When too many waterbirds are never enough!

I finished yesterday's post with a comment about workers painting the kerbs late last night.  The cold hard light of day revealed that they weren't painting the kerbs, but the directional arrows in the middle of the road.

 We set off to do our dog walk aiming to visit the Old Gum Tree.   En route we noticed this rather charming old-style house.

The fenced park in which the Old Gum Tree is located is the venue for a bunch of people to let their dogs off the lead.  Several of them came over to check out the new chum (who was kept on the lead as she could escape from the park if given an incentive).  This person is Mitch.

 Here is the tree: now referred to as the Old Concrete Tree as it has been cased in concrete for many years (it died in 1906)!

 This is its significance,

 As we proceeded on I noticed this car.  Don't bother going the through the traditional process to make one, rent it instead!

 Unless of course you find the traditional process entertaining!

We found a few interesting birds and a bunch more amusing dogs on the walk, with the route depicted here.

Our main outing today was to St Kilda, part of the Adelaide International Bird Sanctuary National Park.  Despite the "National Park" designation dogs on leads are allowed.  Brilliant: may this thinking extend to less enlightened jurisdictions - NSW and Victoria I'm looking at you!  It is nothing to do with the suburb in Melbourne nor the football team.  No caps were found today.

The route basically retraced the last hour of our drive into Adelaide so Frances got a few pix of the works on the Expressway.

 Once at St Kilda we were initially disappointed at the bird life in the salt lagoons.  There were many gulls including this lot on some encrusted foam but not much else.

 Then we got to look at the sea water,  To say there were heaps of birds would be a large  understatement.  We estimated 1000 Black Swans, 500 each of Pacific Black Ducks and Grey Teal.

 This flock of Royal Spoonbills contained 67 birds.

 I estimated that overall there were 200 Pied Stilt and 60 Banded Stilts.

 Here are some Banded Stilts ..

 .. with, in the bottom of the image, a Curlew Sandpiper.

 Our total bird list for this site is here.

We wandered of to the North end of the village and enjoyed seeing a few Red-kneed Dotterel and (Bird of the Day perhaps?) 6 Australian Spotted Crakes.  Although the crakes kept going back into the scrub I was confident I saw two groups of 3 birds of this species.    We couldn't go as far into the scrub as I would have liked as it ran into the private salt fields.

Next stop was the Mangrove walk which ended - after about 600m of boardwalk - ata lookout over the Inlet.  Here are some Royal Spoonbills, with some mangrove leaves in the foreground.

 A couple of snaps of aspects of the mangroves.

 When Frances was getting the pass for the mangroves she picked up a leaflet for the whole Sanctuary area, put out by Birdlife SA.  They reckoned the best area was Thompson Beach , about 50km North of St Kilda.  We decided to invest the time and diesel and pointed the Pajero in that direction.  The map was pretty crappy as the road they showed coming off the highway did not in fact reach the highway.  Fortunately the Sanctuary was shown on notices on the highway and we found our way.

We started by following one of their trails though the bush with fruiting Sea Box (Alyxia buxifolia) ...

 .. and Quandong (Santalum acuminatum)

 Then we got to see the sea and the shorebirds,  Unfortunately the tide was out, but my telescope removed most of the problem.

 Many (~400) more Banded Stilts and ~30 Great Egrets.

 Next time we're in Adelaide we must come back nearer to high tide.

A steady drive back to the house - about an hour and a quarter, not bad for such a great site.

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A quiet day

Actually it was quite an exciting day, bird wise, but I have few photographs to support it (or damage your download limit).

Our morning walk was the default, along Mather Rd in Yungaburra.  Not far along there I noticed some small birds flitting about and it included a flash of red against a black body: Red-backed Fairy-wrens!  Then two larger birds attracted my attention.  Grey back and rufous breast indicated Bowers Shrike-thrush (Bird of the Day).

After that excitement and doing a few chores back home I headed out to walk to the Curtain Fig Tree National Park.  as I got on to the road towards there was an aerial ruckus which resolved to a large flock of Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos.  My guess was at least 100 of them.

On getting to the Park I headed up what looked like a service track.  Unfortunately it ran out after about 50m,  There were few birds around but these flowers were nice to see.

I then wandered into the forest, noting how some of the creepers which were almost invisible had hooks that could teach velcro a thing or two about never giving up.  Not much blood was lost!  I came to a small valley full of rocks which was pleasant to look at with no birds to interrupt the view.

So then I went to the boardwalk around the fig without great hopes.  A few birds were zooming about but in the low light (and given their great speed) impossible to identify.  A very harsh call attracted my attention to near the start of the walk and suddenly a beautiful male Victoria's Riflebird appeared.  It was very active and I couldn't get a decent photo.  But I have included this as my first snap of a Bird of Paradise.

A couple of Spectacled Monarchs and a Pale-yellow Robin added to the list.

As I walked back home I noticed these fruit on a cauliferous tree.  No idea what they are.

