Our Melaleuca guide had told us to be at the boat dock at a specific time which I can’t remember, around 11am so we reluctantly left the OBPs and headed off down the path leading to the dock.  There were some informative signs along the way to tell you about the local birds which is great because most people who do this trip are not as bird crazy as I am!  It’s very educational!

As we walked along the raised wooden footpath, all of a sudden an Eastern Ground Parrot flushed and flew about 10 meters away, landing in the tall grass.  I grabbed my camera and slowly walked in his direction.  He flushed again and I frantically grabbed some shots.  They aren’t great shots but at least I got to see him!  He went further away and I decided not to follow as I didn’t want to upset him.

We were the first to arrive at the dock so waited for the others while enjoying the scenery.  As I watched the others approach, no one else managed to flush a Ground Parrot.

The boat ride took us through spectacular scenery to a small beach where lunch was served. 

Even though it was the first day of autumn, it was freezing out there so we were glad we had borrowed jackets from Par Avion. After lunch, the boat took us back to the dock.  No more Ground Parrots so we retraced our steps to the OBP hide to spend some more quality time with them before the “normal” tourists showed up.