I had intended to get to Cairns last September, when, no doubt, it would
have been cooler, drier, and easier to see the birds; but I soldiered on.
Here are the highlights (I had been to the area before, in July 1992, and
seen most of the resident species and the Atherton specialities, so this was
in the nature of a 'mopping up' operation).
Mission Beach:
Southern Cassowary (on walking track leading from Lacey's Creek parking
area, at the 2nd creek crossing), Pied Imperial Pigeon, Double-eyed
Fig-Parrot, Superb Fruit-Dove, Black Butcherbird
The Crater:
Golden Bowerbird (not at Thomas and Thomas's bower site, which I couldn't
find, but at the main entrance, 400m down the drive), Mountain Thornbill,
Bridled Honeyeater, Macleay's Honeyeater
Big Mitchell Creek, nr Mt Molloy:
Great Bowerbird, White-browed Robin, Yellow Honeyeater, Barking Owl
Mt Lewis 'Top Clearing':
Blue-faced Parrotfinch (good views of a pair for five minutes at c.10m),
Grey Headed Robin, Bower's Shrikethrush; on lower Mt Lewis Road: Noisy
Pitta, Yellow-eyed Cuckoo-Shrike, Victoria's Riflebird
Kingfisher Park, Julatten:
Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher, Emerald Dove, Channel-billed Cuckoo,
Lesser Sooty Owl, Grey Whistler, Metallic Starling, Blue-faced Honeyeater &c &c
Abattoir Swamp, nr Julatten:
White-browed Crake, White-gaped Honeyeater, Brown-backed Honeyeater,
Blue-winged Kookaburra
Mt Carbine Road:
Bustard, Blue-winged Kookaburra, Brown Treecreeper (ssp melanotus)
River at Mareeba:
Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo (I finally caught up with this bird!)
Mt Whitfield EP, Cairns:
BB P-Kingfisher, Superb Fruit-Dove, Pied Imperial-Pigeon, Noisy Pitta, Black
Butcherbird, Wompoo Fruit-Dove, Gould's Bronze-Cuckoo
Cairns Centenary Lakes:
Bush Thick-knee, Yellow Oriole, Silver-crowned Friarbird
Cairns Esplanade:
11 species of waders (no rarities), Bush Thick-knee, Varied Honeyeater
Reef Trip (nr or on Michaelmas Cay):
Common Noddy, Lesser Crested Tern, Black-naped Tern, Bridled and Sooty Terns
Newell Beach:
plenty of Barn Swallows, plenty of Fairy Martins, very few Welcome/Pacific
types; eventually I found some sitting on wires just past the Golf Club
towards NB. They were preening and spreading tails and I picked out one
Pacific. Alas, no Red-rumps!
Goldsborough State Forest:
Boatbill, Grey Whistler, Peregrine Falcon
All in all a very enjoyable trip, with 20 new species for me.
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Dr John Leonard
PO Box 243, Woden,
ACT 2606, AUSTRALIA
"Perhaps it is not too much to ask that we learn
to live with grace in a system that permits only
relative prediction." John F. Eisenburg
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