Damselflies – WanderingEagles – Travel & Nature Photography

Koh Samui, Thailand. ‘In between Dental appointments’

Published on September 14, 2019September 14, 2019 by Anthony and Stephanie2 Comments

Featured Image : Fisherman’s Village, Bophut Beach

Hello again from Cairns…..

We got back from Thailand around lunch time today, it was great to have my sister Denise pick us up, and she did a fine job of looking after our cat Chloe while we were away.

Our Breakfast spot… Smile House Restaurant

Heard and saw quite a few birds here, but photographing them was a different story.

The Ling Juice Bar A great place to cool off

All went extremely well at the Dentist…..

The worry and stress I had invested in this Dental journey were unfounded. As all I got from that was some virus I must have picked up a few days ago🙄🙄

I have had an implant for two years now, and was thinking I would never get the two molars on it, after having two lots of bone grafting done.

Happily, our Dentist, Dr Lee did the moulds and abutment Wednesday morning, on the Island of Koh Samui, and my nice new molars arrived and were fitted on Friday morning…..

How incredible is that?? Anthony and I also had plenty of fillings done and each a deep clean in that time, amazing.

It probably sounds like our teeth are rotting away in our heads but I think we are like most people, never bother too much with your teeth till you lose a couple, or your gums start hurting real bad then all of a sudden all hell breaks loose.

We can’t say enough good things about Dr Lee at the Dental Home on Koh Samui.

He works there 3 days a week, another two days a week at his surgery in Bangkok and also teaches at the University In Bangkok…..

One very busy and Talented Dentist.

Press Play to view Stephanies Video Snipetts

Yellow vented Bulbul

A poor shot of a Brown Throated Sunbird.

Indian Roller

A very ordinary effort photographing Birds this trip

So in between Dental visits we got out and about with our hire car.

This is our third time to the Island so we do have some favourite spots to visit.

The Hin Lat Waterfall is always good for a slow hour and a half of meandering up to the top of the Falls. You never know what you will see.

We have seen a huge array of lizards on this walk, some birds too though they are near impossible to get photos of in the thick rainforest.

Also insects, beautiful butterflies and dragonflies.

You do have to walk slow and really keep your eyes peeled.

Common Lascar Butterfly

Day Moth

Common Sailor Butterfly

Also little luck with Butterflies

We stayed at the Smile House at the Fisherman’s Village so could walk to a huge selection of cafes and restaurants.

The weather was fantastic too though very stormy on our arrival.

All very calm above the cloud

I did a little better with Odonata (Dragon and Damselflies)

So now it’s great to be back in our Pod.

We are a bit Jet lagged at present and not really functioning 100%.

Anthony also came down with some Bizarre BUG on the flight home.

So hopefully we can rest up tomorrow before heading back up to Yungaburra on the Tablelands on Monday, via the steep ascend up the Kuranda Range😬😬

Chloe was happy to see us again ( I think ) it’s great to know that we can go overseas for a short time and she is just fine with someone coming to feed her and open her tunnel everyday.

Please enjoy the pics and video.

Bye for now Steph and Anthony.

Fisherman’s House Cafe & Hotel …. Best Coffee in Fisherman’s Village. Voted by us

Mareeba and Surrounds

Published on September 1, 2019September 1, 2019 by Anthony and StephanieLeave a comment

Great Egret prepares to roost for the night

Greetings from Mareeba,

It seems we have gone from one extreme to another…the van site we had in Cooktown was one of the hardest spots we have had to get into and here at the Trinity Plains Tourist Park we are in a huge paddock, all by ourselves.

Incredible to have so much space around us and the sky here is just enormous. We haven’t got any trees around us so no shade which makes it quite hot in the afternoons but the mornings are fantastic.

We also have the added bonus of the hot air balloons rising above the morning fog outside our dining window so it’s great to watch them while we are having our morning cappochinos.

Balloons at Dawn

Passing Balloons

With all this big sky around it’s a great spot for watching all the birds of prey.

So far we have seen numerous Black kites which are nesting here, the Black shouldered Kite, Whistling kite, Wedge tail Eagle, Brown Goshawk, Nankeen Kestrel and Little Eagle.

There seems to be a few squabbles going on too between them which is great to watch but not close enough for photos though Anthony is trying his hardest.

Whistling Kite at rest on a Termite mound

A nice Whistling Kite Flyby

A pair of Black Kites at Rest

The last light captured this Black-shouldered Kite

Black Kite

That Piercing stare of a Black-shoulderd Kite

Emerald Creek Falls is one of our favourite waterfalls in the area to visit.

You can climb right to the top where there’s a beautiful view .

Also lots of bottlebrush flowering with heaps of Honeyeaters feasting but extremely hard to get any photos as the birds just didn’t want to show themselves. It’s still great though just to hear them and be in their presence with the sound of water in the background, blissful and it’s only about 10 kms from the van park.

