I think I can add a few to that list.
The rainy season took a breather about two days ago and the weather markedly improved. I swear I even saw the sun yesterday!
With better conditions for both myself and the birds, I was quietly confident of adding something over the weekend as dawn saw me out front as per usual: first up was a real cracker; a
Rose-crowned Fruit Dove flying West in exactly the same direction as the
Brown Cuckoo Dove the other day. Unlikely to be heading to the same fruiting tree which has probably gone over by now (when's my Big Fig going to produce something?)
Up in my study with the fan off and the window open I scanned the distant trees and strained my ears. Was that a
White-eared Monarch I just heard? It didn't call again. Damn! Couldn't be sure on that one... What I
did eventually hear however was the distant but unmistakeable strains of a
Blue-winged Kookaburra from the direction of the Lakes. Now I was under the impression when I first came to Aus that this was a dry country bird. Indeed it usually is, but it serves as a typical example of how nomadic many Aussie birds are. I reckon I've seen a couple of dozen in the last five years just in Cairns and especially at Centenary Lakes. They are every bit as loud as their Laughing cousins but sound very different.
Scanning the distant paperbarks and surrounding sky eventually produced the goods as well: a
Glossy Ibis flying North East; possibly heading for Cattana Wetlands as it didn't lose height as it flew over the Lakes. Still several 'regulars' missing - now that the weather has improved there must be better prospects of
Kites and
Eagles for example. We'll see...
74)
Rose-crowned Fruit Dove.
75)
Blue-winged Kookaburra.
76)
Glossy Ibis.