Kallista Cockies and Kookas

I stopped briefly at Grant's Picnic Ground (on the edge of the Dandenong Ranges National Park in Kallista) on the way home from Bunyip. This is a reliable place for lyrebirds and as it was late afternoon, I thought I'd see if I could find some males displaying. I heard at least three and managed to see one but it was too far away for any photography. Great just to see him though.

Grants Picnic Ground is also on a main tourist bus route and there's a bird feeding area where Sulphur-crested Cockatooos hang out waiting for a free feed (free for the birds, that is; the tourists buy food from the gift shop).

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Grant's Picnic Ground, Kallista

I'm a little ambivalent about this sort of "attraction". I am all for giving tourists close-up experiences with wildlife but not a fan of feeding wildlife. However, it does give photographers a chance to get close to these beautiful birds...

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Grants Picnic Ground, Kallista

...seriously close (this was shot with a 70-200mm lens).

Sulphur-crested Cockatoo
Grants Picnic Ground, Kallista

It was nearly dark by the time I got back from the lyrebird exploration so when I spotted this Laughing Kookaburra on the entry sign, the only option was to use flash.

Laughing Kookaburra
Grants Picnic Ground, Kallista

Cairns Pioneer Cemetery

We were given a tip about a pair of Brahminy Kites nesting in a tree in the Cairns Pioneer Cemetery. When we got back from our day at Kuranda there was about an hour of light left so I decided to go and investigate.

On arrival I counted five Bush Stone-curlew skulking around the graves.

Bush Stone-curlew, Pioneer Cemetery, Cairns Qld

More intriguing was the interaction between a Laughing Kookaburra, perched on a low branch and a Willie Wagtail that clearly objected to it being there.

Laughing Kookaburra + Willie Wagtail, Pioneer Cemetery, Cairns Qld

The Kookaburra refused to fly away and the Willie Wagtail persisted for at least 20 minutes giving me time for a range of shots. Mostly this is just luck as the action happens so quickly you just have to try and predict when things will happen and fire off a short burst, hoping to catch something interesting.

Having seen enough of this, and with the light fading, I went off in search of the kite nest, soon finding it in a fork of a large pine tree. One bird was sitting on the next, almost totally obscured from sight.

Brahminy Kite, Pioneer Cemetery, Cairns Qld

As I walked around the tree looking for a better viewing angle, a pair of Pied Imperial Pigeons landed in a palm nearby.

Pied Imperial Pigeon, Pioineer Cemetery, Cairns Qld

Just as the sun was setting and clouds came over the western sky, the second kite landed on a dead branch at the top of the nest tree. It was so dark, I popped the flash on to brighten up the bird.

Brahminy Kite, Pioneer Cemetery, Cairns Qld

Almost immediately, a Magpie Lark that had previously been feeding on the ground at the base of the tree, did it's best to discourage the kite from staying.

Brahminy Kite + Magpie Lark,
Pioneer Cemetery, Cairns Qld

As with the Kookaburra and Willie Wagtail, this interaction went on for some time with neither giving in.

Kuranda

Day 7 of our Far North Queensland sojourn and we took the Scenic Railway from Cairns to Kuranda.

From the railway station you can cross over into the village or go down to the river, where the riverwalk forms part of a 3 km loop that ends up at the top of the village. We took the latter. The walk was hot and humid, as expected, but revealed more great birds.

As we walked down to the river, a Forest Kingfisher landed on the sign next to the dock.

Forest Kingfisher, Kuranda Qld

I have to confess that I have been tempted to Photoshop the sign to say "No Fishing".

This bird was as cooperative as it's Azure cousin seen on the Daintree River yesterday, turning for a different angle as I approached it for a closer view

Forest Kingfisher, Kuranda Qld

and someone managed to capture me in the process...

Photo courtesy of Joanne Smissen

We heard the 'ka ka ka' call of what we thought was a Black Butcherbird and soon confirmed it with a sighting of the bird perched deep in the forest beside the river.

Black Butcherbird, Kuranda Qld

A little further along the river walk, another unmistakeable call revealed a common favourite.

Laughing Kookaburra, Kuranda Qld

As we got deeper into the rainforest, we heard lots of foreign (for a pair of southerners) bird calls but, at one site, they were dominated by the deep "wompoo" call that onomatopoeically identified its owner, which was finally revealed in a more open part of the forest. Not the greatest photograph but I was happy to see the bird so clearly given our difficulty in finding it (and another first time photograph).

Wompoo Fruit-Dove, Kuranda Qld

Even the village main street offered up some gems such as this figbird.

Australasian Figbird, Kuranda Qld

We returned via the Skyrail, which provided some sensational bird's eye views of the rainforest.

Wilson's Promontory

I spent the weekend camping with the family at Tidal River, Wilson's Promontory National Park. Mostly swimming and walking on the beach and river. I was astounded at how much the river has changed since the floods of March 2011.

The usual birds frequented the campsite--Red Wattlebird, Crimson Rosella, Superb Fairy-wren--but the highlight was the Laughing Kookaburra family that was resident right next to our campsite, though this one seemed bored with us...

Laughing Kookaburra, Wilson's Promontory National Park

As I had not been out birding for a month, I had to escape for a few hours with the camera so decided to search for emus on what was, in the past, an open grassland area north of the airstrip. In recent years this has become much more overgrown with tea-tree and other shrubs so it has become more difficult to find emu and kangaroos that in previous years have been regularly seen in this area. I did manage to find one emu.

Emu, Wilson's Promontory National Park

I am continually amazed at how comical these birds can be.

You Yangs Regional Park

The You Yangs Regional Park (just north of Lara and west of Little River) is a great location for bush birds.

What started as a sunny day turned windy, cloudy and drizzling rain just after I arrived so many of the birds were difficult to see and impossible to photograph. However, this Laughing Kookaburra was very cooperative during a brief break in the rain.

Laughing Kookaburra, You Yangs