Hasties Swamp National Park turned out to be a great choice for the morning photography. Arriving at sunrise we had the place to ourselves. The previous days fire was out and birds were active with great morning light. As soon as I pulled out my equipment from the back of the van I saw a Purple Swamp Hen watching me from eye level a short distance away. They often act like stupid chickens and this one was no different. He posed in beautiful light for a while while I clicked away.
Flocks of Sarus Cranes and Magpie Geese were flying overhead and a large concentration of waterbirds was clustered on the western end of the lake. I had parked on the eastern end and now began to work my way west with the sun at my back.
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| Sarus Cranes |
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| Magpie Geese |
As I approached the western end Pacific Black Ducks and a few Hardheads came into camera range.
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| Pacific Black Ducks are common and act like our mallards |
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| Pacific Black Ducks are very tame in cities and parks but can become wary in remote areas. |
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| Hardhead or White-eyed Duck |
Slightly more wary was the Australian Pelican on the far side of the lake.
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| Australia's only Pelican |
In the shallows some White-headed Stilts waded and a Buff-banded Rail would make running forays into the opening before disappearing in the underbrush again.
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| The White-headed Stilt is sometimes called the Pied or Black-winged Stilt |
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| Buff-banded Rail |
As the sun rose higher an Australasian Grebe swam into range along with a Chestnut-breasted Mannikin feeding in the grass.
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Australasian Grebe
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Chestnut-breasted Mannikin
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On the drive out we found a field with more Sarus Cranes feeding in the red soil of a newly worked field.
It was a great morning but we were both ready for a late breakfast or brekkie and Edie had decided on the Malanda Dairy Centre. This did not appear to be a working dairy but a restaurant/museum. Edie wanted eggs but we were told they only serve eggs on weekends. We settled on their special which was Caramel Banana Waffles. The waffles were quite different from what we were use to, smaller and more dense, but excellent. The waitress turned out to be a birder who spends a lot of time at Hasties. She made me wish I had more time to spend there. The museum was, of course, about the dairy industry but also gave a lot of information about the close ties to the U.S. especially in wartime. The tablelands grew a lot of food for the war effort and supplied a lot of soldiers.
Our camp for the evening would be the Kingfisher Birdwatcher's Lodge in Julatten. Since it wasn't very far form Malanda Falls we had time for a few stops on the way. We bought more groceries and headed for the tourist town of Yungaburra. On the way we stopped at Fig Tree National Park. This huge strangler fig tree is 500 years old and 50 meters high.
At Yungaburra we did a little shopping and then hiked an area that was suppose to contain platypus. I did not expect to see any at that time of day and I was not proved wrong. Edie, however, proved me wrong about her fear of heights by crossing the aerial bridge.
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| Yungaburra Hotel |
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| Believe it or not! |
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| This as close as we got to seeing Platypus |
Our final stop before reaching camp was the Mt Uncle distillery in Walkamin. The only drink I can remember was something called "Sexy Cat". It is billed as the world's first and only marshmallow liqueur. I am not an expert on distilled products but it may remain as the world's only marshmallow liqueur. Their grounds were beautiful and I, of course, wondered how the photography would be in the morning but our day was running short and we drove the remainder of the way to Julatten for the night.
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