Nothing like some stunning birds distracting one from having breakfast and packing up – these beautiful Olive-backed Sunbirds were having a great time feeding right next to our van.
As we couldn’t go further north in our hired campervan (or we could have but wouldn’t have been covered by any insurance), we decided to head back up to the Atherton Tablelands. After winding up another steep escarpment, we stopped at Kingfisher Lodge near Julatten, a wonderful birder’s paradise where you can either stay over or just visit for the day. We spent a few blissful (but also frustrating) hours wandering around, seeing some awesome birds (and butterflies) but getting a little tired of the low light and dense vegetation which makes rainforest photography so tricky.
We stopped a couple more times at some places that were recommended for birding – Abbatoir Swamp was not hugely scenic but quite productive; Mareeba Wetlands was mostly disappointing as apparently all the good birds had left in the prelude to Cyclone Debbie a few weeks earlier (and further south). The landscape in this area is very interesting with large anthills nested in amongst what reminded me strongly of an African savanna.
We then headed south to stay overnight at Lake Eacham, one of the stunning crater lakes (which possibly houses a freshwater crocodile). This is an awesome area to explore – fascinating forests with huge fig trees, lots of birds and other wildlife, plus delicious tea and scones at Lake Barrine! A highlight was a quick trip to Mount Hyipamee National Park where we saw an Amethystine Python in a tree (not too close, the downside of which is that I don’t have a decent image as I left my camera in the car and only had my phone).
Another slightly scary trip back down the escarpment saw us back in Cairns for a night with friends before heading home. Luckily they live close to the Botanical Gardens and Centenary Lakes so we managed to squeeze in a bit more birding and butterfly hunting.
Nature in Focus 