QUARANTINE IN AUSTRALIA SINCE EUROPEAN SETTLEMENT

 

I happen to have been reading a fascinating book on the history of the Custom Office in Australia since 1788 (1). It struck me that there have been many serious epidemic and pandemic events from our earliest European days. They were, for the first 110 years, largely dealt with by the Naval Officer (the precursor of the Customs Officer) and then by Customs Officers. The parallels with our current situation struck me so I thought I would point some of these things out.

As an aside, it seems the term ‘custom(s) duty’ is a shorthand of the requirement to pay “the customary duty”.(1)  The buildings are generally known as Custom Houses, but the duty is customs duty, and the officers, Customs Officers. The original Custom House in Launceston, the first picture below (National Trust), was built in the 1820s and used as a Custom House from around 1860 to 1884; the new Custom House, built in 1885 and also still there, is where a very notable Monaghan started work in 1949.

This article is intended just to raise interest in our experience, since European settlement, of epidemics and pandemics, not to be a complete formal history, nor to comment on the effectiveness of measures, nor the competence or otherwise of authorities. The parallels though are certainly worth thinking about and communicating to the youngsters.

The major issues in the first decades after 1788 were smallpox, typhus, whooping cough and infectious fever/plague. Since around Federation, the big issues have been smallpox (despite wholesale immunization in the earliest 19thC), so-called Spanish Flu, polio, normal flu, and now Covid-19.

 

 

1788 -1850

 

These were the smallpox years.

In 1803, Governor King wrote home to Lord Hobart, noting that: “… as the smallpox has never been introduced or occurred here.” (2) Yet as early as 1789, David Collins then still in Port Jackson, wrote in his diary (3), that the deaths of aboriginals were clearly from smallpox.

To the extent anyone accepted the possibility, they reverted to the most likely cause, and blamed the French. Once logic intervened, and it was pointed out that it was over 15 months since any Frenchman was sighted in those parts, other reasons were sought. In much later analyses, it was thought the most likely cause was the contents of the flasks which English surgeons had brought with them from the mother land.(3)

The Governor though was quick to get onto vaccination, with King having most children in the main colony vaccinated by 1804, on Norfolk Island by early 1805, and in Hobart by late 1805. (5)

I have so far found no record of vaccinations in the other southern State, northern Tasmania – maybe the later outbreaks were due to that? More likely I just haven’t found it yet.

Quarantine was the responsibility of what was to become Customs, because they were responsible for inspecting arriving ships for illegal imports, be they uncleared goods or sick people.

An early major incident occurred on the 26 May 1804, word having been received that infectious fever/plague had broken out in New York State, leading Governor King to proclaim that all ships from New York State were to be prevented from landing. If there had been no reported cases on board, the ship was still to be quarantined for 14 days, and if there had been cases, the ship was to be sent to Sandgate Creek (Botany) for 14 days quarantine. The Naval Officer was instructed not to board, but to use caution and discretion in ascertaining the state of play on board.(6)

In March 1828, a migrant ship, “the Morling”, arrived in Sydney Harbour with cases of whooping cough. Governor Darling ordered the infected women and children be housed in an outhouse at the mansion built by former Naval Officer and dandy Captain John Piper (now that is a story for another article in due course) at (guess who named this) Point Piper. But he was too late (a common theme) and several children in the settlement died, including one of his own sons.(1)

March 1828 was a bad month, also seeing a major smallpox scare. The several cases onboard were not discovered before the Captain had dined onshore with local dignitaries. The infected were successfully isolated in tents on the North Shore.(1)

The nature of cholera was that it was generally expected to work its way out on board over the lengthy trips. Good for the people here, but no doubt horrendous for those on the ship. Later, as the speed of voyage increased, and more ships stopped off at trading ports on the way, the risk of cholera reaching here grew.

