noisy Pitta                   
Rainbow Pitta                 

LYREBIRDS
Albert's Lyrebird             

BOWERBIRDS
Spotted Catbird               
Green Catbird                 
Tooth-billed Catbird          
Golden Bowerbird              
Regent Bowerbird              
Satin Bowerbird               
Great Bowerbird               

AUSTRALASIAN TREECREEPERS
White-throated Treecreeper    
Black-tailed Treecreeper      

FAIRYWRENS
Variegated Fairywren          
Lovely Fairywren              
Superb Fairywren              
Red-backed Fairywren          

HONEYEATERS
Eastern Spinebill             
Yellow-spotted Honeyeater     
Lewin's Honeyeater            
Graceful Honeyeater           
Yellow Honeyeater             
White-gaped Honeyeater        
Yellow-faced Honeyeater       
Bell Miner                    
Noisy Miner                   
Yellow-throated Miner         
Bridled Honeyeater            
Varied Honeyeater             
Yellow-tinted Honeyeater      
Brown-backed Honeyeater       
Bar-breasted Honeyeater       
Rufous-banded Honeyeater      
Rufous-throated Honeyeater    
Dusky Myzomela                
Red-headed Myzomela           
Scarlet Myzomela              
Banded Honeyeater             
Brown Honeyeater              
White-cheeked Honeyeater      
Blue-faced Honeyeater         
White-throated Honeyeater     
Black-chinned Honeyeater      
Macleay's Honeyeater          
Little Friarbird              
Helmeted Friarbird            
Silver-crowned Friarbird      
Noisy Friarbird               

PARDALOTES
Striated Pardalote            

THORNBILLS AND ALLIES
Fernwren                      
Yellow-throated Scrubwren     
White-browed Scrubwren        
Atherton Scrubwren            
Large-billed Scrubwren        
Mountain Thornbill            
Brown Thornbill               
Weebill                       
Green-backed Gerygone         
Fairy Gerygone                
Large-billed Gerygone         
Brown Gerygone                
Mangrove Gerygone             

PSEUDO-BABBLERS
Gray-crowned Babbler          

LOGRUNNERS
Australian Logrunner          
Chowchilla                    

WHIPBIRDS AND WEDGEBILLS
Eastern Whipbird              

BOATBILLS
Yellow-breasted Boatbill      

WOODSWALLOWS
White-breasted Woodswallow    
White-browed Woodswallow      
Black-faced Woodswallow       
Little Woodswallow            

BELLMAGPIES AND ALLIES
Gray Butcherbird              
Silver-backed Butcherbird     
Pied Butcherbird              
Black Butcherbird             
Australian Magpie             
Pied Currawong                

CUCKOO-SHRIKES
Barred Cuckooshrike           
Black-faced Cuckooshrike      
White-bellied Cuckooshrike    
White-winged Triller          
Varied Triller                

SITTELLAS
Varied Sittella               

WHISTLERS AND ALLIES
Little Shrikethrush           
Sandstone Shrikethrush        
Gray Shrikethrush             
Bower's Shrikethrush          
Golden Whistler               
Black-tailed Whistler         
Gray Whistler                 
Rufous Whistler               

OLD WORLD ORIOLES
Olive-backed Oriole           
Green Oriole                  
Australasian Figbird          

DRONGOS
Spangled Drongo               

FANTAILS
Northern Fantail              
Willie-wagtail                
Rufous Fantail                
Arafura Fantail               
Gray Fantail                  

MONARCH FLYCATCHERS
Spectacled Monarch            
Pied Monarch                  
Magpie-Lark                   
Leaden Flycatcher             
Broad-billed Flycatcher       
Paperbark Flycatcher          
Shining Flycatcher            

CROWS, JAYS, AND MAGPIES
Torresian Crow                

WHITE-WINGED CHOUGH AND APOSTLEBIRD
Apostlebird                   

BIRDS-OF-PARADISE
Paradise Riflebird            
Victoria's Riflebird          

AUSTRALASIAN ROBINS
Jacky-winter                  
Lemon-bellied Flycatcher      
Pale-yellow Robin             
Eastern Yellow Robin          
Mangrove Robin                
White-browed Robin            
Buff-sided Robin              
Gray-headed Robin             

SWALLOWS
Welcome Swallow               
Fairy Martin                  
Tree Martin                   

CISTICOLAS AND ALLIES
Zitting Cisticola             
Golden-headed Cisticola       

YUHINAS, WHITE-EYES, AND ALLIES
Australian Yellow White-eye   
Silver-eye                    

THRUSHES AND ALLIES
Russet-tailed Thrush          

STARLINGS
Metallic Starling             
Common Myna                   

FLOWERPECKERS
Mistletoebird                 

SUNBIRDS AND SPIDERHUNTERS
Olive-backed Sunbird          

WAGTAILS AND PIPITS
Australasian Pipit            

OLD WORLD SPARROWS
House Sparrow                 

WAXBILLS AND ALLIES
Red-browed Firetail           
Crimson Finch                 
Double-barred Finch           
Masked Finch                  
Long-tailed Finch             
Gouldian Finch                
Scaly-breasted Munia          
Chestnut-breasted Munia       

 

[Tom Kellie]

 

 

~ @janzin

 

I love that upturned tail! It reminds me of certain chipmunks scampering off, tail pointed skyward.

