Cairns 10/12--31 Life Birds, 5 Year Birds

BUSH THICK-KNEE, Cairns Cemetery

AUSTRALASIAN FIG-BIRD

RAINBOW BEE-EATER

We flew from Hobart in southern Tasmania to Cairns in northern Queensland, the equivalent of flying from Florida to Maine, and arrived late at night. I don't even remember if we ate dinner. I do remember stepping out of our hotel the next morning, waiting for the rest of the group and seeing big white pigeons flying into a tree across the street. These turned out to be TORRESIAN IMPERIAL-PIGEONS. Another single bird with a prominent red eyepatch surround a large black eye, sitting in a nearby tree was another that had caught my eye in the field guides, AUSTRALASIAN FIG-BIRD. Not bad, two lifers while cooling my heels.

We got into the van and Kim drove a few minutes to the famous Cairns Esplanade, a shorebird haven. The lifers started coming very quickly--SACRED KINGFISHER on a railing, FAR-EASTERN CURLEW at the edge of the water, BLACK-TAILED GODWIT (give Shari and me the last of the worlds' 4 godwits), BROAD-BILLED SANDPIPER...see the list below. After a breakfast on a street adjacent to the esplanade, we hit some other Cairns hotspots. Like many places, the local cemetery is a good place to bird and one of its specialties is BUSH THICK-KNEE which we found almost immediately upon entering. Another beauty was RAINBOW BEE-EATER. STRAW-NECKED IBIS was a nice change from its scavenger cousin which we'd been seeing everywhere.

STRAW-NECKED IBIS 

Then it was on to the Cairns Botantical Gardens, stopping just outside it first to look at a freshwater lake where we picked up MAGPIE GOOSE, which is not a goose, not a duck, rather taxonomists have put it in a whole family by itself. Mono-specific families are a favorite of mine.  RADJAH DUCK was also present and a happy find.

MAGPIE GEESE with Pacific Black Ducks and RADJAH DUCKS

RADJAH DUCKS

AUSTRALIAN BRUSHTURKEY

In the garden itself we had our first encounters with AUSTRALIAN BRUSHTURKEY (which went from novelty to nuisance very quickly) and ORANGE-FOOTED SCRUBFOWL. We also added 3 more honeyeaters to our burgeoning list. After lunch at the gardens we began our trip up the coast to Daintree Village.

Species Name      First Sighting

MAGPIE GOOSE      Centenary Lakes

RADJAH SHELDUCK      Centenary Lakes

PACIFIC BLACK DUCK      Centenary Lakes

AUSTRALIAN BRUSHTURKEY      Cairns Botanical Gardens

ORANGE-FOOTED SCRUBFOWL      Cairns Botanical Gardens

Rock Pigeon      Cairns Esplanade

SPOTTED DOVE      Cairns Esplanade

PEACEFUL DOVE      Cairns Esplanade

TORRESIAN IMPERIAL-PIGEON      McLeod Street

AUSTRALIAN SWIFTLET      Cairns Esplanade

BUSH THICK-KNEE      Cairns Cemetery

PIED OYSTERCATCHER      Cairns Esplanade

PACIFIC GOLDEN-PLOVER      Cairns Esplanade

Masked Lapwing      Cairns Esplanade

GREATER SAND-PLOVER      Cairns Esplanade

BLACK-FRONTED DOTTEREL      Cairns Esplanade

Whimbrel      Cairns Esplanade

FAR EASTERN CURLEW      Cairns Esplanade

Bar-Tailed Godwit      Cairns Esplanade

BLACK-TAILED GODWIT      Cairns Esplanade

GREAT KNOT      Cairns Esplanade

Red Knot      Cairns Esplanade

BROAD-BILLED SANDPIPER      Cairns Esplanade

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper      Cairns Esplanade

Curlew Sandpiper      Cairns Esplanade

Red-necked Stint      Cairns Esplanade

GRAY-TAILED TATTLER      Cairns Esplanade

Silver Gull      Cairns Esplanade

Gull-billed Tern      Cairns Esplanade

Common Tern      Cairns Esplanade

Little Black Cormorant      Centenary Lakes

Australian Pelican      Cairns Esplanade

Great Egret      Centenary Lakes

Intermediate Egret      Centenary Lakes

Rufous Night-Heron      Cairns Esplanade

Australian Ibis      Centenary Lakes

STRAW-NECKED IBIS      Centenary Lakes

Osprey      Cairns Esplanade

COLLARED SPARROWHAWK      Cairns Botanical Gardens

Sacred Kingfisher      Cairns Botanical Gardens

RAINBOW BEE-EATER      Cairns Cemetery

Rainbow Lorikeet      Cairns Botanical Gardens

SCALY-BREASTED LORIKEET      Cairns Botanical Gardens

YELLOW HONEYEATER      Cairns Botanical Gardens

BROWN HONEYEATER      Cairns Botanical Gardens

HELMETED FRIARBIRD      Cairns Botanical Gardens

LARGE-BILLED GERYGONE      Cairns Botanical Gardens

White-Breasted Woodswallow      Cairns Botanical Gardens

White-Bellied Cuckooshrike      Cairns Botanical Gardens

AUSTRALASIAN FIGBIRD      McLeod Street

Willie-wagtail      Cairns Botanical Gardens

MAGPIE-LARK      Cairns Esplanade

Welcome Swallow      Cairns Esplanade

FAIRY MARTIN      Cairns Botanical Gardens

Common Myna      Cairns Esplanade

OLIVE-BACKED SUNBIRD      Cairns Botanical Gardens

House Sparrow      Cairns Esplanade

MAGPIE-LARK, Cairns Esplanade