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Daintree
Wildlife Bulletin:
23 Jul 10.
Platypus. For only the
3rd time in 20 years has a platypus been sighted in the Daintree
River. We were astonished to see this shy creature swim alongside
the boat in crystal clear water for nearly 5 minutes. 13 Jul 10.
Great-billed Heron,
Little Kingfisher, Papuan Frogmouth, Wompoo Fruit-Dove and Little (Gould's)
Bronze-Cuckoo headed up a good birdwatching list despite the
un-seasonal weather. Good News: The Daintree Riverview Caravan
Park has re-opened under new ownership. 8 Jul 10.
Great birdwatching morning.
Starting off with Great-billed
Heron then Black Bittern, Little Kingfisher, Papuan Frogmouth,
Little (Gould's) Bronze-Cuckoo, Double-eyed
Fig-Parrot, Nankeen Night Heron, Shining Flycatcher, Azure and
Sacred kingfisher.
4 Jul 10.
Rotten weather but good birds.
Great-billed Heron,
Little Kingfisher, Papuan Frogmouths and Double-eyed Fig-Parrots
proved the most popular.
29 Jun 10.
Kingfisher Morning.
Six species in fact; Laughing Kookaburra, Blue-winged Kookaburra,
Forest, Sacred, Azure and Little Kingfishers made our morning. Some
other good birds included Wompoo Fruit-Dove, Cicadabird and
Double-eyed Fig-Parrot.
16 Jun 10.
Great-billed Heron.
We have been going great guns
with our rarer birds. Great-billed Heron and Little Kingfisher this
morning.
12 Jun 10.
Great-billed Heron.
Well all good things come to an end. We dipped on the Great-billed
Heron today. All was not lost with good views of Azure and Little
Kingfishers, Papuan Frogmouths and Double-eyed Fig-Parrots.
3 Jun 10.
Great-billed Heron.
For the first time ever we had 100% sighting's of Daintree's rarest
bird for a whole month. June has started off well with another sighting of a
Great-billed Heron and some other hard to find birds; Papuan
Frogmouth, Little Kingfisher and Wompoo fruit-Dove.
28 May 10.
Great-billed Heron record?
We look like having a 100% record
of Great-billed Heron sightings for the month of May 2010. Three
days to go.
15 May 10.
Best birds this
morning were; Great-billed Heron, Little Kingfisher, Papuan
Frogmouth, Lovely Fairy-wren and Double-eyed Fig-Parrots.
11 May 10.
Early birds. Before
our 6:30am departure you can spend a little time wandering around
the Daintree Village. You will almost certainly see Spectacled
Flying-foxes. Black Butcherbirds can be seen around the shops where
they pick up insects that have been attracted by the night lights.
Check the powerlines for kingfishers.
7 May 10.
Great-billed Heron,
Black Bittern, Pied Monarch, Fairy Gerygone and some Green Tree
Snakes were amongst the highlights this morning.
5 May 10.
Great-billed Heron,
Black Bittern, Little Kingfisher and Papuan Frogmouth heads up a
great list this morning.
2 May 10.
Great-billed Heron.
In
poor weather conditions we did well with some of the more difficult
birds. Great-billed Heron, Papuan Frogmouth and a glimpse of a
Little Kingfisher were the best.
23 Apr 10.
Great-billed Heron.
Best birds this morning were Great-billed Heron, female Eastern Koel,
Shining Flycatchers and Azure Kingfishers.
17 Apr 10. Birdwatching joy.
Visiting birdwatching were treated to our 3 rarest at dawn on the
Daintree River. Great-billed Heron, Little Kingfisher and Black
Bittern headed up an impressive wildlife list that included a
Saltwater Crocodile, Green Tree Snake and another 4 kingfisher
species.
13 Apr 10.
Rainforest specials.
Quite a lot of the rainforest special species showed themselves this
morning. Victoria's Riflebird, Yellow Oriole, Brown Cuckoo-Dove,
Wompoo Fruit-Dove, Top-Knot Pigeon, Emerald Dove and Pied Imperial
Pigeon. Lots of Channel-billed Cuckoos and reptiles are starting to
appear as the weather cools.
8 Apr 10.
Channel-billed Cuckoos.
50+ Channel-billed Cuckoos
cascaded from a big fig tree over the river this morning. It is not
a common sight to see so many at once. The river level is still high
but expected to go back to normal levels soon.
2 Apr 10.
Great-billed Heron,
Black Bittern, Shining Flycatchers, Double-eyed Fig-Parrots and
Little Bronze-Cuckoos head up this morning's list. The river is
still in flood but should be back to normal levels within a day or
two.
14 Jan 10.
Great- billed Heron.
Fine conditions at last and a good run around the river. Best birds
were; Great-billed Heron, Black Bittern and Pied Monarch.
11 Jan 10.
Great-billed Heron.
Lots of overnight rain
produced the first flood of the Wet Season. Highlights of this
morning's trip were: Great-billed Heron, 25+ Channel-billed Cuckoos,
Comb-crested Jacana, Blue-winged Kookaburra, Azure Kingfishers,
Yellow Oriole and Wompoo Fruit-Dove.
6 Jan 10.
Great-billed Heron
and great start to 2010. Several Black Bitterns showed themselves
well enough for photographs along with Azure Kingfishers,
Brown-backed and Graceful Honeyeaters.
We are now in the low season and do not run every day. If you would
like to go out on this trip please contact me direct:
phone 40987997
or e-mail chrisld@austarnet.com.au
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