Orange Bushbrown Butterfly - Mycalesis terminus

Sooo many butterflies around now and this is one of our more common smaller species - the Orange Bushbrown (although this one doesn't look very orange!).  

They are only found along the coastal strip of far north Queensland, often on clumps of blady grass like this, and they will often sit for long periods sipping juice from fallen fruit.

Flycatchers

The blog seems to have been on the backburner for a while as we've been busy planning our holiday for later in the year. Isn't it always the way that when you haven't got the camera with you a bird comes and sits in perfect view on a nearby branch?!  As I was taking over a guests' breakfast tray just now this male Leaden Flycatcher did just that - I raced back for the camera and just spotted him in the Geisha Girl bush in front of Sunbird Sanctuary.  Different birds around at the moment - Silvereyes, our usual Sunbirds - and yes they are always around that bungalow! - lots of Rainbow Bee-eaters round the dam swooping for insects.

Helmeted Friarbird

Oh what magic weather we're enjoying now!   The colours are so vibrant on these beautiful sunny days, the day and night temperatures are just perfect, hardly any humidity - and we just feel so very sorry for all the visitors who aren't here at this fantastic time of year! 

On my walk just now this Helmeted Friarbird kindly posed for me at the top of the traveller's palm where it was foraging for insects in the foliage.  These huge plants are not actually palms but are part of the bird-of-paradise family and got the name because the sheaths of the stems hold rainwater - a handy emergency water-supply for travellers.

Home again

No blog updates for a while - or photos as both my cameras suddenly spat their dummies and required new cards.  I've now bought a new one for my 'main' camera, the Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ7, but my handy little stick-in-your-pocket Kodak Easyshare LS420 might be terminally ill as it's multimedia card isn't made any more.

We've also been away for a few days - flew back from Sydney yesterday after a great 3-day break.  So impressed with Qantas this time - good seats, service and (amazingly!) very good meals!  Stayed in a lovely self-contained 1-bed apartment - Oaks Maestri Towers on Sussex St, only one block from Darling Harbour.  Large, airy, modern, quiet and only $134 a night thanks to a 3-night special on Wotif.  To be thoroughly recommended!