As soon as I decided to go to Townsville I knew that a stop at Tyto Wetlands in Ingham was a must. Not only is it recommended by other birders but it also has its own visitor's centre. I stayed at the caravan park just down the road and was rewarded there by my first ever Rufous-throated Honeyeater. The park itself was also full of birds. I had often wondered where Rainbow Lorikeet go to roost and here, I found out. Hundreds of them squawking in the tree above me all night. I loved it. Woodswallow, munia, bee-eaters and egrets wandered along the fence line and in the puddles beyond. What a fantastic start.
Rufous-throated Honeyeater (Conopophila rufogularis)
Great White Egret (Ardea alba)
A flat area gave me my first success with the rather dumpy, plain White-gaped Honeyeater. I memorised the call and took some shots quickly before I was distracted by Crimson Finch. They were everywhere but never stayed still. Eventually I got an adult and juvenile.
White-gaped Honeyeater (Stomiopera unicolor)
Juvenile and Adult Crimson Finch (Neochmia phaeton)
Further on there is a shelter that overlooks a wide area of the wetlands and as the rain set in I stayed there. I could hear the White-browed Robin, Rufous Shrike-Thrush and I even saw a Black Bittern fly past.
In between the showers I pushed on around the park. The water was running over the tracks and I frequently had to wade through it. As the weather worsened I was now running from shelter to shelter, got lost and eventually had to give up.
The rain lessened during the week I spent at Ingham and I returned most days to the wetlands. From the lookout I did spot a large crocodile and duly reported it to the Visitor's Centre. A little unnerving.
One of the highlights of Tyto was seeing lots of Brush Cuckoo. I could hear them calling a lot. They have the most dull call you have ever heard. They almost sound like they are themselves bored having to make the noise. Here they were confiding and several times I walked right up to birds as they sat in the sunshine (maybe just relieved it had stopped raining).
Adult and Juvenile Brush Cuckoo (Cacomantis variolosus)
Another fantastic experience was at one of the hides overlooking a area thick with reeds. I sat quietly for a while and was rewarded with not one or two but three White-browed Crake. An adult and 2 juveniles moved out into a patch of sunlight and preened, socialised and looked for food. I watched them until my memory card gave out!
Juvenile and Adult White-browed Crake (Poliolimnas cinereus)
Behind the Visitor's Centre is a boardwalk leading to another small centre. It runs over a couple of small ponds and finishes by a larger pond, all of which can also be accessed below the boardwalk. In between this area and the wetlands was also a playing field surrounded by bush. This was a great place for birds as well. On the larger pond were darter, cormorants, egret and ducks. On the playing field were families of woodswallow, kingfisher, more egrets and the occasional wallaby.
Little Pied Cormorant (Microcarbo melanoleucos)
White-breasted Woodswallow (Artamus leucorynchus)
A couple of weeks later I ran into some staff from the Visitor's Centre at a caravan Expo in MacKay. We talked about the crocodile I saw and they told me a tracker had been sent out to check it and had found that indeed there was a very large croc in the water. Worst of all, they had found drag marks where it had moved out onto the tracks in the flood waters. The wetlands were subsequently closed until a decision could be made on safety. I gulped and felt a little faint.
Like my mum says 'Stay away from the water!'.
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