We got up at 4:45, dressed and found that it was raining fairly hard as we walked to breakfast. It looked as if it might rain for a while so we sat in our room which works pretty well as a bird hide, and we managed to see a couple of Smokey (or “embarrassed“) Honeyeaters, grayish mottled birds with a large naked yellow face patches that turn red when they are excited.
The rain gradually lightened and several of us birded around the grounds and walked a ways on the wide well-constructed trail down to the river below the hotel. About 10:15 we took off in the bus up the road to see if we could pick up some more Bs-of-P. We saw our old friend, the King-of-Saxony, on his regular perch. David walked a short ways on the Benson Trail, so named for a former bird guide at the lodge, and suggested that the ones who wanted to walk on a muddy trail join him! We set out in quite deep, slippery mud, due to the recent rain, and David played a tape of the call of the Chestnut Forest Rail, and two started responding to the tape. We walked off the trail through very wet forest and stood stock still while he played the tape once more and in walked the lovely brown rail about 8” tall with long legs. We only saw it for a few seconds before it walked away again and we slogged back to the bus.
We stopped a short distance on and again walked into the forest, this time a moss forest, perpetually wet, and everything, ground, trunks, and branches, dripping and covered with mosses, ferns, and bromeliads . It was a real fairy-land and one could imagine hobbits and trolls living there. We didn’t see any more rails, but it was a lovely area.
We returned for a lunch of quiche and salads, had a brief break and then most of us set off at 3:30 on the full river trail - a couple of miles long. We set off in sunshine on the Lodge driveway, meeting a local man in full tribal dress on the way.
We entered the trail which follows a waterway delivering water to the hotel from the river. We passed over the first of three hanging bridges constructed of boards and poles and all strapped together with vines. It was beautifully designed, although quite narrow and we had to watch our steps. We saw some lovely birds like the black, white and yellow Sclater’s Whistler, and then the rain started up again!
This time quite hard, and even with rain jackets and umbrellas, everything got quite wet! We continued on over muddy rocks and tree roots, crossing two more bridges and coming to a lovely waterfall. By this time it was past five and getting dark so we hurried back and spread out our wet clothes. We leave tomorrow and can see that lots of stuff will have to be packed in plastic bags and will be quite a mess by the time we get to Brisbane!
We went into dinner and the place was full - the people with the helicopters and the development people apparently are having a convention here as there were people from the States and Australia meeting. We lost our regular table and had to squeeze into a smaller one. Dinner was great, as usual: watercress soup, roast pork, vegetable curry. Then when dessert was served, the kitchen staff, plus about five of the local Huli men singing and dancing, presented David with a cake to thank him for bringing groups of birders to the Lodge for 25 years! David gave a short speech in Pidgin to thank them for their gesture! I think the development guys were pretty impressed!
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