 Later in the afternoon I went for what could barely be called a run, passing by the house of the trigger-happy old fart.  This time I could see all of his flag!

I was bemused that with all these Trumpesque messages the notice on his front door came from his insurance company!

After tea we went for an owl prowl with  no success as regards nightbirds.  I did see a Northern Brown Bandicoot in the Curtain Fig car park (and lots of spiders on the boardwalk).  When I took Tammy out for her final comfort stop a fruit bat (I think a Spectacled Fruit-bat) was hanging off a tree in the garden.

• Bird of the day: Bowers Shrikethrush gets the tick.  This was only because I had already used the riflebird a few days back.  That was actually more exciting.  Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo gets the flock award.
• Vegetation of the day:  Blue flowers in rain forest
• Memorable moment:  Male riflebird.
• Comment of the day: A visitor to the house next door made a reference to Tammy as an ankle biter.  Most comments about her are amusing references to her size.
• Pie of the day: No submissions
• Troppo moment of the day. Gotta be the flag.  Another house in the area has a man cave. 

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To market, to market ..

 ... but no pigs were purchased or otherwise involved in this post (although one was running a speed trap on the outskirts of Yungaburra this afternoon).

The morning was a tad moist as shown by the steam behind the Cordylines!

 The Yungaburra markets have been well advertised around the Tablelands.  We went there about 8am when all the stalls were erected ..

 .. but the crowds were not too bad.

There were a bunch of dogs present.  The white one with a pink jacket had gone completely feral trying to play with Tammy, but the owner had ignored this.

Another terrier, by the name of Panda, got a bit stroppy but every other dog was very friendly.  The funniest meeting was with a very large Bull Terrier that could dance as well - but not quite as quickly - as Tammy.  I'd love to have have seen them meet in a less inappropriate spot.

A couple more images.

 This was a paddock behind Foodworks: normally devoid of cars.

 We went for a walk down Mathers Rd and found a few species.  These Bush Stone Curlews  posed well ..

  ... and in so doing emphasised that they are Thick-ankles not Thick-knees.

At least they do sound like Curlews.  I actually like the Afrikaans word Dikkop (which means thick head).

There are a bunch of flowers along the road that are attrative to birds including these Grevilleas.

 Later in the day we went for a walk along the Northern stretch of Petersons Creek.  This flower is (I believe) a rainforest species, possibly Tibouchina sp..

 This (Pyrostegia sp) is a common vine around the area, and I finally noticed one close to the ground.

 I wondered what the birding was like at the curtain Fig Tree on a Saturday.  The answer was 'very  hopeless'.  About 20 cars parked, mainly with family groups who appear to have never seen a tree before judging by their conversations.  (Of course they will be better people now they have seen one!)  In the late afternoon we went for a walk to the North of the village.  This is a disused railway bridge over Peterson's Creek.

 A Macleay's Honeyeater giving some tongue to a pretty flower

 After a non-productive visit to the Bowling Club in search of a shirt  (but with advice how to advance the matter positively) I walked home across the market site.  What market had been there?  VERY well done stall holders and organisers.

• Bird of the day: Varied Triller at the Fig tree on Mather Street.  Flock award goes to Australian White Ibis (aka bin chook) cleaning up around cattle.
• Vegetation of the day:  Pink flower along the creek
• Memorable moment:  The cleanliness of the market site after the event.
• Comment of the day: When I walked into the Bowling Club seeking a souvenir shirt a guy coming in t other end tapped his head.  I twigged this meant  I should take my cap off.  He the said "I didn't want you to have to shout the bar.  Especially since there's only you and I in here."
• Pie of the day:none taken
• Troppo moment of the day. Frances drove herself  home while I negotiated the shirt business but due to having been walking in the warmth became a little spatially misplaced!

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Ferry cross the Daintree

I thought a reference to the Gerry and the Pacemakers tune about a somewhat different river would be a good title as we took said ferry twice in the last 2 days.  (I will note that the guys I worked with in the UK in the 60s referred to the Merseybeat runners up as Gerry and the Pisstakers, them being seen as a joke compared to the Fab Four.)

One of the features of driving around Queensland at the moment is the series of road safety ads against texting (and presumably playing Pokemon Go) while driving.  The background shot is the radiator of a large truck.  One set of words are "Hi Mum" while another are "C U soo ...."  I shall try to get an image.

As we headed North the weather became a tad average.  As directed we swung into a scenic lookout and snapped the view.

Several kilometres later, after cursing the lack of signs in Mossman we got to the queue for the ferry.  Here is the line-up in front of us  ...

.. and here a view of the line behind.

By the time we'd moved forward the queue was well out of sight.

It took us 30 minutes to get on the ferry and my guess is that some would have waited an hour.  The friend we were visiting opined that people would be far better off going on a commercial tour as they'd skip this queue and they might learn something.

Here is the cockpit of the ferry: the pilot was trying to persuade the dweet in the red car to move up so as to fit more cars on!

