21st October recap: Cassowary House to Daintree
We were out at dawn searching the forest trails for surprise, surprise, a Cassowary. Sue Gregory, our host, had provided us with a mobile phone which she would call if the bird should appear around the house while we were out on the trails. Sure enough, the phone rang when we were a good long distance from the house, but we legged back nonetheless and, a little breathless, crept around the corner of the house to be confronted with an enormous apparition: a Cassowary! A huge ostrich-like bird with a black body, the most enormous feet, a long neck with patches of orange and blue, and a triangular horn on the top of its head. But no picture in the field guide can prepare you for the real thing! Other birds in the rainforest around here included Victoria’s Riflebird, Spectacled and Pied Monarchs, and Wompoo Fruit-Dove. We then birded our way from here over to Daintree making numerous stops en route to bird. New birds came thick and fast including Square-tailed Kite, Pacific Baza, Cicadabird, and Great Bowerbird. We stayed the night at Red Mill House in Daintree village where we were exceptionally well looked after by our hosts, Trish and Andrew Forsyth. www.redmillhouse.com.au
Bird species total: 3535, 128 needed