Iron Range ~ Part One

I began writing this on Wednesday morning, 7 October sitting in the shared kitchen area of our originally booked accommodation in Lockhart River. It was not much. The people who own it could not be nicer, but there is no way around the fact that it’s just not “quite” as they say. It is in the middle of a construction period, and once the new units are complete, it will be nice, but for now, we chose to move to other accommodations at the Iron Range Cabins and that is from where I am now writing.

We flew from Cairns to Lockhart River Tuesday arvo in a twin-engine prop plane. It landed in another small town and then in about half an hour we were here. Our friend, Robert met us at the airport, he had driven up in his 4WD. We have birded with him in this vehicle in Bowra as well as at the Kingfisher Lodge area, so cramped though it is, Lynn and I are used to sharing the other side of the front seat.
 

SkyTrans... its a small airline.

Although it was getting late in the afternoon, of course we went birding. We had a female Red-cheeked Parrot perch up for us over the road, giving us a look with her beautiful white eyes.

   

Ms Red-cheeked Parrot

Then we stopped at the Cooks Hut Campsite where we heard, but could not locate the Yellow-billed Kingfisher. It was getting on toward dark and it had been a long day so we headed back to our room. I was getting stuff out of my bag, when I heard the call. A small flock of Palm Cockatoos just passed over. I stood on the veranda and along came a straggler. It is not quite the look I had longed for of this wondrous, amazing bird, but it was an identifiable view and it made Palm Cockatoo the 500th bird on my Australian List. I am grateful.
   

Palm Cockatoo. Not exactly the photo I imagined taking, but it is that magnificent bird.

Wednesday began with pouring rain. It is the rainforest after all. Before we left, we had a White-faced Robin by our room. We headed into Lockhart River to check for the Palm Cockatoos. They were known to “breakfast” in the trees near the church, but we have checked there every morning to no avail. However we did see a Fawn-breasted Bowerbird perching nicely on a fence. I am grateful.

I got some lovely photos, but all of my morning photos (well over 300 total) were “lost” in a techno-glitch. I have stated repeatedly, that I will learn not to put emphasis on the bird photo, and perhaps this was a lesson in that. I lost photos of three life birds, the other two were Great Frigatebird and Lesser Sand Plover. 

 

Fawn-breasted Bowerbird with a stick.

One last note regarding photography… if it is possible, I grab a recording shot of birds that I see. If the opportunity presents, I will take as good a photo as I can, but I am not going to force it. I will appreciate the bird first and photograph it second. And I will not worry if I do not get a photo at all. I am a birder, not a photographer. Ok. That's that.

This seems a good spot to stop the first part of this multi-part blog, so I will. I am in Lockhart River waiting to make our flight back to Cairns later this afternoon and have a bit of time, but the internet is quite slow so I will keep this short. I am very, very grateful. Stay tuned, there is much more to come...

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Last One For Now

As our time wound down here at Kingfisher Lodge, the birding became a quest for basically two birds. One was the White-eared Monarch and the other the Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo. We walked up and down rain forest roads that are known spots for both these species, but to no avail. Later in the spring they will both be calling and easier to locate, but for now, not so much.

I never found the WE Monarch, but yesterday the Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo glided into my life. It behaved just as described: flying mid-story and perching a couple of times before settling in for a minute or two. I was able to grab a few photos, then leap into Matilda and dash back to get Lynn. Bearing in mind that Matilda does not actually “dash,” however she did her lumbering best, and in not more than fifteen minutes, we were back in the same spot and gratefully, the cuckoo was still around and soon it showed itself. Lynn got wonderful looks and again I got to say three of my favorite words, “There’s your bird!” And it is such a beautiful bird. I am grateful.

Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo- first view snap shot. I am grateful.

Every life bird experience is different, but they are all wonderful. This cuckoo required a bit of work, making that first view all the more sweet. That moment when after all the hours of looking, you see it and think to yourself, that is it! That is really it! Now that is a wonderful moment. My heart fills with the bird and I am so very grateful.
 

Even from the back, it is such a lovely bird. The richness of its color is striking.

Today will be a long day of traveling. We head down to Cairns to catch a plane to Lockhart River up in Cape York. I am grateful and I will keep you posted.


Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Bird Photos

I have talked about this more than a few times. I do not want photographing the birds to overshadow my experiencing of the birds. But I also say that I like to get a photo of the bird if I can (and I will also mention that I do not like, nor will I use a flash). Last evening the world famous Kingfisher Lodge Red-necked Crake made an appearance, and in the low light of dusk, I got some recording shots of this wondrous creature. And I am full of grateful!

