Australia Holiday - Atherton Tablelands Part 3

Welcome swallow, swallowducks, whip bird, whipbird

Curtain (Strangler?) Fig in the Queensland rainforest ...













































Click here and here to hear the Whip-bird described in the last entry ...What we didn't know was the other sound - the Choo Choo Choo Choo - that accompanied the feewww-whip was a female whipbird responding to the male song !! If you are a bird nut like us then there is a whole page of soundbites highlighting the regional differences in song of these birds ..... here



After the Stop off for the fig tree we headed to Lake Barrine for lunch. The lake is set in the forest. The tea house is an old 1920s style house. Very nice and with a beautiful and tranquil setting .. The small cafe was proudly displaying their Multi-award winnings for Scones ..>







Taken from that great site - http://www.lakebarrine.com.au/ A must see for great information and better pictures :O)



Well you have to try them don't you :O) We had a very nice salad and barramundi fish and then their award winning Devonshire Teas. they lived up to their accolades :O) We ate on the balcony of the charming 80+ year old teahouse while taking in the scenic & serene lake views.





































In fact I was so taken with the scenery I forgot to take a snap of the house itself !! Doh ...





Taken from that great site - http://rainforest-australia.com/ - A must see for great information and better pictures :O)







Taken from that great site http://rainforest-australia.com/A must see for great information and better pictures :O)



AS we sat and looked out we watched the Welcome Swallows around the only boat on the water.











I didn't realise what bulging eyes they have !! All the better to see flies with I suppose :O)

















We even got to see a cormorant - Pretty comkon throughout Ozz and New Zealand ... Initially though it might be a Grebe ...Then put my specs on :O\











The boat took people at a slow pace around the 4.5km lake edge... They took you to see a python snake as well as a resident turtle... We had settled down with our devenshire teas so took a pass on sailing ....



However as the boat set off we watched as a number of ducks, all in line, flew one by one out of the water to grab a piece of bread from the boat owners hand .... Each duck awaiting it's turn to fly and feed ....Now are Mallard Ducks everywhere in the world !!!!











As one duck descends the next is already in the air and approaching ... And no Air traffic Control !!! :O)



















Just like the planes landing at Wellington Airport !! :O)











We took a walk to see the two giant Karri trees in the forest nearby and then walked through the gardens for the car... And then we heard it !! "feeeeewwwwwww-Whip" !!! The bird was right beside us in the garden undergrowth ... Incredibly busy and seemingly in a bad mood he never stopped moving and shouting and all the time right on the ground beside us ...... Well I tried and tried and tried to get a decent shot of him .... he even came so close to me he touched by boot as I stood rock still !!! but these were as good as it got .. Of course McD has a better shot ...I'm sure she has or will share it on her blog ..













dammit - close....









I suspect this is a juvenile













The problem also was that in looking down like that It doesn't show it has a white throat !!! nor its crest !!! :o\



Visit here for a proper picture .......Whip Bird



And that was that ...A day almost gone already and a long trip back home