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Wednesday, 30 October, 2013

 

It suddenly struck me this evening how quickly this trip is winding down.  In a week, I’ll be somewhere over the Pacific Ocean, winging my way toward home (God Willing And The Creeks Don’t Rise).  Meanwhile, there are still birds to see.

 

I was up at 5 or 5:30 today, and John picked me up at 7:30.  We went up to a place called the Crystal Cascades, to try for some rainforest species; one in particular, Grey Whistler.  We didn’t see or hear any Grey Whistlers, but as soon as we got there, John heard a bird I needed for my trip list, and I picked up GRACEFUL HONEYEATER.  I wasn’t worried about getting it eventually because it is supposed to be a certainty at my last destination, Kingfisher Park Lodge, but you take them when you can, and it gave me a trip bird for the day, so I could relax.  The bird looks just like another honeyeater, the Yellow-spotted Honeyeater, and you need to hear them call to tell the difference.  Both species were calling at Crystal Cascades this morning, but I had picked up the Yellow-spotted down in Townsville, where they don’t get Graceful.

 

Crystal Cascades was a beautiful place, along a creek with swimming holes in it.  It was very quiet for birds mostly, though, and we didn’t see much.  We did hear another good one that I need, Noisy Pitta, and when I played the call on my phone, we had one answering us, very close, but we could never draw it out of the dense undergrowth.  While we were there, we heard a riflebird call (a common occurrence), and this time we saw one fly in.  I got views of a female or immature VICTORIA’S RIFLEBIRD, from right underneath it.  That is one I will likely see on Saturday with the professional guide I have booked, but again, you take them when you can get them.  I’d like to get a better view, and maybe I will, on Saturday.  That was two for the day.

 

We didn’t see anything else at Crystal Cascades, and we stopped at another park on the way back, but I didn’t write down the name of it.  Nothing new there, and no pictures.  John had a volunteer job to go to at the botanic gardens at 9:30, so he dropped me off back at my caravan park. 

 

I’ve had some questions about caravan parks, and so I took some pictures today of this one.  In some ways it is typical, and in other ways it is not.  It is more densely packed than many of them, probably because it is in the middle of a city, and most of them are not.  I always stay in a “cabin” or a “villa”.  In this case, the cabins and villas are attached – that is, lined up in a row.  Usually they are separate buildings.  Here is a picture of the cabin area at this caravan park.

 

The ones on the left are like mine.  They have a king bed, their own bathroom, and a little fridge and microwave.  The smaller ones in the back are sleeping rooms only, with shared toilet and shower facilities.  Mine has good air conditioning, as well as a ceiling fan, but I’m not sure about the sleeping rooms.  The sleeping rooms seem to have a double bed and a couple of bunks.  There is a common area with a microwave, as well as a BBQ area with tables.

 

There are various kinds of “sites” available, for people with campers, trailers, or vans (RV’s).  Some have power and water, some do not.  There are even several that have their own bathroom facilities in a separate little building at the site.  Most sites share common bathroom facilities and there is a “camp kitchen” a covered outdoor affair with fridge and microwave for common use.  Some sites have space for a tent, and some do not (people sleep in their vehicle).  Here is a picture that shows a street of sites.

 

Here is another street, with the laundry building on the right.  I did my laundry there yesterday.

 

Here is the entrance to the park.  You have to enter your code each time you enter or exit through the gates.

 

We don’t have anything like it in the States, and I think it is too bad.  I suppose there are places for the people with RV’s and trailers, but I have never heard of one that has cabins as well, and that is what I like.  I really like having a kitchenette, or at least a fridge and microwave.  Some motels offer that now at home, but I would stay in cabins like these, if they were available at home.

 

Anyway, back to today, after John dropped me off and went off to his volunteer gig, I drove on over to the botanical gardens and spent a couple of hours trying to see several birds I need.  We had heard two of them the other day, and John had seen another one before his bird walk group got to where I was waiting, so I knew they were there somewhere.  It was a very pleasant time in the park, but I didn’t see anything new.  I did hear the same two lifer species we had heard the day before, but I didn’t see them.  At one point, a Helmeted Friarbird did fly in, and I chased it for some pictures.  Here is a Helmeted Friarbird.

