Rail trail part 2

After I completed yesterday's post I went for a walk down to the pub, not for the purposes of beer but to see if I could spot the Barking Owl which is reputed to hunt from a Hoop Pine opposite.  I was using my headlight to scan the tree and got a "woof" but never laid any sort of visual on a bird.  Even my ethics rejected that one!

I then had a very pleasant chat with a young woman from the Wallaby Backpacker, who wondered if I was looking for Tree-Kangaroos.  I explained where to look but this wasn't much help as she is moving on today,

My Friday started with a stroll down Mathers Rd to see what was there.  A Barred Cuckooshrike was the best bird, but it didn't cooperate photographically,  Part of a flock of 12 Figbirds provided today's first image.

Our dog-walk today revisited the far side of the Creek over this small bridge.  The aim was to check for tree-kangaroos in the mobi forest there.  Nice try, no cigar.

Getting back to the track I noticed this conveniently placed rope had been invaded by what would be called epiphytes if they were growing on trees.

 Another pretty flower in Williams Park.

 We came back into the village attempting to find the Syd Williams walkway.  We got there eventually, although, as with many shortcuts, it added quite a bit of distance the first time.  En route we noticed this lovely bunch of (not coconuts but) papayas.

After a bit of recovery we took ourselves off to do a little more of the Atherton Rail Trail.  It started with a little surprise in that there was a break in the trail around some businesses.  After that it started to go though an agricultural setting.  Frances noticed a kettle of some 16 Black Kites over a paddock where hay was being made.  After an hour we had reached this rather industrial scale undertaking.

 Looking in the houses didn't help us identify the crop.

However, the arrival of two workers revealed that they were blueberries.  The workers didn't know how big an area was covered, but offered a guess of 60 acres.

By this stage the trail had agriculture on one side, industry on the other, and the town in the distance.

• Bird of the day: Dusky Honeyeater.  The Kettle of Kites won the flcok award
• Vegetation of the day: Pink flowers inb Williams Park
• Memorable moment: The noise of tour groups at the curtain fig!
• Comment of the day: Nothing comes to mind
• Pie of the day: No submissions: I had potato crisps for lunch, Yumm.
• Troppo moment of the day. Workers on the roof of the shopping centre containing Woolies wearing boots, shorts, hivis shirts and wide brimmed straw hats.  I thought in Katter country it had to be a white Akubra.

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