November 2015

Wet Tropics of Northern Queensland, Australia

Part 5: Kingfisher Park Bird Lodge

Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher (Tanysiptera sylvia)

I had timed my whole trip to Australia this year to make sure I arrived at Kingfisher Park after the paradise-kingfishers had returned from their wintering grounds in New Guinea. As it turned out, the kingfishers were a couple of weeks late in arriving this year, so it was fortunate that I had planned to visit the Julatten area about 3 weeks after their normal arrival dates.

Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher (Tanysiptera sylvia)

Since the kingfishers had just arrived, they were still a bit jumpy and very skittish when I first got there, but after a few days they started to settle down and by the end of my stay were completely ignoring me as I sat close to one of their favourite hunting perches.

Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher (Tanysiptera sylvia)

Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher nestholes in a termite mound

Metallic Starling (Aplonis metallica)

There is a large colony of Metallic Starling in the adjacent Geraghty Park and they frequently came down en masse for a drink at the bird bath while I was watching the kingfishers.

Metallic Starling (Aplonis metallica)

Brush Cuckoo (Cacomantis variolosus)

Another visitor to the bird bath was a Yellow-footed Antechinus. This small, mouse-like, insectivorus marsupial is quite common at Kingfisher Park and can often be seen scurrying around in the leaf litter.

Yellow-footed Antechinus (Antechinus flavipes rubeculus)

Yellow-footed Antechinus (Antechinus flavipes rubeculus)

A gorgeous Boyd's Forest Dragon sometimes came and sat on the tree beside me. It even started displaying at one point!

Boyd's Forest Dragon (Hypsilurus boydii)

Down by the creek, while the platypus played distantly in the pool downriver, a few Water Dragons hauled themselves out onto convenient perches to bask in the dying rays of the setting sun.

Boyd's Forest Dragon (Hypsilurus boydii)

Water Dragon (Nasutitermes triodiae)

Bar-shouldered Dove (Geopelia humeralis)

Dusky Honeyeater (Myzomela obscura)

female Papuan Frogmouth (Podargus papuensis)

A female Papuan Frogmouth made an appearance one afternoon in the orchard, though, as is typical for this species, she was difficult to photograph due to too many branches getting in the way of a clear shot.

female Papuan Frogmouth (Podargus papuensis)

Pale-Yellow Robin (Tregellasia capito)

tree bark

 

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