 

You observed a fair amount of birds. Thank you for posting the list.

 

If you enjoyed the trip and had fun, that's best of all.

 

May tomorrow's journey to Masai Mara be both productive and a superb experience.

 

Thank you so much for the many outstanding images in this trip report.

 

Tom K.

[Caracal]

Have enjoyed every step along the way of this superb report.

I live way down south in Victoria - some birds - Including King Parrot, Crimson Rosella, Superb Fairy Wren, Rainbow Lorikeet  are year round residents - others such as the FanTailed Cuckoo are summer visitors here  and then there are so many more all so beautifully captured in your photos.

Interestingly your koala seems to have a brown/yellowish colouring. Our ones here are grey with whitish/cream markings.

Great to get such a photo of the platypus - they're around locally but I've only ever seen them very briefly early or at dusk.

Used to see sugar gliders launching from a tall black wattle tree into smaller trees in my backyard when I lived out of town. But with advancing years downsized and moved into town a year ago.

Thanks again @janzin - have a great safari - and "no worries" enjoy it all!

[Zubbie15]

Thanks for sharing @janzin, really fun to follow along and lots of interesting tips for when we return (which won’t be for a few years, unfortunately).  Have a great time in Kenya, looking forward to more excellent photos to come. 

[Atdahl]

Thanks for the great TR @janzin.  You went to quite a few areas that were already on my future list so it was great to get more details on them.  282 birds is quite an incredible haul (not to mention the mammals and herps) so congratulations on that.  As always, your pictures are fantastic.  Have a great time in Kenya.  Sorry that we will miss you there but maybe our paths will cross in October .

 

Alan

[jilm]

I did not want this to end it was so good....can not wait to follow you along your next adventure...Everything was spatular...the writing , the humor and the photos..

[TonyQ]

A wonderful report- a real pleasure to see so many beautiful birds, and as always your photos are superb.

Two of you guides seem excellent and worth noting!

 

Thank you for posting, and have a great time in Kenya.

[KiwiGran]

Have really enjoyed this report and it has brought back many memories as we have traveled to these areas too. But like @Feliz we didnt see anywhere near as much as you did. We did however see platypus and tree kangaroo when we stayed at Possum Cottage on the Atherton Tablelands. Thank you for posting and have a great trip to Kenya

[janzin]

Thanks to everyone who commented and I'm really pleased that the report was enjoyable and of interest to so many--considering it was mostly birds and not even a safari

 

 

[kitefarrago]

Australia has been on my `maybe when I retire I'll have enough free time to make it worth going such a long way'. Your report has made me seriously rethink whether I want to wait that long. Thank you very much for giving us such a great idea of what can be expected in that part of Australia.

 

Andrea

[Galago]

@janzin Great trip report and amazing photographs. It brought back a lot of memories, especially as I visited/ stayed in many of the same places. The Doongal Art Gallery in cairns is amazing, isn't it. I brought some lovely art there. 

Have a great time in Kenya!

[kittykat23uk]

That striped possum is soo cute @janzin I would just want to take one home with me!! 

[Zim Girl]

Fabulous trip report as always @janzin, loved all the birds (really impressive list of species), all the mammals were adorable and great to see some herps.

 

Have a fantastic time in Kenya.

[lmSA84]

Fabulous report and as always top notch photography. Thanks for the taking the time to post it - you have definitely added AUS to my wishlist. I hope you have a wonderful time on your next trip. 

[xelas]

Amazed by the colourful birds, and how crispy sharp they all are, even those taken in less then favourable conditions. Just curious, how many photos, in total, have youtaken during your splendid birding trip Down Under?

[michael-ibk]

Incredibly cool report Janet, you really outdid yourself with all these pitch-perfect shots of so many beautiful birds. Have never really included Australia in my travel thoughts, you have profoundly changed that.

[Kitsafari]

A hugely successful trip! Platypus, sugar gliders! Wow.

 

I'm sure your TR will inspire a few trips along the same vein. I'm certainly going to do one for the pittas!

 

Thanks for all the hard work that went into the TR- I've thoroughly enjoyed it.

[janzin]

On 2/18/2019 at 10:39 AM, xelas said:

Amazed by the colourful birds, and how crispy sharp they all are, even those taken in less then favourable conditions. Just curious, how many photos, in total, have youtaken during your splendid birding trip Down Under?

 @xelas I can't say for sure as I've since culled quite alot, but I have about 7,000 left, so it must have been over 10K.

 

I'm really glad this report has inspired so many to at least consider a trip to Australia! It is really deserving of multiple trips. And once you've made the trip once, the long flight doesn't seem THAT bad. 

[Atravelynn]

“One thing I could never get over in Australia was how common it was to just see kangaroos and wallabies hanging by the side of the roads.”  The Aussies of long ago were impressed enough with these creatures to feature them in their art.

“The Satin Bowerbird decorates his bower with mostly blue objects.”  Interesting photo illustrating this fascinating trait.

Your bird photos represent all the crayolas in the box and more.

Safari njema