     

Red-necked Crake, Kingfisher Lodge

Earlier in the day, I had some other cool photographic opportunities while birding. For the last couple of days, I had been trying to find Lynn a Double-eyed Fig-parrot and yesterday morning I got to utter three of the words I love to say, “There’s your bird!” It was a male feeding on the figs in the same tree where I had seen my first one a couple of days ago. I got some photos and I am posting them with much gratitude. If there is a more cool little parrot, I have not yet seen it.

     

Double-eyed Fig-parrot. I love this bird.

Later in the morning, another Superb Fruit-dove landed near-ish to us, and this time I was able to get a few shots of this colorful wonder. It is superb indeed and I am grateful.

Superb Fruit-dove

 

This morning it is raining here at Kingfisher Lodge. Today we will pack and make ready to fly to the Iron Range in Cape York tomorrow. It is Australia’s little version of New Guinea and I can hardly wait to see the birds up there. I am not sure how the internet is going to be, or exactly how things will work. I only know I will see some amazing birds and I am grateful. I will keep y’all posted as I can.

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Fruit-dove Love And Riflebird Mom

When it comes to beautiful and colorful birds, Australia is crazy-blessed with them. The parrots alone are worth the price of admission (and if you are talking the price of a permanent resident visa, you are talking about unbelievably expensive parrots). But with all the fuss over the Parrots, when it comes to colors, it is hard to out-shine Fruit-doves. Yesterday we saw two of these wonderful birds and I am grateful.

The first was a Wompoo Fruit-dove, which was not a life bird, but it was a stunner and I got some photos. I am grateful.

Wompoo Fruit-dove gorgeousness

The second was the Superb Fruit-dove, which flew down beside us (sort of) as we were birding down a road about 20 minutes from the lodge. I took no photos, it was mostly obscured by foliage, but we got some sweet looks at the wondrous colors on this bird. Then it flew back into the rain forest. We had heard their calls along the road and were so grateful that we got to see one!

While on that road, I watched a mother Victoria’s Riflebird feeding an immature bird. The female is a stunningly gorgeous bird in its own right. I think the immature was a male; they have shorter bills than the females. It was lovely observing them and I am grateful.
    

Momma Victoria's Rifelbird feeding its child.

The beautiful female Victoria's Riflebird

Still hungry, still begging.

As I sit here, lots of birds are coming into the feeders (as they do every morning). A Spangled Drongo just perched about 2 meters from me. I just sat quietly and loved it. I am grateful. Oh, and here is a photo of Silvereye, because I don’t think I have posted one of this beautiful, but common little bird.
     

Silvereye... the ring around the eye is wider up here than I am used to seeing in Victoria. They are such beautiful little birds. I am grateful.

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Kingfisher Lodge ~ Part Three

For the most part, it was a day of four birds. I saw three life birds and one special bird that I had seen, but not like this. I had the privilege of seeing a Victoria’s Riflebird displaying. It was in the shade of the rainforest, so the photos are not particularly incredible, but the bird was. I am grateful.

Victoria's Riflebird

Then next bird was a species that we had all hunted on several different occasions here. Yes, a lot of hours were spent searching amongst the grasses and undergrowth for this bird. But yesterday, we found it. I have now beheld the Blue-faced Parrotfinch. I am very grateful indeed.
   

A difficult little bird to see... this is an immature Blue-faced Parrotfinch

Beginning to get his blue face on. What an awesome little bird.

When I was first becoming a birder in Oz and I poured over my field guide dreaming of the birds I might one day see ( side note: the Kookaburras just went off at 5:22am, early again). I thought, and still think that the Channel-billed Cuckoo is one of the coolest birds around. Living down in Victoria, it was not a bird I was going to bump into. Yesterday I saw my first one, well... three. We found them in a tree together down by the creek. I am very grateful.
 

Channel-billed Cuckoos, yet another of my favorite birds.

The third one was in the same area of the tree, but off to itself.

The last bird of my day was a magical little parrot, one that can be invisible in a tree, yet still eating and dropping bits of fig. On the parrot cute scale, it don’t get much better than the Double-eyed Fig-parrot. I had been searching that tree for about three-quarters of an hour with my bins before I realized that one of the figs was looking back at me. I was, and am very grateful.
   

Double-eyed Fig-parrot doubly cute!

