Birds - treasures at little cost in times good and bad

Times are tough all round these days so free things that bring joy must be treasured. And what gives more joy and costs so little as time with nature's colourful wonders, birds. Today, a few recent sightings.  Enjoy! Above, Black-necked Stork, with fish, Melaleuca viewing area, Town Common Conservation Park, Townsville.

Young Blue-faced Honeyeater looking to give bottlebrush a licking, Town Common.

Crimson Finches (male, top; female above) take short break from seed-seeking, Town Common.

Purple Swamphen (Pukeko to Kiwis) stands out in fast-drying habitat at Ross River dam borrow pits.

Orange-footed Scrubfowl at home amid leaf litter in Cape Pellarenda Conservation Park.

Magpie family trio out and about and obligingly almost underfoot at Cape Pellarenda.

Rainbow Bee-eater perches near nest tunnel at side of road, Town Common, Townsville.

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.

Orange-footed and Swallowtailed

Today's surprise visitor at the Azure Kingfisher tunnel site is ... an Orange-footed Scrubfowl (Megapodius reinwardt). The birds are solid fliers but prefer to walk, even clumsily across an obstructed natural bridge such as above (20 metres east of my sitting place on the bank).
Sorry about the picture, but everything smaller that came closer darted away again just as quickly - and even I seldom ever see Scrubfowls. Of Azures, nothing!

Bit of high-speed (and noisy) photography slowed down the wings of this female Orchard Swallowtail (Papilio aegeus) on dreaded Lantana (which sadly won't top present voting for best Australian movie).

Two other butterflies met all the time are Chocolate (Junonia hedonia) and Meadow (J. villida) Arguses. Both females (I think). Chocolate's a bit worse for wear. Meadows are one of the obliging types that stay open-winged on alighting.