PNGBS Outing: 9 March 1986: Varirata National Park

Six cars met at the NBC tree at 05:15. We were hoping for a sighting of Halley’s Comet, but were disappointed by cloud cover on the horizon. Once in the park, we walked the ciruit trail to the Raggiana Bird of Paradise display tree (it even has its own sign!). Three males treated us to a fantastic display, strutting their stuff for about 45 minutes as the sun came up. When the Raggiana’s ran out of steam, we continued round the circuit trail, but birds were few and far between. We heard Wompoo Fruit-Dove and other unidentified species. At the picnic site we split up, the drivers, including me, going to retrieve their cars from the gate while the others walked the lookout trail. We returned to the picnic site and got the barbecue going, seeing White-shouldered Fairy-Wren, White-throated Honeyeater, Leaden Flycatcher and Spangled Drongo.

Species List:

Wompoo Fruit-Dove, White-shouldered Fairy-Wren, Yellow-eyed Cuckoo-Shrike, Leadedn Flycatcher, White-thorated Honeyeater, Spangled Drongo, Raggiana Bird of Paradise