Dragonflies – WanderingEagles – Travel & Nature Photography

Mount Lewis to Molloy

Published on August 20, 2019 by Anthony and StephanieLeave a comment

The Picturesque Dam ending the Mount Lewis Rainforest Walk

Hello again, we had another great day.

We decided to visit Mount Lewis as we have heard so much about this place for exceptional birdlife.

Another early morning as it’s quite a drive from here( Mount Carbine) to just outside Julatten. We weren’t sure if our big f truck would fit on the steep, narrow and windy dirt road but decided to give it a go.

Well it was just fine but we were glad we didn’t have to pass anyone coming the other way…..that would have been a bit squishy🙄🙄

It’s about 10 kms to a clearing where there is a 2 km rainforest walking track to a beautiful dam. It’s around another 18 kms to the top of Mount Lewis but there is a sign that says it’s 4 WD from the clearing and we really didn’t want to push our luck plus it was a very slow trip to there.

Grey-headed Robin a very common Rainforest bird

I think our expectations were a bit high for this place…… as we really didn’t see many birds. The ones we did see were very high in the canopy.

The Chowchillas were very nervous, I got some video but Anthony missed out for photos. Also the Tooth billed Bowerbird was so hard to spot even though we could hear him for ages. Another missed photo but I did manage to get the last bit of his spectacular very loud voice on video.

When we arrived at the dam, this beautiful ( enormous) Red bellied black snake was basking on the path in the sun.

We couldn’t believe our luck, what a beautiful big healthy snake, absolutely awesome to see.

We were very quiet and he wasn’t bothered by us one bit…..even slithered straight towards me when he decided to go hunting.

I had to quickly do the sideways shuffle to get out the way….wow could he move at speed.

I captured it all on video 🤩🤩 not my panicked shuffle of course but the awesome snake🙄😳

It was a great place to visit but not sure we would be racing back up there any time soon.

Press Play to View Stephanie’s Snippets

On the way back we stopped at a little rest area near a babbling brook that looked promising for birdlife.

And that it was….a hotspot for the spectacled Monarch. This gorgeous little bird always has Anthony so frustrated as they never seem to come out from the shadows.

Well he found a place in the brook on top of some rocks where the trees opened up a bit and all sorts of birds came out to play…..some even coming down for a little drink.

Onwards to Mount Molloy…..

What a hidden gem this place is. The Bicentennial Park with a few picturesque lagoons, is a really nice spot.

We found quite a few dragonflies and Butterflies here.

Across the road were some amazing flowering grevillea trees with plenty of honeyeaters in them. It was already getting late so we will have to visit here again with more time to spare.

In the morning we will look around the park here at Mount Carbine, we know there’s plenty of birds here too but we also have to move on to Cooktown so this is probably another place we will come back to and explore further.

Please enjoy the pics and video,

Cheers Steph and Anthony.

Birds and Bugs

Published on August 18, 2019August 18, 2019 by Anthony and StephanieLeave a 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.

It was exciting to capture this Orange Threadtail Damselfly Head on inflight.

Pea Blue Butterfly

Orange Bush Brown

Just a couple of Butterflies that managed to keep still for a Photo

Press Play and enjoy Stephanie’s latest Video Snippets

Please enjoy our last video snippets and photos from the last few days and I hope we see some new and exciting things on our northward journey.

Cheers Steph and Anthony.

Peahen at Granite Gorge

Peacock at Granite Gorge

Upclose with a Peacock and Hen at Granite Gorge

Out and About – Nth Queensland Tablelands

Published on August 3, 2019August 3, 2019 by Anthony and StephanieLeave a comment

Portrait of a Bush Stone-Curlew — Curly’s (Bush Stone-curlew) can always be seen and heard in Yungaburra

Hello again from Yungaburra, things have been going well despite the weather not being the best. It’s been really really windy and showery but when the sun pops out occasionally it’s just fantastic, especially when Anthony’s camera is focused on a dragonfly or Butterfly.

We did have one clear morning where Anthony raced down to the waterfront of Lake Tinaroo ( almost on our doorstep ) to get some beautiful photos of the lake, nice and calm and some morning mist. This really is a beautiful place to hang out as you can see.

Lake Tinaroo

We have had a few outings too, yesterday we drove past Mareeba to the Wetlands which to our dismay are now permanently closed.

We then backtracked to Granite Gorge Nature Park which is always nice rock hopping and looking for dragonflies. We saw an echidna here too but couldn’t get a good photo as he saw us too and tried to squish himself under a rock, so we gave him some space and let him be.

Granite Gorge

These Squatter Pigeon’s are almost tame at Granite Gorge

Yes we have Dragonflies

I’ve been deprived of seeing my favorite Insects for some time now.

These critters put a huge grin on my face 🙂

Elusive Archtail Dragonfly

Orange Threadtail Damselfly

Red-tipped Shadeflies

Female Tropical Rockmaster Damselfly

(faded) Tropical Rockmaster Damselfly

Female Scarlet Percher

and Butterflies

0T2A5249 — Orchard Swallowtail Butterfly

Crater Lakes Barrine and Eacham

Lake Barinne Tea House — Lake Barrine and Teahouse

We also visited the two amazing volcanic lakes just up the road from Yungaburra, You can walk around both but we had Devonshire teas ( award winning) at Lake Barrine. Then onto Lake Eacham, which we did walk around.

These are great places to see the Victoria’s rifle bird, we heard them a few times but no luck for photos. Another elusive bird we are chasing is the Pied Monarch, such a gorgeous little bird that we have spotted a few times but never get a photo. We passed another photographer at Lake Eacham who proudly showed us a great photo he just got of the Monarch…..just around the next bend……🤨🤨 but no such luck for us.