Cairns August 2026 III

 A little break in Cairns ☕

Bush Stone-curlews resting during the day

Flying foxes foraging in the broad daylight! 

Figbird (female)

Australian white ibis roost

Lorikeet roost

at sunset

good night 🌙

Georgetown August 2026 IV

The Cumberland Campsite has large lakes surrounded by trees and a bit of grassy area, which is a great habitat for outback specialist birds!

Yellow-tinted honeyeater

Black-throated finch

They were carrying nest materials into the ventilation cap of the loo...

Masked finch

Rufous-throated honeyeater (but many are not rufous-throated!!)

Finally we found one with rufous-throated!

Apostlebirds

Red-backed fairy wren (female)

Red-backed fairy wren (male)

Roost of Flying foxes 🦇🦊

In the garden of a restaurant we popped in for lunch

Little friarbird

Rainbow lorikeet

Even though it was only a one-night tour and we sat in the car for a long time, we were extremely happy that we chose this trip and hats off to our wonderful guide Mr Ota👏👏

Georgetown August 2026 III

Georgetown is one of the well-known places for star-gazing, so we were told.

I have no skill to take good pictures of them but the night sky was just so extraordinary 🌟🌟

After a good night sleep, we went out for another half day of birding in the outback.

Cumberland Campsite used to be a mining community, now is a campsite and a great place for birdwatching.

Cotton pygmy goose

Comb-creted jacana

Australasian darter

White-necked heron

Green pygmy goose (& CC jacana)

Plumed whistling duck

galah

Red-winged parrot

Rainbow bee-eater

An Emu, which we hadn't expected to see, surprised us but unfortunately my camera wasn't ready!

Georgetown August 2026 II

My imaginary scenery of the outback was vast sandy land scattered with termite mounds.

I saw it real! 

The black stuff on the ground among the termite mounds are actually Red-tailed black-cockatoos.

Australian bustard

Cows were coming closer to us. We could have been one of the few human beings they had ever seen in their entire life? 

A nearby pond was the most important water resource for everyone living on this dry land.

Some came in for the night and others left for the night.