 

Friarbirds are kind of strange looking birds, with their featherless faces.  Here is another picture of that guy.

 

Friarbirds are very noisy, very conspicuous birds.

 

I had my lunch at home (roast beef and cheese rollups, potato chips, vegetables, and Diet Coke), and at 2 PM, John picked me up again.  We went to the Esplanade to see what we could see, with the goal of seeing a particular bird that has been hanging out there for a week or two – one I needed for my trip list, which I had looked for on my own yesterday and not found.

 

We started at the north end of the Esplanade (the shoreline, that is), but saw nothing there.  We moved on down to the area where John usually goes, and took our scopes and looked at shorebirds.  Toward the south end of the Esplanade, I got this picture of an Eastern Reef Egret.  I had gotten pictures of one on Lady Elliot Island, but it was a white morph, and this was the dark morph.

 

John also found the target bird, a GREY PLOVER.  It is the same species that we call Black-bellied Plover in the US.  In the breeding season (summer in the northern hemisphere), they have a completely black breast and belly, which gives them the US name.  In the non-breeding season (winter in the northern hemisphere), they fly south and turn a very plain gray-brown color.  They winter in California, and I see them there regularly, and some also winter here in Australia, after having done their breeding somewhere in the Northern hemisphere (Alaska or Siberia).  This particular bird is in the midst of its molt, changing from the breeding plumage of an all black breast and belly to the plain grey and brown of non-breeding plumage.  There is still a lot of black on its belly making it easy to spot.

 

It looks pretty raggedy right now.  I had another one for my trip list, though, so I was pleased.

 

Here is a picture of the southern end of the Cairns Esplanade.

 

That is a big swimming pool that you can see on the right there.  People don’t swim in the ocean in northern Queensland, except in special enclosures that protect them from sharks, crocs, and jellyfish.  The Cairns beach is not suitable for swimming anyway, as it is pretty muddy.  They do still partake of some water sports, though.  Here is a picture of a person parasailing.

 

Here is the person.

 

Looks pretty crazy to me, but stalking birds in a rainforest or a desert probably would look pretty crazy to most people, so who am I to talk?

 

One of the great things about birding on the Cairns Esplanade is that it is an east facing beach, so in the afternoon, the sun is behind you, and you get great light on the birds.  On the west coast of the US, the morning is the time you get that great light.  Anyway, I couldn’t resist taking this picture of an Eastern Curlew.  Its bill is covered in mud, as it has been probing for food.

 

Here is a picture of another similar bird with a downcurved bill, a Whimbrel.

 

The end of its bill is also coated in mud.  The Whimbrel is somewhat smaller than the Eastern Curlew, and the bill is shorter.  John had a good way to tell the difference.  The curlew can scratch its butt with its bill, but the Whimbrel can’t reach that far.  Actually, the best way to tell the difference is that the Whimbrel has stripes on its head, and the curlew doesn’t.

 

So, that is my story for today.  I picked up 3 more trip birds, to bring me to 336 total, of which 30 are lifers.

 

Tomorrow I head north again.  My destination is a village called Daintree, where I have booked an early morning river cruise for Friday morning.  I stay just one night there, and then I move on to my final destination in Queensland, Kingfisher Park Lodge, where I spend four nights.

 

So, I kept my streak alive today with my three trip birds.  Tomorrow would have been tough, except I have a local site for a bird that nests communally, and it should be easy to pick that one up before I head north.  That is the theory, anyway.  We’ll see how it goes.  I hope that the river cruise on Friday morning will pick up at least one more trip bird for me – I have a list of seven species that are seen regularly on that cruise, so I am optimistic.  Saturday is my professional guide day, so that should be a cinch.  After that, there are only Sunday and Monday, before I leave for home, and how I do those days will depend somewhat on how much my guide can show me on Saturday.  The trip is winding down, like I said at the beginning of this report, and it saddens me to realize it.