Last Day in Queensland

It's our last day in Queensland and we're really not sure what to do. In the end we plump for another visit to Cattana Wetlands on the edge of Cairns. I'd missed Crimson Finch on our last visit and am very pleased when we pick up a single bird low down beside the water. That's lifer No 5995 for me. There's a bunch of other commoner species around but nothing else new. Well, we also decided to try and find a roosting Rufous Owl in downtown Cairns but all we had was the street name. We bowled up and there were two areas of parkland with big trees and as luck would have it, we bumped into a local birder who took us straight to the right tree. And there it was - Rufous Owl. What a beast.

Rufous Owl

A last look at the mudflats from Cairns Esplanade produced lots of Sharp-tailed Sandpipers, both Greater and Lesser Sandplovers, Ruddy Turnstone and others.

So we're off to Sydney where we are staying overnight before our flight to New Caledonia....