The Bird Hide is nestled within native trees and shrubs with views across the coconut plantation and on to the majestic rainforest clad Macallister Range. Here you can watch the Osprey feed their young while the other bird life (56 species to date in 2010 out of the total 181 sited in 2009) frolic around in the natural water bath.

The Bird Hide provides a fantastic opportunity to absorb the multitude of bird species that inhabit the property and delight in calling Thala Beach Lodge home.

Official opening of the new bird hide! orginally posted on Thala Beach Lodge

Nocturnal birds, as mysterious as their call, Papuan Frogmouths are nesting overhead in a fork of a giant Paperbark tree at the edge of the thick forest.

Papuan frogmouth chick in nest.

Their flimsy nest, balanced 20 metres above the ground with a few sparse twigs, is home to this magnificent chick. Piercing red eyes distinguish these birds from other species of frogmouths. While guests at the lodge are sleeping, his parents work hard throughout the night capturing moths, small reptiles and frogs to keep up with the chick’s voracious appetite. They usually sit motionless in a tree alert to every movement on the ground below; swooping down on stealthily quiet wings to grab small prey with their large wide beaks.

During the day parents and chick spend their time motionless often with their eyes closed to protect their sensitive retina from the harsh sunlight. Cryptic colours and feather patterns means that extremely keen eyes are needed to see them at all. Thala’s naturalists Brett and David first spotted this chick and for many weeks guests have enjoyed watching him with the aid of a powerful telescope.

Now at night the forest feels alive and mysterious. Thick brooding air carries the zoop zoop zoop of the Papuan Frogmouths right along the beach. Waves cast phosphorescence onto the eerily glowing sand. This is the wet season in all its natural glory, a remarkable celebration of life.

Papuan Frogmouth orginally posted on Thala Beach Lodge