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Visited: all year round
Recommendation: One of the best birding spots in the country. The Botanic Gardens and neighbouring Centenary Lakes are home to a variety of common and uncommon residents. Migratory visitors and vagrants can also be found here at any time. It is one of my favourite places to spend time in Cairns.
Centenary Lakes (pictured here) are kind of an overflow from the Botanic Gardens, an unofficial extension. You can't really visit one without wandering around the other. A road and organised management separate the 2 areas and they are quite different but both are so magical. It is best to visit early in the morning as it does get hot and humid in these areas. Don't be shy about the insect repellant either.
I usually park on Collins Avenue and then head into the fabulous, sculpted gardens. It is always good to not have to walk too far when it gets hot, so parking in the middle is a good idea.
Little Kingfisher (Alcedo pusilla)
I was wandering around looking for the Little Kingfisher which I had heard was active in the mornings when I met another local birder Mark. He took me to a gloomy part of the lakes at the back where the joining path to the gardens is. Right on cue, we saw it and then another. There have been some fabulous photos taken of this bird but you have to be really lucky to get it in sunlight as most of the time they skulk about in the undergrowth. I was just pleased to see it.
The Little Kingfisher is tiny! It holds the title of the smallest kingfisher species in Australia, with a length of only 11.5 to 13 centimetres (4.5 to 5.1 inches).
For comparison, a standard ruler is typically 30 centimetres long, so the Little Kingfisher would be less than half the length of the ruler.
Mark was heading up to see the Papuan Frogmouth at the gardens and as I had already stood like a fool staring at trees and NOT seeing them, I tagged along. We found them from outside the gardens and talk about impressive. There was a pair of them with a juvenile and they were huge! Nothing like the dainty Tawny Frogmouth I am used to. I have only seen the Papuan from a distance and to get this close was incredible. They were semi-awake and would open a lazy eye every now and again to look at us.
This huge frogmouth is found in two distinct locations:
New Guinea: This includes the Aru Islands, islands in the Geelvink Bay, and the lowlands and foothills on the north and east sides of the island.
Australia: Limited to the Cape York Peninsula and the eastern coastal strip of Queensland, as far south as the estuary of the Burdekin River. They prefer subtropical or tropical moist lowland forests, including rainforests, rainforest edges, gallery forests along streams, swamp-woodlands, and mangroves.
Papuan Frogmouth (Podargus papuensis)
Eastern Osprey (Pandion haliaetus)
Another early morning visit to the lakes saw me stumble on an Eastern Osprey. I later saw a nearby nest, high in a communications tower so no real surprise they would hunt in the lakes. This on was sitting in a tree grooming and looking smug so maybe it had just had breakfast. It was phenomenal to get so close to it. The bird was totally unconcerned by me.
I later discovered that a pair of Osprey reliably nest on a nearby communications tower and have a very regular hunting route each day that included passing over the gardens on their way out to sea.
My arrival in Cairns was in the middle of an unseasonable heatwave and coming from the very mild temperatures of New Zealand, I really struggled at times to keep moving. It was one of these times that I sought refuge in the shade near the friendship garden in the middle of the freshwater lake. While I was trying not to pant like a dog, I heard something rustling. A photo opportunity always takes my mind off physical discomfort and so I perked up and looked into the bushes. I was rewarded with a Australian Green Tree Snake. I have seen them before, they are reasonably common but to be so close to it was fantastic. The green and yellow colours blazed in the sunlight.
Australian Green Tree Snake (Dendrolaphis punctulata)
Also commonly seen and heard in the Botanic Gardens are the Black Butcherbird, Olive-backed Sunbird and Orange-footed Scrubfowl. There are usually lots of Rainbow Lorikeets zooming around overhead as well.
The expanse of vacant green on the map is swampy rainforest with a boardwalk running through it, which connects the 2 areas. It is like stepping back in time as you walk through the dense foliage. I have been here at night looking for owls and it can be quite spooky! I don't tend to see much here but it is wonderful botany.
I spend most of my time around the lakes and you can regularly see Great, Intermediate, Striated and Nankeen Night Heron in these areas. Rainbow Bee-eaters whizz around above you, always seeming to be very pleased with themselves.
There are dozens of species to be found in this area and as you head eastwards, there is a salt water lake and you can walk over a creek back to the Botanic Gardens. There is no end to the interesting things to see here - even a patch of giant bamboo!
You never know what might turn up, particularly at the fresh water lake. This is a video of a Black Bittern taken from Greenslopes St. You can hear the traffic behind me on a busy road and it is incredible to me that this shy, cryptic bird was out in the open with lots of other people around.
Black Bittern (Ixobrychus flavicollis)
Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove (Ptilinopus regina)
Every Tuesday morning there is a bird watchers walk starting at the Botanic Gardens and I loved joining this walk with new birders, those from far afield and local experts. We would always find special birds but none more so than the Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove, a most spectacular exotic bird.
There are two main theories for why the rose-crowned fruit dove is so brightly coloured:
Sexual Selection: This theory suggests that the bright colours, particularly those of the males, are used to attract mates. The vibrant colours like pink, yellow, and orange on the head, chest, and underparts could be a signal of a healthy bird, which is desirable for females when choosing a partner.
Interspecific Competition: This theory suggests that the bright colours help the doves to identify their own species and avoid competition with other fruit-eating birds. The contrasting colours might also make them more visible to predators, but this is considered a lesser disadvantage compared to the benefits of attracting mates and avoiding competition.
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