France Road, Cairns

France and Wrights Road is south of Cairns close to Edmonton. It is a just a series of connected roads with some houses and most importantly, a turf farm. There are also sugar cane fields and other crops I couldn't identify. I visited in the hopes of seeing Pectoral Sandpiper and Yellow Wagtail that had been reported on eBird. I was a bit uncomfortable driving or wandering the roads around the turf farm with a large camera. I have subsequently been told the residents and farm owners don't mind birders visiting at all as long as they respect the bio-security of the area. 

Visited: all year round

Recommendation: While this is a great place to see possible vagrants and a range of resident species, birders have cause upset by being inconsiderate of people living there. Go early in the morning and respect all boundaries.

On the fields were lots of birds including Golden Plovers and Whistling Ducks. Further on, there was a patch of open ground opposite the cane field I found a family of Black-fronted Dotterel. Not an uncommon bird but always good to shoot.

France Road is very popular with local birders because, unlike other turf farms, very rare vagrants regularly turn up here. Each summer, we look for yellow and or grey wagtails. I was lucky enough to turn up one morning and find an Eastern Yellow Wagtail sitting right in front of me on the dirt piles, singing away. 

Eastern Yellow Wagtail (Motacilla tschutschensis)