In 1832, cholera was rampant in Leith, Scotland (Edinburgh’s port), a major departure point for convict ships to Australia. (Gov Macquarie, in the early 1820s, had made the nomenclature jump from New Holland to Australia, a name coined by Matthew Flinders, or possibly his companion, no not Bass but his cat, Trim). Again, all arrivals were prevented from landing passengers until inspected. If there were no cases, the ship still had to await clearance; and if there were, it was sent to Neutral Bay for 14 days quarantine.(1)

A dreadful incident occurred in 1836, when a grossly overcrowded “death” ship (yup all the lessons from the second fleet had been well forgotten) arrived in Port Jackson. Of the 700 free immigrants on board, 56 children had died of either whooping cough or measles, and, not to be outdone, typhus carried off over 50 adults. In addition, around 80 more died shortly after arrival.(1)

Lessons learned and quickly forgotten saw another episode in February 1837, when a very crowded ship from Cork bobbed its way in without 54 of the migrants who had died of typhus. It clearly wasn’t the full bottle. It was quarantined at North Head, and in a first, it was guarded on the water by the military, and on land by Customs, who also disinfected the arriving mail.(1)

The North Head (Manly) quarantine station was used from 1830 till it was swabbed out in 1984 to become a chic retreat, complete no doubt with ample hospital grade hand sanitiser.

 

1850-1900

This seems to have been a period relatively quiet in Australia for epidemics and pandemics, but a period of growth in Customs officers duties and infrastructure. Sydney and Hobart, amongst many other growing towns, got nice Custom Houses.

In the 1880s, smallpox reared its ugly head again. In June 1881 the situation was alarming enough for then Governor of NSW, and soon to be darling of the federalists, Henry Parkes, to order all vessels from China or Hong Kong to be quarantined. You may find a theme here.(1)

By 1887 there was the first of several serious outbreaks in particularly the northern of the two States in Tasmania, with 11 deaths from 35 cases. Another wave in 1903, again in the Northern island State, led to 20 deaths from 66 cases.(7)

Shipping into Launceston at this time was diverted over to New Zealand, to await the control of the outbreak. This caused no end of trouble for genealogists, who found their ancestors disappearing off the face of the earth, or rather the water, somewhere between the mother country and Launceston.(8)

A major review led by a Dr Elkington and presented to the House of Assembly, concluded the outbreak most certainly came from a steamer, the Gracchus, and, although, with the learning from earlier outbreaks, infected people were removed into quarantine, overall he concluded the city had reacted much too slowly at the outset, and considered a bullet had been dodged.(7)

A constant threat of epidemics has been the plethora of pearlers, fishermen and traders across the north coast of Australia. For example, in Darwin in 1886 a customs officer became ill with smallpox, leading to the quarantining for a time of all boats arriving from Hong Kong, with the occupants isolated on lighters floating in the harbour. (1)

“Spanish” Flu

The worst pandemic in the world, so far, is said to be the so-called Spanish Flu of 1918-19. Influenza virus kills many people every year and mutates fairly quickly, hence a vaccination consists of 4 strands, and itself evolves annually. The term itself comes, no not from the Greek, but from Italian for “influenced by the stars”, once thought to be its origin.(9)

There have been flu pandemics in Australia, namely in the 1890s, 1957, 1968 and 2009, but none compare with the 1918-19 outbreak.

It seems clear that this horrendous strain of the flu emerged from the battlefields towards the end of World War 1. Cases would have been either difficult to detect amidst all the other miseries, or hushed up to avoid delays in repatriation of soldiers at the war’s end.(10)

The first reported case was, ironically, in neutral Spain, hence the moniker. The Spanish to this day are said to bitterly resent the labelling.

Although you would think soldiers would inherently follow orders, the thoughts of being re-united with loved ones, especially alcohol, proved too much to resist, and they notoriously and overwhelmingly breached isolation.

Authorities in Australia were alerted to the disease before troops started arriving home, and there was even a Federal/State agreement as to how to handle it when it inevitably arrived. One guess as to how long that lasted.

