May 18, 2005
Oz trip part 8 - Yungaburra
We arrived in the pretty town of Yungaburra too early to check in to our hostel, so naturally we went birding! We drove to an overlook of Lake Tinaroo and immediately saw 2 lifers - a Comb-crested Jacana...
... and a Cotton Pygmy-Goose.
This Buff-banded Rail appeared at the roadside too.
The staff at our hostel informed us of a nearby stream which had Platypus. We sat by the riverside for the last hour of daylight, during which time I picked up Fairy and Brown Gerygones, and Scarlet and Dusky Honeyeaters. Eventually Andrew spotted the vegetation moving on the bank directly opposite us and voila! Our first Platypus snuffled its way past us in the stream - amazing!
The next morning I got up early to see what birds I could find in town. It was a good morning for pigeons: Bar-shouldered Doves and introduced Spotted Doves were to be expected....
... but I also spotted a few Brown Cuckoo-Doves (looking more red than brown in the early morning light) and a White-headed Pigeon.
Next up we visited Lake Barrine, where a flowering shrub in the car park was attracting Ulysses Butterflies (you should see them with their wings open!) and an Olive-backed Sunbird.
The best bird to appear on the rainforest walk was a Chowchilla with a powder-blue eyering. We were also able to get up close and personal with a Brush-turkey. Not very pretty, are they?
Lake Eacham is also well worth a visit.
It's possible to see many fish and turtles in the perfectly clear waters, and we spotted this male Water Dragon basking by the boardwalk.
Our hostel, On the Wallaby, runs wildlife-spotting canoe tours on nearby Lake Tinaroo. We opted to do both the day and night tours. The day tour was great, affording excellent views of Azure Kingfishers, Nankeen Night Herons and other waterbirds. We were lucky enough to see a Brown Goshawk take a Figbird, and this smart Grey Goshawk even sat around for long enough to be photographed.
The highlight, however, had to be the mammals. We spotted an Echidna snuffling along the water's edge, and even more amazingly, a Lumholtz's Tree Kangaroo sitting out in the open in broad daylight!
Note the red eyes in this photo (this is how you usually pick them up with a spotlight at night)...
... and the impressively long tail.
We used ochre from the wet rocks to try some aborigine-style face painting. This was Andrew's attempt to make me look like a warrior - are you scared yet?
In the evening we popped out for another attempt to spot a Platypus - no luck this time, but just as we were about to leave, I heard a 'woof-woof' from the far bank. Unconvinced this was a dog, I replied 'woof-woof'. After a few minutes of woofing dialogue, a Barking Owl flew across the river towards us (thank heavens, as Andrew thought I'd gone barking mad, har har). Night canoeing was serene - the stars were phenomenal (it's really easy to see the Milky Way here), we saw two possums (Coppery Brushtail and Ringtail sp) while surrounded by the sound of frogs, insects and Australian Owlet-Nightjars.
Next day we drove to the Crater via Bromfield Swamp, and were pleasantly surprised when a party of 5 Sarus Cranes flew directly in front of the car. Disappointingly, most of the trails around the Crater were closed, but I had fun watching these two Grey Fantails battle it out in the car park.
En route to the coast we stopped off at the panoramic Milaa Milaa lookout...
... and took a swim at the Milaa Milla Falls.
If academia fails, I could always get a job in the shampoo commercials!
Pretty light at Ellinjaa Falls.
