Back in beautiful Daintree at last!

After 3 months holiday - 6 weeks in South America and then six weeks driving into central Australia and back, it is great to be back in Daintree with the familiar lush green rainforest, warm winter's days and our local very special birds.
Highlights from Bolivia included a four day hike from the freezing cold Andes at 5,,000metres down into the sub-tropical Yungas at 2000m, just out of La Paz. Hard on the knees and much more difficult than we imagined but a fabulous experience and our first sighting of the Andean Cock-of-the-Rock, which was on life's 'wish list'.

El Choro Trek Bolivia 

Many birding highlights of Ecuador, but the day in the company of Mr Angel Paz at his farm, watching him interact with Antpittas, Cock-of-the-Rock, hummers, Toucanets etc was magic. An ex hunter who now has a refuge for wildlife, he provides opportunities to see many of the more difficult birds, and in a most delightful manner.

Toucan Barbet

Home for a day, packed the ute and then headed off camping to Central Australia. Great weather, great country and some great birds including this Western Bowerbird at Ormiston Gorge in the West Macdonnell Ranges.

Western Bowerbird

 Camping in the bush on the Plenty Highway between Boulia and Alice Springs. No caravans - yeah!!!

Back to Daintree, which is about as good as it gets in mid winter!
Busy here for the school holidays, particularly with day visitors from Cairns and Port Douglas. For those lucky enough to stay overnight in Daintree the birdlife is fantastic. There have been 5 different kingfishers on the Daintree River, seen from the early morning boat tours, plus favourites like Great-billed Heron and Papuan Frogmouth.
The Little Kingfisher feeds on the pond at Red Mill House each day and Spangled Drongo, Pacific Baza and Brown Cuckoo Dove frequent the yard.
Nice winter specials here in the lowlands include Brown Falcon, seen on the Mossman-Daintree Rd, Lewin's Honeyeater, Pacific Baza, Victoria's Riflebird and Black-faced Monarch.
Southern Cassowary seen on Cape Kimberly Rd, Wompoo Fruit-Dove nesting on Stewart Creek Rd and the first Pied Imperial Pigeons recently seen, presumably returning from PNG for the breeding season. Metallic Starling also returned and busy as can be.
It's nice to be home!!

The Daintree River

After a good clean-out from last month's rain, the Daintree River is looking fabulous. The water is clear, the Barramundi fishing season is open and recreational fisherman are endeavouring to catch this prized fighting (and eating) fish.
It's also a great time for birds on the Daintree River.
A trip out in 'the tinny' on Weds morning gave us excellent views of the Great Billed Heron, Black Bittern, Shining Flycatcher, Yellow Oriole and many more. The tide was a little high for Kingfishers.

Great-billed Heron Feb 12 (Trish Forsyth)

Other good sightings in the area include Spotted Whistling Ducks, Latham's Snipe, loads of Magpie Goose, Red-necked Crake and Pale-vented Bush-Hen. Having some water lying around in the fields at last is excellent for these birds.
Wonderful weather - you wouldn't believe it is meant to be the 'Wet Season'.

Last of the "Dry Season"

An unusual December in tropical Daintree with humid and warm weather but without the build-up of storms to date. Conditions are dry, leaves are falling, wetlands are shrinking and birds are seeking what water they can find. Even muddy, cow-filled ponds are attractive to some.

Glossy Ibis and Royal Spoonbill Daintree Dec 12

Large numbers of Magpie Goose are feeding in the fields on the banks of the Daintree River and passing overhead the village each morning and night as they roost along Barratt Creek. Their presence is not going un-noticed by at least one of the local Crocodiles!

Magpie Geese Daintree River Dec 12

Great bird sightings in Daintree including a nesting Papuan Frogmouth with chick on Stewart Creek Rd, Cicadabird, Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher, Oriental Cuckoo, Great-billed Heron, Azure Kingfisher and many more.
In the gardens at Red Mill House a large Terminalia is fruiting, proving very popular with Australasian Figbird, Eastern Koel and Pied Imperial-Pigeon.

Pied Imperial Pigeon Red Mill House Dec 12

A fabulous time of year for frogs, and therefore snakes. Guests shared the swimming pool with this delightful Common Green Tree-Snake last week, who just missed his frog.

Common Green Tree-Snake Red Mill House Dec 12

Also looking for a feed has been this beautiful Amethystine Python - an absolute favourite with guests

Amethystine Python Red Mill House Dec 12

The rains will come soon enough - for now we are enjoying the wildlife treats that we have.

Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher has arrived!!

The last of our summer migrants are in!
Black Bittern has been seen for the past few days on the Daintree River and this morning the first Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher was heard and then seen on Stewart Creek Rd in the Daintree Valley by Robyn Lowth of Daintree Sunbird Farm.
We love this time of year!!

Springtime in Daintree

After a very dry and extremely pleasant few weeks, there has been some good showers here in the Wet Tropics over the last few days, refreshing the rainforest and greening everything up again. It was long overdue.

