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11 Queensland North Kingfisher Park Mount Lewis Abattoir Swamp Mt. Molloy School - Great Bowerbird Daintree River Chris Dahlberg Specialized River Tours Mangrove Man Cape Tribulation Cassowary House Atherton Tableland South Caines Caines Esplanade Caines Michaelmas Key Caines Crocodile Farm

Buff-banded Rail

This is the entrance to Kingfisher Park. Birdwatchers are very welcome here and I overhead the owner telling a travel agent that he really didn't need to advertise the park because birders had their own network and find their own way here as indeed I did. . There are rooms with kitchenettes and a campground with powered sites for AU$13 per night. They have a fine amenities block with showers and laundry facilities and a full camp kitchen. There is excellent birding on the grounds and you can use this as a base to bird the north end of the Atherton Tablelands. I stayed here 3 days and then went on to Daintree for several days and came back here for another night. The Kingfisher was one of the highlights of Queensland.

My favorite activity was to sit on this lovely veranda and watch the many feeders at either end. The campground is to the left of this building. Both Bush Turkey and Orange-footed Scrubfowl live at Kingfisher and you can see their mounds back in the woods. Peaceful Dove, Emerald Dove, Spectacled Monarch, Rufus Fantail, Grey Fantail were all porch birds.

MacLeay's Honeyeater was one of the first birds I identified. Lewin's Honeyeater, Yellow-spotted Honeyeater, and the Graceful Honeyeater are three very similar species. The feeders here are one of the few places where you see all three at the same time. Lewin's and Yellow-spotted can be separated by the shape the yellow mark on the face. The Graceful looks very much like Yellow-spotted, but you can tell it apart by its very shy approach to the feeders. Blue-faced Honeyeaters and Yellow Honeyeater are also seen from the porch.

Flocks of Red-browed Finch frequent the feeders. Metallic Starlings usually frequently one of the bird baths in the late afternoon.. Ron, the owner took me down to see three Papuan Frogmouths roosting in their favorite tree.

Two Robins are easy to add to your list at the Kingfisher. My favorite was the Grey-headed Robin shown at left. The most outstanding field characteristic of this bird is the very long legs. Simpson and Day show it with almost no legs.. The owner of the Kingfisher, Ron Stannard feeds the robin shredded cheese. I have never seen anyone in North America feeding shredded cheese to birds. The Pale-yellow Robin replaces the Yellow Robin in north Queensland.

I first saw the Buff-banded Rail sneaking around in the brush behind my campervan. It also visits the feeder every day for shredded cheese. There is a Red-necked Crake on the property, but it wasn't visiting the feeders while I was there.

Park Managers and resident Bird Guides Andrew and Carol Isles lead walks in and around the park for modest fees. You can pay for lodging and purchases at the gift shop with credit card. Guided walks require cash. Carol made reservations for me for the Daintree River trips with Chris Dahlberg and the Mangrove Man. They both have a lot of good birding information to share. It is a good idea to start your north Queensland birding at the Kingfisher Park. I was able to purchase the Where to find Birds in North-East Queensland book here. I did not see it anywhere else and it was not available from ABA. You absolutely need this guide.

To the left of the school building you will see a tool shed. Next to the shed I saw two bowers. The red object on the pebble path was a head band. There was also a pair of pink sunglasses and other plastic objects around the bowers. This is the avenue type of bower. There is an arch of dried grass or twigs and a path of stones leading the eye into the bower. The bower is not a nest, but rather a display area for the male to attract females. A single bird will build several bowers at one site.

Here is the Great Bowerbird owner posing in front of his creation. There were two birds hanging out around the bowers, but this was the only one I could photograph. You can see the red headband and the pink sunglasses to the left. It takes patience to get the bird to pose in front of the bower. Usually the owner will fly up into nearby trees when you approach..

Adam was both the boat driver and tour guide. In his spare time his favorite activity is pig hunting and he has a scrapbook of pictures of himself with dead pigs. Feral pigs are a menace to wildlife and the world needs more pig hunters. Crocodiles are the main objective of the tourist trips and we moved from one croc to another seeing a total of five. The river is quite warm at this time of the year and the crocodiles can stay in the water rather than sunning themselves on the banks so they are actually pretty hard to find.

This guy fully hauled out on the mud was an exception. A close up of his jaw is above. Notice the teeth outside the upper and lower jaw. . I managed to see Great, Intermediate, and Little Egret, Masked Lapwing, Whimbrel, Eastern Curlew, Mangrove Striated Heron, Darter, White Ibis, White-faced Heron, Black Cormorant, Jaiburu, and Brahminy Kite.

