Tablelands Wildlife Tour

Mareeba Dry Country

The dry country around Mareeba is good for kangaroos and here we will hope to see the Eastern Grey Kangaroos and the Mareeba Rock Wallaby. We may also see Agile Wallaby if we are lucky. The impressive Red-tailed Black Cockatoo, Kookaburras, Red-backed Fairywrens and other bush birds live in this area. Watch the less travelled roads as we drive along keeping your eyes open for a Frilled Lizard or a sunbathing snake.

Atherton Area

Around the town of Atherton, in winter stately Cranes can often be seen in the cut cane fields beside the road. During the summer the cane grows tall and most of the Sarus cranes fly to the Gulf of Carpentaria to breed. Keep your eyes open as we pass through patches of rainforest for fruit bat camps as there is often one near Tolga where both Spectacled and sometimes Little Red Flying Foxes can be seen.

Beyond Atherton you may visit Hasties Swamp – a very busy wetland area This often has huge rafts of Plumed Whistling Ducks, Wandering Whistling Ducks and Magpie Geese.

Yungaburra Area

The spectacular Curtain Fig is an excellent place for spotlighting but during the day the well- designed boardwalk allows safe and easy rainforest access with great views of this magnificent strangler fig. Sometimes Lumholtz’s Tree Kangaroo can be seen sleeping in the branches or aerial roots of the tree and the surrounding forest is alive with the sound of the mid altitude birds and insects that make this area their home. The staccato machine gun sound of the Lewin’s Honeyeater carries well and a variety of Monarchs and birds such as Bowers Shrike Thrush, Pale Yellow Robin and even Grey-headed Robin can be seen.

A quiet walk along the river at the edge of Yungaburra township can often lead to connection with a Platypus. These delightful monotremes are one of Australia’s two egg-laying mammals and can be found in all clean streams on the Tablelands. They tend to be shy creatures and  seen most easily at dusk and dawn at a time when it is quiet and not noisy.

Lake Barrine is one of the Crater Lakes, so named because it formed in the crater of a now extinct volcano. There is an excellent short walk through the forest where with luck you can see the Musky Rat Kangaroo. This Gondwana relict is Australia’s smallest and most primitive kangaroo and also its only diurnal kangaroo. It is also a good place to see the Tooth-billed Bowerbird. Unlike most bowerbirds this one does not make a bower. Instead the male bird makes a stage of by turning leaves over so that the silver underside is pointing skywards. It then chooses a nearby sapling which stands above the stage and sits on it singing its ventriloqual songs to attract a mate.

Malanda Area

Malanda is at the centre of the Tablelands dairy area. The usually lush green fields, often bordered by rainforest, are home to grazing dairy cattle and their accompanying Cattle Egrets The forested area around Malanda Falls is good for Lumholtz’s Tree Kangaroos. A short drive up Glen Allyn gives us another spot for these amazing animals and the chance for a locally grown cup of tea!

Not far away is our favourite spot for platypus!