After being forced to sort out all the wedding photos before i started on the far more important trip report and photographs of my month long Australian honeymoon (aka secret birding trip), I have finally got round to putting my notes into a coherent form. I'll post a month long trip report here over the next week or so and hope it helps anybody out there. Will post some of the photos too and compile a trip list and put down some logistics. Anyway, here we go with the first few days...............
July 1st
After a 30 hour journey, we arrived at Cairns Airport and immediately saw magpie lark, rainbow lorikeet, varied honeyeater spangled drongo, willie wagtail and common myna. We picked up the rental car and made the one hour drive up the coast on Highway 1 to Port Douglas, picking up Australian swiftlet, straw-necked and Australian ibis, black kite, masked lapwing, white-breasted woodswallow, Australasian magpie, welcome swallow and tree martin en route.
Bags dumped at the Hibiscus Gardens (a bit pricey but nice) and then walked round the corner for some breakfast. On the very short walk saw peaceful dove, figbird, helmeted friarbird, yellow oriole, and yellow-bellied sunbird. All these species were seen most days walking up the main street in Port Douglas, together with the ever present laughing kookaburra in the town park beside the water.
After a nap, I took a quick look at the town map and decided I’d got an hour and a bit before it got dark so wandered up to Lookout Point and found osprey and Nankeen kestrel perched on the radio mast. In the scrub up this road were orange-footed scrubfowl, yellow-spotted honeyeater, leaden flycatcher, spectacled monarch, the rufous morph of the black butcherbird and a pair of lovely fairy wrens which turned out to be my only record of the trip.
July 2nd
I started what would be the pattern for most of the honeymoon; I got up early while the missus stayed in bed. I got three hours in at Kingfisher Park, in Julatten, which was about a 45 minute drive away. The owners, Keith and Lindsay Fisher, were very helpful and provided a map of the grounds. On arriving, a forest kingfisher caught a lizard at the entrance and a very tame pale yellow robin greeted me at the car. I then walked back up the driveway to find the resident noisy pitta cross my path. The pitta wasn’t at all bothered by my presence and I got a few good shots although the light wasn’t that good. While crouched on the ground a female Victoria’s riflebird landed right above my head but I couldn’t readjust quick enough to get a snap (must be getting old!) I birded the area called the “Orchard” and just walked around it several times watching the edge of the forest. Birds included: brush turkey, orange-footed scrubfowl, emerald dove, rainbow bee-eater, large-billed scrubwren, fairy gerygone, white-throated honeyeater, varied triller, little shrike-thrush, rufous fantail, grey fantail, spectacled monarch, grey-headed robin. These were all relatively common birds which I’d end up seeing many times elsewhere but the morning proved very useful as an introduction to the local birds. For non-australian birders I’d have to say that the little shrike-thrush posed me identification problems. It turned out to be quite a common bird but, on first seeing it, as far as I was concerned the pictures both Pizzey and Knight and in Slater weren’t much help in trying to ID it.
I then spent some time at the park’s feeders where some reasonable tame honeyeaters gave a good introduction to separating Lewin’s, yellow spotted and graceful honeyeaters. Also present were Macleay’s and blue-headed honeyeaters and a chestnut-breasted manikin.
July 3rd
The first of my special dispensation days - a whole day out birding while the missus stayed on the beach reading chick-lit. I started by driving an hour or so to Black Mountain Road just outside of Kuranda. New birds not seen at Kingfisher Park the previous day included topknot pigeon, yellow-throated scrubwren, bower’s shrike thrush, rufous whistler, (a black) black butcherbird, northern fantail, mistletoebird
and red-browed finch.
While driving up Black Mountain Road I came across the sign for the Cassowary House which I’d read about on the internet. I ventured down the driveway and Phil and Sue Gregory were kind enough to let me hang out for a while just in case one of their cassowaries turned up. Little did I know the shock I would have when it appeared.
Just outside their house, a male Victoria’s riflebird seemed rooted to the spot as he was permanently displaying atop a dead tree. In the garden, emerald dove, spotted catbird, helmeted friarbird and Macleay’s honeyeaters gave close up views at the feeders. However, after about twenty minutes, I had one of the most memorable birding experiences I’m ever likely to have and most certainly the one that will forever hold the record for increasing my heartbeat. While crouched down taking pictures of a couple of brush turkeys, I didn’t notice a cassowary creeping up on me! Before I knew it, I was next to it, close enough to touch it. I backed off slowly and spent the next ten minutes standing behind one of the supports for the house’s deck, with the cassowary giving me occasional glances from a few feet away. Finally, I managed to attract the attention of Sue, as she came out on the deck to make a phone call. She came down and rescued me but told me that I’d been lucky as the bird was the more docile female; if it had been the male she would just have shouted down directions as to where to run!
After the Cassowary House I headed further inland, towards Mareeba, but diverted south onto a road called Davis Creek Road, which led off into dry forest. I soon came across a small flock of squatter pigeons, while a wedge-tailed eagle flew over at a height to interfere with the Brisbane to Heathrow Express. A mixed group of passerines included red-backed fairy wren, white-gaped, yellow, dusky, scarlet, brown and white-throated honeyeaters and yellow-breasted boatbill. Also seen were the first of many white-bellied cuckoo-shrikes and pied butcherbirds, plus eastern yellow robin and lemon-bellied flycatcher.
I turned around and continued to Mareeba and then on to the Mareeba Wetlands. The wetlands themselves were pretty quiet with only cotton and green pygmy geese of any note, together with a few egrets, although an Australian hobby perched in some trees at the edge of the car park long enough for some digiscoping. However, Pickford Road which led from the main highway to the wetland produced a number of good birds. The way into to the wetlands produced white-bellied sea eagle, whistling, brahminy and black kites, nankeen kestrel, black-faced cuckoo-shrike, striated pardalote and double-barred finch. On the way out, I was birding by a stream near a couple of houses, one of wjhich advertised B&B. The owner of the house saw me and kindly asked me if I wanted to see a great bowerbird’s nest in his garden. Coincidentally I’d just been thumbing thorugh the field guides trying to ID a bird which I’d worked out was the aforementioned bowerbird. Around his garden were a pair of pale-headed rosellas and a large flock of sulphur crested cockatoos with a few little corellas thrown in, while on the other side of the road there was a mixed group of rainbow and scaly breasted lorikeets. He also got me to look up into one of his trees where there were a dozen roosting Nankeen night herons. As we were watching the herons he pointed out a pair of “stormbirds” flying over. This is the local name for channel-billed cuckoo and quite a good sighting for the time of year. I’d seen them described as flying walking sticks and you could definitely see why.
With dusk edging in there was just enough time to pick up a few more birds further down Pickford Road which included a red-backed kingfisher, black-necked stork, a brown falcon and what looked like a large mixed roost of kites in the distance.
My goodness Nick ! This is already an impressive report after just 3 days , you are blessed to get all this quality birding time in during your Honeymoon ! Very ambitious and such a great birdlist already.
I doubt I will ever get to see Australia and reading reports like this will be the closest I will get , Thanks ! Can't wait for more ...
You can get to Australia easy. Nice people, easy travel, and the greatest birds. No Jersey pizza --- but the 'pies' will suffice........