Lake Mitchell to Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge

Was really looking forward to heading up to Kingfisher Park today. But we had another great, close Southern Cassowary encounter....

Southern Cassowary

And the Spotted Catbirds were coming to the feeders at breakfast as well.... So after saying our farewells to our wonderful hosts Sue and Phil Gregory, we set off to Lake Mitchell. This was a huge area of water, grassland and swamp. Our only Brolga of the trip was here, along with commoner species such as Black Swan. Nice views of Red-winged Parrot here too....

Nice views across the marshes...

Red-winged Parrot

Brolga

Leaving here, we headed towards Abattoir Swamp with a roadside Pheasant Coucal the only bird of note. Oh, and getting stopped by the police for driving too slowly was also noteworthy.... At Abattoir Swamp we saw our first Northern Fantail and not a lot else - it was rubbish here.

Just a few minutes further along the road was Kingfisher Park - and what a fantastic place this turned out to be. After checking into our unit we set out on foot exploring the gardens. My countdown to 6,000 picked up momentum here with lifers such as Chestnut-breasted Mannikin, Grey-headed Robin, Graceful Honeyeater, Scarlet Honeyeater and Yellow-breasted Boatbill bringing me up to 5,976. 

Chestnut-breasted Mannikin at the feeders

Grey-headed Robins are still present. Its an altitudinal migrant from Mount Lewis

So a great day and we are really excited about the birds to find in this area. The river here is home to Duck-billed Platypus but despite staking it out for several hours we didn't see it. Yet, Noisy Pitta was feeding out in the open grassy area at dusk.... Result....!

Noisy Pitta