Daintree River Cruise
Saturday, October 24, 2009:
We left early in order to get to our early boat ride in time. The group was divided into two parts, the Sacremento 6 and the Coastal 6. The other group took the boat first. They got to see crocodile (we didn't). We birded along the road to a bridge over the Daintree, finding many Green Orioles on the way.
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| Double-eyed Fig-Parrot | Rainbow Lorikeet |
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| Daintree Area | Green Oriole |
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| Magpie-Goose | Spangled Drongo |
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| Torresian Imperial-Pigeon | Whistling Kite |
After returning to the dock and ordering lunch, we got on the boat for our 2-hour ride on the Daintree. There was a bit of rain, but most of it came while we were moving on the main river. The only new bird was Shining Flycatcher, but we saw a number of kingfishers and got killer looks at a Wampoo Fruit-Dove.
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| Little Pied Cormorant | Daintree River Detail |
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| Shining Flycatcher | Daintree River View |
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| Papuan Frogmouth | Wompoo Fruit-Dove |
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| Azure Kingfisher | Daintree River |
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| Eastern Water Dragon | Wompoo Fruit-Doves |
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| Torresian Imperial-Pigeons | Daintree River Scenery |
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| Waiting Birders | |
When the boat ride was done it was time for lunch. Then we headed off for Cow Bay. We got some nice views of the Daintree River mouth at an overlook on the way. After settling in at the Daintree Rainforest Retreat Motel, we visited the Jindahlba boardwalk in Daintree National Park. We didn't see any new birds, but the rainforest was spectacular. It was particularly nice to see an area with little visible hurricane damage. It contrasted with the areas around Mission Beach, which all showed signs of extensive hurricane damage (probably from Cyclone Larry). Needless to say, I was pleased to see the Boyd's Forest Dragon!
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| Daintree River View | Boyd's Forest Dragon |
Next, we visited Marrdja Boardwalk, which goes through some mangroves. There we ran into a very young birder with his family. Although only almost 9, he knew his birds! Although recognizably a mangrove habitat, there were substantial differences from Florida mangrove areas. Not only are the mangroves themselves different, but the understory is more varied.
We returned to the Daintree Rainforest Retreat for dinner, including skewere of exotic meats.
Trip total—253 species including 238 lifers.
Daintree Rainforest Retreat Motel, Cow Bay