Oops, make that 225 species for the trip.
John T.
On 26/12/2009, at 6:21 PM, John Tongue wrote:
> Hi all,
> Not long back from a long-awaited trip to Iron Range (north Cape York), and
> then some time around Cairns/Julatten. Sorry about the belated nature of
> this post, but we were only back a week before Christmas, and had to get
> through the Christmas rush to get a moment to post this.
>
> For many years, I'd been wanting to visit Iron Range. An inheritance made
> this possible for our whole family, early in December. We put it off as late
> into the season as we could, to get the PNG migrants, but also had to be back
> in reasonable time for Christmas (as I'm an Anglican Minister). For months,
> we gleaned snippets from Birding Aus, and other sources, and I want to thank
> all those who gave us advice directly.
>
> We flew Tassie to Cairns, and then into Lockhart River, where we hired a 4WD
> Troop Carrier from Lockhart River Car Hire. Paul is fine about you taking
> his 4WDs offroad (unlike some car hire companies), and was more than helpful,
> with esky, water carrier, chairs and gas stove thrown in. We stayed at
> Portland roads, in the Portland Roads Beach Shack, and had a number of
> (fantastic!) meals next door, at the "Out of the Blue" Cafe. In our week at
> Iron Range, we were able to check and double-check the main areas, eventually
> seeing all the 'Iron Range Specials' apart from Marbled Frogmouth, which was
> only heard. This was partly due to lots of searching, and partly due to lots
> of helpful advice - from Paul Piva, at the Car hire place, Greg and Sheree at
> the Cafe, Brian Venables, who was there with some birding friends, and Klaus
> Uhlenhut of Kirrama Tours, who was there with a tour group.
>
> Brian put us onto 4 Spotted Whistling Ducks that were on the Lockhart River
> Sewage ponds, as well as giving helpful advice about the Yellow-billed
> Kingfishers being easier at Chilli Beach than in the Rainforest. Greg, at
> the Cafe, pointed us in the right direction for a Fawn-breasted Bowerbird
> bower, which made finding the bird so much easier. Sheree told us where to
> pull up to get views across to an active Eclectus Parrot nest. And Klaus
> gave us lots of tips and advice whenever our paths crossed, including
> directing us to where a Red-bellied Pitta was calling, arriving from PNG just
> the day before we left, and finally being tracked down by us on the morning
> we left!! I was so excited, I took lots and lots of pics from underneath its
> perch, prompting my daughter to rib me about all my shots of Pitta-bottoms.
> Added to this, we had great views of Papuan Frogmouth, Noisy Pitta, and many
> of the other local specials (though some were really only glimpses).
>
> We then came back to Julatten, where Keith and Lindsay Fisher at Kingfisher
> Lodge were very kind, generous and helpful hosts, who put up with us only
> being round occasionally, as we visited lots of spots in the area. We got
> onto lots of species in the lodge grounds, as well as visiting Daintree,
> Cairns, Emerald Creek Falls, Mt Carbine, Abbatoir Swamp, and Mt Lewis.
> Unfortunately, no Blue-faced Parrot Finches, Golden Bowerbird, Red-necked
> Crake, or Victoria's Riflebird, but some other great birds, including
> fantastic waders at the Cairns Esplanade, Lovely Fairy-wren (finally) at
> Redden Island, nesting Pacific Baza near Kingfisher Lodge, great views of
> Tooth-billed Bowerbird at Mt Lewis, and 7 White-browed Crake, and a Black
> Bittern at Mt Carbine Dam.
>
> All up, we scored 224 species for the trip, with the four of us in the family
> seeing almost all birds. This included 58 lifers for me, 59 for my wife
> Shirley, 98 for our daughter Kimberley, and 99 for our son Peter. It was a
> fantastic trip, made the more enjoyable by all the information and assistance
> given by many through this forum, and others on the ground. Thank you all so
> much.
>
> Continue to have a safe, bird-filled holiday season, and I look forward to
> being in touch with many in the new year.
>
> Cheers all,
>
> John Tongue
> Ulverstone, Tas.
>
>
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