Tour Schedule

AUSTRALIA
Cairns-area Birding

AUSTRALIA
The Other Half

AUSTRALASIA
Papua New Guinea

AUSTRALASIA
New Zealand, Oceania,
Moluccas.

SOUTH ASIA

EURASIA

AFRICA

N. AMERICA

S. AMERICA

aabirdblog
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CLUBS
Birding Cairns

The Australasian Bird Club
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CONTACT INFO

Andy Anderson
AABirding &Travel
tours@aabirding.com
tel 0740318803
mobile 0438318804
fax 07 318803
Box 7999, 
Cairns 4870, 
Australia.

Ben Blewitt
Cassowary Tours
benblewitt@yahoo.com
tel 07 40341202
mobile 04 14343209
6 Donelli Crescent,
Brinsmead 4870,
Cairns,
Australia.

John Crowhurst
tel 07 40514194
8 Warrego St,
Cairns 4870,
QLD, Australia.

Our motto could well be -
"Around the block or around the world as long as we're looking at wildlife."

AUSTRALIA - Cairns-area Birding, the Esplanade.

      The real centre of the Australasian Avifaunal Area is the Cairns Esplanade.
This is the northern end. In the middle foreground is a pair of Beach Thicknees. The tide is half-way out but still 25-30 species of mudflat birds, including pelicans, ibis, and herons, are usually present during the day. 
       A 1.5 hr morning walk along the foreshore could produce 40 species, as many as 20 species being land birds.

    This Asian Dowitcher photo © to Andrew P Anderson) was here in October 2004. The other two, Red-capped Plover and Black-fronted Dotterel are two Australasian endemics.

    The Esplanade, where John Crowhurst still reigns King even after (especially after?) 30 years of almost-daily bird observations (he has personally recorded nearly 240 species from the Esplanade in that time, mostly of course, from the land side), is rightly known world-wide as one of THE places to watch shorebirds from. With the new board-walk we have now, it is even better than it was, the birds sometimes coming almost underneath the watchers!

        Some wide-ranging species that are vagrants where most European birders come from, are regarded as easy to see at Cairns. Two specialities, found here all year round, are Terek Sandpiper and Great Knot, with Sharp-tailed Sandpiper very common from mid-August to start of April. A few Broad-billed Sandpipers arrive early November and stay until late March. One or two Asian Dowitchers can also sometimes occur in late November and may stay until mid-January. 

    Some of the best shorebird watching in the world?
  To illustrate how tame Cairns shorebirds are, here, only 20 metres away, is a non-breeding Red-necked Stint surrounded by a group of sleeping Great Knots and Bar-tailed Godwits.They are relaxed because they are conditioned to hundreds of people walking past every day. 
 
 

AUSTRALIA - Cairns-area Birding, the Centenary Lakes.

   The #2 major birding hotspot in Cairns City is the Centenary Lakes area.  A 3-hour stroll around here could  produce over 60 species, many of them endemic to Australia but some, like Black Bittern, Little Kingfisher and Rufous Owl, widespread in three or more countries but much sought after. Red-necked Crakes can be seen along the boardwalk between the freshwater lake and the Botanic Gardens.

Orange-footed Scrubfowls, pictured here, and Australian Brush-turkeys are the region's representatives of the mainly-Australasian family of Megapodes. Both species are easily seen in the Centenary Lakes area.

A pair of Papuan Frogmouths, on their non-breeding season roost, have been regualary seen about 50m from the eastern end of the boardwalk in the first half of 2005. Although rufous forms occur, see how cryptic this grey form can be. 

This Little Kingfisher is one of a pair whose non-breeding territory is centered on the east end of the fresh-water lake at the Centenary Lakes in the city of Cairns. 
 
 

(This newly fledged Rufous Owl photo was actually taken in the Darwin Botanic Gardens but it could well have been taken in Cairns. There are a many pairs of Rufous Owls breeding inside Cairns city limits including (at least) one pair at the Centenary Lakes). (The last 7 photos are © to Mike Roger).
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Peregrine Falcons on the Rydges Esplanade Resorthotel are the latest addition to the local breeding birds. With local breeders and visitors, nearly 200 species can be regularly found on the lowlands, hillslopes, and sea, around Cairns city. Nearly another 200 species can be found on the adjacent Atherton Tablelands and a little further afield.  The area is so rich in birdlife that within one day's surface travel of Cairns nearly half of Australia's mainland species can be seen.