Marine quarantine did however give us what should have been a major head start, in that entry of the virus amazingly was restricted to one entry point, which turned out to be Melbourne, the case being reported in January 1919. However, the similarity to normal flu, also an issue at the time, meant a delay in identifying the much more serious strain.(10)

This delay exacerbated the early spread, because the Victorian border remained open. By the time it was closed, the rapidity of train travel had already seen cases in NSW and South Australia. Tasmania moved very quickly to quarantine the State (both).(10)

Ships with returning soldiers had been held offshore, with authorities concerned about more flu outbreaks. For example, in December 1918, before the first cases were seen in Australia,  a ship, the Boonah,  carrying returning soldiers, at least 25% of whom had influenza, was held offshore at Fremantle.

After a first wave was survived relatively well compared to most countries, reports are that complacency crept in, and restrictions eased, leading it is thought to the much more serious second wave.(10)

Tasmania recorded the lowest cases per capita, with around 40% of the total Australian population infected. Australia’s preparations and subsequent travel restrictions and internal border controls were successful in restricting case numbers to amongst the lowest in the world, with also the lowest death rate in the world being 2.7 per 1000 cases. Death rates in some remote indigenous communities were massively higher.(9)

States went on their own after the Federal/State agreement broke down. One outcome of the difficulty of garnering intra-State cooperation was the creation of a Federal Department of Health.

Polio

Now we move to a pandemic people alive today remember, testified to by recent articles comparing that period with today. (11) Within my own family, my uncle suffered a life long limp due to polio, his life no doubt being saved by his father’s expertise as a football masseur.

Poliomyelitis was initially called infant paralysis, because the first impact was seen in very young children. However, whilst this remained the main affected cohort,  many people aged around 20 to 45 succumbed. Older people were generally not affected.

Poliomyelitis does, of course, but as we have already seen, unlike influenza, come from the Greek; polio is the Greek word for grey, and myelitis means the inflammation of the myelin, which is the nerve sheath. So the cunning little virus would get into the body through the mouth, and hang about until it found a way into the spinal cord, destroying messaging to the brain. (12) It was eventually identified that the virus is transmitted from faeces remnants (eg carried by flies) into the mouth.

Tasmania was the world’s polio hotspot, and its impact in that State has been described as the worst pandemic in world history. (15) That was before the current Covid crisis.

Polio had occurred in Australia from early in the 20^th century, and around the world more or less forever. It was a major issue in Australia in the late 1930s, early 1940s, and 1950s until the Salk vaccine in 1956, and the Sabin vaccine in 1966. Around 4 million people in Australia were infected.

If we think the current Covid issue is scary, feel for people in the polio era – they had not the foggiest idea where it came from, how it was transmitted, and how it destroyed the body. And it was decades from the first outbreak to the first vaccine.

The impact of polio is seen by many Australian baby-boomers through the eyes of Alan Marshall, who wrote a book called “I can jump puddles”. The leader reads: “It amazed me that they would imagine I would never walk again. I knew what I was going to do. I was going to break in wild horses and yell ‘Ho! Ho!’ and wave my hat in the air, and I was going to write a book like The Coral Island.”.

The worst cases involved artificial respiration in what were colloquially called iron lungs.

Some cases involved hospitalisation for up to 10 years, and some also required artificial respiration for life. (One woman contracted polio at age 23, and lived in an iron lung till she died at age 83).(13)

Warning that the impact of virus pandemics can be felt well after the initial impact came in the 1980s, when cases began to emerge of muscle and limb fatigue, thought now to be due to overuse of polio affected muscles. (14)

Fear ruled in Tasmania, particularly in rural areas which were harder hit. Railton, in the central north, was a particular hotspot. In that State, there were 81 deaths from 2000 infections.(13) Similar to the Covid story, most people infected with the polio virus didn’t even notice, about 10% of the infected felt significant symptoms, and about 3% of those developed severe symptoms as the virus found its way into the nervous system. Once at this stage, death or permanent respiratory weakness was common.(12)

Somewhat ironically, it seems that increased health and hygiene contributed to the outbreak of the polio virus, with western rich countries most affected. It is thought that in earlier times and in less developed countries, poor hygiene meant youngsters were exposed, and hence became immune, at a very early age.(15)

Unlike with Spanish flu, Tasmania apparently didn’t move as quickly to close the sea border, with polio cases already being reported in Victoria. They did belatedly start a process of refusing transit if not satisfied the traveller had not had contact with a polio patient. It was problematic though, when no-one knew how it was transmitted.

