Our first full day at the wonderful Cassowary House started with a Little Shrike-Thrush in the gardens, followed by our first Rufous Fantail and Fairy Gerygone. All of a sudden we heard the shout of "cassowary" form Sue and we legged it onto the verandah where a male Southern Cassowary and his 3 young were feeding below us. What a strange looking bird, almost prehistoric in fact. So we ate an awesome breakfast on the verandah overlooking the Cassowary family and also enjoying our first Macleay's Honeyeater and a very obliging Black Butcherbird coming on to the feeders. With Dusky Rat Kangaroo and Orange-footed Scrubfowl feeding below us.
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| Southern Cassowary |
Phil Gregory told us that the high street in Kuranda was full of fruiting trees and we should try there for fig-parrot, so off we went straight after breakfast. The small 'touristy' town was alive with birds, with hundreds of Australian Figbirds, many Barred Cuckooshrikes, stonking Blue-faced Honeyeaters, Mistletoebird and our only Double-eyed Fig-Parrots of the whole trip. We had to wait quite a while before the fig-parrots came in but the wait was definitely worthwhile - what a bird. A flyover Grey Goshawk was a real bonus here too.
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| Australian Figbird (female) |
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| Australian Figbird (male) |
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| Double-eyed Fig-Parrot |
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| Grey Goshawk |
From here we visited the Cattana Wetlands, a series of lagoons surrounded by some decent habitat. One of the main prizes here is Crimson Finch and a small group were seen here, but not by me! But we did get Comb-crested Jacana, Azure Kingfisher, Green Pygmy-Goose, Leaden Flycatcher, Large-billed Scrubwren, Brown-backed Honeyeater, Straw-necked Ibis, Little Eagle, Magpie Goose, White-bellied Sea-Eagle, Black-necked Stork and White-faced Heron.
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| Azure Kingfisher |
Nearby, a small pond beside a golf course at Yorkey's Knob was pretty quiet although an Eastern Osprey, White-bellied Cuckooshrike and Brown Honeyeater were seen.
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| White-bellied Cuckooshrike |
Our last stop of the day was at Centenary Lakes in Cairns and this was one of our favourite places. It was something of a surprise to find such a bird-filled place in the middle of the city. Upon arrival we noted lots of Torresian Imperial-Pigeons flying around and some Rainbow Bee-eaters perched in the trees overhanging the lake. A pair of Radjah Shelducks looked stunning in the late afternoon light, whilst Australian Swiftlet, Common Cicadabird and Large-billed Gerygone were all new. We also got lucky bumping into a local birder who gave us a tipoff about a spot for Little Kingfisher, which showed nicely albeit distantly.
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| Bird of the day was this Little Kingfisher - the only one of the trip |
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| Pacific Black Duck is very common |
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| Radjah Shelduck |
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| Straw-necked and Australian White Ibis |
We stayed until after dark in the vain hope of some nightbirds before returning to Cassowary House.
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