Lovely day for rare find of four Lovely Fairies

Lovely morning for a lovely walk and lovely find of four Lovely Fairy-wrens rarely ever seen in Cape Pallarenda Conservation Park, Townsville.

Also perfect timing just ahead of a planned Queensland Parks and Wildlife burnoff of upper slopes about 300 metres north of the birds' location. Slow burn from top down unlikely to threaten any part of birds' habitat, but who knows?

Two of the four clearly adult male and female. But sketchy info on immature birds little help deciding whether third bird -  clearly male - is immature, or adult going to eclipse plumage. My guess: immature, because eclipse seems unlikely in what must be family group. Fourth bird not clearly seen, but  may be immature female.

Also colourfully enhancing the park, Cooktown Orchid, probably long ago fixed on tree amidst about 12 buildings dating back to the park's quarantine station past.

Other birds today: Orange-footed Scrubfowl and Laughing Kookaburra.

And a recent find beside a track: placid 2-metre Carpet Python.

Splash of blue signals Lovely arrival

Splash of bright blue amid the green understorey in Tyto yesterday signalled rare arrival of male Lovely Fairy-wren (Malurus amabilis). No sightings of species ever so far east in the wetlands. And no sign at all of the birds in years since Cyclone Yasi. Now the challenge is to get a decent picture.

A challenge also often with Pacific Baza (Aviceda subcristata). The specialist frog and phasmid munchers don't mind people getting close, but usually stay high in or atop the foliage. Bird above spent some time on lower limbs in Tyto the other day.

So did this young Yellow Honeyeater (Lichenostomus flavus), when it wasn't busy chasing others away from bottlebrush along the northwestern boundary track. Immaturity shows with yellow at base of gape (bill).

The challenge with Crimson Finch (Neochmia phaeton) has been to get a bird to sit somewhere other than surrounded by grass (natural feeding habitat at times) or background and foreground twiggery. No luck so far.