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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Andrew Whitehouse" data-source="post: 1682913" data-attributes="member: 3550">Day 19: July 7th 2009, Cassowary House - CairnsThis was my last day in the northeast and I had one morning to try to see two of the specialities of Cassowary House: Red-necked Crake and, you may have guessed, Southern Cassowary.  Early morning I was on crake duty, having been tipped off that they often appear early doors to the side of the house.  After a good hour or so of quietly standing I'd managed three rather quick of views of Red-necked Crake.  Really impressive looking birds, quite chunky and with a very bright red head.Breakfast at Cassowary House is an interesting experience and is not something you're likely to enjoy alone.  A Spotted Catbird soon began to eye up the contents of the table from the balcony rail.  Bolder still was a Victoria's Riflebird, which was keen on the butter. Not content with eyeing it from the rail, it hopped across the various jars and took a big mouthful from the dish as I sat and watched just a few feet away.  Eventually the male came down, but was less bold, just coming into eat the fruit on the feeders.The rest of morning was a vigil on the balcony.  Apparently a female Cassowary had been visiting daily, but at various times, so I had to hope that her visit this day was during the morning.  Sadly, she was doing other things - washing her hair maybe - and stood me up.  There were a few birds to watch while I waited, including three very obliging Double-eyed Fig Parrots feeding on some fruit near the balcony.  These were perhaps my favourite bird in the northeast.  As well as birds, there were a number of Musky Rat-kangaroos and a Lace Monitor.I left Cassowary House and headed in towards Cairns.  On the way I diverted into the small and amusingly named town of Yorkey's Knob.  I'd been told that the small lake by the golf course was a good spot for waterfowl and, after a bit of searching, I managed to find the lake and a few good birds.  The water was strewn with lots of delicate looking Green Pygmy Geese - really smashing birds these.  Other ducks included some Grey Teal,  Pacific Black Ducks and three Hardheads.  In the trees on the island were several Brown-backed Honeyeaters - another to add to my growing list of birds from this family.  Eventually a gang of sixteen Plumed Whistling Ducks appeared, with huge creamy plumes extending up their flanks. Then I noticed two herons roosting quietly on the island.  One was a Nankeen Night Heron and the other was a splendid White-necked Heron.Then I was on my way to the airport at Cairns and a flight down to Brisbane, where I spent the night in preparation for the next leg of the trip.</blockquote>

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