After our super awesome day on Mt. Lewis, Del dropped us off at Kingfisher Park where we had left our "van". We needed to get on the road because I really didn't want to have to drive after dark. Here in Australia road kill is a major fact of life. I noticed it more in Central Australia. When Mim and I were making the drive to Uluru from Alice Springs we were counting at least one wallaby or kangaroo per kilometer. It can be very dangerous to drive at night since wallabies and kangaroos are mostly nocturnal. Not to mentioned that I would feel awful if I were to hit one.
Brian was outside and I walked out of the RV to ask him something and as soon as I shut the door I heard a voice in my head say "where's the key". The lady at the van rental place told us to carry our keys on us at all times because the vans have an auto lock feature. I realized my key was in my pack, which was inside the van, and when I tried the door latch to go back in and get it, my heart hit the ground, THE DOOR WAS LOCKED! I frantically asked Brian if he had his key and he checked and said no. We looked at each other and said "we're screwed" or something to that effect. We scratched our heads for a while and looked at one another again and said "we're screwed" and then just like Bill Pullman in one of our favorite movies we said "game over man".
Then we decided to call the rental place when we realized that our phones were inside the van. Once again "game over man". I suggested that we try to use the phone in the lodge office but Brain said "wait, we didn't latched the windows, we can get the windows open and I can crawl through". And that's exactly what he did. He saved us from sure catastrophe just like Ripley did in Alien. Game not over, Game on man!! From then on we have strictly followed the lady's advice.
The drive to the Daintree River was uneventful and we spent the night in a caravan park on the river bank It rained hard all night and was still raining hard at 6:20 am when we were supposed to be walking down to the river for a 6:30 departure. But about 6:30 it stopped and didn't rain again until around 10:00 when we were off the river. So perfect timing.
The river was still and the light was beautiful. Murray, our guide assigned us our seats and we were lucky enough to be in the front row. The boat was full but it was small. There was a couple from Spain, another couple from Germany, a guy from San Jose, Del and Mark, and Brian and me. Murray asked everyone to introduce themselves, who they were with and what they'd like to see. He asked me to go first and I totally messed it up by saying that I was Forest and I would love to see a Great-billed Heron. Murray let me know that I had not followed instructions, "no no no" he said, "who's your mate there beside you"? Then he sort of let me off the hook by saying that I had chosen his favorite bird on the river. The others followed directions and there were requests for kingfishers and snakes but the overwhelming winner was the Saltwater Crocodile.
Murray told us that he would do his best but that it wasn't the best time of the year to see the crocs. He explained that at this time of the year when the water temperature was warm, the crocs stayed in the water most of the time and didn't haul themselves out on the river bank. He also said that this was the time when the females migrate up side channels and creeks and build nests. But he promised to do his best and with that we were off.
No sooner had we left the dock till we spotted and Australian Hobby perched a top a tall tree on the edge of the river. The hobby is a small swift falcon much like our kestrel or Merlin. Stops along the way got us really close looks at a Common Tree Snake, Azure Kingfisher, Australian Darter, and Spangled Drongo. It just doesn't seem right that we have named so many beautiful animals and plants "Common this" and "Common that". Think about it, Common Loon, Common Merganser, and Common Nighthawk just to name a few. Take a look at this beautiful snake and tell me it's fair that she is called "Common Tree Snake" and then right beside her you have two birds that have the coolest names, Azure Kingfisher and Australian Darter, and the name actually says something about them other than that they are common. If I were the Master of the Universe I'd call this snake "Super Cool Looking Tree Snake".
Latin Name Laniatus koolookius
Continuing on, we floated up this side channel very quietly. Murray has an electric motor for this purpose and it's a real nice touch. This channel was fantastic! We found Long-billed Gerrygone, Striated Heron, Shinning Flycatcher, and best of all Little Kingfisher. The Little Kingfisher is not called the Littlest Kingfisher because there is one and only one that is smaller. I think Murray said that it was the African Pygmy-Kingfisher.
After we turned around and got back on the main river most of the time was spent looking for crocs. But we did happen to spot a Black-necked Stork flying over our boat and Rajah Shelducks on the bank. But alas not one croc. For a complete list of what we saw on the river click here
After we got off the river we took a drive up Stewart Creek Road and with a little help from Del, we found a large flock of White-throated Needletail. This was one of the coolest finds because the White-throated Needletail is actually a swift and just happens to be the largest swift in the world. So we saw the second smallest kingfisher and the largest swift on the same day, and it wasn't even noon yet! For a list of what we saw on Stewarts Road click here
After lunch, which we ate under a tree filled with Rainbow Lorikeets, we took off for a place that Del had recommended for Great -billed Heron, but not before I stopped in for an Iced Coffee. I'll bet I lose this habit as soon as the plane touches down in cold wintry Eugene, but for now it's wonderful. Did I mention that they even have soy milk everywhere! Okay enough with the iced coffee report, back to birds. We drove to Newell Beach and found two small sand bars filled with birds about fifty yards off the beach. It was a major jackpot as we found both Lesser and Greater Sand Plovers, and Little Tern. For a complete list you know what to do
Then it was back to Cairns to get ready to bird the Esplanade in the morning!
I love that Azure kingfisher!
ReplyDeleteYeah! And the Little Kingfisher is pretty cool too.
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