Tasmania did, in July 1919, introduce stringent isolation measures, with all travellers both ways being required to isolate for three weeks. Isolated people had to report on a daily basis, and to immediately, at any hour, report illness. Surprise inspections were made to ensure isolated people were just that. Attempts to fence the outbreak to the area of the first case in Inveresk failed due to the lack of knowledge as to its character. (15)

Reactive closures of schools, milk bars, cinemas and other gathering places similarly lacked success because they were reactive. Even short distance travel was policed, with 21 days isolation demanded on arrival.(15)

Writers to the papers were quick to point out that mingling was very inconsistently managed, with one writer pointing out that his children had to isolate at home despite being allowed to travel to their home town by crowded ship and train. (15)

North versus South rivalries emerged yet again to muddy the Government’s attempts at control. The Government was forced to assert publicly that no political motivation was involved in placing more stringent restrictions on the north than on the south, it just being the case that the medical advice was to that effect due to the intensity of the outbreak in the north.(15)

In what could be seen as a silver lining in the rivalry, the north and south ran a fervent competition as to which of the two “States” was the most generous. Whipped up by the main mastheads, very large donations were made.(15)

Astonishingly, a massive breakthrough came thanks to the Queen of another country, namely Great Britain. In preparation for her visit to Western Australia in 1954, unrelated to polio and with still no idea how polio was sourced nor transmitted, it was thought a good idea to give all the kids their own soap and towel in case they got to shake the Queen’s hand. Later a marked drop in polio cases had scientists saying Oh gosh or words to that effect: maybe if people washed their hands?(16)

The turnaround was fortunately soon reinforced by a vaccine.

Polio is thought to now be virtually eradicated across the globe.

CONCLUSION

We can safely ignore the many conspiracy theories proliferating over social media. This has happened over and over again.

Each time we learn, and our response is generally better, although perhaps, too, the viruses are getting stronger – they too seek to survive and reproduce.

In a story which could have happened in the mid 19thC, except the numbers would have been lower, I note that in the current press there are reports that 60 waterside workers in Melbourne have been stood down because they refused to unload a cargo ship bringing supplies from, you guessed it,  China. Their position is that it was still two days short of the mandatory 14 day quarantine period; the Government authorities’ view is that that period applies to people, not cargo; and in any event it is up to the authorities to decide what is safe.

Other things to consider include the multiple waves of Spanish flu and polio. Also this poignant comment from our deputy Chief Medical Officer: “In terms of the virus dying out, as it were, in certain parts of Australia, that would be a great achievement. It does bring with it a challenge, of course, it would mean the most of us would not have been exposed yet. So we would remain susceptible to the virus if it was re-introduced.”

I hope you found this interesting. I certainly did.

April 2020

Michael Monaghan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Main references

1. Smugglers and Sailors: The Customs History of Australia 1788-1901 by David Day (AGPS 1949 Canberra)
2. Historical Records of NSW Volume 5
3. Later published as “An Account of the English Colony of NSW”
4. Historical Records of NSW Vol 5
5. Historical Records of NSW Vol 5 and Vol 6
6. Historical Records of NSW Vol 5
7. https://www.utas.edu.au/library/companion_to _tasmanian_history/S/Small%20pox.htm
8. Launceston Examiner – see Trove for 1880s
9. https://www.nma.gov.au/defining-moments/resources/influenza-pandemic
10. http://theconversation.com/how-australias-response-to-the-spanish-flu-of-1919-sounds-warning-on-dealing-with-coronavirus-134017
11. https://www.polionsw.org.au/about-polio; https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/tas/biogs/TE00387b.htm;

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-04/levels-of-fear-with-coronavirus-not-seen-since-polio-epidemic/12115228

 

12. https://www.aihw.gov.au/getmedia/ea7684ff-753c-44db-9091-24654db8b6b1/aihw-phe-236_polio.pdf.aspx
13. https://www.findandconnect.gov.au/ref/tas/biogs/TE00387b.htm
14. https://www.polionsw.org.au/about-polio;
15. https://eprints.utas.edu.au/20791/1/whole_KillaleaAnne1993_thesis.pdf
16. Kerry Highley: “Dancing in my dreams: confronting the spectre of polio”.Melb Monash Uni Press 2015

 

Restricted in gallivanting, I started to focus (LOL) on a plethora of  autumn colour in my own garden. A long long winter ahead, but the plants are getting ready.

