From Tablelands to Table

Spotted Harrier

Time is flying by and good intentions of keeping this blog going must be upheld. 

The past couple of weeks has seen me resign from my job with Sunpalm so as to have a few weeks off before starting my "Dry Season" job with Oztours.  More on that later.

The time off has given me some time to do things with Ian - when he isn't working.

We've taken a couple of trips to the Tablelands.  The first was to beautiful Lake Mitchell.  Always a favourite with beautiful scenery and lots of birds.

Lake Mitchell

Driving home via the Port Douglas Road, we were treated to the rare sight of Black-necked Storks resting on the low tide sand banks.  Ian executed a swift U-turn and we were soon clambering down the steep rocky banks from the road to the beach.  We're good at this as we had some good lessons with this sort of thing from Clive (Ian's brother) in Darwin.  See Clive's Shortcuts http://winkali.blogspot.com.au/2012/08/clives-shortcuts_24.html

It's good to have a win once in a while.  Ususally Black-necked Storks fly off as soon as you're in Cooee of them.  These two hung around for quite some time and when they flew off, they went one at a time, just in case our cameras weren't focussed properly the first time.

The Black-necked Stork is Australia's only endemic stork.  They were formerly called Jabiru, however, the Jabiru is actually a South American stork.  

They stand about 1.2m high with the male slightly larger than the female and have a wingspan around 2m. Females have a yellow eye - males black.

They have a striking plumage.  The white is almost luminous.  The black isn't black at all.  It changes from black to turquoise, to violet, green, blue. . .

Back home, Winkali has been having a bit of cosmetic repair.  All her exterior timber trim was stripped back and revarnished.  We had to wait for the end of the wet season for the humidity to ease.

Another trip to the Tablelands.  This time anticlockwise.  We went through Julatten where we saw these two young Sea Eagles soaring and practising aerial acrobatics.  They seemed too young to be courting but this young fellow is certainly going to impress some lady Sea Eagle one day.

Wow.  This was food for our shutter hungry fingers.

A little further up the road we stopped in at Abattoir Swamp. We mainly like to go there because of the name.  There is a Boardwalk there that leads down to a bird hide where you never see too many birds.  Usually the obligatory duck, sometimes an Egret.  

The Egrets were more interested with interacting with the cattle in a nearby paddock today.  The cattle disturb the insects as they walk through the grass and graze.  The Egrets like this very much.

It was time to take Winkali back up to Port Douglas now.  A friend of ours, Vic, offered to let us use his mooring piles as he isn't using them at the moment.

While we were waiting for high tide to allow us out of Blue Water Marina we went to the Home and Camping show in Cairns.  I have been keen to get my hands on a thermal cooker and was hoping to buy one.  I wasn't disappointed as there were three stalls there. Joy, we had decisions to make.  We chose wisely!  The most expensive!  The price will be long forgotten while the Thermal Pot endures (we hope).

Armed with Thermal Pot and high expectations, we sail up the coast at a snappy 7-8kn.  Two nights at Low Isles - we've missed that place.   

We had a rock and rolly first night.  That wonderful 30kn wind that brought us here so swiftly, also brought swell.  Well, at least we knew we were on a boat.

The fish were abundant.  We aren't allowed to catch them as it is a green zone here.  First class snorkelling can be done here if you're not afraid of the over- friendly fish.  

But, it is a different matter for the birds.  They had a great time fishing.

An Osprey dives in and catches a fish

He carries it away

To the light house where he enjoys a meal

The Ospreys were joined by the Brown Boobies who employed slightly different fishing tactics.  

Not so graceful, but very entertaining.

A flock of happy tourists sailed in on the catamaran, Sailaway.

Some enjoyed a bit of snorkelling while others looked through glass bottom  boats.  Some snorkelled and looked at bottoms.

                                                                                   Photo by Ian

Eventually the day turned gloomy and rain set in.

Sailaway sailed away.

It was time to try out the new Thermal Pot.  The idea is you heat the food to cooking point, then place the pots into the thermal cooker.  It's very efficient at retaining the heat and food can be left in for up to 8 hours safely.  Similar principal to slow cooking in a Crock Pot, but without having to use gas or electricity.

We carefully documented the whole process with the video camera expecting magnificent results.  Our expectations weren't met.  However, with much editing, here is the result.

This clip is 8.3Mb and goes about 2 3/4mins 

Oh well, practise makes perfect.  I'm looking forward to the next time.

I'm off to Cape York this week as I'm starting my new job with Oztours.  Some interesting blogs coming up if I have time.

The down side is that I can't take Ian with me.  I'll be away for 2 week blocks for the nest 3 months.  The up side is we're getting closer to our next sea-going adventure with Winkali.

New Years Day 2013

After having worked late and arriving home after 1 o'clock in the morning for 2 nights in a row (Ian waited up for me in sympathy), I wasn't going to have another late night on New Year's Eve.  Ian and I went to bed early and woke at 7 - a sleep in for us!

Waking refreshed, we decided to check and see what was happening at Hasties Swamp and anywhere else along the way.

So, up the scenic Kuranda Range we went, looking for Cassowaries along the way (in vain).  The low lying cloud amongst the rain forest trees created an eerie atmosphere.  I suppose the Cassowaries may have been a bit spooked and were hiding.

Then it was on to the Mareeba Saleyards which is usually a hive of activity for all sorts of birds - especially Channel-billed Cuckoos.

