Back on track

Arachnophobes be wary of this post!

After a rather unenjoyable visit to Cairns, today was back to the Yungaburra/Atherton area.  Judging by the number of photos taken it was a relatively quiet day - to the benefit of your download limits.

An early excitement was finding a large Huntsman type spider in the bathroom.  It was much more colourful than the ones around home.

 Our morning dog walk, in drizzle which continued most of the day,  was to the Curtain Fig Tree, on the edge of Yungaburra.  Before we left the village Tammy found a pair of Stone Curlews to look at.  I am unsure that their reaction of 'freezing' is good strategy for dogs not on a lead.

 The Fig is in the middle of a patch of rainforest with good epiphytic ferns.

 Here is the whole tree.  Apparently a crucial part of its formation was the host tree falling over.

 I thought the amount of work put into the boardwalk was most impressive.

 Late in the day we revisite Hasties Swamp, where I thought the number of ducks was even higher than on previous visits.  They also seemed to be more into swimming - with this species usually a sign of predators.  An Intermediate Egret posed nicely.

 Here is a GOOD cane toad!

 In Atherton I snapped the Grand Hotel  ...

 and some art deco(ish) roof lines.

While in Atherton I visited the Police Station to get an update on the car crash from yesterday.  The very pleasant lady on the desk was aware of the incident but it had been looked after by people from Yungaburra and Gordonvale so she knew what I already knew but nothing more.  I was quite impressed that the desk lady was not at all fussed by my carrying a small dog into her workplace.

A row of flowering trees were quite  popular with various birds including White-cheeked Honeyeaters.

Possibly Golden Penda.

Spathodea campanulata

Possibly Justicia

We briefly visited the Peterson's Creek walk and were able to show some visiting friends a Platypus swimming around.  A very regular sighting!

• Bird of the Day: Pale Yellow Robin at the Curtain Fig.  Flock of the day was 100 Chestnut-breasted Mannikins at the Atherton Sewage Works.
• Vegetation of the day:  The lurid orange flowers in Atherton..
• Memorable moment: Nothing startling springs to mind.  
• Comment of the day:  "You'd be disappointed in Mareeba Wetlands after this."  Our friends comment on visiting Hasties Swamp.
• Pie of the day: No sample.
• Troppo moment of the day.  While at the platypus area being greeted by someone from ABS who I hadn't met for about 25 years.  He recognised me!!!

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