Once again the sky is just beginning to lighten. It is 5:30am and I have been here writing and fiddling with photos for about an hour. I reckon I will make the blog. Cheers my friends, I am so glad that I have y'all along.
 

Where I sit every morning to write these blogs. It begins in the dark...

   
Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Kingfisher Lodge ~ Part Two

I am having coffee again on the veranda here in the stillness of the morning. I am listening to critters amongst the leaf litter and my bat buddy’s wings as he passes over my head hawking moths (I just heard him that instant I was wrote the word, moths). The Laughing Kookaburras started early today. Every morning they have begun “singing” for a few moments at about 5:45, but today it was 5:32. God, I love this place. I am so grateful.

Yesterday we headed south toward Sarus Cranes and we found them. We also made a stop at the famous Curtain Fig Tree in Yungaburra (impossible to capture in a photo, picture the tree in the movie, Avatar). There we found another lifer bird. We had missed Bower’s Shrike-thrush on the mountain the other day and Robert spotted one near the tree. Sweet!

Sarus Crane (in the middle) with Brolga

Bower's Shrike-thrush

We also picked up the wild and “tickable” Helmeted Guineafowl south of Mareeba. And then... after several failed attempts over the years. I finally saw a White-browed Crake. Yes, I had missed that bird on a few occasions, but this one in Julatten came out for me and I am grateful!  

White-browed Crake

Helmeted Guineafowl

Black-necked Stork just because they are so cool

And a Lemon-bellied Flycatcher just because.

As the sky once again lightens, time slips through my fingers and the day beckons to me to get out amongst it. I will post these photos and go. I am so very grateful. I must learn to slowdown... just a very little, and let the joy wash over me a bit more.


Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Kingfisher Lodge ~ Part One

The following was written over the last three days. It might be confusing, or not. It begins like this…

We are here. This is now the second morning that I am sitting on the veranda in the dark outside the office of Kingfisher Lodge. It is 4:50am and I am having coffee and listening to the sounds of rainforest creatures that I cannot identify, but I love. I just love this place.

Within an hour of arriving here Monday mid-morning, I beheld a Papuan Frogmouth (I have now seen two others) the first night I marveled at two Lesser Sooty Owls. And then there was Bridled Honeyeater, Grey-headed Robin and Spotted Catbird all in the first afternoon and evening.       

Papuan Frogmouth... Old Red Eyes

Two!

Yesterday produced other wonders in the gorgeous Barred Cuckoo-shrike, Yellow-breasted Boatbill and the surprisingly beautiful Squatter Pigeon. But the biggest thrill occurred in mere seconds yesterday evening.
           

Barred Cuckoo-shrike

Yellow-breasted Boatbill (backlit and blurry- alliteration photo)

My favorite pigeon de jour... Squatter Pigeon.

I first heard of Kingfisher Lodge when I read Sean Dooley’s book, The Big Twitch. This area of far north Queensland is a birders paradise. But although this lodge is named for the Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher, possibly its most famous bird is the Red-necked Crake. This bird will sometimes come down to a little pool just before dark behind the lodge. You sit very quietly and watch this little pool. We did that the first night until it was stone dark without success. So of course we were back again the next night and at just about 6pm, as four of us sat watching, this wonderful crake ran across the ground just in front of the pool. We all saw it. I have now beheld the Kingfisher Lodge Red-necked Crake. I am so very grateful.

This is now the third morning and yesterday was wondrous. We spent the late morning through mid afternoon hiking up Mt. Lewis with Andrew showing us stuff. He is brilliant and a joy to bird with, and to be able to share this with my girl is phenomenally wonderful. I am so grateful that words fail me. Here are just a few photos from the last few days...
           

Golden Bowerbird "selfie" (Robert took it) The GOBO is just above my head in the back.

Macleay's Honeyeater (I do kind of like this shot)

Spotted Catbird

Lesser Sooty Owl

Tooth-billed Bowerbird

Golden Bowerbird

Chowchilla

Bridled Honeyeater

Mountain Thornbill

There is a bat grabbing moths just above me on the veranda. God, I love this place. I am going to get this posted with a bunch of photos and I will do another blog later in the week. There are more photos that I wish to post but time and internet are limiting. I am so grateful for this experience! I will keep you posted.


Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

RB In FNQ

We are in Far North Queensland or FNQ as it is called. After just one night at Etty Bay with its incredible views of the water and even views of the wondrous Southern Cassowary, we headed on. It is school holidays and that caravan park was a circus of feral children and noisy adults (it really wasn’t that bad, just tiny sites and very crowded).

