September 2018 - Cairns
We came to Queensland to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef (pictures here), and spent a day in Cairns before heading out to the reef. We spent most the day on the esplanade and at the botanical gardens enjoying the local bird variety. We saw a whole bunch of birds, including the endemic Australian brushturkey (which we saw many times).
We came to Queensland to snorkel the Great Barrier Reef (pictures here), and spent a day in Cairns before heading out to the reef. We spent most the day on the esplanade and at the botanical gardens enjoying the local bird variety. We saw a whole bunch of birds, including the endemic Australian brushturkey (which we saw many times).
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| The view from the hotel room overlooking the esplanade | The mud flats at low tide covered in crabs | Not exactly a beach you'd want to swim at, and that's before you learn about the crocodiles (and a white-faced heron) |
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| The esplanade | A peaceful dove | |
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| A willie wagtail | A magpie lark | A mistletoebird enjoying some sun |
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| A spangled drongo | A varied honeyeater | |
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| An Australian white ibis | ||
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| A juvenile Australian white ibis | A straw-necked ibis | A masked lapwing |
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| A common myna | A torresian imperial pigeon. Quite the name for a pigeon, but it is also much larger than a typical pigeon. | The Cairns botanical garden |
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| A clump of bamboo | A blue moon butterfly | A royal spoonbill |
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| An Australasian darter | Some pacific black ducks | A rainbow bee-eater |
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| A pair of rainbow bee-eaters | Our first encounter with an Australian brushturkey | |
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| An olive-backed sunbird | An insect for lunch | An orange-footed scrubfowl |
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| A black butcherbird. And ravens thought they had a bad rap! | A white-bellied cuckooshrike | Downtown, we saw a helmeted friarbird - the ugliest bird I'd ever seen! |
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| A rainbow lorikeet enjoying some flowers | So many choices! | A pair of rainbow lorikeets |
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| A brown honeyeater | The Place to Be! |