First, lots of correa:

Then different grevillea, covering the ground effectively and all flowering; the Red Wattlebirds (would probably be better named Red-wattle Birds) really love this:

Amongst the flowers, are lots of fruit and vegetable flowers providing food now and soon for me:

The figs have gone nowhere this year probably due to the early drought, nowhere except into the grateful Pied Currawong and Satin Bowerbird beaks.

Working clockwise from the top left, we have basil, feijoa, pumpkin, thai basil, capsicum, pineapple sage, myer lemons, beans, zucchini, bay leaf, and garlic chives.

The air plant, which hangs within a tea-tree and has no roots into the ground,  took a lot of work during the long drought, but is certainly thriving with some rain:

Then the camellias, rhododendrons and magnolias are all gearing up:

Around the garden, being mid-Autumn, there was a surprising number of flowers to brighten the place up.

And also preparing was the conifer, with some seeds surprisingly untaken by the Crimson Rosellas or Sulphur-crested Cockatoos. A few hours later, three Crimson Rosellas were finishing them off.

 

And finally, again due to the mid-February downpours, lots of new growth:

So plenty in the garden to enjoy at home, whilst watching the many birds that also make it their home.

 

Michael Monaghan

March 2020

After the smoke from November till mid February, the unprecedented hail storm and then the unusual heavy rain, I ventured out into some favourite haunts.

Tidbinbilla is only partly re-opened, but the creek which was pretty much dry in November is running again. Good for the fungi – these were over half a metre wide.

A couple of birds spotted, including white throated tree creeper:

and a brown thornbill:

The creek glistened in the morning sunlight:

The other favourite, the Jerrabombera wetlands went almost totally dry in the long period of drought. There might be water under here now, but one can’t see through the explosion in the reeds and grasses:

 

A pair of Red-rumped parrots seem to have their nest in an old tree stump sitting in the creek. The male is the brighter coloured with the distinctive red rump. The female kept disappearing in there somewhere. They would normally have nested by now, but the drought conditions may have postponed it, with a resumption after the big downpour:

These two, the darter (top) and the pied cormorant, seem to be saying “where? where? Oh there!”

Just as I was about to leave a young Black-shouldered Kite appeared and was certainly keen to explore every angle of the scene:

Looks like this is the first post in a while, and the last for a while. Stay well.

 

Michael Monaghan

March 2020

It being such a picturesque boat trip (as well as being the title of one of those great late night unheralded ABC quirky comedies), I decided to repeat last year’s trip along the Brunswick River. Thanks to Byron Bay Eco Cruises was a lovely informative couple of hours.

Pied Oystercatchers were quite plentiful. I just read that the oldest known Pied Oystercatcher has just died aged 33 years. It lived on the same beach in Gippsland that whole time. There is another banded Oystercatcher in Tasmania that would be slightly older than this, although since it has not been seen for 2 years it may also have died.

There is just one pair of imperious White-bellied Sea-eagles, with one youngster (the last photo):

Hard to distinguish at a distance, the Eastern Osprey has “dirtier” wings and a tell-tale grey streak behind the eye:

The adult Brahminy Kite, usually solitary and covering a large territory, features a strong contrast between the rich brown wings and the white chest:

The Little Egrets were in the mangroves just above water level, possibly having a nest nearby. They are distinguishable by the thin black bill with yellow at its base to just behind the eye.

Australasian Darters are called ‘snake birds” because when swimming their body is below the water and their long striped neck, held vertical, moves back and forwards.