Birdlife has been fabulous with lots of nesting going on - Olive-backed Sunbirds are laying in some of the most inconvenient of places - hammocks, doorways etc. They are amazingly successful considering how trusting they are! We also have Yellow Oriole, Australian Figbird and Helmeted Friarbird nesting in the garden. Welcome Swallows and Mistletoebirds are feeding their young around town and, on the Daintree River, Wompoo Fruit Dove and Papuan Frogmouth are nesting while Double-eyed Fig-Parrots are madly feeding babies.

It is the season for Channel-billed Cuckoo (Storm Birds) and Australasian Koel to be seen, but particularly, heard. The Koels are always being chased noisily by the smaller birds as they parasitise the nests of the above-mentioned species. Fruit-eaters and usually quiet, the Koel can often be found in fruiting Alexandra Palms and several species of figs. A large bird with a bright red eye, the female has delightful markings, while the male is shiny and black.

Australian Koel - female (Fred Forsell)

Australian Koel - male (Fred Forsell)

Other good sightings in Daintree include Lovely Fairy-Wren on Stewart Creek Rd, Little Kingfisher on the pond at Red Mill House, Pacific Baza in Daintree Village and possibly the first sighting of Black Bittern this morning on the Daintree River.
Everyone is waiting anxiously for the first call of the Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher returning from New Guinea.

The new Daintree Birdwatching Bulletin

Following the crash of the one existing computer in this house which supported Windows XP, we no longer have access to the Dreamweaver programme from which the Daintree Birdwatching Bulletin was created and maintained.

So - - - this blog is now the new Daintree Birdwatching Bulletin, which means I have to be a bit more vigilant  about keeping it updated!

September is a fabulous time of year in Daintree - warm, sunny, not humid and very few mosquitoes. With a couple of notable exceptions (Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher and Black Bittern), all our summer migrants are here. Lots of nesting is going on making some birds like Great-billed Heron and Southern Cassowary more difficult to see, and others like Metallic Starling and Brown-backed Honeyeater are easier.

Good sightings of Little Kingfisher, Double-eyed Fig-Parrot and Pacific Baza in the garden at Red Mill House while Stewart Creek Rd has been handy for Lovely Fairy-Wren and Pied Monarch.

Very good sightings of Noisy Pitta on the track at the end of Cape Kimberly and there has been a very handsome, and somewhat 'friendly' sub-adult Southern Cassowary at Jindalba Boardwalk, as the following photos from Paul McLelland shows us.

Sub-adult Cassowary Jindalba Boardwalk

Sub-adult Cassowary Jindalba Boardwalk - a close look!

A male Cassowary with three chicks is also in the region of Jindalba, and also a large female. Most sightings seem have been early morning and it is has been difficult finding then during the day.

Other Daintree sightings include Topknot Pigeon, Yellow-breasted Boatbill, Victoria's Riflebird and Shining Flycatcher. Check out our weekly sightings list for more details Red Mill House Sightings page

New Year's resolution - blogging!!

Where does the time go?
My apologies for such a long absence - I was embarrassed to receive blog stats recently and see many people are looking at this blog, but that I have done nothing for such a long time. Thank you for your perseverance.

A New Year's resolution - to keep people informed and up to date this year about life and birding in the Daintree.

First things first though.
We have just returned from a wonderful month's holiday in Sri Lanka.
What a great destination for viewing wildlife and  to have the opportunity to meet such wonderful people who are happy to share their ancient, rich and diverse land with us. We took part in a private Birdwatching and Wildlife tour for 11 days, then spent another 2 1/2 weeks exploring the island by various means.
Many, many photos, but this is a favourite!!

Sri Lanka is experiencing a tourist boom, now that the conflicts are over and the rebuilding from the 2004 Tsunami is virtually complete. It is an easy and safe destination and very popular with northern Europeans at this time of year - why wouldn't it be? Wildlife tourism is also growing quickly, and we would recommend going sooner, rather than later, as there will probably be greater demand in the future, stretching the resources of the good nature guides and companies.
We travelled with, and would recommend Prasanjith Caldera from Walk with Jith, an excellent guide and organiser, who created the perfect tour for us, at a very good price. His other guides, Sam and Nandana, were also charming and knowledgeable and we enjoyed them all.
If you would like any more details, please just contact Andrew or Trish at Red Mill House.

So, back to Daintree - - and what a beautiful place at this time of year. To date, little rain and few mosquitoes, so everyone is happy.
The summer migrants are all here, with Pied Imperial Pigeon very common, flocks of Metallic Starlings feeding on forest fruits, Black Bittern on the Daintree River, and most spectacularly, the Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher which are nesting in the termite mounds nearby. We were fortunate to rescue one of these that had been hit by a car recently. He seemed okay, which is great.

A juvenile Great-billed Heron is being seen regularly on the Daintree River, and some visitors have been lucky enough to watch Mum feeding it. Lots of new Double-eyed Fig-Parrots around also. It really is a great time for birding in Daintree.
This is an older photo now, but a classic just the same - taken on the road to Cape Tribulation by guests from Red Mill House late last year.

Another New Year's Resolution is to take more time birding this year. So lots of reports to come!!