Hi all, got back to Adelaide last night after a quick flight to Cairns
and fast drive from there up to Cooktown and back. We saw the gull
flying past the jetty before I'd even stopped the car !! It sure is a
big fellow. I think we got about 120 shots of it on both Tuesday
afternoon and Wednesday morning, unfortunately some of them were without
legs showing fully when it stood on top of a wide box structure on the
jetty but in general we got some good pics including two in-flight shots
showing tail and undersides. I have to wait for these two as they are
still in my companion's camera.
Some thoughts on logistics of the trip:
We thought at first to fly to Cairns, and then on to Cooktown with
Skytrans. However, the earliest we could get to Cairns was 11.05 thus
missing the morning 7.00 flight on to Cooktown, the next being 4.15 pm.,
this getting to Cooktown by nearly dark - well, too dark and gloomy for
taking any pictures. One way or another we were having to overnight in
Cooktown. The return fare Cairns/Cooktown is ca $255 each. In view of
this I looked into the driving option and found I could get a medium
sized car for $121 for two days, plus say $100 for fuel - a total of
$221 shared between two people, ie $ 110.50 each. Add to this the
convenience of having a car on the ground and there was no contest.
Having seen the gull in Cooktown we then drove back to Julatten, had a
cuppa with Jan England at Kingfisher Park where she also showed us the
Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfishers nesting ( thanks Jan), and then went
round to Newell Beach to look for the Swallows. We got Welcomes and a
few Barnies, but no Red-rumps. We then overnighted in Cairns and flew
back to Adelaide .
A quick but very successful trip.
BTW, I can't recommend The Peninsula CP in Cooktown, pokey little
cabins, but we were told of an albino lapwing seen in the Big 4 CP. We
didn't find the lapwing but the park is very nice - next time Tony. The
other beautiful CP we stayed at in Cairns is the Cool Waters at
Brinsmead, lots of birds there too.
One last thing - we booked a small economy car but got upgraded to a
Ford Falcon Mk II XR6, the most bright red car I've ever seen. Went like
a rocket.
-Tony, first twitch for 2008.
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