We saw 213 species on this trip (only 30 of which I've seen in other countries). If you want to see the whole list,
click here. All of the birds were seen (none “heard only”), none were called in using play back or baited, and the only guide we hired was on the river tour in Daintree.
My life list is up to 1,477!
I’ve been wanting to come to O’Reilly’s for a few years, ever since I started following where bird tour companies stop while in Australia - most of them stop overnight at O’Reilly’s, so of course it got added to my list. And rightfully so, it’s a birding resort in the middle of a national park. Many birds can be found here that would be hard to find anywhere else. What I didn’t calculate is that although it is designed for the serious birder, it caters to tourists wanting to interact with colorful birds. This means you can buy plates full of seeds and the parrots will land on the plates, your arms, hands, even your head. I have a real moral dilemma with that situation. While as a photographer it is fabulous having birds perch close by, I do believe it is the worst form of corruption of the wild birds instincts and safety. The parrots in particular are so tame, they walk into the cafe and gift shop looking for handouts, sit on every outdoor table and bench, visit every outdoor balcony of the guest rooms (many guests feed them from the balconies), and follow you around on the main lawn. They are virtually urban pigeons, just more colorful.
One lodge employe mentioned that they have a special permit to feed the birds at O’Reilly’s, only offer healthy food, and the birds only eat a bit then go back out to feed like wild birds. Wrong. There is no one policing what is fed to the birds at the outdoor tables, at the guest rooms or on the patios at the bar and cafe - French fries are a favorite. Also, just walking down the boardwalk in the forest, there are so many birds that are acclimatized to humans that they don’t flinch when you walk up to them. Behavior like this may not be an obvious problem at O’Reilly’s, but it sets a bad precedent for people wanting the interaction with wildlife in areas where there is a wild bird trade (Bali comes immediately to mind).
That said, I avoided the areas where people were feeding birds as much as I could and Avi and I focused on hiking in the forest, which was a great experience.
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Crimson Rosella (one of the more corrupt birds,
but so incredibly beautiful)
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| Eastern Yellow Robin adult |
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| Eastern Yellow Robin chick |
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| Regent Bowerbird male (female is brown) |
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| Satin Bowerbird female (male is all black) |
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| Australian Rufous Fantail |
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Australian King-Parrot male
(another of the corrupt parrots) |
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| Australian King-Parrot female |
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| Superb Fairywren |
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Gray Goshawk - that is his foot clutching
breakfast in the middle of his chest |
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Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo - just to show you
that not all photos turn out the way I hoped 😅 |
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| Whiptail Wallaby (aka Pretty-faced Wallaby) |
