Thursday, August 22, 2019

Postcards from Australasia #7

The next destination for Helen and my Australasian adventure was Cairns and the Atherton Tablelands. Cairns is a small city nestled between the Pacific Ocean and it's adjacent mountain range. The sunrises are something to behold:


We explored the Botanic Gardens, seeing this Olive-backed Sunbird, met some local birders who pointed out some roost locations of night birds.


After Cairns is was up into the Tablelands. We stopped at Mt Molloy for coffee. There's a curious lack of recycling in Australia, so many vehicles are left like this one. Interestingly MT Molloy was short for Mining Town Molloy however when the State government decided every settlement should have a generic sign, they assumed at the MTs were Mounts, hence lots of places got their names changed overnight!


Our first stay in the Tablelands was Kingfisher Park Birding Lodge in Julatten, home to many species including this range restriced Macleay's Honeyeater:


We had a day booked with Carol, one of the owners of the lodge and saw loads of species on our morning walk up Mount Lewis. On the descent we found this Red-bellied Black Snake basking in the sunshine. At first it didn't want to shift, but three of us looming persauded it to slither off.


During the afternoon Carol took us to a campsite which frequently hosts small groups of Apostlebirds, we weren't disappointed:


On the way back to the lodge we stopped to observe this Australasian Bustard displaying:


From Julatten we drove up to Cooktown at the end of the made road into Cape York, this is a view of the natural harbour from Grassy Hill


Cooktown has a monument to Captain Cook, and alongside this cannon, cast in Carron Cannon works in Falkirk in 1803. It was shipped up from Brisbane for defence against a suspected Russian invasion in the late 19th century. While in Cooktown we also walked up Mount Cook to take a photgraph of the nearby Mount Saunders, Helen's family name


We took our rental 4x4 up the dirt road to the McIvor River crossing, another birding hotspot as it's where the equatorial and tropical regions of Australia meet, enjoying a morning birding before heading back to Cooktown to pack-up for the journey south.


A final stop in the region was in Yungaburra and we loved it there. We spent one day exploring around Lake Tinaroo, walking various trails and enjoying the landscape reminscent of Scoland in high summer. We also passed the dam, which given the huge volumes of rainfall, was venting huge quantities of water into the river system


Another trip took us to a tea plantation where the prescient owner had planted tree kangaroo friendly woodlands, hence tree kangaroos! My current 'cutest animal on earth' winner. This teenage male 'roo was feeding and climbing, the descent was decidedly less elegant, more sliding, putting me in mind of watching bears in trees.


We also saw Duck-billed Platypus at three locations in the area finally getting photographs at another location in Yungaburra. Magic.


On our last full day in the area we walked up Mount Yabi, an area with some good birding and heaps of butterflies. Sister-in-law lepidopterist has been bombarded with species photographs to identify


On our descent back to Cairns we passed by a number of waterfalls including this one at Millaa Millaa. We've loved this part of our trip and a little sad to leave it behind. Next-up we have a brief holdiay from our holiday in the Brisbane region, with friends, before we start our journey South!


Saturday, August 10, 2019

Postcards from Australasia #6

The first thing you notice as you fly to the centre of Australia is how barren, hot and red it looks.  On approach to Alice Springs you then see the MacDonnell Ranges, like spines sat proud from the surrounding landscape.   You fly pretty low over these to land at Alice Springs.

We picked up our rental car and headed to our hotel in the heat of the afternoon.   We had a busy day planned for the following day so turned in early.

The next morning having made it to breakfast first we headed promptly out to the Olive Pink Botanic Gardens.   While they sorted out the repair to the coffee machine we walked up the small adjacent hill and were delighted to see this Black-footed Rock-Wallaby sunning itself in the morning sunshine.  To be fair it was blimmin cold, roughly 7c and with a light breeze, seen ruffling its fur:


After coffee we explored the gardens enjoying the various birdlife and another Wallaby, i assume this one having a good old scratch is from the same species:


From the Botanic Gardens we drove on to Alice Springs Telegraph Station Reserve, where we had a couple of very enjoyable walks, as the temperature and winds rose.   After that time for another coffee which Helen accompanied with a Scone.

She couldn't finish the jam, luckily this Yellow-throated Miner was on-hand to help:


Onwards again to the last destination of the day, the expensive to get in but worth it, Desert Park.   They have lots of the scarcer and harder to see species in aviaries which wasn't so good or pleasant.  It also made picking out the calls of the wild/free birds tricky, however without a visit there we'd have seen many fewer desert specialists as they have a lot of suitable habitat in the park.   One we were pleased to see was this Splendid Fairy-Wren in breeding plumage:


Another bird, one which proved to be the most common we'd see in the arid centre was the Zebra Finch:


The next day we headed to the East MacDonnell Ranges, specifically to explore Trephina Gorge.  My vertigo prevented us from completing the gorge circuit however we did out-and-back both of the ends and nearly completed the overlook trail.   Helen was dressed for the early morning cold weather:


The next day it was off to Glen Helen having visited Simspons Gap and a few other stops along the way.   This is the permanent waterhole in the Glen in a natural break in the Range:


We really enjoyed our stay in the Lodge, a laid-back atmosphere and with the best food we ate in all of the Red Centre, we'd recommend it.

