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Visited: all year round
Recommendation: This is one of the premiere bird watching places in the country. It is a must do visit for any serious wildlife watcher visiting Far North Queensland.
Kingfisher Park is famous across the world for its incredible bird and animal life. A remnant patch of rainforest, it attracts some of the most exotic and rare birds in the country. The highlight of any visit to Kingfisher Park in the wet season months is to get close up views of the incredible Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher. These incredible birds come south to Queensland to breed each year and lay eggs within termite mounds where their young will be protected from predators. Male birds tend to have long streamers, while females are shorter. This is not genetic but simply because the females are in and out of the termite mounds where their streamers break off.
Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher (Tanysiptera syvia)
While waiting for the kingfishers to put in an appearance, there are lots of other gorgeous birds that frequent the feeders opposite the accommodation blocks. The Bar-shouldered Dove is very common in the area but is quite shy and you don't often get a good look at them. When you do, though, their beauty is quite surprising.
Bar-shouldered Dove (Geopelia humeralis)
Skulking around in the undergrowth is the Emerald Dove, which is very easily spooked. Sitting on the deck and waiting for them is about the only way to get close to these interesting birds. Kingfisher Park is well set up for that, with a long verandah where you can just sit and watch these shy birds pass by.
Pacific Emerald Dove (Chalcophaps longirostris)
The park is also home to some fantastic critters as well as the birds. There was a Giant Stick Insect in the garden. It was at least 50 cm long and wonderful to watch chomping away.
Giant Northern Stick Insect (Acrophylla wuelfingi)
One of the other highlights of our stay was finding the Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko. They might be reasonably common but are so incredibly cryptic that they are very difficult to find. You can see how they get their name and they were the most exotic lizard I have ever seen. Check out that eye!
Northern Leaf-tailed Gecko (Saltuarius cornutus)
Close to the park was a Papuan Frogmouth nest complete with a young chick. This bird had somehow survived some severe flooding during and after hatching.
Papuan Frogmouth (Podargus papuensis)
One of the rarest birds here, and the most shy is the Red-necked Crake. At certain times of the year it is a reliable visitor to the waterhole each afternoon. Sometimes it will also visit the water baths outside the verandah.
I only managed to see it once at the waterhole. As ever, wildlife can be difficult even if you are in the right place.
Red-necked Crake (Rallina tricolor)
The Orange-footed Megapode is not an uncommon bird in the Queensland wet tropics but as it lives in the shadows of the rainforest, it is difficult to photograph. In all my years visiting this area, this is my best photograph of one. It wasn't until I got to places like Darwin that I have seen them out in the open.
Orange-footed Megapode (Megapodius reinwardt)
At the park it is not only birds that are resident but some interesting other animals. The Fawn-footed Melomys is a very cute rodent and a regular nighttime visitor.
Fawn-footed Melomys (Melomys cervinipes)
One of my favourite ever photographs was taken on the lawn at the park and it is of a family of Red-legged Pademelon, a small marsupial. Behind the female is a juvenile followed by a youngster and she had another in her pouch. That is one hard working mother.
Red-legged Pademelon (Thylogale stigmatica)
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