A bit too crowded for us.

But the views were gorgeous, even in the rain.

We headed up to have a look at the Esplanade in North Cairns for the Mangrove Robin and we got it! Thank you again, Anne! I am indeed grateful. It is a delightful little robin and we found it in amongst the mangroves looking beautiful in its shady home.
     

Mangrove Robin in the mangroves, as it should be.

Then we had a look at the flats. And there were waders, they are the reason God made telescopes. We got ours out and soon we had two more life birds in the Greater Sand Plover and the Great Knot. Yes it was great! And I am grateful!
       

Greater Sand Plover

                            

Great Knot

We continued on the insanely gorgeous drive up the coast and we are now in a very nice caravan park just outside of Port Douglas, QLD. It’s nice, but nice in sort of a golf course kind of way. It does have excellent amenities! We also saw a lovely pair of Bush Stone-curlews. The male was lying flat about ten meters from where the female was (we think) sitting on eggs. We did not disturb them, but I made their photos. There was also a Yellow Oriole above us as we walked back to Matilda, a new bird on the trip list. I am grateful.
      

Ms Bush Stone-curlew on eggs we think.

Mr. Bush Stone-curlew lying flat and being invisible, but not far from the Mrs.

                 

Yellow Oriole

Today we head to Kingfisher Lodge. I am quite excited and grateful. Stay tuned, I will keep y’all posted as best I can. We do love having y'all along.

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Cassowary Love

I am editing and culling photos of yet another of my most favorite birds in the world, Southern Cassowaries. Saturday afternoon we saw a dad with four youngin’s on the way to Etty Bay and then we watched a female wander through the caravan park here. I took their photos and I am grateful!

Southern Cassowary, dad and the kids (there are four).

The fourth... he doesn't keep up well and is a little special I think.

I absolutely love this wonderfully bizarre bird. It is a dinosaur. It looks like Jim Henson created it. The colors on the neck and wattles look fake. The feathers look like hair and it has a “horn” on its head! Damn. I have a difficult time deleting photos of these magnificent birds. I reckon I will somehow choose just a few for the blog.
                    

Southern Cassowary (F) she is a wild Cassowary but she hangs around the caravan park. Regardless of all the signs asking them not to do so, people do feed them.

I love this bird.

I think she is being flirty.

As you might have heard, their feet can be a dangerous weapon.

We also stopped and looked at the Golden Gumboot in Tully, QLD. It is the rainiest spot in Oz. And yes, it was raining. Lynn took my photo standing at the top of the boot. 

        

Then I had a lot of fun photographing Metallic Starlings, the most beautiful Starlings I have ever seen. I saw them in FNQ 5 years ago, but that was in March and they were not in this fine breeding plumage. Their psychedelic iridescence is wondrous. I hope the camera captured it at least somewhat. Bearing in mind that it was raining and overcast, I cannot image what they must look like in bright sun! I am grateful.

          

Metallic Starlings... gorgeous

I now I have some internet here in Port Douglas, QLD and will post this. But first… I am going for a bird-walk around this caravan park.
And now I am back and I want to get this posted! I am so grateful (I got 3 life birds today, but that is another blog and it may be a while. Tomorrow we go to Kingfisher Lodge and I am grateful and excited!).

I will leave you with a Crimson Finch that seems a bit "chesty" to me. She really does appear to have cleavage.

At least it's a Finch and not a Tit.

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Matty In The Palms (Crystal Creek Caravan Park)

It is 4:30 Saturday morning and I am enjoying my coffee. We have spent two nights here with Matilda tucked into the palms. She has her awning out and has been resting. God knows we have pushed her hard over the last few weeks (Eungella was above and beyond). So she got to chill.
 

Matty amongst the palms

The awning is out, "camp" is set up and Matilda is relaxing (Lynn looks comfortable too).

Getting up before five is about normal for me nowadays and I like it. I am grateful. Thursday was quite a Lifer day. Anne Collins told us about a Brown-backed Honeyeater in a park that was just off our route. True to form, she was spot-on. We went to the park, walked to the spot, saw the bird and were back on the road in about ten minutes time. Tick. I am grateful!
   