And finally my first sighting of White-headed Stilts:

A lovely relaxing couple of hours on a scenic and interesting river.

December 2019

Michael Monaghan

Ballina is in far north New South Wales, and is, for now at least, north of the worst of the firegrounds. Strong easterlies have helped keep the air relatively smoke-free.

Lots of water, with the Richmond River and North Creek wandering through an ample delta to the sea.

One interesting spot is Flat Rock Beach, the stand-out feature, luckily for the name, being a big flat rock. Always lots of waders and Ospreys.

 

It is always worth taking shots of the waders, and studying the image. As in similar situations, I thought they were all the same, but it turns out I have, possibly, at least three different birds: Sanderlings, Ruddy Turnstones, and Sharp-tailed Sandpipers. I am confident the middle one is a Turnstone, but the jury is still out on the first and third. Watch this space.

These fellas are certainly enjoying the rock pools on a hot day:

 

One of the birds in the top right photo is, I noticed, banded. Studies are showing that these birds breed somewhere up in the Arctic Circle, and come down here for the summer.

Some first sighting to take my number of species in Australia, with photos of all bar three, to 271. The Scaly-breasted Lorikeet and Pied Butcherbird are two of these, the former being noisy but very shy and hard to see, the latter being the opposite.

Another hard to spot bird in the bottlebrush was a Brown Honeyeater, featuring a longish slightly down-curved bill, and a small yellow triangle behind the eye. This looks like an old adult female, with the paler feathers under the eye, and a slight yellow gape (leading to the side of the beak).

To round things off there were various usual suspects, starting with the Little Egret, being the only egret which chases prey, wading through the water:

.. a Little Pied Cormorant, looking like it might be very young:

… the ubiquitous White-faced Heron:

..and an introduced Spotted (Turtle) Dove, presumably looking for another for its Xmas song role, the partridge already ensconced in the pear tree:

Lastly, along the river grass, plenty of Eastern Water-dragons:

Other abundant, but much photographed, birds include Rainbow Lorikeets, Masked Lapwing, Noisy Miners, Galahs, and, rarely photographed but much heard, Eastern Koels

 

November 2019

Michael Monaghan

Even though I have my own nice tulips, I dropped in to Canberra’s amazing Floriade to see what I could do with some extreme settings.

I took some super close ups with an extender lens, some super low f-stop shots, and then some high f-stops for the mass shots.

Like birds, flowers are amazing in their intracacies.

By the way, the fluff from the Plane Trees was so bad, that, even if you had started to revise just on the weekend, it is clearly too late, and I regret you will fail the exams.

 

Michael Monaghan

October 2019

Still quiet, and cold, at the Jerrabomberra Wetlands, but signs of spring activity are apparent.

Out of respect for their privacy, I didn’t photograph the Welcome Swallows welcoming each other warmly for spring. Well, I did, but the photos aren’t good enough to post – they are all blue.

Very large numbers of Pink-eared Ducks have been there, including this raft-like group, going around in a circle, feasting on something in there.

Other ducks, as well as the omnipresent Pacific Black Ducks, have been Hardheads, usually in close pairs:

Superb fairy-wrens were gathering in several different spots, in their dozens. Seemed to be a good mix of male and female, and some males in the process of putting on there best mating clobber.

An Australasian Darter (‘snakebird’ because of the way the neck and head moves when swimming) was drying its feathers, looking a bit pissed off at the pace, because there wasn’t much sight of the sun, and it was still around 4°.

 

 

Still warming up were a Spotted Dove and a Black-faced Cuckoo-Shrike.

 

 

At one stage, dozens of Silvereyes (race Westernensis) flew noisily in the large trees higher on a dry ridge.

 

 

If you were wondering how the Red-rumped Parrot got its name, you are about to find out. The lighter shaded bird is the female. The first male seems to have its wing and tail in a rather contorted position, accentuating the red more than normal.

The next few weeks should see the Wetland and forest livening up to prepare for Summer, which hopefully won’t be the hottest on record, again.

