| Birding
On My Own - Australia and New Zealand 2002 Emmalee Tarry |
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It is the end of August and the temperature is rising. My plan is to go as far north in Queensland as I can without leaving the sealed road and then work my way south. I spent the first night in Caines and then drove up on the Atherton Tablelands . This was one of the easier drives up the Great Dividing Range.
I stopped at the Rainforest Park to see the Koalas. This is a zoo, but they do have Koalas that you can see and photograph. Early in the afternoon I reached the Kingfisher Park.
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This is the entrance to Kingfisher Park. Birdwatchers are
very welcome here and I overhead the owner telling a travel agent that he
really didn't need to advertise the park because birders had their own network
and find their own way here as indeed I did. . There are rooms with
kitchenettes and a campground with powered sites for AU$13 per night. They have
a fine amenities block with showers and laundry facilities and a full camp
kitchen. There is excellent birding on the grounds and you can use this as a base to bird the north end of the Atherton Tablelands. I stayed here 3 days and then went on to Daintree for several days and came back here for another night. The Kingfisher was one of the highlights of Queensland. |
| My favorite activity was to sit on this lovely veranda and
watch the many feeders at either end. The campground is to the left of this
building. Both Bush Turkey and Orange-footed Scrubfowl live at Kingfisher and you can see their mounds back in the woods. Peaceful Dove, Emerald Dove, Spectacled Monarch, Rufus Fantail, Grey Fantail were all porch birds. |
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MacLeay's Honeyeater was one of the first birds I
identified. Lewin's Honeyeater, Yellow-spotted Honeyeater, and the Graceful Honeyeater are three very similar species. The feeders here are one of the few places where you see all three at the same time. Lewin's and Yellow-spotted can be separated by the shape the yellow mark on the face. The Graceful looks very much like Yellow-spotted, but you can tell it apart by its very shy approach to the feeders. Blue-faced Honeyeaters and Yellow Honeyeater are also seen from the porch. |
| Flocks of Red-browed Finch frequent the feeders.
Metallic Starlings usually frequently one of the bird baths in the late
afternoon.. Ron, the owner took me down to see three Papuan Frogmouths roosting in their favorite tree. |
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