Birding Oz and PNG

[nemosia]

Just got back from an amazing birding trip to Australia and Papua New Guinea. It started with five days in Queensland visiting national parks at Lamington, Girraween and Sundown. Birding various other sites en route and clocking up 190 species.

I've posted some photos from Oz at http://s71.photobucket.com/albums/i160/nemosia/Australia%202009/

[Kenn]

Thanks for sharing, very interesting.

[Mother Bear]

Oh lucky you nemosia to go on such a fantastic trip! Did you see most of these birds on your own, or were they on guided tours? I remember on a trip we did to Oz in Dec 06, we could hear so many different birds but trying to spot them was another matter! My most magical moment on our last trip Feb 08, was to watch from the back of the campervan half a dozen superb fairy wrens, they were gorgeous, and we watched them for ages! There truly are some beautiful birds worldwide.

[nemosia]

Hi Lizz, MB.

Thanks for your comments. There are indeed some incredible birds around the world and I consider myself privileged to have seen so many (try searching for images of resplendent quetzal or velvet-purple coronet for two of my favorites).

I was with one other birder for the short stay in Queensland and we joined a group for the tour of PNG.

Birding in PNG was much tougher. The birds are very wary and can be difficult to see, let alone photograph. But I did manage to see 20 species of bird-of-paradise including ribbon-tailed astrapia, brown sicklebill and king-of-saxony BOP.

I didn't take many photos except in the grounds of the Pacific Adventists University and at Kumul Lodge but we also visited Tari, Kiunga, Akame, Varirata and Tabubil. Here are a few photos from PNG.

http://s71.photobucket.com/albums/i160/nemosia/Papua%20New%20Guinea%202009/

[daviddd]

Bird watching during my year touring Oz in 07-08 was magical; propped against a gum tree watching a billabong in the remote and dry north was especially rewarding. The one bird I really wanted to see, but didn't. was the Wompoo Pigeon, a colourful bird that really does call "Wom-pooooooooo" from the top of the rainforest. I heard lots north of Cairns but never saw one (:-<). One of my favourite birds though was the good old Maggie - so intelligent, friendly, with a haunting call. This one sang to me for half an hour over breakfast whilst camping.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v321/daviddd/08-01-01Day88image9Stratford.jpg

[daviddd]

Lovely pics btw Nemosia. Those Frogmouths are so strange looking!

[nemosia]

Hi Davidd, Thanks for your comments and the magpie photo. Australia sure is a magical place with some wonderful wildlife and the sound of the magpie is pure Oz. It's certainly something I'll never forget. A Wompoo pigeon flew past at Lamington NP but I didn't get anything on it but I did see a pair at Akame Lodge on the Elevala river in PNG.

Motherbear, I saw seven species of fairywren...Red-backed, White-winged, Superb and Variegated Fairywren in Oz and Orange-crowned, White-shouldered and Emperor Fairywren in PNG. They are very charismatic. Here's a photo of white-shouldered

http://i71.photobucket.com/albums/i160/nemosia/Papua%20New%20Guinea%202009/White-shoulderedFairywren.jpg