Saturday 21 March 2015

March with Birdwatching Tropical Australia

Cyclone Nathan finally managed to cross the coast 100km north of Cooktown on its second attempt. Here in the Port Douglas/Julatten area attempt one brought some wind and much needed rain along with several frigate birds. These could be seen in the skies above Port Douglas and Thala Beach. The second attempt brought only a few drops of rain and a light breeze as the cyclone was much further north.

Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher
Birwatching Tropical Australia has been having some good sightings of Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher in Julatten.  8 adults and 2 juveniles were seen on one of last week’s tours. Mt Lewis is as good as it always is with great sightings of Blue-faced Parrot-Finch this month.  We also saw a 2.5m long Amethystine Python along the walking track which made for a bit of excitement for our visitor from Perth!
Blue-faced Parrot-Finch



One of the ponds at Port Douglas produced an impressive 24 Pied Herons for a photographer from Melbourne and the Wandering Whistling-Ducklings and Magpie Goslings produced plenty of oh’s and ah’s from the ladies.


Wandering Whistling-Duck
The Metallic Starlings nesting at Mossman have managed to pump out a third brood of youngsters again this season.
Metallic Starling



As we look forward to the cooler dryer months of winter our shore birds and summer migrants are preparing to leave our shores. Departures should begin within the week.

Happy Birding to all!

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