Every Tuesday morning, John Seales, a local birding legend leads a bird walk through the Cairns Botanical Gardens. Since today would be my only chance to bird with a local expert, I decided to be at the gardens early before making a return trip to the Tablelands to see two crater lakes that I had read about. Our group consisted of another local who knew John, two other Americans and a young Canadian transplant who now works in southern Australia.
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| Local birding legend, John Seales |
John was very knowledgeable not only about the bird life but the plants as well. He knew where some of the birds were nesting as well as where to find some of the tougher birds such as frogmouths.
Local knowledge is a wonderful thing to have on your side and should be taken advantage of whenever possible.
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| Bush Stone-Curlew pair with bashful chick |
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| John had been keeping a careful watch on this pair and said they were very attentive parents |
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| Straw-necked Ibis |
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| Radjah Shelduck |
After thanking John, we headed west and soon found ourselves climbing the steep curvy roads to the Tablelands. Our destination was the Lake Barrine Tea House for lunch and hopefully some new birds. Lake Barrine is found in Crater Lake National Park. Formed by a volcanic eruption it was filled entirely by rain water. During the rainy season, there is a small overflow into Toohey Creek. The lake itself contain a number of interesting inhabitants, but none has a more interesting life cycle than the Long-finned Eel which calls the lake home. The population is composed entirely of females. After spending about 15 years in the lake, they apparently get the urge for male companionship, and migrate out of the lake to the ocean to spawn and then die. Obviously the resulting female babies, which have never known Lake Barrine, must reverse the journey of their mothers, climb an altitude over 700 meters and repopulate the lake. There is a well-groomed trail around the lake as well a cruise boat with narration that is popular. The only new bird I added was a Great Crested Grebe which stayed well away from shore and allowed only documentation shots
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| This tea house is as charming as it looks with a great setting and gardens |
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| Tallest hamburger of the trip! |
After a quick trip to the smaller nearby Lake Eachem which only produced a large party of young people and no birds we revisited Cattana Wetlands, just north of Cairns. This is a new large complex constructed from former sand pits. My target species was the Comb-Crested Jacana, a bird which has always fascinated me because of its long toes and claws which allow it to scramble across the top of lily pads.
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| As close to walking on water as you can get |
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| A Willy Wagtail watches the Jacana in amazement |
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Last new bird of the day was the Green Pygmy-Goose
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