Mareeba Country Caravan Park

Visited: autumn

Recommendation: You could do worse than stay at this park if you are visiting Mareeba. The rainforest and open country settings provide a lot of wildlife opportunities.

Mareeba Country Caravan Park is north of Mareeba, on the east side of the Barron River. It is actually quite close to the Mulligan Highway but you cannot access it from there. Instead, you have to drive through town, cross the river and then head north. It is some 10 kilometres from the town centre of Mareeba. It is a secluded location, bordered by open fields and mango plantations. 

The caravan park itself is dated but pleasant enough, especially for wildlife watchers. There is remnant rainforest here and it brings lots of honeyeaters, especially to the umbrella trees, as you can see below. 

Other honeyeaters I saw here include the Yellow-spotted and the Dusky and Scarlet Myzomela. The Rainbow Lorikeet were as loud as you always expect but there was also the Scaly-breasted Lorikeet here too. A bit trickier to pin down but very beautiful once I got them.

As well as wandering around the caravan park (and the residents here were very helpful with information), I also walked the roads to the north and east of the caravan park. The varying vegetation provided me with a range of different birds. Brown Quail called from the grass and scrub, Squatter Pigeons picked at the ground and martins and woodswallows flitted around the wires and tree tops. One of my favourite sightings here was a Spangled Drongo sitting out in the sun, showing exactly why he is so named.