Brown-backed Honeyeater

In the early afternoon we arrived here at Crystal Creek Caravan Park, which was another of Anne’s suggestions. She even made us a Google map of what she had seen where. Following her “bird treasure map,” we soon had White-browed Robin (tick), Lovely Fair-wren (tick) and Spectacled Monarch (tick for Lynn). We returned to Matilda to find Hornbill Friarbirds overhead (a split from Helmeted, so another tick for us both) and then after supper, I saw a small honeyeater. We watched it (and heard it) and it was a Yellow-spotted Honeyeater. I had my fifth life bird of the day. I am grateful!

Ms Lovely Fairy-wren. I love her.

Mr. Lovely Fairy-wren. They are not easy to photograph.

White-browed Robin

Hornbill Friarbird, a different kind of beautiful.

      

We had Lifer Pie in the form of fancy ice cream on a stick. Mine was Salted-caramel Macadamia and it was pure yum! Yesterday was a quiet kind of day birding around the campground. Lynn also did laundry and some tiding up of Matilda and I truly am grateful.
 

Varied Triller and a very unfortunate Praying Mantis.

Hello, Ladies... like what I have done to the place? (A Great Bowerbird's bower).

Dusky Honeyeater and flower.

Olive-backed Oriole

Spectacled Monarch

A flock of Red-tailed Black-cockatoos flew over the park in the early evening.

Yes, this is an excellent little spot. We will return. I am grateful. 

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Eungella (Ung Gulla) Honeyeater, Yes Indeed!

Eungella NP (pronounce Ung Gulla, I am pretty sure) sits up on a mountain. The road up to it is the steepest “real” road (not logging road, or trail) that I have ever driven. When I toured fulltime, I used to drive approximately 50-60 thousand miles a year. I have seen more roads than most. Matilda did it. She does not have much power and she is very heavy, but she has heart. I have never “pushed” a vehicle that hard, but she took it and she got us to the top. I. Am. Grateful. Thank you, Matty.
   

From the floor of that valley to where we are standing is about 4.5 kilometers of the steepest road I have ever driven. But it is drivable and worth the effort.

The Eungella Honeyeater only lives in the Eungella NP. If you want to see it, you have to go up there. Once at the top, there is still another 15 kilometers or so out to where you look for them. Thankfully, that is not all straight up, although the roads are mostly dirt and gravel. We looked for a couple of hours, and although we heard them a few times, we could not locate them.

The range map of the Eungella Honeyeater. The blue dot actually a little bit too large.

Then we discovered (thanks to a helpful local lady who was out jogging) that we could continue further on a track about 300 meters to a bushwalk gate into the National Park. We parked Matilda at the gate and began looking. We heard them again, but again they remained hidden. Lynn suggested that we take chairs out and sit and watch. Since we had been staring up into the canopy for hours, this idea was appealing. So we did and within about ten minutes time, a pair of Eungella Honeyeaters flew into the top of the large tree right in front of us. My God, I was grateful!
     

Eungella Honeyeater, Linchenostomus hindwoodi

The pair.

We got gorgeous views, even though they remained often hidden and in constant motion. I got some barely recording photos, but I was grateful for those. Could I have spent another hour or so using a lot of playback and possibly gotten a better photo? Maybe. But as I have said, this journey is not about the photos. It is about experiencing the birds. And part of the experience of the Eungella Honeyeater is that it is an illusive bird that can be difficult to see. We saw it and I am grateful!

Eungella Honeyeater Lifer Selfie on top of the mountain and on top of the world! We did it!

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Dam Right

We arrived here at Kinchant Waters caravan park at Kinchant Dam early yesterday afternoon. Thanks to Anne Collins info yet again, I had hoped to see Cotton Pygmy-geese here and we did! Life bird before we even parked Matilda. I am grateful.
      

Cotton Pygmy-geese

Here are a few photos from this lovely spot. Perhaps on the way back down, we will spend another day or two here. It is my (our) kind of place… incredible views, water, palms, tons of birds and even a tavern with decent food and wondrously rustic ambiance. It is a very special place, even if the amenities block is a tad woebegone. I am grateful.
     

Plumed Whistling-ducks

Plumed Whistling-ducks and Magpie Geese and Coots and a Pacific Black Duck

Plumed Whistling-ducks

Latham's Snipe right down in front of Matilda

Lynn took my photo.

The taps are a study in patina... beautiful in a weird way.

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Inskip Point, QLD

We arrived at Inskip Point Saturday about 9am and birded it hard through the afternoon. We were back at it 6:30 Sunday morning until we reached “searching for button-quail burn out” about noon. We did not find any.