We got to Rainforest Village (in the rain).  The place was large but everywhere was very soggy.  We chose this site as it was a drive through, although I had to engage 4WD to do so.

We then went to our friends place a bit back towards the River.  It was fabulous!!  When purchased ~26 years ago it was a cow paddock covered with grass.  The rain forest has regenerated, assisted by some plantings by our friends so it looks like this.

I have always wanted to see Cairns Birdwing butterflies (the males are huge bright green beasts) and they were constantly here , but not photographable,  See memorable moment below.  Where plants are named below this is almost entirely due to Roger Farrow: many thanks Roger.

Here is one of the plants in the garden: it is a ginger.

We then went off to a mangrove boardwalk.  On the way we passed a lot of Cassowary habitat.  This sign is a bit controversial.  The handwriting on the lower panel says "Chill out not flat out".

The speed bumps are a tad vicious (which is fair enough - see above.)

I cannot remember the name of this tree, but it is another in which the flowers come out of the stem. Roger advises Ryparosa kurangii

Here is a Ribbonwood (Idiospermum australiense) fruit which has germinated in a clearing left by a fallen tree.

This is a Strangler fig in which the host has died and fallen.  This is the same process which has given rise to the Curtain Fig at Yungaburra but in this case the aerial roots have not (yet??) formed.

Spikes-R-Us?  The common name is Vicious Hairy Mary which I am sure I will remember longer than Calamus radicalis!

This is a Pandanus fruit, but P. monticola not the common one!

A little further along the track was a ripe one.

Fan palms (Licuala ramsayi) gave a little shelter from the sprinkles.

This is the fruit of a Cannonball Mangrove (Xylocarpus granatum), family Meliaceae.  We found some components of these fruit on the beach later.

I have fiddled with this image to include an enlargement of the seed of a Looking-glass Mangrove Heritiera littoralis family Sterculiaceae.  It also shows the buttress root of the adult tree.  Roger commented that "Mangroves"is an unusual grouping which includes representatives from many families which have in common only the lifestyle!

 

An ant plant Myrmecodia beccarii.

In a recent post about our trip to the Pilliga I included an image of emu crap.  Cassowaries are much more colourful!

When we got to Cow Bay the beach was lovely and the sky blue.  The latter didn't last long and having left the brollies in the car we were soon well wet, especially Tammy who got stuck in a deep pool, having tangled her lead around a rock.  She kept swimming!

Here are some very pleasant patterns in the metamorphic rocks at the beach.

The rain continued to piss down all night, and I was awake for most of it due to the 4 air conditioning units running in the service station.  Avoid this place unless it is dry enough to get far away from the station.  It was so wet that:

• When trying to pull the draw-bar across to link on to the Pajero I lost my footing and the cleanliness of my jeans. 

• and had to engage 4WD low range with diff lock to get the camper out.

Whatever we got out by about 7:15 and off to the ferry (again).  Not so busy at this time.

Still raining as we crossed the river (that is probably pretty much like the Mersey)!

We called in to Abattoir Swamp where the vegetation was pretty rank and no open water was visible,  The boardwalk and hide were top notch however.

We continued on through Julatten and turned on to the Cooktown Rd heading, in the rain towards Bustard Downs on the East Mary Road.  Yep: they had Bustards - after Frances first spotted some we got the count up to 10 quite briskly.  Here is one ..

.. and 2 more.

Some nearby Acacias  ...

.. and Melaleucas were flowering well with lots of birds  but the rain caught up to us and we fled.

We took a snap of this old ruin in Mount Molloy.

I'll finish with a couple of interesting animals.  This was named as the Golden-bummed Ant which appears to be Polyrachis sp.

And here is a small - nearly transparent - Gecko.

• Bird of the day: Yesterday 19/7 was going to be Mangrove Gerygone, but that has been withdrawn due to being a stringy record,Magpie goose gets a nod as individual and flock on that day.  Bustard is a clear winner in both categories today.
• Vegetation of the day:  The regenerating rainforest on our friends place for the 19th and the forest overhanging the road up from Mossman to Julatten for the 20th
• Memorable moment:  For the 19th seeing a male Cairns Birdwing harassing a male Ulysses Butterfly.  For the 20th the way the camper popped out when given low range 4wd and a fair serve of wellie!!!!
• Comment of the day: "Its a bit boggy near the fence" - comment by the owner of the van park on the 19th.  "Can you take your foot of the brake - its right in my eyes"  Driver behind me in the queue for the ferry in the 20th.
• Pie of the day: On the 20th "Stewarts Pies" from a van at the Marreba Info Centre.  A quite tasty Pepper pie with all good stuff, but a bit dry, as though made a few hours ago.  7/10
• Troppo moment of the day.  Leaving 2 spray jackets and 2 umbrellas in the car while we got soaked on Cow Beach.  Trying to find somewhere to park with a camper in Mareeba!

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