After a brief ten month sojourn in Caravonica, a suburb south of Yorkeys, we returned to Yorkeys this month so I though I would restart a thread about my daily(ish) observations in the 'Burbs north of Cairns - although I do not "list" as such. A quick introduction to Yorkeys is in order though - it is a relatively quiet coastal community of about 2800 people; surrounded by a mixture of sugar cane fields, wet paperbark swamp, mangroves and sandy beaches. There are several nice green areas within Yorkeys including the Golf Course at the north end - I live at the southern end and my garden backs onto wet paperbark swamp. In addition to just the bird life I am particularly interested in the moth fauna of the area so no doubt some non-birdy photos and records will creep in.
The first couple of weeks have been spent unpacking and getting the house sorted - my wife being an on-call midwife is in and out at any time of day or night so the majority of this fell to me - so between work and unpacking there has been little free time to go birding in the local area. One feature that is different to my previous stay in Yorkeys is that we are now close to the Magpie Goose roost so our morning alarm call is now comprised of their calls as they leave the roost combined with Laughing Kookaburras and Orange-footed Scrubfowl. One of the biggest surprises though has been having two Striped Possums in the garden - a species I normally associate with higher altitudes on the Atherton Tablelands.
Photos:
My garden from our deck looking towards the paperbark swamp
Striped Possum in the garden
Male Double-eyed Fig Parrot investigating potential nesting sites
The first couple of weeks have been spent unpacking and getting the house sorted - my wife being an on-call midwife is in and out at any time of day or night so the majority of this fell to me - so between work and unpacking there has been little free time to go birding in the local area. One feature that is different to my previous stay in Yorkeys is that we are now close to the Magpie Goose roost so our morning alarm call is now comprised of their calls as they leave the roost combined with Laughing Kookaburras and Orange-footed Scrubfowl. One of the biggest surprises though has been having two Striped Possums in the garden - a species I normally associate with higher altitudes on the Atherton Tablelands.
Photos:
My garden from our deck looking towards the paperbark swamp
Striped Possum in the garden
Male Double-eyed Fig Parrot investigating potential nesting sites