Michael Monaghan

August 2019

Get a full bottle, this will take a while. In fact, we probably need an intermission.

Went out as sole customer with Del from Fine Feather Friend Tours. He turned out to be a birdspotting genius, as well as knowing more about the impact on far north Queensland of WWII than I could even dream at.

Was a full day tour, and I could not recommend Del more highly. He not only knew the south Daintree area intimately, he spotted so many of those irritating little brown birds and at a glance got the species and usually the gender.

I will stick largely to those new ones, although there were a couple of highlights with species already seen.

This shy chap is an adult male, rather exotically named, Double-Eyed Fig-Parrot. The race is McLeay’s (he has a few birds up here named after him), being found in a small area on the east coast just around Cooktown to Cairns. The male has the red at the base of the cheek. There are two other small populations, one on the south Qld coast, and one in far north Queensland coast.

The Helmeted Friar bird (race yorki) is unique to the Qld coast from Gympie to the top of the Cape. There are two other small populations at the top of the Northern Territory.

The White-Breasted Woodswallow, the largest of the the family, is found over the eastern half of Australia, but would be on the northern-most edge of its habitat around here.

Picking Kingfishers apart can get tricky, this one being the Sacred Kingfisher, found over most of the country except for the middle desert areas and Tasmania doesn’t like the crossing apparently.

The very common Straw-necked Ibis looked remarkably healthy, with electric plumage glistening in the sun.

It wasn’t even 8am.

Moving on to some town river areas, taking close notice of the ‘swim here and be eaten’ signs, the Striated Heron looked similar to the Nankeen Night Heron. This is a juvenile, being very similar to the Nankeen juvenile, with a more patterned chest and more yellow on the lower bill.

We saw male and female Olive-backed Sunbirds in a couple of places, one with a precarious nest hanging from an electrical cable. The male and female both go out to search for a suitable nesting site.

The male has the black flashing on the throat. The female below is in the precarious nest and the male was catching insects off the ground lights.

Other birds on the rivers included the Radjah Shelduck, which apparently not being able to read, were wandering around oblivious to their carnivorous and nefarious neighbours. They are found only on the northern coastlines.

Another precarious nest had been built by a White-breasted Cuckoo-Shrike above a car park.

The Australian (Richard’s) Pipit is found all over the continent, including a race in Tasmania. This is an adult race australis, on the northern edge of its range.

 

Given it is sugar cane country, Black Kites were ubiquitous.  I have seen plenty of these in other parts of northern Australia. The key to telling the Black from the Whistling kite, is that the Black Kite has a bit missing at the end of its tail (a bit concave), and the Whistling has a whole tail.

The Great Egret is a noble beast, significantly bigger than other Egrets, and with three fused plates at the base of the neck, to stop its neck falling off with the weight.

One of the small birds I might well have missed unassisted was the Leaden Fly-catcher. This is a male.

A sighting with gold stars is the rarely seen Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove. It was down on the coast, its habitat actually extending along the coast from Sydney across to Broome; a striking looking bird.

 

My guide was right up with the preferred bushes for honeyeaters, and I saw half a dozen new species.

In order first, we have the Graceful, McLeay’s, Dusky, Yellow, and White-throated.

 

 

 

Another new one was the Bridled Honeyeater. Their behaviour was fascinating. They were lying spread out with wings raised on bare dirt in the sunshine. The state of the pieces of dirt showed that this was a much repeated activity in the same spots.

Even more remarkably, Lewin’s Honeyeaters and Bridled Honeyeaters were lying side by side, snuggled up in the sunshine.

There were also many Blue-faced Honeyeaters, very common around Townsville as well.

We saw several nests including another precarious one – that of the imaginatively named Big-billed Gerigone – and also the Varied Triller, the Great Brown Babbler and the Blue-faced Honeyeater.

Youi will see how this nest, hanging from a piece of coathanger, has the entrance cunningly protected with the shielded entrance from below making it much harder for snakes to get in from above.

The latter is particularly clever. Although it is hard to imagine a more dangerous place than right in the middle of high voltage electrical cabling and resistors, the tree ants which eat the eggs are apparently reluctant to carry the epithet, “tree and electrical cabling ants”, and stick to the trees.