Chris has a small open, flat bottom boat . It is very stable and perfect for birding. Trips last 2 hours and cost AU$40. They are popular and you need reservations in advance. At the ticket office in the village, I paid for the trip with my credit card and picked up a brochure with a list of the expected frequency of possible sightings. With Chris' permission, I have reproduced the list below. The only trip of the day is at 6:30 AM (6 in summer ) and you need to be in Daintree Village the night before unless you are really in to getting up early.

The Azure Kingfisher posed as many kingfishers will do. It is very hard to take good pictures from a boat full of people as someone is almost always moving. This is the same kingfisher I saw at Kakadu. We saw the Little Kingfisher and Laughing Kookaburra. The trip built quite a bird list:Yellow Oriole, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike, Tree Martin, Brown-backed Honeyeater, Graceful Honeyeater, Helmeted Friarbird, Papuan Frogmouth, Figbird, Royal Spoonbill, Australian Grebe, Cattle Egret, Little Pied Grebe, Rainbow Lorikeet, Darter, Sunbird, Leaden Flycatcher, Little Egret, Large-billed Gerygone, Shining Flycatcher, Pacific Black Duck, Striated Heron, Hardhead.

The flat-bottomed boat can navigate the shallow side channels lined with thick rainforest and because Chris encourages people to be quiet the birding is great. On one of these channels that we saw a Wompoo Fruit Dove sitting on her nest. We also saw the Pied Imperial Pigeon.

Look closely at this picture. A harmless Green Tree Snake is sliding along the branch. Chris actually plucked this snake from the branch and showed it to us. This was taken after he returned it to the branch. Poor guy probably gets picked up every day.

This beautiful spray of flowers bloomed on the river bank. The upper part of the river supports a thick rainforest. Birding in a rainforest can be tough. The open river makes it possible to see birds as they move across the channel or come in for a drink.

Peter Cooper is a retired tobacco botanist who now offers tours into the mangrove swamps at the lower end of the river. His boat docks near the ferry terminal amid the crocodile boats. Note: Peter has moved his main focus to the Mossman River. See below. He bills himself as the "Mangrove Man" and his tour covers the biology of the mangroves. A mangrove is any plant that only grows between high tide and mean sea level. Many unrelated species of plants are classified as mangrove species. There is even one orchid that meets the criteria of a mangrove species.

Peter knows his birds and drifting slowly among the mangroves we saw:Mangrove Robin, Collared Kingfisher, Sacred Kingfisher, Common Sandpiper, Golden Plover, Little Kingfisher (right) , Azure Kingfisher, Grey Fantail, Dusky Honeyeater. Peter really likes to have at least two people on his trips, but he did a trip just for me as a favor to the Kingfisher Lodge. I strongly recommend combining this trip with Chris Dahlberg's trip as they visit two entirely different parts of the river.

Jindalba Boardwalk My first stop along the road was at the Jindalba Forest where there is a beautiful boardwalk through the rainforest. I was the only car in the parking lot in the early morning. The boardwalk is mostly uphill and quite steep. The most exciting bird was a Noisy Pitta hopping among the leaves. Usually you can see this bird at the Kingfisher Park, but this year they have been quite scarce. A Cassowary was reported from this boardwalk recently. I certainly did not see one, nor did I notice any Cassowary pooh long the trail. . I did see Pale Yellow Robin and MacLeah's Honeyeater.

Cassowary House

Kuranda is located at the top of the Great Dividing Range at about the middle of the Atherton Plateau. Owned by Phil and Sue Gregory, the Cassowary House is a lodge catering to birders. Phil leads bird trips and was not there during my September visit. Sue is a an excellent cook and very knowledgeable about the birds that come to her feeders. I came here to see a Cassowary and again was disappointed. I am beginning to get worried about seeing this bird. Sue reports that at Mission Beach the rangers have closed the Licula Forest track because one of the Cassowaries was too aggressive. Sue only sees her Cassowary on certain days and this just wasn't one them.

My room was downstairs in the main house and had a shower and sink. The toilet was next to my room and I shared it with Sue's son.The room for one person cost AU$55 and I paid AU$32.50 for dinner and breakfast.It was worth a visit just to sit and watch the feeders and talk with Sue and to enjoy her fine cooking. Mail From Sue - April 2003 Our male (Cassowary) did not return until November with three chicks in tow. We had got very worried about him but I imagine something happened to the first brood and he had to start all over again. Father and chicks are all well and visiting us daily on their tour through the forest. Mum drops by a couple of times a week occasionally meeting up with them but showing no maternal signs when she does. At least she is not aggressive towards the chicks, she just ignores them. Spangled Drongo waits to visit the feeder at Cassowary House.

