West Lake Robina, 2021-2023
Summary: Fairly typical Gold Coast suburban lake with some interesting bird life Dates of visit: Various from April 2021 to April 2023 I’m covering West Lake Robina on the Gold Coast in Queensland here not because it’s a stand-out birding location, but more as a case study in observing a “local patch” over an extended…
Whites Hill Reserve, 2020-2023
Summary: Large forest that is a cut above many similar reserves in Brisbane for birding Dates of visit: 6 visits from July 2020 to March 2023 More heavily birded than Toohey Forest, Karawatha Forest, Bunyaville and possibly even Mt Coot-tha, Whites Hill Reserve in Camp Hill is one of the best dry forest birding locations…
Flat Rock, Ballina, 2022-2023
Summary: Tidal outcrop offering terrific close encounters with terns and other birds Dates of visit: Apr 26 2022, Apr 5 and 11 2023 Flat Rock is a tidal rocky outcrop just north-east of the town of Ballina on the northern NSW coast. It’s a great place to watch terns and a mixture of other seabirds…
NSW Coast and Hunter Valley Trip, Easter 2023
It was supposed to be a trip that was pretty light on birding, and more filled with good food and wine, and of course copious amounts of Easter treats. But somehow we saw a ton of birds along the way (“the way” being Brisbane down the coast to Newcastle and then inland to the Hunter…
Gold Coast Regional Botanic Gardens, 2020-2022
Summary: Lovely compact gardens good for getting up close to water birds Dates of visits: Aug 5 2020, Feb 19 2022, Nov 20 2022 The Gold Coast Botanic Gardens sits roughly in the middle of the city of the Gold Coast, and like many botanic gardens, is worth your time if you like high-quality, often…
Bunyaville Conservation Park, 2021-2023
Summary: Large eucalypt-dominated forest with many biking tracks that can be hit-and-miss for birds Dates of visit: Mar 25, 2021 and Mar 7, 2023 Bunyaville Conservation Park, established in 1917, is one of the larger forest parks in Brisbane, and lies on the northside in the suburb of Bunya. It should definitely not be confused…
Postman’s Track, Feb 2021
Summary: Well-located hotspot with potential for large number of bird species Date of visit: Feb 21, 2021 The Samford district north-west of Brisbane hosts an impressive collection of birding hotspots. A bonanza of habitats and birds result from its location on the eastern edge of the D’Aguilar range where it meets Moreton Bay catchments. The two hotspot…
Southport Pelagic, 2021-2022
Summary: A full day of seabird spotting on the big bad ocean Dates of visits: Dec 18 2021 and Apr 16 2022 Pelagic boat trips are generally volunteer-organised events held once a month (depending on location) where a small group of enthusiastic birders head out to the open sea on a chartered vessel in search…
Sam’s Track, Jan 2023
Summary: Out-of-the-way bush birding site reliable for some harder-to-find species Date of visit: 27 Jan, 2023 Sam’s Track is 1 hour 20 west of Toowoomba, and feels like the proverbial middle of nowhere. The track itself is totally unmarked and the entry difficult to find if you don’t know it’s there, and there’s not much…
Highfields Falls, 2021-2023
Summary: A pleasant area for a variety of forest birds near Toowoomba Dates of visits: May 21 & Dec 31 2021, Jan 28 2023 Highfields Falls is about 12km north of Toowoomba in south-east Queensland and provides a great little stop for a variety of birds and some enjoyable (if sometimes hilly) walking. We’ve always…
Dowse Lagoon, 2020-2022
Summary: Nice lake area in suburbia with three birds hides and some fringing bush Dates of visits: Oct 8 2020, Jun 21 2021, Nov 8 2022 With over 2,700 eBird checklists and a whopping 207 species recorded for all time, Dowse Lagoon in Sandgate might seem to be a star attraction birding site on Brisbane’s…
Shorncliffe Pier and Headland, 2021-2022
Summary: Scenic birding with good chances of Gannets and raptors on the shores of Moreton Bay Dates of visit: Jun 21 2021, Mar 6 & Nov 8 2022 Well, there are definitely worse places to go birding. If you like the ocean, the sun shining on the bay, some diving seabirds and a sprinkling of…
Stumers Creek, 2021-2022
