Capital of Queensland, 2.8 million souls, third most populous city in Australia. Perhaps the most pleasant of the state capitals, it retains some natural values but despite that it’s too congested, confusing and too bloody urban for me to actually reside in.
I’m sure normal visitors can find a great variety of wonderful and fulfilling things to do but let’s cut straight to the important thing …
Where to watch birds in Brisbane
Tinchi Tamba Wetland
Sandy Camp Road Wetlands
Nudgee Beach
Banks Street Reserve
Kalinga Park (Wooloowin)
There are many more but I can vouch for these spots.
Rum, Ginger Beer, Sugar of course, macadamia plantations, the Burnett River and 73,747 people. Plus a dog friendly botanic gardens with rather more wildlife than the average, nesting birds, turtles and Eastern Water Dragons in abundance.
Pluymed Whistling DuckEastern Short-necked TurtlePlumed EgretEastern Water DragonEastern Water Dragon
We left Ingham in the rain but arrived at Finch Hatton in bright sunshine. The caretaker at the Show Grounds was complaining about the heat and we were pleased to take advantage of the shade offered by some large fig trees. Cane harvesting was under way with trucks bringing in cages of cut cane for transfer to the trains which are such an interesting feature of the sugar country.
Finch Hatton is a good base to visit Eungella National Park, Eungella Dam, Kinchant Dam, Finch Hatton Gorge and a new find for us, De Moleyns Lagoon. If you search Google Maps for it you will find it in two places. Being a lagoon the one with the blue patch associated with it is the one you want which didn’t stop my in-car navigation system from directing me straight across a cane field to the other one. I ignored the advice. The one true lagoon can be found by taking Brand Road to what appears to be its end at the Council Tip. Keep the tip on your right and continue on a gravel track to a locked gate. The astute bird watcher will quickly solve the problem posed by the gate and drive on to the water’s edge. It is worth the effort.
That night we went to bed to the sound of a raucous argument between a Little Red Flyingfox and a Ring-tailed Possum over who owned the figs above our heads. We woke the next morning to the equally raucous and persistent calls of a Channel-billed Cuckoo.
The next camp site was 213km south at St. Lawrence adjacent to another excellent wetland birding place.
Today we made another step down the Bruce Highway, crossed the Tropic of Capricorn near Rockhampton and tonight we are are camped at Tannum Sands near Gladstone. It feels so urban after our sojourn in the less densely populated north and northeast of the country.
From Cooktown in the north to Townsville in the south and inland to include the great dividing range and Atherton Tableland. It’s in the tropics and no one would deny it’s wet. Within that region there is an area of approximately 8,940 km² of World Heritage protected forest. It’s home for 50 species of endangered fauna, 22 of which are found nowhere else. And of course there are many other species that are thriving.
We traveled over 1000km in 17 days camping in 7 different places. The bird list ran to 147 species. including Red-backed Buttonquail and Cassowary, Cryptic Honeyeater and Victoria’s Riflebird. We crossed the trail of James Cook, we saw strangler figs, Australia’s greatest waterfall and we enjoyed poached eggs on toast in the Cooktown Botanical Gardens. We avoided touching any stinging trees and getting fried in a wildfire. The dog picked up a tick but we found it before any harm was done.
Each symbol on the map represents a place where a bird list was submitted to eBird.
And then we packed up in the rain and drove 500km south to Finch Hatton.
Sugar, bananas, fewer people and slightly less rain than Innisfail. At nearby Lucinda you can see the longest pier in the southern hemisphere (5.76km, 3.58mi). Its purpose is to transport sugar from shore to ship, a 22 minute ride on a conveyor belt. Every source that I’ve consulted points out that it follows the curvature of the earth so is not flat, one end is 2m higher than the other. I am unsure what to make of this amazing revelation. Any structure more than 5km long has to come to some accommodation with the curvature of the earth. It would make good sense if the far end is lower than the land end (if that is the case) because that would reduce the energy required for transportation. Other than that I’m sure it seems flat at every point along its length.
From the town you can look out across the cane fields to the mountains of the Great Divide. At the moment they are shrouded in cloud. Somewhere up there is Wallaman Falls, it’s about a 50km ride on roads unsuitable for caravans. The falls are the longest single drop in Oz at 268 metres. A lookout gives an excellent view.
The upper stretches of Wallaman Falls Road run through rainforest protected in the World Heritage listed Wet Tropics. Traveling slowly gives a good chance to see and hear some rainforest birds including Noisy Pitta and the indomitable Cassowary. I was lucky enough to hear the Pitta on its pedestrian journey and find a Red-backed Buttonquail on the side of the road.
It is the surrounding high country that holds the naturalists interest. A trip to Paluma was on the itinerary but unfortunately heavy rain has done so much damage to the road that such a trip wasn’t viable.
The Tyto Wetlands is on the edge of town and turns up a reasonable bird list.
Wallaman FallsRed-backed ButtonquailTurtle at TytoAustralasian Darter
Our sojourn in the Wet Tropics, Townsville to Cooktown and inland along the Dividing Range, is almost at an end. I must post a summary.
Innisfail, a little over 7000 people, sugar, bananas and rain. Largest town in the Cassowary Coast region. The highest rainfall in Australia is recorded on the summit of Mount Bartle Frere,1,611 metres (5285 feet). Innisfail is not far away and boasts of being the town with the highest rainfall in the country. The sky is blue at the moment.
