North Queensland Bird
Tour
North Queensland Bird Tour
Cairns - Musgrave - Lakefield N.P. - Julatten - Atherton Tablelands
- Georgetown - Undara - Mission Beach - Cairns
6 birdwatchers maximum
The Wet Tropics World Heritage area between Cooktown
and Townsville
is one of the best and most famous birding regions in Australia.
14 species of birds are
endemic to the highland and lowland rainforests,
which receive the highest rainfall of the
Australian mainland.
The high rainfall accounts for its natural beauty, clear
creeks with Platypus
and a large number of endemic frogs and possums. This tour has even
more
to offer, as we visit woodland areas with some special birds in mind.
Day 1 + 2
Accommodation: Musgrave Station Roadhouse, Musgrave
Your tours starts in Cairns,
pick-up time is around 7.00 am, and we drive north to Musgrave.
The Golden-shouldered Parrot is one of the endangered birds of Australia and
endemic to the Musgrave area on Cape York Peninsula. During the nesting period, which takes place between February and May in
most years, you have the best chance of seeing the parrots. Musgrave Station, a roadhouse
on the rugged, unsealed road to the Tip of Cape York, is our base for two nights. It is
basic accommodation with shared amenities, has clean rooms with with two single bed and
ceiling fans. The distance from Cairns
to Musgrave is about 450 km.
Day 3 + 4
Accommodation: Kingfisher Birdwatchers Lodge, Julatten
In the morning we look for the Red Goshawk and return to Musgrave. Kingfisher Birdwatchers Lodge
in the northern part of the Tablelands is well known for its bird life and is the prime spot
for Lesser Sooty Owls and Red-necked Crakes among others, and the rooms are set in lush
rainforest with birds present at your fingertips. We also travel to nearby Mt Lewis, which
has the only reliable population of Blue-faced Finches. These Finches are best seen between
November and May.
On Day 4 we leave Julatten very early and drive down to the coast. On the Daintree River we
take the well-known River Cruise with Chris Dahlberg, who specialises on birdwatchers.
Highlights are Great-billed Herons and Little Kingfishers, and it's not uncommon to see
40 species of birds.
Day 5 + 6
Accommodation:
Yungaburra Park Motel, Yungaburra
Yungaburra is our next destination in the southern part of the Tablelands. Places like Lake
Barrine, Mt Hypipamee and Hastie's Swamp are the spots for the endemic highland rainforest
birds. One night we look for Rainforest Possums with possible nocturnal birds always on our
minds. Most birding regions are between 700 and 1000 metres above sea level, so temperatures
can be 10 degrees Celsius lower than coastal Cairns and Mission Beach.
Day 7
Accommodation: La Tara Motel,
Georgetown
From Yungaburra we travel through the highland sclerophyll forest to Georgetown. Here we
encounter different birds in the dry woodland. The area is well known for the Black-throated-,
Masked-, Zebra-, Double-bar Finches and other birds like Cockatiels, Red-tailed Black Cockatoos,
Yellow-tinted and Rufous-throated Honeyeaters and more.
Day 8
Accommodation: Undara Lava Lodge, Undara
Accommodation: Castaways Beach Resort,
Mission Beach We leave Mission Beach after some more birding in the morning and travel north towards Cairns.
Depending on time we'll visit Eubenangee Swamp,
and the mangroves at Edmonton are a good place to see the Mangrove Robin among
others and is the last stop before reaching Cairns. We maybe visit the Esplanade
(depending on time and tides), and I return you then to the accommodation of
your choice. The tour ends in the late afternoon. The Cairns Crocodile Farm is unfortunately now
closed to the public. Transport is in a 6 (forward-facing) seater Toyota 4WD troop carrier, and we
carry a satellite phone and a First-Aid Kit. Six birdwatchers are maximum
on this excellent tour.
On our way back we stop at Undara and visit the Lava Tubes, which are now a world-famous,
partly collapsed network of underground tunnels of unusual beauty. A 2 hour tour into the
tubes is part of the itinerary.
Day 9 + 10
The Cassowary is our main objective in the lowland rainforest at Mission Beach. Several
times we walk in the lowland rainforests with its spectacular Fan Palms, where also our
nocturnal search for Rufous Owl takes place. Beach Thick-knees, Noisy Pittas, White-eared
Monarchs are other target species.
Day 11
We always search
and concentrate on the endemic and special birds of each
region and have generally great
views of them. Of course we also enjoy looking
at all the other birds encountered.
Note: No Reef Trip is planned on this tour, as you could easily do it yourself
at
lower costs. There are currently 3 companies visiting Michaelmas Cay daily.
Kirrama Wildlife Tours P.O. Box 1400, Innisfail, Queensland, 4860, Australia
Phone: ( 07) 4065 5181
International Phone: 61 7 40655 181
email: info@kirrama.com.auAll photos on these pages by Klaus Uhlenhut © 1996
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