A few photos of some birds I saw in NE Queensland

I spent 17th to 27th August in Cairns, ostensibly for a conference, but I managed to pack a few hours of birding in too. Cairns foreshore lived up to its well-deserved name as a wader hotspot. I also hired a car for a couple of days and managed a whistle-stop tour of Atherton Tablelands (thanks Alan) and the dryland area just to the N - Lake Mitchell and environs (thanks John) . These are field shots of a few of the 150+ species I saw.

I packed the Fieldguide to Australian Birds (Morecombe. Steve Parish Publishing Pty Ltd). I found it to be a very useful and extremely well designed fieldguide. I know it has its detractors but every bird I saw was easily found and id'd in this guide. Recommended.

The photos below were all taken with a Nikon D80 + Sigma 150-500. I'm still getting used to bird photography so I make no apologies for the poor quality of some of the pics.

Note: these are arranged alphabetically


Australian black duck



Australian bustard



Australian hobby



Australian oystercatcher



Australian pelican



Black-fronted dotterel



Beach stone curlew



Black butcherbird



Black faced cuckoo-shrike



Brahminny kite



Brown falcon



Black shouldered kite



Bush stone curlew



Caspian tern (Grey tailed tattlers and Eastern curlew)



Crested pigeon


Crested tern (acrobatic!) with Gull-billed terns and Silver gulls



Curlew sandpiper



Darter



Figbird



Forest kingfisher



Great bowerbird and blue-faced honeyeaters



Great egret



Great knot and Sharp-tailed sandpipers



Grey fantail


Gull-billed tern



Hardhead



Laughing kookaburra



Little egret



Little shrike-thrush



Magpie lark



Mangrove robin (bad light)



Mistletoe bird



Orange-footed scrubfowl



Osprey



Pale yellow robin



Peaceful dove



Pied butcherbird



Rainbow bee-eater


Red-backed fairy-wren



Red-backed kingfisher



Red-capped plover



Red-kneed dotterel



Red-necked stint (Great knot and Bar-tailed godwit)



Red-winged parrot



Royal spoonbill



Saurus crane (poor quality)



Scaly-breasted parrot


Silver gull



Silvereye



Spangled drongo



Straw-necked ibis



Striated heron



Striated pardalote



Terek sandpiper (Great knot, Grey-tailed tattler, Eastern curlew)


Varied honeyeater



Varied triller



White-bellied cuckoo-shrike



White-faced heron



White-throated honeyeater



White-browed crake



White-browed robin



Yellow honeyeater

With many thanks to birdguiders Alan Gillanders (http://www.alanswildlifetours.com.au) and John Seale (johnsealeoz@yahoo.com), and Birds Australia North Queensland (http://birdsaustralianq.org).