4 days in a TROPICAL rainforest DRIPPING with BIRDS

[@zonabrown9241]

❤❤i think this is the best one of all ❤❤ love the rainforest

[@naturephotographychallenge]

Thanks so much! 😀❤ The rainforest was amazing!!

[@NicoleSuzannePhotography]

Omg the footage of the birds presenting is equally gorgeous and hilarious

[@naturephotographychallenge]

That was quite funny! They all started doing it at the same time (unfortunately all the adults were behind trees & branches) but it was amazing to see! ~ K

[@adventurewithbernie]

This was such a pleasure to watch!

[@naturephotographychallenge]

Thank you so much!! 😀❤

[@bruceterrill8730]

Totally jealous. What an amazing experience. Thanks Guys. . .

[@naturephotographychallenge]

Thank you so much! 😀 It really was a major highlight of our trip up north!

[@lachlangraham1062]

Great video, added to my bucket list!

[@naturephotographychallenge]

@@lachlangraham1062 Thanks! 😊 I do hope you get to stay here one day! It’s brilliant 👍

[@NicoleSuzannePhotography]

Absolutely amazing journey! Definitely putting this road trip on our birding bucket list!

[@naturephotographychallenge]

so glad that you're enjoying our trip up north. Crater Lakes is definitely a spot to put on a bucket list! Great spot & so much to see! ~ K

[@duncanwallace7760]

The lake has incredible rainbow fish in it as well, which are so beautiful they're popular in aquariums. Snorkeling in amazing.

[@naturephotographychallenge]

Wow rainbow fish are so pretty! I wish I'd seen them 😀 I do love snorkelling.... but not sure I'd like to see Cecil the Crocodile up that close & personal 🤣 ~ K

[@kimmaree5701]

Can't thank you both enough for all the time and effort you put into making it possible for us to share your fabulous journey's. I absolutely love experiencing places and nature, some of which I may otherwise never get to see. ❤

[@naturephotographychallenge]

@@kimmaree5701 Thank you so much! ❤️❤️❤️ We love that people like watching our videos & wonderful comments like yours inspire us to keep putting out videos ~ K

[@WildCaught73]

Great video 😃 Such cool and different birds up there!

[@naturephotographychallenge]

Thanks! 😀 It was so fun to see birds we hadn't seen before! Great spot!! ~ K

[@CowboyJojosAdventures]

The rain certainly did not stop you from photographing these amazing birds. So many beautiful birds up in the tropics. It is amazing how friendly some of the birds are. I had a great experience feeding some Apostle birds whilst in the Mungo Mungo National Park. Great adventure you guys had and loved every minute of this video, Thank you Karen and Nimal.

[@naturephotographychallenge]

@@CowboyJojosAdventures Apostlebirds are some of my all time favourites!! They are so funny!! Thanks so much for the lovely comment. This particular part of our trip was such a highlight. The birds were amazing! ~ K

[@johndobbyns8651]

Thank you so much. Ever since you posted the first postcard I have been eagerly looking forward to your series from the wet tropics and it hasn't disappointed. Well done as usual.

[@naturephotographychallenge]

Thank you so much! 😀 It was a fun video to put together (took a long time but I think it came together quite well in the end!) 😊 ~ K

[@TheAbeKane]

That was a fun watch, cheers

[@naturephotographychallenge]

Thank you so much! 😀❤

[@lathajes6199]

Amazing collection of beautiful birds. Thanks for sharing your experiences.😍

[@naturephotographychallenge]

The birds were stunning! I had really wanted to see a Catbird and by the end of our trip it was kind of like.... of yeah there's that Catbird again! 🤣 ~ K

[@lathajes6199]

@@naturephotographychallenge Yeah, understandable. Awesome to see the Rifle birds dancing around you .

[@naturephotographychallenge]

@@lathajes6199 That was fabulous!! Another bird I'd never seen before so it was quite a thrill to see them so close

[@NannyLyn53]

Oh wow ! This was gorgeous. What a great trip . An abundance of spectacular nature. Thank you so much for these brilliant videos. 🫶🇦🇺✌️

[@naturephotographychallenge]

Thank you so much! 😀❤ This part of our trip was fabulous! It definitely was a real highlight.... but there's more to come! 😀 Stay tuned! ~ K

[@RogerMacKertich]

Loved the video Karen and Nimal. What a fabulous way to spend 2 weeks. The accomodations looked fun, so many lifers, loved the mammals too. Amazing. The Golden Bowerbird being the highlight for me.