It is school holidays and that means there are people everywhere. It did not make for the best birding conditions, but we had fun. Amongst the screaming, running, yelling children and the roaring, rumbling massive four-wheel-drives catching the ferry to Fraiser Island, there were no quail to be found. I think during school holidays, Black-breasted Button-quail vacation somewhere quiet inland. We had a lovely time regardless and I am very grateful. We added some birds to the year list and I got two lifers: Fairy Gerygone and Mangrove Honeyeater.
        

Fairy Gerygone, cute as!

Mangrove Honeyeater

I love this look he is giving me.

Little Shrike-thrush, new for the year.

Noisy Friarbird just because they are cool.

Lynn's lifer Red-backed Fairy-wren (black and backlit is a bad photo combo).

Not sure what is happening here, but it makes an interesting photo.

Lynn's lifer Shining Bronze-cuckoo in a more dignified pose.

An immature Brown Honeyeater

Yes, were were at the seashore! Here's an Eastern Curlew.

This lovely Varied Triller was new on the year list.

I did really like the place and hope to visit it again on the way back down from Cape York in a month or so. I know the BBBQ are in there somewhere. Just a bit south of the point, in between Dorrigo and Natone campgrounds, we saw lots of seemingly fresh platelets (the holes that they scratch in the leaf litter).

         

Just a few of scores of platelets that we saw between the campgrounds (but no dang quail).

Next we stopped at the Byeimn Picnic area that is mentioned in Tim Dolby’s book and blog. Lynn and I both got a lifer with the Wompoo Friut-dove! I saw a bird fly across high up in the canopy and managed to get on it. Lynn also got her lifer-leech. I think leeches are sort of a right of passage for birders. They are creepy, but I far prefer them to ticks.

       

Wompoo Fruit-dove high over head. They are gorgeous! (this photo not withstanding).

I had my “Lifer Pie” treat of fish and chips last night and today we may just have a laundry day here in Maryborough before moving on. We will see and I will keep you posted. I am grateful.

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Keep Calm And Keep A List

       

I was thinking about keeping a list of birds that we have seen at the caravan parks. I dismissed the idea. Although we have seen some wonderful birds at these parks, we do not need another list. We have quite enough lists, thank you. I am working on my Life List and Lynn is now working on hers. We are also keeping a year list (from 20 August) because it would be silly not to do so. Even though we have no designs on a real “Big Year” we want to see our total after our year of traveling (birding) the continent. I am grateful for whatever our number ends up being.

Listing is personal. If you do it, how you do it, why you do it, when you do it, where you do it, is all up to you! Birders who are going for an official big year, are agreeing to some constraints to be considered “official,” but the average twitcher makes their own list by the rules they choose. I will never judge another’s list. I do not count heard-only birds in Australia on my life list and I do in the US. That’s my decision. I enjoy my list, it let’s me know when I can have lifer pie. I am grateful.

Yes, Lifer Pie. The tradition born in northwest Ohio in the USA, is spreading to Australia. It is the celebration of seeing a Life Bird by having a slice of pie. Although it could be cake, or ice cream, champagne, or chips and gravy, anything celebratory and indulgent that you consider a treat, but it is still called, Lifer Pie. It is like your list. You make the rules. I do not have Lifer Pie after every lifer in a new region (I’ve lost about forty pounds and I am not going back to the big kilt), but I do every so often and I am very grateful.

Speaking of caravan park lists, we had a lovely Australasian Figbird in this one yesterday afternoon and I took his photo. To me, they look as if they are wearing little red masquerade masks. I am grateful.
       

Australasian Figbird at the caravan park.

A common, but lovely bird...

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Yes! Progress Not Perfection

We are working our way toward the coast, and of course some birding there, and then onward and upward. This morning I am writing from a little caravan park in Dalby, QLD, where I awoke to a chilly 4 C (about 39 F) after an evening of rain. But all is well and I am grateful.

Travel times must be adjusted for life and Matilda's pace. Slow is okay...

Yesterday morning as we packed up Matilda I noticed a crack in her windshield. As the day progressed, the crack grew (as they do), so we found the location of a windscreen replacement place on the Internet. The guy and his wife (she runs the office) could not have been nicer. Since it was going to take an hour or more, he offered us his truck to drive to the shops! So we ran a couple errands in this guy’s little Hilux, returned and Matilda has a shiny new windscreen. Yay. I am very grateful.