The next day we walked the Ormiston Gorge Pound Walk, starting through scrub and woodland burned to cinder after a lightning strike six months previously, regeneration takes a long time in the desert.   This is a lone Ghost Gum on a ridge of scrub that survived the fire:


The views all along the trail are outstanding:


The landscape and colours spectacular:


Along the trail we saw few birds but they were almost all from very localised, specialised species, including two species of Grasswren, this latter the Dusky Grasswren was spotted when we were walking back through the gorge to the waterhole at the end of the trail:


From Glen Helen we took the long way around, absent a 4x4 to Kings Canyon, a little over 600km via Alice Springs and the odd roadhouse on the way.   We found Kings Canyon to be thoroughly over-sold, over-touristed and massively over-priced.   Everything was expensive and frankly low quality, it's a complete tourist trap.   One highlight was the Spinifex Pigeons outside our room area:


Leaving, gratefully, Kings Canyon and heading to Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park we spotted a dingo, finally i had a camera to hand too:


Uluru itself is remarkable both for its spiritual and geological history:


On our last morning of this whistlestop tour of the Red Centre we drove to Kata Tjuta to watch the sunrise before meandering back to the airport for our flight to Cairns, and the tropics:


Friday, August 09, 2019

Postcards from Australasia #5


We arrived in Darwin from PNG, via Brisbane, after midnight, collected our car and drove to our downtown hotel.   The following morning, albeit a little later than normal we set off on foot to walk to the Botanic Gardens.   We enjoyed exploring these, seeing a number of regional bird species, a brunch in the gardens though the building heat soon had us heading back to rest and recuperate.

The next day we headed early to Charles Darwin National Park.  This is a view back to the city from the park:


We again saw a good number of regional specialists though the main event was being eaten alive by midges.   They peak around dawn and dusk we found out later, so our timing was spot on!   100 bites between us and they are still coming up nearly three weeks after the event!

The next day we started our trip to Kakadu, stopping at Fogg Dam Conservation Reserve.  We got our first glimpse of a Pitta in Australasia here amongst many other species, and enjoyed seeing the regional Blue-winged Kookaburra along a trail:


As well as Comb-crested Jacana on the lillies:


A trio of Little Kingfishers displayed, argued and moved around a dead tree:


From there we drove on to Mary River to stay at the lodge there, we mooched around the property mostly seeing the resident Wallabies.

The next morning we drove to the closeby Bird Billabong where we enjoyed a lovely walk, seeing a good number of species and bumping into a birding couple who helped us with some of the species thereabouts.

This image is of Royal Spoonbills and a Glossy Ibis on the billabong:


From there it was time to head into Kakadu:


It's one of the largest National Parks that's been formed out of land returned to it's original custodians, the Aboriginals.   They in turn work with the State government to run it as a National Park, which makes a lot of sense.   There's clearly challenges though as a number of the trails are closed and it seemed only the really big tourist draws like boat trips, etc. were fully staffed and operating.

Every dawn in the Top End was the same, a faint glow on the horizon which then turned through pinks and oranges and blues, before the golden sunlinght of dawn:


One trail we did enjoy was the Bardedjillidji (2.5km) weaving through the sandstone rocks.   We wanted to do the 6.5km extension but that was one of the trails that were overgrown and closed.



Another morning, another trail, this time we headed for Nourlangie and decided to start up the outback trail, at least to the top of the gorge.  On the way up we saw our first Kangaroo species, a Black Wallaroo, still before the dawn:


The view from the top of the gorge was spectacular, taking in part of the park from our perch:


From Kakadu we headed south stopping at Edith Falls, the Northernmost entry in Nitmiluk National Park and a spectacular location:


The rockpools are accessible and swum by many keen tourists both local and otherwise. 

We walked a number of trails in Nitmiluk from Edith Falls and from the Southern entrance, Katherine Gorge.   Around the visitor centre there are a number of Greater Bowerbirds, on one walk we found one of the bowers: 


One trail we did took us to Butterfly Gorge, which as the name suggested was home to a number of butterflies:


On our final morning in Nitmiluk we were somewhat nervous as we'd booked a boat-trip on Katherine Gorge, a bit 'touristy'' for us.   We arrived early and enjoyed seeing this Blue-faced Honeyeater on the lawn:


We also saw Great-billed Heron and Northern Rosella, two species i was sure we were going to miss so it was already turning out well.

The boat takes you through the first gorge:


Where we saw some excellent stuff including a few Freshwater Crocodiles:


Then the boat docks and you have a short walk across a natural rock-bar to a second boat:


The second gorge is outstanding and spectacular:


Along the sandbar is some Aboriginal art, this one circa 3,000 years old though apparently refreshed from time-to-time:


On our return trip we spotted this Little Pied Cormorant with a freshwater shrimp:


After much bashing the shrimp was minus its legs and antennae and suitable for consumption.  The trip was brought to life by a very entertaining guide and we'd thoroughly recommend it to anyone.

From Katherine we headed North towards Darwin and the completion of the circuit we'd planned, stopping at a park in Batchelor next door to Litchfield National Park.   The park owner has been feeding wild birds for about twenty years so he was assured a good turnout every evening, including a number of excited and boisterous Galah:


Litchfield, being close to Darwin, gets a lot of visitors, however being birders we're out shortly after dawn most mornings, before dawn quite often, so it's always pretty quiet.   We weren't however prepared for a pea-souper as we drove into the park:


Litchfield is replete with rockpools and spectacular waterfalls, hence no doubt it's popularity for people camping as they can escape the heat of the day with a swim in fish-infested waters!

We walked a few trails but found the birding frustrating, the birds keen to get away at first contact with humans, unusually for our trip so far.   By 11am we'd decided to head for Darwin a day early to sort ourselves out before our flight.  We stopped off at a few remaining spots as we headed out of the park:



Back in Darwin we washed clothes and ourselves and packed our things ready for our flight to Alice Springs and the Red Centre.