Townsville General

Visited: summer

Recommendation: The gardens in Townsville are really lovely. Used for recreation purposes, they still contain lots of wildlife. Seek local up to date information. 

There are several excellent places to see wildlife in Townsville but they are spread out and if you didn't know about them, they are easily missed. The Townsville birding Facebook groups are great for finding out what is around and I recommend starting there. Here are my best sightings in the city.

Townsville has a healthy population of Rufous Owls. After frequent and fruitless searching in the Cairns area, local birder Brin Crowther told me he knew of 3 pairs, each with chicks present, close to the gardens. I only had one afternoon to spend there so was very keen to see them. Uncharacteristically, we arrived at the strip of bush to begin searching and another helpful birds pointed them out to us immediately. A pair of owls with 2 juveniles were present close by, obligingly in the light and awake. I was in raptures when we saw them. They were huge, curious and stunning.

The juveniles on the left below and the adult male is on the right.

Rufous Owl (Ninox rufa) 

Another very productive place I visited was Riverside Gardens. Another local birder took me to woods close by looking for the Rufous Owl but this time, it was not to be. I was happy enough to visit the weir, walk along the river and see birds like the Brahminy Kite circling. Such unusual raptors and nice and easy to spot! Nankeen Night Heron sat in the foliage of the surrounding trees, Darters hunted from rocks in the river and a Striated Heron posed on the weir wall. It looked very small compared to the waterway and compared to the fresh water crocodile sitting at the bottom. I really hoped it wouldn't end up as lunch! It was wonderful.