Yungaburra

From Julatten we moved to the last destination on our itinerary near the town of Yungaburra, staying at Chambers Wildlife Rainforest Lodges at Lake Eacham for three nights.

We had a five bedroom bungalow right on the forest edge.  In the morning we could just put fruit on the balcony and birds would come for a visit.  We had a Victoria’s Riflebird come for a visit a couple of days, both the male and female came, this is the male.  And he’s one of the 12 endemics.

The Grey-headed Robin was  a frequent visitor, and another one of the endemics.

Lewin’s Honeyeater was also a regular visitor and prefered bananas.

But the real bandit was the Spotted Catbird, who had a big appetite and was very bold.  He could wolf down as much fruit as he could find.   A type of bowerbird, and very noisy, calling all day a bit like a sick cat !

Nearby is a spot where there are lots of Tooth-billed Bowerbirds.  The males call all day long, very loudly near their bower.  Another endemic.

The surrounding area is very scenic, well worth a drive through the country lanes.  Just near Yungaburra is the magnificent and huge Curtain Fig tree, which is actually a small national park.

We were pleased to get a number of open country birds, such as this hunting Black-shouldered Kite, which has been split from the Black-winged Kite we have in SE Asia.

We also visited Hasties Swamp, which has a bird hide and many water birds.

Including a couple of less common duck species, Pink-eared Duck is one.

And Freckled Duck is another, he’s on the left.  On the right is a male Hardhead.

And the Latham’s Snipe, a migrant from Japan.

We had a day with Alan Gillander’s, a guide who specializes in this area.  He took us to see the Golden Bowerbird, another of the highlights of the trip, and yet another endemic.

Alan also does night tours and we did some spotlighting with him, seeing a couple of interesting possums, this one is a Coppery Brushtail Possum.

And we also saw an Eastern Barn Owl.

In the town centre, is Nick’s Italian Swiss restaraunt, naturally with authentic cow bells, and really good steak!

Before or after dinner or both you can wander over to the small bridge over Peterson Creek and try your luck at seeing a platypus, they are pretty regular there.

On our last evening at Chambers we visited the feeding station they have for nocturnal animals and were rewarded with this handsome Striped Possum.

Next stop, Julatten for our final two days.

Tags: Australia, birds