Channel-billed Cuckoos are the largest of our parasitic birds.  They migrate to New Guinea and Indonesia for the winter and come to the Mareeba Saleyards in summer to breed (they might go to other places as well).  They mainly use Currawongs, magpies and crows for their host as they are a large bird of 58-65cm.

Channel-billed Cuckoo

This Channel-billed Cuckoo got self concious when he caught me looking at his beak, so he flew away.

Channel-billed Cuckoo

Looking about for more victims for my camera lens, I spotted this mangy looking Sulphur-crested Cockatoo - minus his crest.

He also got self concious



                                                                     and flew away.


The reason there are so many birds at these saleyards is because of the huge and very old Fig Trees which grow there.

The cattle that come to the saleyards to be sold, enjoy the cool shade they provide.

Female Fig-bird

The Fig-birds that come to the saleyards, come there for the Fig Trees.  They love figs.

There is more than enough figs to go around and the Pale-headed Rosellas are taking their share.

Watching all the birds eating figs made us hungry, so we had some too. YUK! We had better go to McDonalds for some people food.

They forgot to put the sausage in Ian's Egg and Sausage burger.  He is used to them getting his order wrong and wouldn't let me take it back.

It was time to go to Hasties Swamp at Atherton.  As I watched the newly ploughed rich red earth of the Atherton Tablelands, I got my hopes up that I would see some Brolgas.

We have had a long dry season this year in the Wet Tropics and Hasties Swamp was transformed to Hasties Paddock with a small puddle.

Intermediate Egret in Breeding Plumage

But the small puddle held a beautiful treasure.

An Egret stood among a group of Glossy Ibis.  His filament-like breeding plumage couldn't fail to impress some luck lady Egret.

Then we got too close and he flew away.










Since the star of Hasties Swamp had flown away, we jumped back in the car and continued on our merry way.

Not long after we were treated to this family of Brolgas feeding in a paddock.  Brolgas eat snails, frogs, small fish, beetles etc and they also eat roots.



Birds that dwell on the waters edge and in wide open spaces have quite a large personal space that they don't like you to intrude into and Brolgas fall into this group so we left them in peace before they flew away.

Next place we dropped into was Lake Barrine which is always a popular place for locals and tourists alike.  It was so popular today that there were no parking places left, so we flew away.

Down the Gillies Range we went to make our circuit home.

"STOP!!!", I cried.

Ian stopped the car.

"Jabiru", I said.

Ian backed the car up to the previous paddock to where there was a stately Black-necked Stork, minding his own business.

We took photos, then I got out of the car to try and get closer.  Although he wasn't alarmed by me, he had his personal space of about 100 meters and as I got closer, he casually moved away so as to keep that distance.

The funny thing was that, as he was keeping his distance from me, he was moving into the territory of the Plovers which breed at this time of the year.  This caused them to turn into  what Ian calls 'Messerschmidts'.






So, I take a step forward and so does the Stork.  In swoops the plover.

The Messerschmidt  gets in closer and closer. . .

Too close for comfort.








The Black-necked Stork flies away with the Messerschmidt in hot pursuit.

 The beginning of a Happy New Bird Year for us and for you too.

Leaving Darwin - and coming back

We did leave - temporarily.  Time is marching on and we should have been well and truly in the Kimberleys by now.  We need to be out of there by October as it will be getting close to cyclone season and we want to be in safe waters in south W.A. before that happens.

We had a light breeze blowing and the weather-man promised a window of 2 - 3 days of south-easterly winds - just enough to get us across the Joseph Bonaparte Gulf.

By mid-morning the breeze had stopped so we motored for a couple of hours.  Ian was concerned, the sea breeze should be making us smile by now.  We decided to drop anchor off Charles Point which is about 12nm from Darwin. 

We had to re-assess our actions.  We had enough fuel to get us there but we needed more to cover us in case of emergencies.  We decided the best thing to do was to go back and wait for better wind or go back and buy more jerry-cans for extra fuel.  It meant going back  :(

Charles Point isn't a place where one would normally anchor because it's not sheltered, but in the calm conditions, it was fine. . . .  and we got to go ashore and get a closer look at the beautiful red cliffs.

Cliffs tapered away to this grove of mangroves at the end.

Crab Artwork

Charles Point Lighthouse

.

An Osprey patrols the cliff edges










The following morning it was 'back to Darwin'.  Radio announcement from Port of Darwin was to stay at least 500m from this huge bulk gas tanker.

We had seen the outline of the huge white gas tanks from a distance while in Darwin and wondered what it was.









We got back and cheered Clive up - we know he missed us :))

His friend, Jim, had to go to hospital for eye surgery the following day, so he lent us his car after we took him to the hospital - thanks Jim.





We had a heavy fog that morning which was quite eerie.  

Becalmed in Fannie Bay.

We headed out to visit the wetlands near Humpty Doo.

At Fogg Dam we found this Forest Kingfisher looking very pleased with himself.

Pied Heron and Black-winged Stilt 

These two stood in the still waters of the wetlands and admired their reflections.

A flying duet of Pied Herons.

And it continued - a feast of feathers and beauty.

Whistling Ducks

Black-necked Stork and Egret

Rajah Shelduck

Ian let me take this photo of him because he thought I wouldn't. If you don't get any more blogs, it's because he killed me.