[@naturephotographychallenge]

Nimal is still excited about that Golden Bowerbird! I'm so glad that he saw it & not me or we'd still be there! 🤣 The accommodation was superb! More to come on this trip... this was just the beginning! Spoiler alert: we saw sunshine again! 😀 ~ K

[@pembridgehouse]

great work as always!

[@naturephotographychallenge]

Thank you so much! 😀❤

[@edgoodacre5639]

Great video, look forward to the next one 👍

[@naturephotographychallenge]

Thanks very much! 😀 Next video is underway! Stay tuned! ~ K

[@colleenoliver2673]

Thanks for showing us that amazing place I’m definitely putting this on my bucket list

[@naturephotographychallenge]

Definitely do! It was such a great place! Such a highlight of our trip 😀 ~ K

[@robbatchelder7693]

Nimal and Karen: all of your videos are a joy to watch but this one is fantastic! Will definitely refer back to this as I plan my own birding trip to Queensland in the next couple years. Thanks for sharing all your wonderful adventures around VIC and beyond!

[@naturephotographychallenge]

Thank you so much! 😀❤ We definitely recommend staying at least 4 nights around this area. So much to see & there's even more that we missed so it's a place I would definitely go & stay again. As for accommodation, Crater Lakes Rainforest Cottages was superb!! Queensland has so many amazing regions to visit. You'll have fun planning that trip!! ~ K

[@terryroth2855]

You guys visit such cool places. Thanks for sharing.😀

[@naturephotographychallenge]

This really was a super cool place! There's even more to see around this area, I'd happily go back there anytime! ~ K

[@baileythebirder]

Love this video. Brings back memories of our FNQ trip last October. We were at Mount Hypipamee looking for the Golden Bowerbird. I heard some crunching in the leaves behind me which I thought was my wife. When I turned around it was a Cassowary five feet from me. I thought it was going to attack me and I never ran so hard in my life, tripping as I went. My wife was laughing her head off.

[@naturephotographychallenge]

OMG!! 🤣 That was like our experience with a Cassowary too! They're so quiet & suddenly they are right in front of you.... and then they disappear just as quickly!! (that's in a future video). I'd love to go back to Mount Hypipamee & spend a bit more time there. Lovely spot! And I want to see that Golden Bowerbird too!!! 😆 ~ K

[@edstar81]

great video

[@naturephotographychallenge]

Thanks so much! 😀❤

[@craigsam]

Really enjoyed the video guys. All the places you visited are regular spots for me, it’s a reminder of how lucky I am to live in this area.

[@naturephotographychallenge]

Thank you so much! 😀 You are so lucky to live in such a beautiful area!! The Atherton Tablelands was such a highlight of our trip up north! There was so much to see (stuff we missed so we'll just have to go back again! 😀) ~ K

[@ElephantSoul]

Great video

[@naturephotographychallenge]

Thank you! 😀

[@jonpridham7134]

Lovely video Karen and Nimal. Looking forward to the rest in series. I like the longer format.

[@naturephotographychallenge]

Thanks! We'll start working on the next in the series.... starting tomorrow 🤣(so much to sort through!!). We like the longer format too (so much to put in there!!) 😀 ~ K

[@judyblionphotography172]

Another great video of your adventures. Looks like an AMAZING place to stay with all those Rifle Birds omg !!!! Keep them coming im looking forward to the next one .....

[@naturephotographychallenge]

Thanks! 😀 It was a really fun place to stay!

[@micheledamschke2441]

Incredible birding, brilliantly captured. Beautiful rainforest 💚👏💚👏💚

[@naturephotographychallenge]

Thanks! The rainforest was such a haven for wildlife & birds! Stunning location!! ~ K

[@wendyh8492]

Thank you for sharing your visit to Crater lakes, the bird life looks amazing and the photos are wonderful looking forward to the next instalment of your FNQ adventure.

[@naturephotographychallenge]

Thanks Wendy! 😀 Next instalment should be a fun one! We saw some great birds in drier areas such as Mount Carbine (great spot!) as well as the rainforest of Kingfisher Park.

[@bernbee1679]

What a fantastic lot of birds you saw, I’m very envious of the Rifle Birds. I hope you found the Lovely Fairywrens at Julatten it was a highlight for me ☺️

[@naturephotographychallenge]

The Riflebirds were amazing!! They were literally everywhere around the cottage. I wish we could say we saw Lovely Fairywrens at Julatten but sadly the only sighting was a quick flit from a bush to a tree before it flew away🤪~ K

[@craig9563]

Great stuff, Karen and Nimal.

