Deep in the rainforests of North Queensland, November heralds the arrival of numbers of Paradise Kingfishers from New Guinea to nest in termite mounds.
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The Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher is a wet season visitor.
They are found in New Guinea from April to October before heading south to northern Australia in November.
Their breeding season can be delayed depending on the wet season.
This was my first experience of photographing this magnificent bird as I have been unable to go north at this time of year in the past.
This year, though, I was fortunate to have the support of Carol and Les at Feather 'n' Friends in Julatten, North Queensland, who kept me informed of the breeding progress of the nesting birds.
For what it's worth, they have excellent cottages on the property as well as camping for tourists and bird watchers - and yes, there's abundant bird and insect numbers to keep even the the keenest bird watcher happy.
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The Paradise Kingfisher would have to be one of the most spectacular of all our Kingfishers. The royal blue colouring of the wings contrasts with the orange body making a spectacular bird.
In flight they drift through the air with their long white tail trailing behind.
They are are very sensitive birds, which I soon discovered. I would have to say that in all my time photographing birds, the only other bird I have found to be as wary would be the wedgetail eagle.
This season the birds nesting was delayed due to late rains, but I was fortunate to have bright sunshine while the rest of Qyeensland south of me was getting swamped.
Unfortunately the humidity was severe.
I found a number of termite mounds with nesting birds.
One was well placed and feeding chicks, so I set up the camera , locked it and moved back some 20 metres, only to find the birds knew where I was in the shade of a bush.
There was no way they'd come in, so I had to revert to plan B. I set up the camera with sound detection and moved right out of the area. This worked. I returned after a few hours and was delighted to find a great number of flight shots.
This was a great experience. I look forward to spending more time with Carol and Les in the future