Chasing Rainforest Chooks

Next stop on our day in the rainforest (see previous post on Daintree River for the early morning river cruise) was Cape Tribulation. We didn't do any dedicated bird-walks here as the weather looked like it was going to turn nasty with dark grey clouds approaching but a quick walk to the lookout over the beach was worth the risk of rain.

Cape Tribulation, Qld

We did manage to find a pair of Orange-footed Scrubfowl scratching for food in the leaf litter around the picnic area and path from the car park to the beach. They were obviously acclimated to humans so they were easy to approach. The dense rainforest vegetation made it very dark so I was shooting at a very low shutter speed (1/25th sec), completely blurring the leg movement.

Orange-footed Scrubfowl, Cape Tribulation Qld

To try and overcome this I fitted the flash and had another attempt.

Orange-footed Scrubfowl, Cape Tribulation Qld

The reflections from the surrounding leaves make the birds plumage look a little weird but it was the best I could manage before the bird wandered deeper into the understorey.

As I was photographing this bird, a busload of tourists arrived and headed for the beach, straight past the bird. The tour guide stopped to watch, opening the conversation with a rhetorical "Chasing chooks, huh?". He informed us that these two were here nearly every day. It's always feels a bit odd being so excited about your first encounter with a new bird when the locals treat them as common pests.

Our next chook chase for the day occurred at the beautiful Mossman Gorge. We arrived there late afternoon, not long before the visitor centre (and shuttle bus) shut down, but decided to have a quick look. We were quickly disappointed that we had not left more time to explore this beautiful place but there are only so many things you can squeeze into a day (we did start at 3:30 AM!) and it's always good to want to come back for more another time. The 1 km walk through the rainforest

Rainforest creek, Mossman Gorge

culminated in views of the spectacular Mossman Gorge.

Mossman Gorge

As I turned around after taking the photograph above, an Australian Brush Turkey walked over the boulder behind me, slowly enough for me to capture one shot.

Australian Brush Turkey

There are 19 species of 'megapods' worldwide and three of them live in Australia--the two photographed today + the Malleefowl that lives in the mallee of the SE and SW. I had never seen the Orange-footed Scrubfowl before today so another life tick and I don't often photograph birds with a 20mm lens so, despite the low number of birds, it was a fun and rewarding day in the tropical rainforest that finished with a view of the coast from Rex Lookout at sunset.

...stay tuned for more rainforest tomorrow...

A rainy day in Lismore

I had the pleasure of visiting Southern Cross University in Lismore and decided to make the most of the preceding day's public holiday checking out some of the local birding haunts in the Northern Rivers area of NSW. 

Unfortunately, the weather varied from dull overcast through drizzling to heavy rain for most of the morning so I just took a leisurely drive along the Tweed River anticipating a break in the weather but it was not until I reached Mt Warning (Wollumbin National Park) that the rain stopped (briefly). I took a couple of short walks hoping for the chance to see some rainforest birds. 

Rainforest, Breakfast Creek, Wollumbin National Park NSW 

It's always a challenge photographing birds in a forest because most of the birds are either in the canopy, so all you see are silhouettes, or on the forest floor so it's very dark. I did manage to find an Australian Brush Turkey running along the forest floor and got one shot off panning a hand-held 300mm lens shooting @ 1/3 second (yes it was that dark!) from the Lyrebird Track lookout. 

Australian Brush Turkey, Breakfast Creek, Wollumbin National Park, NSW

The morning was not a total dead loss though as I did manage to see a large flock of (at least 50) Topknot Pigeons flying over the top of the forest canopy (but impossible to photograph) about 600 metres up the Summit Walk. Of course, once I arrived back at the car park, another Brush Turkey was feeding on the roadside and I managed a few shots before the rain started again.

Australian Brush Turkey, Breakfast Creek, Wollumbin National Park, NSW

The creek also provided a chance for some waterfall shots.

Breakfast Creek, Wollumbin National Park, NSW

Rotary Park Rainforest Reserve, a small remnant of dry rainforest in suburban Lismore is known as a good birding spot. There were a few birds flying around the canopy but nothing close enough to being photographed. However, the resident colony of Grey-headed Flying-fox did provide some photographic entertainment

Grey-headed Flying-fox, Rotary Park Rainforest Reserve, Lismore, NSW

The other main target for the day was Comb-crested Jacana, which I had been told were relatively easy to see at Lake Lismore, and I did manage to find two close enough to the lake shore and out in the open for my first time photographing this species.

Comb-crested Jacana, Lake Lismore, NSW

While I crouched at the side of the lake, a small flock of Scaly-breasted Lorikeets landed in nearby trees

Scaly-breasted Lorikeet, Lake Lismore, NSW