Yes, of course. Any information will be welcome.
Yungaburra on the Atherton Tablelands is an excellent spot to reliably see
Platypus, with a purpose-built viewing platform over a creek with a known Platypus burrow. Simply waiting at the viewing platform at dawn or dusk will give you a great chance of seeing one as it enters/exits the burrow - alternatively there is a walking track along the creek where the Platypus may also be seen. There is also a possibility of seeing
Rakali,
Eastern Water Dragon and two species of freshwater turtles here. Only a few minutes away is the Curtain Fig Tree, with an elevated walkway. During the day you can see various rainforest birds like
Grey-headed Robin,
Macleay's Honeyeater and
Victoria's Riflebird, and spotlighting at night can produce
Red-legged Pademelon, Giant White-tailed Tree Rat, various rainforest possums and insects.
Lake Eacham, also on the Atherton Tablelands has a walking track around where
Musky Rat-kangaroo can be seen, as well as an assortment of rainforest birds (this is the best spot for
Spotted Catbird I have yet found). Part of the track borders the lake shore where
Sevenspot Archerfish,
Eastern Rainbowfish,
Barred Grunter, and
Eastern Sawshelled Turtle are essentially guaranteed to be seen without getting your feet wet (of course, if you'd like to get wet, Eacham is a popular swimming hole).
Hastie's Swamp on the Atherton Tablelands is also well worth a visit in the late afternoon to see large numbers of
Magpie-goose fly in to roost, as well as a number of other waterfowl species including
Plumed Whistling-Duck, Royal Spoonbill, Black Swan, Australasian Grebe, Grey Teal, Little Pied Cormorant and
Hardhead. There are a few
Southern Myotis that roost inside the bird hide here, which can be easily located by their faeces pellets.
Cairns Esplanade is a excellent spot for birding, where the shorebirds have become very tolerant of humans allowing exceptionally close views. The mangrove-lined northern end is essentially guaranteed for
Varied Honeyeater, and more occasionally can produce
Torresian Kingfisher,
Rose-crowned Fruit Dove, Mangrove Robin and
Double-eyed Fig-Parrot. If you're there during shorebird season, keep an eye out for the returning vagrant
Nordmann's Greenshank. The southern end of the esplanade is a good place to observe a myriad of mudflat life such as
Silverlined Mudskipper,
Indo-Pacific Swamp Crab, various fiddler crab species, and juvenile shore fishes.
Centenary Lakes is very close to the Cairns Esplanade and is a good spot for birding, featuring species like
Orange-footed Megapode,
Australian Brushturkey, Green Oriole,
Black Butcherbird, Black Bittern, Little Kingfisher, Large-billed Gerygone, Australasian Darter, Radjah Shelduck, Spangled Drongo and
Eastern Osprey. Spotlighting here at night can be very productive, but due to gang activity I would not advise going without a local guide. Mikey Kudo runs a monthly spotlighting event here which I highly recommend, get in contact with him via Facebook for dates. I've been on several of these and
Papuan Frogmouth, White-lipped Tree Frog, Southern Myotis, Bare-rumped Sheathtail Bat, Eastern Tube-nosed Bat are very regular, and there is a chance for
Short-beaked Echidna, Northern Brown Bandicoot, Long-nosed Bandicoot, Pacific Shortfin Eel, Slaty-grey Snake and
Striped Possum.
If you'd like to see some seabirds and marine life, I'd highly recommend heading out to Michaelmas Cay on the regularly-running charter boat. The cay is a breeding colony of many seabird species, but the species present varies throughout the year - these include
Sooty,
Bridled, Great Crested, Lesser Crested and
Black-naped terns,
Black and
Common noddies,
Great and
Lesser frigatebirds,
Brown Booby and the occasional shorebird. Included in the Michaelmas Cay charter is the option to snorkel, either at Michaelmas itself or one of the nearby reefs, where you can see countless species of reef fishes, and reef sharks if you are lucky.
Alternatively, you can snorkel off the beach at Green Island (which is pretty touristy, so it's less oceanic wilderness and more beach resort), while the reef here is less pristine, you have an excellent chance of seeing
Green Sea Turtle.
Magnetic Island (accessible by ferry from Townsville) is definitely worth a visit for mammals - you can also snorkel here, but in my experience the water is horrendously murky more often than not, so you're probably better off seeing the reef elsewhere. The old ferry terminal on the north shore of Geofferey Bay is an excellent spot for
Allied Rock-Wallaby (also a chance for
Freckled Monitor) and the Butterfly Forest on the island hosts a huge colony of
Black Flying-fox (which you may also see flying over the mainland at dusk). The Forts Walk on Magnetic Island is pretty reliable for
Queensland Koala. On the mainland, it may be worth a visit to the sporting fields at the James Cook University Burralga Yumba campus, as in the late afternoon, large numbers of
Agile Wallaby and
Whiptail Wallaby can be seen grazing here, as well as decent chances for
Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo.
