We got back from the Tonga Trail and I tried to get the mud off my shoes and raincoat, not much success with this task. I switched to my rugged sandals. Due to the chilly weather, I used my wet suit socks to keep my feet dry. We had a quick cup of tea and headed back out. This time we headed out on foot from the back of the property. It was a steep descent into lush rainforest and we were heading to Max's Orchid Garden. Max Mal was a quiet man who has been tending his orchid garden for 17 years. They are all native orchids. Whenever he is in the woods and sees a fallen tree or branch, he will inspect for orchids. If he finds one, he will bring it back to his garden. The orchid garden was a maze of paths with ferns, flowers, mosses and all sorts of green things growing everywhere. Max would point at and orchid and invariably say it is a dendrobium. We walked back taking a different path and saw a few more birds. Then we drove out to see the King of Saxony Bird of Paradise. To get there we drove over some of the worst roads yet. Add to that and is was raining so hard that we sat in the truck for about 10 minutes hoping it would stop. As soon as it let up a little we jumped out hiked out. We stopped on a ridge looking over a farm field in a valley. We set up and watch the trees across the field when it opened up again. Each of us found a tree to stand under to try to stay dry. I used the dripping water from the trees to clean off my raincoat. This morning's mud was still holding on. Wilson was itching to leave as he was just in a sweatshirt and must have been soaked through to the skin. Jun was resolute and he knew that the birds would come out when the rain stopped. No sooner had the rain stopped than two target birds came out. The German sounding birds were right nest to each other, the King of Saxony Bird of Paradise was flying right next to his daughter Stephanie's Astrapia. We called it as soon as we nabbed these two birds and on the drive back we saw a Pied Bushcat.
Foowers o the way to the flowers
Thick vegetation
Off we go
Thick mosses
Intriguing plants
The trail is pretty decent
Love these flame colored blooms
Jungle adventurers
"Welcome to Paradise, Untrapped Tourism"
This lawn was like a damp sponge, each footfall would sink in a full inch or more
Most of the orchids were small
Bordering on tiny
Some of the eye catching things were not even orchids
Ferns and mosses grew amongst the flowers
Cute
I was fun just looking
Max called the white part teeth
This is assuredly a flower
A bunch
A long string
Yellow teeth
Very small
A tight bunch
The most like the orchids I am used to
It really was laid out like a maze
Mossy
Fuzzy
Fungi
Pinky
A long string of micri-blooms
Another slipper orchid
Delicate
A burst of orange
Max's old sign
A very colorful butterfly
Off it flies
Definitely not orchids
Not even a flower
Orchid
Green on green
Reminds me of a cymbidium
Walking back another way
Still lots to see
A good bridge
Lupins
Not an effective marketing tool
A modern house
Great Wood swallow LB#9 for the day
Moooove over
Mud on Ken's pants
A blooming tree
Back at the lodge
An Island Thrush LB#10
Heading back out again
Past a little waterfall
Over some of the worst roads yet
Through the little gate
A muddy path and I find out that my wet suit socks are no longer waterproof!
Our overview
These fields are waiting to dry and they will be planted with sweet potatoes
The rain started up again
Spores
Blooms
Stephanie's Astrapia, LB#11, is related to the Ribbon Tailed Astrapia seen back at the lodge
The King-of-Saxony Bird of Paradise LB#12
Very long head feathers
We came, we saw, we got rained on, we got wet and cold
But wait another bird on the way out, a female Pied Bushcat LB#13. With this last bird we call this day a wrap!
It has been 3 years and 41 days since we began our Migration