You can’t be in Cairns (pronounced “cans”) without heading out to the natural wonder that is the Great Barrier Reef.

I chose a trip on the Ocean Spirit to Michaelmas Cay, a sandy island on the reef.

While I am a certified SCUBA diver and I love marine life, I was here for the birds.

I checked in and walked out to the dock under a light, warm drizzle. It rains almost everyday in Cairns. I was early so I headed to the breakwater to try to pick up a lifer.

I scanned the nearby trees for roosting birds, I was looking for a night-heron. I found one foraging at the breakwater. I guess no one told it that it was a night-heron, a Nankeen night-heron.

I headed back to the dock and boarded the Ocean Spirit.

During the two hour cruise to the cay, we stopped to look at a few humpback whales.

We arrived at the cay and anchored to the buoy. The launch began to take snorkelers to the sandy cay.

I headed over and walked on the vibrant sands. The cay is a bird sanctuary and various pelagic birds nest and roost here. The most prominent breeding bird at this time of year is the brown booby.

This a semi-regular vagrant to the west coast of California but I had never seen one this close and in it breeding plumage. I sketch one on it sandy nest (featured sketch).