Under some large trees having a cuppa, I managed to snap a wide range of birds.

The Varied Triller:

Spectacled Monarch:

Yellow-billed Boatbill:

Little Shrike-Thrush:

 

and Grey Whistler (these tend to go in and out of foliage at the same level):

In the distance, we saw a couple of Topknot Pigeons, my first sighting of these rather odd looking birds, even though their range is right down the east coast, but too far away to photograph.

Again my guide demonstrated his outstanding knowledge by stopping on the roadside to find Red-winged Parrots, very very hard to spot even when you knew where they were.

Another rarity, which took some hiking into savannah land, was the Black-throated Finch. Found only in far north Queensland, this one below is an adult race atrophygialis.

Much more common, and I have seen them in many places, but well camouflaged, were Double-Barred Finches:

My expert guide was most surprised to see the well-named Squatter Pigeon, which spends most of its time solidly down on its heavy legs, sitting on a single electricity wire – we surmised it must have been alarmed by an oblivious pedestrian.

Another fascinating creature is the Orange-footed Scrubfowl, found only on the most northern coastal areas. It makes huge mounds for its nests, a process which involves both partners systematically scratching every leaf, twig and any other debris in a straight line forward and back to the nest. Even more remarkably, typically both are in the same straight line. They leave the scratching site scrupulously clear of any useful mounding material.

The last distant sighting was a Striated Pardalote, in fading light and a bit too far for a decent photo.

On the day we saw 70 different birds species, 33 of them new sightings for me. So, a remarkable day of bird photography,  impossible without the expert guide, and full of learning and growing amazement at the still poorly understood world of birds.

 

Michael Monaghan August 2019

 

I was privileged to spend half a day with a bloke who has some of the oldest plants varieties on the planet on his land. Fascinating to see Cyclad that were thousands of years old, massive trees that are still unidentified, and lots of birds.

The highlight, and rarely seen, were male Victoria’s Rifle Birds, both unusually out in the open (albeit very high up in the canopy), starting to lay their territorial claims for when the ladies arrive.

 

We heard at least five different male Victoria’s Rifle Birds over a few hours.

Very common are the Australian Fig-birds, fairly ubiquitous where there are palms.The male is the brighter one with the red eye patch.

As with the Riflebird and the figbird, this is the first sighting of the Lovely Fairy-wren, the male having the fuller blue face, and the female the white spot at the beak base.

Like many bird and butterfly activities, the local experts are saying that things are happening earlier than is normal. The Ulysses butterfly above is not normally around at this time of year.

 

Michael Monaghan August 2019

 

One of the best ways to understand the Daintree is to take a Dreamtime walk at Mossman Gorge with an indigenous host  who knows what is there. We went deeper into the forest past where the mass of tourists go. I learned lots about how the Yalanji lived for so many generations in sympathy with their land.

The first item is a shield/food tray/baby carrier; the second is a nut which is toxic unless ground and cooked, with the quandong; and the third cricket bat looking object is a digging stick.  We also saw the different boomerangs, the narrow lean returning one for the open country, and the thick club like one for bush-stunnings.

If I ever get stung by Stinging Nettle, I now know what to do in a probably vain attempt to forestall the heart-attack. You move the caught body part calmly back in the direction in which it came, grab some berries off the bush (without being re-nettled) and eat them, then pull the plant out (without being re-nettled), crush the roots and chew like crazy. By this time, the crazy bit is apt, but if you don’t have a heart-attack (then) you might survive for a life-time of pain. Or, you could know about these critters and keep away. Then there are the other stinging nettles which also have life time pain implications, and to make it a bit trickier, have false and real stinger plants growing side by side.  Just as well the crocs will take you out as you run for hospital.

 

Was a truly beautiful forest though, with vegetation vying for survival:

And lots of fungi of course:

 

The Daintree River is glorious with so many massive volcanic boulders guiding its path and its purity.

 

 

Michael Monaghan August 2019