An uninvited trombone player, above , flew into a birthday party arranged by the Queen of the Jungle for one of her ladies -in - waiting on the verandah of the leafy island royal estate .
The cry went up: What bird is that ? The Queen , very knowledgeable about wildlife , found it hard to focus on the feathered intruder , so she dashed off to get binoculars.
Face on , it appeared to have two white spots on its head. It took a 1972 reprint of What Bird Is That ? by Neville W. Caley to identify it is a Forest Kingfisher Halcyon macleayi, named after W.S.Macleay, a noted figure in the natural history of New South Wales
The following day there was another wildlife surprise for the lucky birthday lady- in- waiting - a snake in her garden, so she did not wait around , took flight .