Summary: Excellent creek-side birding trail with grass tree side-track Date of visits: Oct 29&30 2021, Nov 4&5 2022 How good does a birding site have to be for you to excitedly return the day after discovering it? Pretty good, I’d say, and Stumers Creek in Coolum on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland is just such…
Noosa Headland, 2021-2022
Summary: Satisfying coastal and forest birding with some decent scenery Dates of visits: May 15 2021, Nov 5 2022 Noosa National Park consists of three separate sections, of which the headlands is the largest. It is situated immediately to the east of the resort town of Noosa Heads, and is in fact within easy walking…
South-West WA Trip Jan 2023
Due to its geographical isolation, south-west WA has a lot of lovely endemic birds (including some from recent taxonomic splits), so we couldn’t wait to head there for an extended birding holiday. The idea was to trace a clockwise circuit starting and ending at Perth, heading far out east to Esperance and working our way…
Cairns-Daintree-Julatten Christmas trip, 2022
You know you’re a pair of tragic-level birders when one gets the other a Christmas present consisting of a 5 day trip to far north Queensland in summer to see birds… oh well, life is tough, isn’t it? We simply do what we must. Straight off the plane and into birding is how we do…
Swan Lake, 2021-2022
Summary: Small lake by the ocean worth a quick visit if you’re birding in the area Dates of visit: Oct 3 2021, Sep 11 2022, Oct 25 2022 Swan Lake is a man-made lake that is wedged uneasily between some busy roads and commercial areas in the Port of Brisbane precinct. In 2013 it was…
Archerfield Wetlands, 2022
Summary: Excellent, large site for a variety of bird species, with good light and easy paths Dates of visits: Oct 2021 to Oct 2022 Archerfield Wetlands is a sizeable site of 150 hectares featuring eucalypt forest, open grassland, freshwater wetlands and creeks. It lies on Oxley Creek, a few kilometres upstream from its well-known “big…
Canberra Trip, Nov 2022
Canberra! Some say it’s the nation’s capital. A city of students and public servants, with a reputation for being kind of boring, and bloody cold to boot. But what if – hypothetically – you undertook a super-impulsive last-minute long weekend birding trip there? Would it be… worthwhile? Where would you go and what birds would…
Lake Galletly, 2021-2022
Summary: Excellent compact site with bird hides for uncommon duck and water bird species Dates of visit: Jun 27 2021, Oct 17 2021, Mar 20 2022, Jul 17 2022, Aug 23 2022, Oct 30 2022 Lake Galletly, within the grounds of the UQ Gatton Campus, is a well-known birding site (at least to seasoned birders)…
Oakey, 2021-2022
Summary: Awesome country birding along an exposed dirt road, with good nearby parks too Dates of visits: May 22 and Aug 5, 2021, and Aug 23 2022 A visit to Oakey, just west of Toowoomba on the Darling Downs in Queensland, is something of a rite of passage – or perhaps a pilgrimage – for…
Norfolk Island, Oct 2022
Summary: Lovely isolated island with a couple of alluring endemic species and excellent seabird watching from windy headlands Date of visit: Oct 6 to 11, 2022 Norfolk Island is an Australian external territory in the Pacific Ocean island about 1450km east of Brisbane. It makes for an intriguing birding destination due to a couple of…
Flagstaff Hill, Port Douglas, Nov 2021
[A stop on the Cairns + Atherton + Daintree, 2021 trip] Port Douglas is a resort town about an hour north of Cairns and might not be somewhere you’d be inclined to do a lot of serious birding, what with the beaches, the resort shops and Sunday markets, golf courses, and plenty of options for boat cruises…
Daintree River Cruise, Nov 2021
[A stop on the Cairns + Atherton + Daintree, 2021 trip] The Daintree Rainforest in Far North Queensland is truly enormous at 1200 square kilometres and is a very special place indeed. One of the highly recommended ways to explore it is via a boat cruise on the Daintree River, and for birders especially this is a…
Mt Lewis, Nov 2021
[A stop on the Cairns + Atherton + Daintree, 2021 trip] Mount Lewis is a region of highland rainforest within the huge Wet Tropics World Heritage Area of northern Queensland. There is only one road in, Mount Lewis Rd, starting just a kilometre or two north of Julatten. The road has two major sections: from the Mossman-Mount…
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