Southern Queensland and northern New South Wales

Fauna, flora and landscapes of southeast Queensland and northern New South Wales

local region & wildlife

Southeast Queensland and northeast New South Wales (subtropical eastern Australia)

Includes some special regions such as the Scenic Rim and the Rainforest Way (a route which connects the World Heritage Rainforests known as the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia), and the Queensland part is included in the Great Sunshine Way. Much of it coincides with the National Landscape area of the Mt Warning Caldera.

The Lamington National Park and the Border Ranges National Park together form the largest area of rainforest outside of the tropics, not just in Australia, but anywhere in ther world, and have a martvellous system of walking tracks which together with the moderate climate throughout the year and being in a country free of major political strife, desparate poverty and large predatory animals, makes them one of the world's most accessible rainforests.

It is one of third richest area in Australia in diversity of habitat and wildlife (after the wet tropics and the Stirling Ranges). Over half the bird species of Australia (including all of its raptors - eagles, falcons etc.) have been seen in this region. Land birds (such as koels, channel-billed cuckoos, dollarbirds and rose-crowned fruitdoves) and many wading birds regularly migrate, others appeariung less predictably as nomads or vagrants. There are more mammal species here than anywhere else in Australia (including the country's richest diversity of macropods - kangaroo family members), and a rich diversity also of reptiles, frogs and other wildlife. Many plant and animal species reach their northern or southern limits here, this overlap adding to the diversity. There are also many creatures found no-where else, including unusual species such as the hip-pocket frog (the male shelters the eggs and tadpoles in groinal skin-folds) and Albert's lyrebird (one of the world's greatest mimics).

All is not rosy. Spotted-tailed quolls (spotted carnivorous cat-sized marsupials), Coxen's fig parrots, eastern bristlebirds and several other species once common are nowadays much rarer. Many trees and other plants are regarded as endangered. However, the region remains one of Australia's top centres of biodiversity.

The Border Ranges

One of the world's largest shield volcanoes (the centre of which is now known as Focal Peak) started to erupt about 24,000,000 years ago, followed by another of similar size whose centre is now called Mt Warning. Between them, and along with a slightly older volcano in what we call the Main Range, the gradual erosion of this high country created a highly scenic landscape and high-nutrient soils. The easternmost mountains are well-watered, but create a 'rain-shadow' to the western slopes and valleys, resulting in different kinds of forest, now harbouring a variety of wildlife. The world's largest tract of subtropical rainforest (that is, close to the tropics but not between the official tropic boundaries, the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer) spans the Queensland/NSW border, including cool-temprrate forest with Gondwanan-linked Antarctic beech trees and a profusion of ferns and mosses on the moutain tops, lush palm gullies and massive trees in the typical subtropical rainforest, and "dry rainforest" (where plants are adapted to winter droughts on the western slopes). There are also several kinds of eucalypt forest, sheoak communities, heathlands and other vegetation types. Wildlife is plentiful (although most mammals are small, and active only at night). Gondwanan-linked land-snails are especially diverse. Birds tend to be active (and often vocal) most of the day in the rainforests (as compared to more open habitats where far fewer are seen durinng the middle of the day). There have been at least 150 bird species and almost 50 mammal species sighted in the Border Ranges National Park.

Mt Warning - the former centre of one of the ancient shield volcanies. It used to stretch to the point where the photo was taken and beyond, and similar distance in all other directions, but the Tweed River and its tributaries have carved a wide and fertile valley over the passt 20 million years or so.

Marine life

Humpback whales migrate northwards through here from around May to their breeding grounds in warm subtropical and tropical waters, then pass through again until October or November to return to the rich feeding grounds of Antarctica. They can often be seen from the coast on the mainland, or from Stradbroke or Moreton or other Islands, and there are several whale-watching tours. Dolphins are often seen from many parts of the coast.

Dugongs, unusual amongst sea mammals in being herbivorous, reach their southernmost limit in eastern Australia in Moreton Bay.

Sea turtles can be seen from coastal cliffs or during marine-based tours.

Small coral reefs fringe some of the islands, and the fish life, while not as diverse as the outer reef, is still impressive.

There are also beautiful white sandy beaches, some sheltered and some with pounding surf, rocky cliffs and intertidal platforms with many kinds of small creatures adapted to life in this difficult habitat, and mangroves which provide breeding grounds for many creatures important to the food web of fish and other sea creatures.

