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October 2016
Atherton Tablelands, QLD, Australia
Part 7
Sarus Crane (Grus antigone)
With the weather being so dry this year, crane numbers were lower than normal and those that hadn't already left for their breeding grounds in the Gulf were not generally feeding in fields close to any public roads, so photographic opportunities were rather limited this year.
Sarus Crane (Grus antigone)
The crane below only had one leg. The other one was amputated below the knee.
Sarus Crane (Grus antigone)
Large flocks of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos are a common sight around the fields and paddocks.
Sulphur-crested Cockatoos (Cacatua galerita)
I didn't spend much time in the dry country habitats this year, and I only made one single 20 minute visit to a Great Bowerbird bower during the whole 2 months I was on the Tablelands.
Great Bowerbird (Chlamydera nuchalis) in its bower
Brown-backed Honeyeater (Ramsayornis modestus)
A morning spent walking around Mareeba Wetlands was one of the least productive days of the entire trip and all I had to show for frying my brains in the baking heat were a few of shots of Brown-backed Honeyeater and a couple of dragonflies...
Graphic Flutterer (Rhyothemis graphiptera)
Common Glider (Tramea loewii)
Plumed Whistling-ducks (Dendrocygna eytoni)
It continued to get drier and drier at Hasties Swamp with nothing but Plumed Whistling-ducks and the occasional pelican present. By the end of the month, even these had left as all the remaining water rapidly evaporated and nothing but a muddy puddle was left.
Australian Pelican (Pelecanus conspicillatus) swimming through a large flock of Plumed Whistling-ducks (Dendrocygna eytoni)
It was quite a spectacular sight when all the Plumed Whistling-ducks took flight together. On this occasion it was the arrival of a noisy group of birders that promted the exodus....
Plumed Whistling-ducks (Dendrocygna eytoni)
Spangled Drongo (Dicrurus bracteatus) |
Lake Eacham by moonlight |
Sunset over the rolling hills of the Tablelands
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