Gibralter Range NP

Visited: Winter

Recommendation: The Gibralter Range is stunning, even when it is cold! The bird life is confiding at the campsites and the photography easier than other local areas. A lovely place to stay and wildlife watch.

Gibraltar Range National Park is a rugged wilderness area located in the Northern Tablelands region about 80km northeast of Glen Innes. It is a significant part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area, recognized for its ancient flora and unique ecosystems that have links back to the supercontinent Gondwana. The range branches off the Great Dividing Range.

Within the park there are patches of subtropical and warm-temperate rainforest in sheltered gullies and higher altitudes, featuring ancient species like palms, strangler figs, Red Cedar, and Coachwood. Conversely, the dry forests and woodlands are dominated by various eucalypt species such as Blue Gum, Tallow Wood, and different Stringybarks, along with areas of heath and sedgeland, especially in high-altitude swampy valleys with acid, peaty soils.

Official records show there are over 140 bird species, including the vulnerable Rufous Scrub-bird and Glossy Black Cockatoos are also present. Incredibly, there are also a wide range of mammals from Koalas, Spotted-tailed Quolls, Parma Wallabies (a small marsupial once thought extinct), Rufous Bettongs, Long-nosed Potoroos, and Greater Gliders.

I stayed at the Mulligan's Hut campsite which is right in the heart of the park. It's named after William Mulligan, who built huts in the area in the 1920s with grand, though unfulfilled, plans for a hydroelectric scheme. It is very pretty and one of the most well laid out campsites I have stayed at. Each site has privacy provided by surrounding bush but there is still lots of light.

Mulligan's Hut

I was actually sick while I was staying at Mulligan's so I spent my time in the campervan. It was also cold so I sat with the back open, wrapped in blankets and watched. A water tap seemed to be attractive to the birds so I put a tub underneath it, filled it with rocks and water and waited.

First came the scrubwren and the thornbill. They flitted around the bush and came down to drink.

Brown Thornbil (Acanthiza pusilla)

Yellow-throated Scrubwren (Sericornis citreogularis)

White-browed Scrubwren (Sericornis frontalis

A pair of Satin Bowerbird came down to drink. One was obviously an adult male and the other looked like a juvenile moulting into adult plumage. They were both stunning and it was wonderful to watch them interacting and squawking at each other.

Satin Bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus)

Lewin's Honeyeater (Meliphaga lewinii)

Grey Shrikethrush (Colluricincla harmonica)

The Lewin's Honeyeater was calling with its staccato tone. I only saw one bird who briefly came to investigate the area. The Grey Shrikethrush was a regular visitor, however, and it bounced around the area, looking for scraps. Crimson Rosella and Pied Currawong could be heard at times calling as they flew overhead.

Between the chatter of all these birds, it was a very busy and lively place to be.

Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans)

Pied Currawong (Strepera graculina)

By Mulligan's Hut itself is a cleared picnic area and behind it, a beautiful creek. Wandering around there I heard the White-throated Treecreeper. As I looked for it, I realised there was also the chattery call of the Red-browed Treecreeper. As in Torrington SCA, they did not sit still and again, I didn't get a decent shot.