The Spotted Catbird is a very aggressive visitor to the feeders. MacLeay's Honeyeater, Helmeted Friarbird, Bush Turkey, Orange-footed Scrubfowl, Yellow-spotted Honeyeater, Emerald Dove, Little Shrike-thrush, Spectacled Monarch, Silvereye, Victoria's Riflebird, Figbird. In the evening the Red-necked Crake appeared right outside my bedroom. This bird alone was worth the visit. In some years you can see it at Kingfisher Park and it can also be seen from the boardwalk in Caines.

Several Musky Rat Kangaroos about the size of a rabbit come out at night. This is not a rodent, but a marsupial. You can tell by the way it hops. Unfortunately the Musky Rat Kangaroo is considered vulnerable. It suffers primarily from rainforest clearing and loss of habitat.

Cassowary House Phil and Sue Gregory PO Box 387 Kuranda, Qld 4872 Self-contained units or full board (no camping) (07) 4093 7318 sicklebill@internetnorth.com.au www.cassowary-house.com.au

Orchid blooming in the garden at the Cassowary House.

South Atherton Tablelands

There are some excellent birding spots on the south end of the Atherton Tablelands. I made my headquarters on the south end at the large and shady Miranda Falls Caravan Park. From here I visited: Lake Eacham, Curtain Figtree at Yungabura, Broomfield Swamp, and Hastie Swamp.

This Spotted Catbird hid in the woods behind my campsite, but eagerly came down if I put out some crackers. There was a Bush Turkey mound in the woods also. One large male defended my camp site from about 10 other birds. I suspect the mound right behind my camper belonged to him. There are two sites at the campground where you can see Platypus after dark and at first light. The first was near my campsite. Go down the stairs to the swimming pool under the falls. Stand on the small bridge and look downstream. I had no luck at this spot.

Five kilometer down the road look for the viewing platform for the Broomfield Swamp. The swamp in a private pasture is a bit of water in the remains of an extinct volcano. Get here early to see the Sarus Crane and Brolga. I had 2 Sarus Cranes which are obviously different. Their tails are lighter grey and legs are pink. I had already seen Brolga in the Northern Territory so I was looking for the Sarus Crane. Actually most of these birds are Sarus Cranes. By 8:30 all the cranes had taken off to feed in the surrounding fields.

This is the view from the Broomfield Swamp viewing platform. This is definitely a scoping opportunity. The water had Magpie Geese (200), Purple Swamphen. A Laughing Kookaburra was in the trees near the platform.

After the cranes took off from the swamp I was able to relocate them in a field some distance from the road. This is the best photograph I could muster. I then drove back the way I came to avoid driving on the unsealed part of the road.

Black-fronted Dotterel in front of the bird hide. In the swamp there were 1000 + Plumed Whistling Ducks, Australian Grebe, Hoary-headed Grebe, Black-winged Stilt, Magpie Goose, Pink-eared Duck, Straw-necked Ibis, White Ibis.

Caines

I was finally able to tear myself away from the Atherton Tablelands and drove down the escarpment to Caines. The Atherton Tablelands were one of my favorite places in Australia. September is the beginning of summer, but it is cool at least at night on the plateau. Insects were not a problem.

In Caines I stayed at the Coconut Grove Campground on the main highway. It is rather expensive, but has everything including a large swimming pool. There is a cheaper public campground near the Botanical Gardens. I stopped by there, but it didn't look too comfortable. It is hot and muggy here and I wanted shade and a cool swimming pool.

I started September 11, 2002 at the Botanical Gardens. It took me a while to find a proper parking place and by the time I started the boardwalk it was rather late. You can see Red-necked Crake here if you are one of the first to walk the boardwalk.

Outside the gardens, a tour leader I must have seen and talked to previously greeted me with " We meet again. Today is September 11. Are you scared?"  It was 9/11/2002 exactly a year after the planes crashed into the towers in NY. 

I replied that it was only September 10 back home because of the international date line. I wasn't worried for myself, but I was thinking of folks back home. The tour guide went on to tell me " The real loose cannon is George Bush." He is referring to Bush's campaign to go after Sadam Hussein in Iraq. Australia is supposed to be with us on this, but I have picked up some hostility. I have not been watching television or reading newspapers. Once a week I try to buy a copy of the Australian version of Time Magazine to catch up on world news. Most Australian news seems to focus on sports and politics.

I walked the boardwalk to Centenary Lakes seeing mostly Orange-footed Scrub-fowl. At the lakes there are Brahminy Kites, Pacific Black Duck, Rufus Night-heron, Kookaburra, Figbird, Magpie Geese, Pied Imperial Pigeon. A young man tells me he had Red-necked Crake this morning.

