Thank you all for the amazing advice appreciate it! I know this was a threaded dedicated my questions so I will ask this here too if ok, even tho it’s unrelated. Is there a thread dedicated to opportunistic wildlife viewing in Australia please, with advice on sightings etc. We are also going north to Queensland and wanted some advice on bird watching in Cairns, the Whitsundays, and Brisbane. Thanks so much.
I don’t have any experience birdwatching in Sydney but places such as Blue Mountains National Park and Royal National Park are good for wet forest species such as Superb Lyrebirds. I’m sure someone here with more knowledge of the area can chime in further
I don’t have any experience for Brisbane either however, I can point in the direction of this wonderful thread that details the top spots (among many others) in SEQLD.
Exploring What’s on my Doorstep: WhistlingKite24 does South-east Queensland
For Cairns however, I do have some experience there. The most accessible spot for birdwatching is the
Cairns Esplanade. Despite being located right in the heart of the city, in season it is one of the best sites for migratory shorebirds in Australia with species common there including but not limited to Great Knot, Bar-tailed Godwit, Eastern Curlew, Whimbrel, Grey-tailed Tattler, Terek Sandpiper, Siberian Sand-plover, Greater Sand-plover and Red-necked Stint. Even if you visit out of season there’s plenty of other birds on the mudflats too such as various species of Egrets, Nankeen Night and Striated Herons, Australian Pied Oystercatchers, Masked Lapwings, Australian Pelicans, a few species of Tern and if you’re really lucky maybe a Black-necked Stork. There’s some common land birds that can be seen amongst the urban parklands too such as Metallic Starling, Peaceful Dove, Australian Figbird, Magpie-Lark, Willie Wagtail, Torresian Imperial Pigeon, Sacred Kingfisher, Brown Honeyeater and towards the north end of the esplanade there’s Varied Honeyeaters and chances for Red-tailed Black Cockatoo and Double-eyed Fig Parrot. Check the trees at the northernmost playground, it is a known spot for Rose-crowned Fruit Doves although they are not always there and tricky to spot. Also check the mangroves for Mangrove Robin. There are also tons of Spectacled Flying Foxes here at night. Also a great spot to view Mudskippers and various species of fiddler crab.
Outside of the esplanade there are a bunch of really good spots in and outside of Cairns.
Cairns Botanic Gardens and Centenary Lakes located less than ten minutes drive away from the city centre is a quality spot with a great array of birds including but not limited to Papuan Frogmouth, Little Kingfisher, Black Butcherbird, Forest Kingfisher, White-bellied Cuckooshrike, Spangled Drongo, Varied Triller, White-throated Honeyeater, Mistletoebird, Green Oriole, Orange-footed Scrubfowl, Australian Brush Turkey and more (check Ebird for recent sightings).
Cattana Wetlands around 20-30 minutes drive from the city centre is another quality spot, most birds here are the same as at Cairns Botanic Gardens but there’s a few extra species such as Comb-crested Jacana (they are everywhere, practically guaranteed), Green Pygmy Goose, Red-backed Fairywren and Brown-backed Honeyeater (Oct-Apr only). If you want to see some of the more prized species in Far North Queensland, then it’s worth making your way up to the
Atherton Tablelands which are around hour away from Cairns city centre. There’s great spots here including but not limited to
Hastie’s Swamp, Lake Eacham, Lake Barrine, Mt Hypipamee among others. Lots of other wildlife up that way too including Platypus, Tree Kangaroos, Boyd’s Forest Dragons, Saw Shelled Turtles and many possum species.