We have avoided seeing Cassowary on the trip so far. Missed by moments at Lake Eacham according to eye witness accounts, which were enthusiastically forthcoming once my camera and binoculars were evident, and missed out on the north side of the Daintree River where I have had success in the past. We have never failed on the Cassowary Coast. Friends tell me Mission beach but Innisfail is close to Etty Bay and Coquette Point which I have found reliable. (No dogs at Etty Bay).
The photos were taken at Coquette Point and on Cowley Beach Road. Found dad and two chicks at both places. Plus a single individual on Coquette Point Road. It is the male that builds the nest, incubates the eggs and then shepherds the youngsters for about nine months.
Cassowaries are dangerous. They are the heaviest Australian avian and can inflict nasty wounds with their feet. Don’t be carrying a sandwich when you meet one. Don’t set out to feed them (but do drop the sandwich and back off). I have a very long lens and was no where near as close as the photos imply.
The big city of far north Queensland. Cairns had a population of 169,312 people in the 2021 census but it seems to grow rapidly between every visit and will certainly be bigger now. And the traffic is crazy … good preparation for what’s to come down the coast.
Birding hot spots include the Centennial Lakes, Mount Whitfield, the Esplanade and Cattana Wetlands. It makes a good gateway to the Tablelands. Fly in, rent a car, two nights here and then escape the crowds.
One very good reason to be here is the Varied Honeyeater. It’s fairly reliable on the Esplanade which is about the southerly limit of its range. It occurs in the odd spot up Cape York and then New Guinea. I had never managed a photo of them before but I noticed a couple of them anting in some leaf litter. They were chest to the ground with wings spread and appeared to be in ecstasy. When they’d finished they lingered in some low vegetation giving me a good chance to get the shot.
Yellow Orioles have a distinctive voice. Their three note call “Al Co Hol” is heard everywhere across the north of Oz from just east of Broome but usually they are hidden in the foliage or high in a tree. I photographed this one and the Sunbirds at Catana Wetland. Bush Stone-curlews are doing well in Queensland. We have had them visit the van on a number of evenings. I photographed this couple in the Centennial Gardens. Sadly they are not doing at all well in Victoria.
Next stop is Innisfail looking for the elusive Cassowary.
Years ago any trip to Far North Queensland meant a trip on the Daintree River with Chris Dahlberg. He had a great deal of charm, knowledge and a boat. His patter included a routine that never failed to amuse. He would spot something and say “Come with me” which was of course unavoidable when captive in a boat surrounded by crocodiles. When Chris gave it away there was a vacuum into which came a guy with a boat … bring your own knowledge and charm. But now there is a worthy successor in Murray Hunt and the Daintree Boatman Wildlife Tours. Depart at 0630 from the Daintree Village boat ramp. Murray knows his stuff.
The tour officially lasted two hours But Murray could not drag himself and us away from a big male crocodile on a cow carcass so we got a bonus half hour. My bird list reached 27 species including three very lovely additions to the year total. Why could they not have been found in the Woolworths car park?
Woolworth’s car park, Mossman, Qld. You can already tell this is going to be an anticlimax. Lonchura punctulata, Scaly-breasted Munia, a plastic (twitcher term for an introduced species, pejorative). Bird number 365 in 2025, a bird for every day of the year.
The camera wasn’t handy and the setting was nowhere as pretty as this. Photo shamelessly filched from eBird, All credit to Ayuwat Jearwattanakanok for a very fine shot taken in Thailand where the bird belongs.
From Cooktown we retraced our steps to Mount Molloy up on the tablelands. A hilly 227 km on good made road, enlivened on this occasion by a major bushfire near Palmer River. Traffic controls were in effect, a pilot vehicle led groups through at a decent pace but in one direction at a time. The fire was right up to the road with the Rural Fire Service in attendance. There was some delay but we were in capable hands. Big shout out to the Fireys and the traffic controllers for keeping us safe.
Our destination was Wetherby Station one of our favourite camping destinations in all of Oz. The station is owned and managed by John and Kathleen Colless. They run big black beautiful Brangus Cattle. The station was founded by William and Elizabeth Groves around 1878 and there is a fine old homestead and lovely gardens. The present owners have sustainability as a top priority. The cattle get plenty of grass but are kept out of the creeks and lagoons and the fencing around the main lagoon is designed to keep the modern scourge of feral pigs at bay while it is rehabilitated as a wooded swamp. Rifle and Spear Creeks run through the property which because of its location, climate and variety of habitats has an enormous bird list.
We spent two nights camped all by ourselves by Rifle Creek. It could easily have been more. (Certainly would have been if Mount Bloody Lewis was open). Birding in and around was good. We left on 364 species for the year. Bird number 6 in the count down was Cryptic Honeyeater. At number 5 – Scarlet Honeyeater, number 4 – Black-faced Monarch, a staggeringly beautiful bird in the forest gloom. Number 3 – Yellow Honeyeater, the label says it all. Number 2 – Fairy Gerygone, pretty enough. Number 1 cannot be far away. Please let it be worthy of the honour.
Red-backed FairywrenRed-backed FairywrenNorthern FantailSahul Brush CuckooBrown GerygonePale Yellow Robin
The last three birds were photographed within a few metres of our camp site.
bobmcgee 