Also see notes on Brisbane and the Southern Queensland Wildlife Trail www.wildlifetourism.org.au

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ANIMALS SEEN in the wild on 3-day WILDLIFE TOUR with Araucaria Ecotours

PLEASE NOTE: Although we can guarantee you will see wildlife, we cannot guarantee any particular species on any particular tour (although there are some we would be very surprised not to see!)

Mammals:

* platypus (more often than not in warm months, less often in the shorter days of winter)
* echidna (occasionally)
* brush-tailed phascogale (very rarely)
* yellow-footed antechinus (occasionally)
* Long-nosed bandicoot (occasionally)
* northern brown bandicoot (occasionally)
* koala (often in wild - almost always in Koala Information Centre)
* greater glider (occasionally)
* yellow-bellied glider (very rarely)
* sugar glider (occasionally)
* ? possible sighting of a feathertail glider
* brushtail possum (almost always)
* red-necked pademelon (occasionally)
* red-necked wallaby (always)
* whiptail wallaby (almost always)
* eastern grey kangaroo (always)
* swamp wallaby (occasionally)
* red-legged pademelon (occasionally)
* red-necked pademelon (occasionally)
* other small bats (fairly often but briefly - difficult to identify)
* black flying fox fox (always - thousands) - a large fruit-and-nectar-eating bat
* little red flying-fox (always - thousands) - a large fruit-and-nectar-eating bat
* grey-headed flying-fox (always - thousands) - a large fruit-and-nectar-eating bat
* bottle-nosed dolphin - usually
* humpbacked whale - occasionally May - October (in distance)

Birds:

* brush turkey (occasionally)
* brown quail (occasionally)
* black-breasted button-quail (very rarely)
* pelican (fairly often)
* little pied cormorant (more often than not)
* black cormorant (fairly often)
* little grebe (often)
* black duck (always)
* black swan (often)
* grey teal (fairly often)
* plumed whistling duck (fairly often)
* wandering whistling duck (occasionally)
* wood duck (always)
* magpie goose (fairly often)
* dusky moor-hen (always)
* Eurasian coot (always)
* purple swamphen (always)
* Lewin's rail (very occasionally)
* nankeen night-heron (very occasionally)
* cattle egret (always)
* intermediate egret (fairly often)
* black-necked stork (fairly often)
* yellow-billed spoonbill (fairly often)
* royal spoonbill (fairly often)
* white ibis (almost always)
* strawnecked ibis (always)
* glossy ibis (occasionally)
* pied stilt (often)
* comb-crested jacana (often)
* masked lapwing (always)
* red-kneed dotterell (occasionally)
* black-fronted dotterell
*white-faced heron (almost always)
* Lathan's snipe (occasionally)
* white-faced heron (almost always)
* white-necked heron (fairly often)
* brown falcon (fairly often)
* peregrine falcon (occasionally)
* Australian hobby (occasionally)
* nankeen kestrel (almost always)
* Pacific baza (fairly often)
* wedge-tailed eagle (fairly often)
* black-shouldered kite (often)
* white-breasted sea-eagle (occasionally)
* brown goshawk (occasionally)
* brown cuckoo dove (often)
* wompoo fruitdove (fairly often)
* crested pigeon (always)
* bar-shouldered dove(almost always)
* crimson rosella (almost always)
* eastern rosella (almost always)
* pale-headed rosella (always)
* galah (always)
* king parrot (fairly often)
* rainbow lorikeet (always)
* red-tailed black cockatoo (fairly often)
* yellow-tailed black cockatoo (fairly often)
* scaly-breasted lorikeet (always)
* sulphur-crested cockatoo (almost always)
* channel-billed cuckoo (often in warm months)
* koel (often in warm months)
* pheasant coucal (almost always)
* shining Bronze-cuckoo (rarely)
* fan-tailed cuckoo (fairly often)
* barn owl (often)
* boobook owl (often)
* tawny frogmouth (often)
* marbled frogmouth (very occasionally)
* owlet nightjar (occasionally)
* white-throated nightjar (occasionally)
* dollarbird (almost always in warm months)
* forest kingfisher (fairly often)
* laughing kookaburra (always)
* rainbow bee-eater (fairly often)
* Sacred Kingfisher (fairly often)
* azure kingfisher (fairly often)
* noisy pitta (occasionally)
* varied sitella (occasionally)
* white-throated tree-creeper (fairly often)
* red-backed fairy-wren (often)
* variegated fairy-wren (often)
* superb fairy-wren (often)
* buff-rumped thornbill (occasionally)
* striated thornbill (occasionally)
* brown thornbill (often)
* white-browed scrub-wren (often)
* striated pardalote (often)
* spotted pardalote (often)
* bell miner (always)
* blue-faced honeyeater (often)
* Lewin's Honeyeater (always)
* noisy miner (always)
* noisy friarbird (almost always)
* yellow-faced honeyeater (often)
* white-throated honeyeater (often)
* scarlet honeyeater (occasionally)
* eastern whipbird (almost always)
* grey-crowned babbler (occasionally)
* eastern yellow robin (almost always) - not related to Northern Hemisphere robins
* grey shrike-thrush (often)
* little shrike-thrush (occasionally)
* golden whistler (fairly often)
* rufous whistler (fairly often)
* crested shrike-tit (very occasionally)
* black-faced monarch (occasionally)
* spectacled monarch (occasionally)
* magpie-lark (always)
* grey fantail (almost always)
* rufous fantail (often)
* willy wagtail (always)
* leaden flycatcher (occasionally)
* spangled drongo (fairly often)
* figbird (almost always)
* olive-backed oriole (often)
* catbird (fairly often)
* regent bowerbird (occasionally)
* satin bowerbird (fairly often)
* blackfaced cuckooshrike (always)
* varied triller (occasionally)
* Australian magpie (always)
* pied butcherbird (always)
* grey butcherbird (always)
* pied currawong (almost always)
* Torresian crow (always)
* welcome swallow (always)
* Richard's pipit (occasionally)
* double-bar finch (occasionally)
* chestnut-breasted finch (occasionally)
* red-browed finch (often)

