Birdwatching and Other Wildlife at the Lodge

Information

Within 1½ km of the lodge 220 bird species have been recorded as well as many mammals, reptiles, insects, butterflies and plants. It is easy just spending a day walking the grounds of the lodge or just relaxing at your accommodation and waiting for the wildlife to come to you.

Some of the more sought after species of birds recorded around the lodge include: Red-necked Crake, Bush-hen, Double-eyed Fig-Parrot, owls such as Barking, (Lesser Sooty), and Barn, Grey-headed Robin and Pied Monarch. The Emerald Dove, Papuan Frogmouth and Noisy Pitta breed in the grounds as do many of the smaller passerine species such as Large-billed Scrubwren, Large-billed and Fairy Gerygone, Macleay's, Yellow-spotted and Graceful Honeyeater, Pale-yellow Robin, Little Shrike-thrush, Yellow-breasted Boatbill, Spectacled Monarch, Cicadabird and Spotted Catbird.

Some other wildlife occurring in the Lodge grounds are: Giant Tree-Frog, Major Skink, Boyd's Forest Dragon, Brown and Common Green Tree snakes, Amethystine Python, Cairns Birdwing Butterfly, Ulysses Butterfly, Echidna, Platypus, Long-nosed and Northern Brown Bandicoots, Green Ringtail and Striped Possums, Agile Wallaby, Spectacled Flying-Fox, White-tailed Rat, and Fawn-footed Melomys. Please refer to species lists for Frogs, Reptiles, Mammals, Butterflies and Moths which have been recorded at the lodge, these list are by no means complete as new species are being recorded frequently but will give you a guide as to the diversity found within the grounds.

Get a Bird Species List for the Period of your Visit to the Lodge

We have uploaded all our bird sighting records from the Lodge onto the Eremaea Birds website, these are records since 1994 with the last 4 years being weekly records. This will be very useful to our guests as they can now download a list of species that have been recorded at the Lodge for the period of their visit. The list will also show the % of sightings for the period as well so they will be able to see commonality. To access a list you can go directly to the Eramaea Birds site. Click on species list for any site and enter Kingfisher Park then put in the period from and to. Then choose the number in the species column which will give you the list.

We are gradually uploading records for local sites as well, so far we have done Cairns Esplanade, Centenary Lakes (part of Cairns Botanic Gardens), Yorkey's Knob Lagoon - Cairns, Mt. Lewis – clearing (10km site) and Windmill Creek on East Maryfarms Road (south of Mt. Carbine). These can be accessed from species list for any site, follow instructions as above.

Birdwatching and Spotlighting Ethics

We like our guests to have a good experience at the Lodge and at the same time ensure that observation of the wildlife is conducted with minimal impact.

We don't allow the use of bird call-back within the grounds as this can distress the species whose call is being played and in the case of predators (i.e. owls or raptors) distress other wildlife nearby.

We are a small isolated patch of rainforest and as such territories are at a premium, playback has the potential to disturb and confuse the birds. We are also an area of high visitation, which has allowed bird species to become less wary of people and most can be seen by being patient. We can point out the most likely places to see certain species.

Bird photography is an increasing part of birdwatching and again the wellbeing of the animal being photographed must come first, this is especially true of birds at or on nests. Please don't interfere with the vegetation around nests as a way to get a better photo as this type of disturbance may cause the bird to abandon the nest. We like you to go home with some memorable images; this can be achieved by again being patient.

We do conduct spotlighting around the grounds for our guests only, but not every night and only use 30w lights to lessen any impact on species. The use of high powered spotlights can disturb sleeping birds and dazzle nocturnal species causing damage or temporarily impair vision. The use of flashguns with powerful light magnifiers must be used with caution. If you want to spotlight away from the lodge please ask for directions to places that are not in populated areas.

We do have a few bird feeders around the accommodation area and these are used by birds when their natural food source is hard to find. They do not come to the feeders all year around, if there is natural food available that is where they will be found.