This type of traveling is the perfect example of “progress not perfection.” That is a saying I learned long ago, but that still remains true for living a genuine life. I have mentioned comfort zones before and they will be reduced, bent, modified, and stretched as we go along. They must be. We are in the process of travel and in process ourselves. This is growth and this is life. We are living. At times it is not easy, but... I. Am. Grateful.

Scaly-breasted Lorikeets greeted us on our arrival at this park. Not a lifer for either of us, but a sweet bird and new for the year. I got a few photos between the rain storms. I am grateful.
       

Scaly-breasted Lorikeet... I love parrots.

Has an itch...

Here are a few more bird photos from the last several days. Stay tuned, I will keep y’all posted.
             

Restless Flycatcher on nest in Bowra

Blue Bonnet... look how its body color matches the ground.

Those blue wings are gorgeous in flight!

Brown Honeyeater, beautiful in its simplicity.

Variegated Fairy-wren... just beautiful (as Fairy-wrens tend to be).

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

You Magnificent Bustard I Wrote Your Blog!

After biding farewell to the morning Red-winged Parrots at the caravan park, we packed up Matilda and hit the highway.

Red-winged gorgeousness

We topped off the petrol tank in town (no LPG auto-gas in Cunnamulla… this is proving to be an issue) and headed east. Bear in mind that the day before yesterday, Lynn, Robert and I drove over 100 kilometers around the area looking for Australian Bustards and never saw a one.

I need to set my trip odometer every time I fill up because Matilda’s fuel gauge is old and sometimes forgets what she is doing. It drops down to Empty when it is still almost full, so I can't really count on it. Therefore I knew that we were exactly 5 kilometers outside of town when I yelled, BUSTARD! And there was a beautiful, magnificent, Australian Bustard standing on the road. Actually, there were four total. I stopped. We looked. We got another lifer. I got a few photos and didn’t get run over on the highway. So much for which to be grateful!

Australian Bustard, Ardeotis australis Magnificent...

Australian Bustard, Ardeotis australis

Australian Bustard, Ardeotis australis

After taking care of a few things, we are now plugged in at a small, but nice caravan park in St. George, QLD. While running errands, we saw Blue-faced Honeyeaters on a nest in front of the hospital. They are such cool and beautiful birds. I am grateful for them indeed. Now for a quiet night of editing (and much deleting) of photos, or something. As you can imagine, right now I am writing. I had not planned on doing another blog so soon, but the Bustards were magnificent and I was really grateful. So here you go! Stay tuned…

Blue-faced Honeyeater and nest.

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Four Names And Two Hyphens

Yesterday after I posted the blog, we headed back to Bowra on a single bird quest. We (Lynn, Robert and I) were looking for the illusive Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush, a bird with four names and two hyphens, that prefers dashing across the ground to flying. No one had seen them around the reserve for several days.

We returned to an area where we had heard the bird the day before, but had not been able to locate it. Marie Tarrant joined us and we began to listen. We heard it again! We headed toward the sound. After perhaps half an hour of following the calls, Marie remarked that it had sort of a Red-browed Pardalote sound to it. There is a good reason for that. It was a Red-browed Pardalote. It had fooled us all. Lovely bird though.

Beautiful Red-browed Pardalote, also know as the Not-a Quail-thrush.

We were driving back toward the homestead when we came across Kris Bernard and her husband. They said they had just seen Quail-thrushes! They told us where they saw them and we returned to that area and after a bit of looking I saw one. True to form, it was under a bush and then ran to another bush, and another bush before disappearing further into the bush. However, it wasn't long before an immature bird showed up and we were able to get even better looks at it. Yes, I am very grateful!

      

Finally! The Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush, Cinclosoma castaneothorax

Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush, Cinclosoma castaneothorax up on a log. This was a young bird.

Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush, Cinclosoma castaneothorax

Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush, Cinclosoma castaneothorax

So today we reluctantly leave this area and work our way north. We changed some plans and have decided to head more up the coast (slowly). I will miss Bowra and my new friends (who I will see again!). I will also miss this lovely caravan park where the Red-winged Parrots greet me on the way to brush my teeth! I had to dash back and grab my camera. I am very grateful.

Red-winged Parrot on a bush, just in front of Matilda.

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Bowra Station, Cunnamulla Queensland

I am writing this in a beautiful little caravan park in Cunnamulla, the small town beside Bowra. It has been a wonderful few days. My Australian bird “life list” has moved ahead by seven and my “dear friend” list has moved ahead by two as we have gotten to know Marie and Allison. Our wonderful community, our tribe, our family of friends continues to grow and I am very grateful.