This morning we revisited Granite Gorge which is always a fantastic place in nature, we just love it there.

We didn’t see too many birds but there’s plenty of Dragonfly action…..an unbelievable amount of Orange thread tails, and you have to eyeball all of them just in case it’s something different.

I took a photo of Anthony almost crawling up a rocky wall backwards, just like a Goanna …..trying to get photos of a Archtail dragonfly.

It looked quite amazing so please enjoy.

Its all about getting the shot !!!!!

Below is that shot …. I thought it was worth it.

And a few more ….

Male Fig bird feasting in a Mulberry Bush at Granite Gorge

Every afternoon we walk around the back of the park grounds here where there is a

small waterhole.

Also a huge family of Curlews hiding in a young Eucalyptus Plantation and truck loads of Double barred finches on the edge of the trees. where they can quickly hide after feasting in the paddocks surrounding the plantation.

There’s a bit of birdlife around the big trees on the edge of the property so Anthony has been getting some amazing photos as the big sun is going down.

We are here for a few more days yet so hope to see plenty more critters.

Pale-headed Rosella this is the Northern Race

A Juvenile Pied Butcherbird was very interested in Chloe

Hoping to visit Kuranda tomorrow…..we used to live there so it’s always a bit of nostalgia going back.

Please enjoy the pics, no video as yet as I’m still working on it,

Bye for now Steph and Anthony.

More of Cooktown and Surrounds

Published on August 27, 2019August 27, 2019 by Anthony and Stephanie1 Comment

Shower time for this Yellow Oriole at the Botanical Gardens

Its hard to believe, but our week here in Cooktown has already gone…. We have been super busy.

We thought we might be stuck here for a while but our switch for the front legs on the van arrived today. Gave us quite a surprise as it came from Melbourne.

Anthony wired it up quick smartly and we gave it a test run and all seems to be ok.

See how it goes tomorrow when we hitch up.🤓🤓

Cooktown has been a great place to hang out, there’s a lot to see from here.

Lots of nature, waterfalls etc. and the town itself is nice and has everything you need.

We never did get to the museum…..maybe next time.

Our only disappointment was we didn’t see too many birds.

When visiting the Isabella Falls we explored and had lunch sitting on the tailgate of the truck and honestly we did not hear one peep from a bird. Apparently October to December is the best time for birds when they all decide to come back from PNG.

Luckily we had Keatings Lagoon to fall back on and even though it wasn’t teeming with birdlife, there was enough there to keep us amused.

Entrance to Endervour Falls and Camping Grounds

More Falls and Camp ground Pics

Endevour Falls

Press Play to view Steph’s Snippets

We did love visiting the Endevour Falls and Tourist Park, wow what a beautiful spot they have there. So many palm trees in manicured gardens with the waterfall in their back yard. Absolutely idyllic.

I think the photos and video speak for themselves, it’s a great place to visit,

Immature Male Tropical Rockmaster Damselfly

Isabella Creek

Tomorrow we will drive all the way back to Mareeba.

Its about a 3 hours drive but we will definitely be stopping at the Palmer river roadhouse for coffee on the way.🤩🤩

Cheers Steph and Anthony.

PS… As you can see….Anthony had no problem finding Dragonflies, lots of them …and he does tend to go a bit bonkers photographing them from every angle so please enjoy them too, bye.😉😉

Australian Rustic Butterfly

Blue Argus Butterfly

Orb weaving Spider

St Andrews Cross Spider

Birds and Bugs

Published on August 18, 2019August 18, 2019 by Anthony and Stephanie1 Comment

A male Painted Grasshawk (Seen in Stephanie’s Video)

Well we finally made the decision to move on. The weather has been very drizzly again the last few days.

Yesterday we drove back to Granite Gorge near Mareeba. You can bet if it’s cold and drizzly here in Yungaburra it’s about 5 degrees warmer and sunny over that way. As soon as you drive off the plateau north towards Mareeba you can just watch the temperature gauge increasing.

It’s a beautiful place in nature and there seems to be a lot more butterflies and dragonflies around the Gorge than anywhere else we have been so far. We did see quite a few birds there as well but we didn’t get there till nearly lunch time so could have done better with photos if we had of gotten there earlier. We will definetly go back there on our return trip.

We got lucky….. while touring the tablelands a flock of Sarus Cranes flew over our truck and just had enough time to grab a couple of inflight shots.

Grey-crowned Babbler drying off after wash

A female Rufous Whistler enjoying the late afternoon Sun

Tomorrow we are off to Mount Carbine for 3 nights before heading on to Cooktown. We are really excited to see some new places.

Not really new as we have been to these places before but now that we are always looking for critters it’s a totally different experience. It’s like our eyes are wide open now and are always scanning the trees, sky, grass etc….waiting for something to catch our eye, it’s really fantastic and makes us feel so alive.

We must have had blinkers on before in our old life as I don’t really remember seeing much wildlife when out and about.