Lloyd,
I couldn't agree more - this is an excellent summary of a most beautiful
area. It is making me want to go back there yet again. Tim, somehow you
have to find the time to do as Lloyd suggests.
Happy birding,
Fiona Anderson
From: Lloyd Nielsen <>
To:
Subject: [Birding-Aus] Cape York Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 11:03:36 -0800
Tim,
As someone who is very familiar with Cape York Peninsula (I have been
visiting for close to 20 years, live at the base of the Peninsula and have
assisted Klaus with his annual Bird Week at Bamaga in January for a number
of years), I agree 100% with Michael's wise words. It is unwise to attempt
to travel up the Peninsula (no further north than Lakeland Downs) from
December on. You may get there OK but there is a good chance your vehicle
(or the vehicle you hire) might be stranded for months - also you yourself
would most likely have to be rescued! In recent years, there have been late
wet seasons and some quite dry wet seasons and people have been driving up
and back which has led to complacency. This wet season, the Laura River (at
Laura at the base of the Peninsula) has been metres over the bridge for
several months. Local people when needing to travel up the Cape in December
watch the weather closely and if the road is still open, drive non-stop as
fast as possible. Places like Lakefield NP are closed over the wet season
and there are heavy fines for entering through this period.
About 12 years ago not long after I had moved to the area, I had my own
near-disaster experience. It was mid-December, just north of Cooktown on a
road leading between Cooktown and Lakelfield NP. I missed being stranded
between two rivers by minutes, through complacency (I actually had a Red
Goshawk sitting 30 metres from me for 40 minutes - best view I have ever
had - and was reluctant to leave). I beat the floodwaters by about 30
minutes - it was quite fine where I was but there had been storms on the
headwaters overnight. Had I not beaten the floodwaters, my vehicle would
have been stranded between those rivers for close to 5 months. The other
frightening thing was that there were no stations or human habitation
between those rivers and I would have had to wait for rescue after the
alarm went up that I was missing. Swimming across those flooded rivers at
that time would have been inviting a quick trip to another world! Even now
when I look back I cannot believe how lucky I was.
Ron Stannard, the previous manager of Kingfisher Park lived at Bamaga for
many years and frequently travelled the road. His advice to visitors was
never try to attempt to go up there after the end of November. Tropical
storms normally start about that time (the start of the wet season). The
road is mostly unsealed and most streams/gullies do not have bridges over
them - road crossings go right down into the stream beds and up the other
side. It is common to have a metre or more of water running in the streams
and gullies from those storms (about 5 metres in my case!)
At one Bird Week a couple of years ago during the first week of January,
some Melbourne television people arrived in Bamaga in large 4WD vehicles
covered completely in mud. They had got through to about 60 km S of Bamaga
where they hit boggy roads. They got through to Bamaga after a pretty
harrowing few hours but there was no way they could drive back. Luckily
they were able to get the vehicles back to Cairns on the weekly barge
service (the barge does not run every day!) They were a group of
worried people and did not enjoy their extended stay in Bamaga as some had
commitments back home. In addition, if you are travelling through by road
to Bamaga, there is a ferry across the Jardine River. I am not sure of
recent requirements but it was unmanned through much of the wet season
(road closed) and you had to make prior arrangements to get someone to
crank it up so that you could cross.
Looking at your bird list, I think you have a few safe options. (Driving up
in December is definitely not one of them!)
With a few species, you have a better chance in the Wet Tropics around
Cairns, Daintree and the Atherton Tableland e.g. Great-billed Heron, Grass
Owl, Blue-faced Parrot-Finch, Black-throated Finch. The safest and wisest
move would be to spend a few days around this area then do one of Klaus's
tours (Kirrama Wildlife Tours) - either his Iron Range tour late in the
year, or his Bird Week at Bamaga in early January (fly in). Unless there is
heavy flooding in the northern Wet Tropics, you will be
able to move around OK in this area where it is rare for roads to be cut
through December. If you do both his tours i.e. in various years, you would
be fairly certain to get all of the species.
If travelling by yourselves (fly in), once you are at Bamaga, you are
pretty right - on many days through the wet season, you can drive right to
the tip (4WD). Iron Range is a different kettle of fish however. If you fly
in, you have problems with accommodation and transport. The airport is
quite a few km (10 from memory) from the rainforest. Also bear in mind that
it is extremely hot up there at this time of year - even sleeping at night
can be difficult. Klaus's trips are designed around air-conditioning and
comfort. Another important consideration too is that Klaus knows where to
find all those species - some can be tricky.
Iron Range will give you Eclectus Parrot, Red-cheeked Parrot and
Green-backed Honeyeater which are absent from the Bamaga/Lockerbie areas.
There is a fourth species absent from Bamaga/Lockerbie which people
overlook - the Double-eyed Fig-Parrot (Marshall's form). However, at a
Bamaga Bird Week you will also get Pale White-eye, Mangrove Golden
Whistler, Red-headed Honeyeater, Mangrove Robin (boat trip to the islands
included in the tour). There is also an option to travel across to Boigu
Island (against the PNG coast) to get some of the PNG species on Australian
territory.
You mentioned Chestnut-backed Button-quail - I presume you mean
Buff-breasted Button-quail. You might be super lucky and get it at Iron
Range but I would not hold my breath over this one anywhere. We have been
trying to study it around Mt Molloy for many years but it is an extremely
difficult species, sometimes putting in a rare appearance and then usually
disappearing overnight. People who have seen this bird should consider it
next to a Night Parrot sighting!
Lloyd Nielsen
Mt Molloy Nth Qld
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