All of this has been intense at times and more laid back at others. There have been some anxieties on my part regarding Matilda’s suitability for what we are doing. She has heart. I am anthropomorphizing her like crazy, but she is our home for the present and there is something lovely about her. But I worry that we may be pushing her beyond her capabilities and I am not sure what we can do about that. There is far more blind faith in this leap of adventure than I would usually be comfortable with. There are times when I feel as if I am in the very cradle of my comfort zone, and there are times when I feel as if I can’t even see it from here. But all will be well and I am grateful for it all.

The view from Matilda at Bowra

My girl at Bowra Station.

The birding has been excellent. From the most wondrous, Burke’s Parrot to an amazingly close fly by of a Black-breasted Buzzard (a life bird for Lynn and me), to the intense searching from lignum bush to lignum bush until we could actually see the Chirruping Wedgebill, it has been wonderful. As we had heard, Bowra is a magical place… it is rough and dusty and there are actually ticks (the horrid bug, yes, I had one), but there is that incredible Aussie bush beauty to it all. We love it. Here are some photos from our time in Bowra, we are heading back for a bit today as well. I am grateful.

Grey-headed Honeyeater

Grey-headed Honeyeater at the nest that Robert Shore spotted.

Chirruping Wedgebill (thank you Marie Tarrant for helping us find this illusive bird).

Major Mitchell's Cockatoo

Collared Sparrowhawk

Southern Whiteface

Major Mitchell's again.

Emu and chick, cute as.

At the top of the road to the Tablelands

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Quick Post: Bourke's Parrot

Mid afternoon yesterday we arrived in Bowra Station, Cunnamulla, QLD. I have wanted to see Bourke’s Parrot ever since I began birding. This small brown, but yet also blue and pink parrot touched my heart from the pages of field guides. I wanted to see this bird. I had never before been in its area. I am now and Sir Richard Bourke, I have beheld your parrot!! I am deeply grateful.

Bourke's Parrot, Neophema bourkii

Bourke's Parrot, Neophema bourkii

Bourke's Parrot, Neophema bourkii

We went straight from seeing the Bourke’s to another spot over by our campsite and saw a Red-browed Pardalote couple coming in and out of their nest hole. One perched on a dead snag and I got some photos. They are so beautiful too.

     

Red-browed Pardalote bringing home supper.

We are in this wondrous place, but we’re running on batteries and I have one dot of Telstra, so I am keeping this short. Here are just a few photos. I will do a catch-up blog later this week, with more photos.

We are gloriously out amongst it and I am grateful!

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.

Highway Lifers

I learned something today and I got two lifers. That is a damn good day. 

I learned that it is okay to drive slowly, especially in Matilda on these 110 kph, two lane highways. She is top-heavy and she does not really handle well at any sort of “high” speeds. I am not used to going slow. When it comes to speed limits, I am a five-over kind of guy. I was born in a hurry. But driving Matilda becomes a chore, unless I slow down. 90 kph is her best, fast speed. She’ll do over 100, but I really need to keep both hands on the wheel. So as we travel across Oz we’ll be doin’ 90 a lot of the time and that is okay. It has to be. And I am grateful that I can adapt to that. I did today and it felt pretty good. 

And going slower makes seeing the birds easier! As we were ambling along a little flock of about a dozen Budgies flew across in front of us (they were faster than us). They were life birds for me, so I pulled Matilda over on the shoulder to watch them fly. There was a picnic area just ahead and I drove into there, hoping to see the Budgerigars again and maybe grab a photo. There was a large, brown bird by a puddle near the tables. Spotted Bowerbird! Another lifer! I had the camera out and was able to snap a couple of photos before it flew off. I am very grateful!! 

Lynn made and posted the eBird list, as she does for us, and I am really grateful for that as well. This sighting was considered rare and "unusual for this area." So when we got to Cobar, I posted two photos of the Spotted Bowerbird into the listing. 

Spotted Bowerbird! Tick

Out of focus, but you can see the pinkish-purple spot on its nape so I included this one in the eBird listing (and you an sort of see it in the top one too, if you already knew it was there).

Yes, there will be some version of Lifer Pie in my future. Here are some of the other birds we saw as we traveled a bit more slowly on the highway today. I am grateful.
        

Mr. Cockatiel in amongst it.

Ms Cockatiel

Chestnut-crowned Babblers, I love Babblers.

Chestnut-crowned Babbler and lunch.

Birds. Peace. Love. Earth. Laughter. Music.