Atherton Tablelands

Visited: all year round

Recommendation: Visit and stay in the area. There are many wonderful places to see wildlife and you can find everything from Tree Kangaroo to Grass Owls and Forest Dragons.

We have been spending some time in the Atherton Tablelands during the summer months looking for birds, dragons and frogs. On one particular expedition, I had some leads on the possible location of some owls, probably Barn Owls but maybe Grass Owls as well. We visited the area a couple of times and were quite amazed by the number of birds we saw.

Barn Owl (Tyto alba)

The most common owl we found was the Barn Owl and we must have seen at least 5 individual birds. They were usually sitting on the fence posts surrounding the cattle fields but we also found them on sign posts and on the ground. If we approached them slowly, most times they would just ignore us.

Barking Owl (Ninox connivens)

We saw a couple of Barking Owls we think flying past but we did manage to find this juvenile bird sitting on a post.

This owl, also known as the winking owl, is found in mainland Australia and parts of New Guinea and the Moluccas. They are a medium-sized brown owl and have a characteristic voice with calls ranging from a barking dog noise to an intense human-like howl.

The Barking Owl has two subspecies:

Ninox connivens connivens: This subspecies occurs in eastern, southeastern and southwestern Australia.
Ninox connivens peninsularis: This subspecies is found in northern Western Australia, the far north of Queensland and the Northern Territory.

Australasian Grass Owl (Tyto longimembris)

The highlight of our trips to the Tablelands was when we found an Australasian Grass Owl. They look very similar to Barn Owls but you know when you have found one as they sit in the grass! Their cap is also darker and it was that which we were looking for. When we found this bird, there was no real doubt as to what it was. And it was a beauty!

In states like New South Wales and South Australia, the Eastern Grass Owl is classified as Vulnerable and Rare. Thankfully, the situation isn't as severe across Australia. In Queensland, Northern Territory and Western Australia, the Grass Owl populations are considered Secure.

Boyd's Forest Dragon (Lophosaurus boydii)

Just to cap off our very fruitful adventures in the Atherton area, we also found this gorgeous little Boyd's Forest Dragon, fast asleep on a branch. They are fascinating animals, unlike other lizards. Native to the Wet Tropics region of northern Queensland, Australia, they prefer the rainforest and its margins for their habitat.

They are masters of camouflage, with bodies that can be brown, grey, or even greenish to blend in with their surroundings. Their remarkable stillness when threatened further enhances their invisibility.

Unlike most reptiles, Boyd's Forest Dragons don't bask in the sun to regulate their body temperature. Instead, they rely on the ambient temperature of their environment.