Reptiles (mostly in warm months):

* short-necked turtle (almost always)
* robust velvet gecko (always except coldest weather)
* bearded dragon (often)
* southern angle-headed dragon (occasionally)
* eastern water dragon (fairly often)
* other dragon lizards (occasionally)
* lace monitor (fairly often)
* land mullet (fairly often)
* pink-tongued skink (occasionally)
* grass skink (almost always)
* delicate skink (often)
* secretive skink (occasionally)
* other skinks (often)
* small-eyed snake (occasionally) - shy snake, usually seen from bus window at night
* yellow-faced whipsnake (occasionally) - shy snake, usually curled up under rocks
* red-naped snake (very rarely)
* Stephen's banded snake (rarely)
* golden-crowned snake (occasionally)
* green tree snake (occasionally) - harmless
* brown tree snake (occasionally) - harmless
* carpet python (fairly often) - harmless
* spotted python (very rarely) - harmless

Frogs (mostly on warm wet nights):

* broad-palmed rocket frog Litoria latopalmata (fairly often)
* eastern sedgefrog Litoria fallax (fairly often)
* green tree frog Litoria caerula (often)
* stony creek frog Litoria leseuri (fairly often)
* striped rocket frog Litoria nasuta (fairly often)
* naked or purple tree frog Litoria rubella (often)
* emerald-spotted tree-frog Litoria peronii (occasionally)
* striped marsh-frog Lymnodynatses peronii (fairly often)
* spotted marsh-frog Lymnodynatses tasmaniensis (fairly often)
* ornate burrowing frog Lymnodynatses ornatus (fairly often)
* scarlet-sided pobblebonk Lymnodynatses terraeginae (occasionally)
* great barred frog Mixophyes fasiculatus (heard fairly often, seen occasionally)
(plus others we hear at night, varying with season and weather but always something calling)
(also the introduced cane toad Bufo marinus, almost always)

Fish:

* long-finned eel (often)
* eel-tailed catfish (also called dewfish) (often - sometimes in summer we see their nests)
* Australian smelt (often)
* freshwater mullet (often)

Also: many invertebrate creatures.

Butterflies include:

* wanderer (the "monarch" of North America) (almost always)
* lesser wanderer (often)
* blue tiger (fairly often - sometimes in large numbers)
* common crow (often)
* common eggfly (fairly often)
* blue triangle (occasionally)
* orchard swallowtail (fairly often)
* evening brown (fairly often)
* caper white (fairly often - sometimes in large numbers)
* common yellow (often)
* various blues (almost always)

Spiders (mostly harmless, many only active at night) include:

* trapdoor spiders (mostly their burrows seen)
* huntsman spiders (big but not dangerous)
* wolf spiders (bright eyeshine at night)
* golden orb-weaver (sometimes very big, but not dangerous)
* other orb-weavers
* leaf-curl spider
* water spider
* giant water spider
* spiny spider
* crab spiders
* jumping spiders
* St Andrew's cross spider

the only dangerous spiders in the district - red-backed and funnelweb - have so far not been seen on tour (we do sometimes see funnels of funnelwebs in the forests, but they are not active during the day, and even at night you'd have to try pretty hard to get bitten)

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