I started my day in search of Chowchillas to photograph but ended up seeing a pair but having no chance to photograph them. However, I did come across a Tooth-billed Bowerbird at a display court. These birds, while members of the Bowerbird family do not actually build bowers (more on them tomorrow, hopefully) but instead create display courts from which they sing and display to attract females. For Tooth-billeds, the male clears a small circle on the forest floor, typically including a small tree about 6 inches in diameter. Once he has cleared the ground of debris, he decorates the forest floor with a variety of leaves, bottom side up. He then perches above the court and sings. Tooth-billed Bowerbirds are mimics and have quite a varied song and one that changes throughout the season. If a female is interested, she will approach the court and the male will drop to the ground whilc continuing to sing and hide behind the tree. After popping out and displaying a few times, the birds will mate if the female is still interested.
I didn't get to see all of this, but I did get to see a bird singing above a display court and after some manuevering, I got a few photos of him. I wanted to photograph the court as well but it was in a dense section of brush and it just wouldn't have worked.
After all of this, I left the Atherton Tableland region adn made a short trip into Cairns to see what I could find before heading south. I had hoped to bird the Foreshore or Esplanade, but the tide was wrong so the numerous shorebirds were too far out for me to even begin to identify them. From there I headed over to the botanical gardens which were beautiful. but birdwise it was a bit quiet since it was midday. Instead of hanging around until the tide turned and returning to the Esplanade, I decided to head south to Paluma. This is where I hope to photograph the impressive Golden Bowerbird, but more on that tomorrow!.
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