It is hot and humid. I went to the Tobruck Pool and for AU$3 swam laps in a 50m pool. While I was in Caines I went to this pool several times around noon and swam a mile each time.

Caines Esplanade

I am on the esplanade in September. My timing is perfect. The migration of shorebirds from the northern hemisphere is on. I spent parts of three days on the esplanade. If I lived here I would be here every day in September.

The Esplanade is a park along the waterfront, not beach but mud flats. If it were a sandy beach it would now be solid hotels. Mud flats attract birds not tourists. You need your scope here. The strategy is to wander the length of the flats starting at the north or mangrove end on a rising tide. There are benches to sit on. As the tide comes in, the feeding birds are pushed toward the shore. At high tide only small areas at the south end remain above water and the waders settle down to wait for the tide to turn. Watch the mud carefully and you may locate a mudskipper. The mudskipper is a fish with goggle eyes and air sacs. They move across the mud from one pool to another using their fins.

Look at this beautiful shoreline. Wouldn't this make a wonderful resort if that were only sand and not mud? The city fathers saw the potential here. For several years this wonderful birding area was threatened with development. A compromise was reached and construction is underway to build an artificial beach in the south most corner. It will only destroy a small part of the esplanade. If only it stops now. Of course either north or south of the esplanade is beautiful beach. Why don't they build hotels on the beach instead of coming up with schemes to build a beach here. Actually they have built hotels on the beach. Let's hope they preserve the esplanade.

John Crowhurst A fixture along the esplanade is John Crowhurst. John used to be the park gardener and unofficial bird guide. Now retired he comes to the esplanade every day he is able and helps tourists and birders identify the birds. There is a kiosk in the park with pictures of the waders and an explanation of the importance of the mud flats.

Here is John in action pointing out the birds to a couple from Great Britain. John is available for other bird guiding in the Caines area. John Crowhurst Bird Guide AU$60 / day You drive 40 514 194 Update 2010  John Crowhurst is deceased. He was one of many generous birders who shared his hobby with others.  He will be missed.

Flotilla of Pelicans fishing in formation just off the esplanade. Other birds seen here were: Caspian, Gull-billed Terns, White-belied Sea Eagle, Sacred Kingfisher, Osprey, Jaiburu

These Whimbrel are roosting at the very high tide waiting for the tide to turn to start feeding again. Eastern Curlew, Bar-tailed Godwit, Black-tailed Godwit, Lapwings, Ruddy Turnstone, Black-fronted Dotterel, Great Knot Red-necked Stint, Red-capped Plover, Greater Sand Plover, Sharp-tailed Sandpiper, Greenshank, Pied Oystercatcher, Curlew Sandpiper, Golden Plover, Terek Sandpiper, Broad-billed Sandpiper, Grey-tailed Tattler

There were 5 people aboard the Sea Star II. Most were divers. On the trip out we had 2 Pied Imperial Pigeons flying toward shore. A Brown Booby on a piling in the outer harbor. Crested Terns. You may also see Masked Booby on the island. Michaelmas Key is a small coral island about 40 km northeast of Caines. At peak times up to 30,000 birds can be found here. It is a popular tourist destination and to protect the birds, a small area of beach is roped off for people. The rest of the small island is for nesting birds. Captain Brooker took me and another birder in a rowboat around the other side of the island so that we could see all the birds.

Crested Terns and Lesser Crested Terns breed on Michaelmas Key. The day I was there we saw: Sooty Terns, Bridled Tern, Ruddy Turnstone, Common ( Brown) Noddy, Lesser Frigatebird, Black-naped Tern, Reef Heron

Waders included this Black-necked Stilt. I saw a Marsh Sandpiper here. Spotless Crake flew across my path. I didn't get a good look at this bird until I got to New Zealand. Figbird, Sunbird, Spotted Turtledove, Royal, Yellow-billed Spoonbill, Purple Swamphen, Plumed Whistling Duck, Glossy ibis, White Ibis, Darter, Little Pied Cormorant, Black Cormorant, Willy Wagtail, Welcome Swallow, Striated Heron, Black-fronted Dotterel

I picked up Chestnut-breasted Mannikins in the dry woods around the farm. The Everglades Walk, a raised road along side the pens for the very largest crocodiles, affords views into the tops of the Mangroves just outside the farm. I had Cicada bird and Broad-billed Flycatcher along this road. One of the strangest sights along this road were a pair of Brown-backed Honeyeaters having an altercation that was so violent both fell into the water just in front of a very large crocodile who snapped at them. They were very lucky on this day.