Bloomin Bowerbirds.....

Yesterday I went out birding with Tony - an ex pat birder who by co-incidence also works for Ramsay but in a Mental Health clinic in Cairns.
We decided to target Golden Bowerbird (with a side order of Satin Bowerbird). The Golden Bower is the last wet tropics endemic that I have not seen and the male is as the name suggests golden.
I picked Tony up at 0515 from Cairns and off we headed, amazingly it was still dark after 0600 which is a sure indication that winter is on its way. We made it to our destination Mount Hypipamee by 7 and were shocked at how cold it was, it is the highest part of the Tablelands where winter temps get below 10 degrees and frosts are not too unusual. As neither of us had bothered to take a jumper we spent a fair amount of time with our hands stuck in our armpits and so few pictures were taken.
We had a fair idea that we may not be successful as we had driven through fog to get there and sure enough as the breeding season was past we heard only a couple of squeaks from the Bowerbirds and did not see even a shape of one - we have now found some more up to date info and we will try again in July when they start to get active again - although they are a rare bird anyway and some years there are no active bowers known so it was always going to be a bit of a gamble.
The day was not a total waste as I did manage to get five lifers and found Tony a lifer - oddly a species that I have seen several times.
The highlight from a photographic point of view was this very ugly named Squatter Pigeon