[@naturephotographychallenge]

Thanks Craig!! Really appreciate it 😀

[@lathajes6199]

We have White Cheeked Barbet in Kerala, India, similar to the Catbird in looks only .

[@naturephotographychallenge]

I looked that one up & it does look so much like our Catbird!! How amazing!! 😳 That is really interesting! ~ K

[@lathajes6199]

@@naturephotographychallenge Glad you found the one similar to the Catbird 👌

[@pembeata5623]

Many thanks for taking us with you ❤. Have been eagerly awaiting since the postcards were shared and am delighted to have found your channel. Keep up the great work Nimal and Karen. Can't wait for the next one 😃. Any idea what the plant with the white and pink pom pom flowers are called?

[@naturephotographychallenge]

Thank you so much! 😀 So wonderful that you found our channel!! The next video is underway so hopefully won't take as long as this first one! I'm not sure what that plant is but I'll ask Nimal when he gets home & let you know! ~ K

[@pembeata5623]

@@naturephotographychallenge Thanks Karen. I can't imagine what goes into producing these. Take your time, the end result will be just as super I'm sure👍

[@naturephotographychallenge]

@@pembeata5623 I asked Nimal about that plant. He said that it looked like calliandra haematocephala 😊

[@pembeata5623]

Many thanks for finding out Karen❤ Pass on the thanks to Nimal.

[@naturephotographychallenge]

@@pembeata5623 no worries! 😀

[@yesitsme9215]

Another top-notch video. Hope to be able to head up that way sometime. Just a quick question: do you use the same cameras for shooting the video and taking the photos? If so, how do you decide when to stop filming video and try to get a good shot of the bird. I love bird photography, but whenever I consider shooting video FOMO stops me from diverting away from my primary goal, getting as good a photo as I can.

[@naturephotographychallenge]

Thanks! 😀 Yes we do use the same cameras to take photos & video. Usually it depends on the type of bird whether we have enough time to do both (and it depends on the light as video works better in darker environments). Quite a few times though we'll decide which one of us is videoing & the other is taking photos. That helps to prevent missing getting video or a photo if we're both there at the time same focusing on the same birds. In this video, we really didn't get many usable photos as it was just too dark in the rainforest but the video worked so much better. ~ K

[@mulroneyp]

I really enjoyed your video and have subscribed also to keep up with your birding. I am leaving in a month to drive to FNQ and we will be staying at Crater Lakes Rainforest Cottages too, as well as Sweetwater Lodge and O'Reilly's so I have 9 nights all up in these premium birding sites. I do have a couple of questions for you. On the Crater Lakes video I could see you feeding the Victoria's Riflebirds. Was that mealworms that you were feeding them? Were they live or dried? and did you carry them with you from Melbourne? (I also live in Melbourne). Thanks

[@naturephotographychallenge]

Wow that is going to be a fabulous trip!! I wish we had stayed at Sweetwater Lodge instead of Kingfisher Lodge. Sweetwater looks so much nicer & quieter. You'll have to let me know what it was like after your stay! I'd love to know 😀 When it comes to Crater Lakes & feeding the Riflebirds, the owner provides you with a hamper including ripe bananas, mealworms & dry food for the Pademelons. We are not at all familiar with feeding birds as we usually just hope to see something (that was the first time we'd even seen mealworms!). So it was quite fun as the birds are very tame and they're not afraid to fly right in & get a free meal. I hope you get more sun that we did.... it was super dark & difficult to take photos of the black adult Riflebirds. You'll have so much fun!! Enjoy your trip!! Say hi to the Catbirds for me!! 😀 ~ K

[@mulroneyp]

@@naturephotographychallenge Thanks for the quick reply. We have no experience with feeding the birds either, it almost feels wrong. That said the opportunity to get up close with a bird of paradise is hard to pass up.

[@naturephotographychallenge]

@@mulroneyp That's exactly how we felt too! We don't like to attract the birds artificially as it does feel very wrong & we don't like to compromise their safety or their health. Although... saying that, it felt okay at Crater Lakes because the birds were expecting it & if we didn't give them any food, they'd just go next door 😀

[@guitarman70]

Based on this video (excellent by the way) I am interested in taking a trip there. Can you advise what month you were there? Thank you.

[@naturephotographychallenge]

Thanks! Nice to know our video is inspiring a trip there! 😀 We were there in early July (about one month ago now) ~ K

[@guitarman70]

@@naturephotographychallenge Thank you!