TYTO Wetlands, Ingham August 2026 II

Rufous whistler

male

Juvenile

Spectacled monarch

Green oriole (Yellow oriole)

Brown-backed honeyeater

Bar-shouldered dove

Spangled drongo 

TYTO Wetlands, Ingham August 2026 I

TYTO Wetlands is an exceptional nature reserve, in Ingham, where over 200 species of birds have been recorded. 

The area around the Visitor Centre is managed very well and a good place for a picnic!

Plumed whistling ducks

Masked lapwing

Australian white ibis

Magpie goose

Once you are inside the wilder area, there are many signs saying "you're in the CROC country!"🐊

We had no hazardous experience though.

Only after a few minutes walk into the wild area, there were so many of small-ish birds moving about and calling among the trees and it was a mission impossible to spot everything!

Forest kingfishers

Leaden flycatcher 

female

male

Mistletoebird

Pacific baza

Townsville August 2026

Castle Hill, the landmark of Townsville 

the Strand 

Nankeen kestrel

Red-tailed Black-cockatoo

Silver gulls

Crested tern

Rainbow lorikeet

Queensland Country Bank Stadium

We watched the Australia vs Japan 🏉 game and the Wallabies🦘defeated Cherry Blossoms🌸 56-17. 

Etty Bay August 2026

We rented a car and drove to Etty Bay on the Cassowary Coast for staying a night at the campsite, where there's a strong possibility that we'd encounter a Southern Cassowary.

And there it came! It was suddenly just there. 

How fascinating!!

It was slowly walking around the beach and the campsite, ignoring all the fuss around it. 

You would notice the crowd moving along with the bird first, rather than the bird itself.

I wouldn't like the idea of bumping into one in the dark...😱

Look at its legs and feet!!

The signs are everywhere on the campsite and the beach, asking campers not to leave food out in the open, 

and yet, some people don't care...!😠

Cairns August 2026 VI

Michaelmas Cay is one of the biggest seabird colonies in Australia and even in August, a so-called winter month, this little sandy island was packed with them.

The number of the boats and people, which can get to the cay, is restricted per day and you can land only in a small patch marked by a rope and signs.

Once on land, the birds are so close! 

Brown booby

a precious egg!

Sooty terns

Sooty terns and Crested terns

The black bodies with white speckles are young sooty terns, the black body with a white head in the middle is an adult Common noddy.

a young Sooty tern

Sooty tern & Common noddy

a Great frigatebird (I think)

Silver gull, Pied oystercatcher and Crested terns

a lot of Silver gulls

An unattended egg can become an easy snack for gulls.

During the peak season, there will be 20,000 pairs of breeding birds on this cay! Can you imagine that!