Birdwatching

October 2011
"What a fantastic place and absolutely diving lodgings. The bed is unbelievably comfy! The attention to detail has not gone un-noticed. I simply love the outside kitchen. I could happily spend time in this place! Saw some great brids, (Pied and White-eared Monarchs, which we haven't seen elsewhere). We didn't just see the platypus,.. we watched it! There was a Lesser Sooty Owl on our way up the driveway and one called near the lodge later on, very nice. I will be back!" -- Mick Roderick Endemic Bird Tours Australia

Sweetwater Lodge not only offers outstanding accommodataion with a warm welcome, but also offers keen birders great opportunities for Birdwatching.
Fall out of bed at the crack of dawn and wander at will through the various habitats on offer on this expansive property.
Easily accessible walking tracks abound throughout the property.
Habitats include the Freshwater Creek, Mountain Rainforest, Open Grassland, Woodland and semi-retired fruit orchards. Australian Native Honey-flora gardens are also now well  established close to the lodges, being home to many native bird species.
 
Check out the wonderful Birders 3 day package under Rates.

Sweetwater Lodge is happy to organise guided birwatching tours around Sweetwater and also the surrounding area. Guided tours are conducted, to suit your itinerary, by extremely knowledgable local bird expert and guide, Carol Iles, who has over 12 years experience of birding in the Wet Tropics. Carol is very familiar with Sweetwater and its various habitats, and will be happy to talk to you about the extent of birding opportunities available on the property.


Summer Season Long Stay Special - weekly rate!
Base yourself at Sweetwater Lodge during the wet season and really experience the extent of the wonderful birdwatching opportunities and wildlife on offer at this amazing property, and in the surrounding area. Please enquire about our special wet season long stay deal, exclusively for birdwatchers!

Sweetwater Lodge in Julatten is also a great place to base yourself for Birdwatching in the surrounding area:

Several great spots in Julatten including Sweetwater Lodge!!
Abattoir Swamp 2 mins.
Mt Molloy 5 mins.
Mt Lewis NAtional Park 5 mins.
Mareeba Wetlands 20 mins.
Mt Carbine 20 mins.
Coast just 30 mins.
Hasties Swamp 40 mins.
Daintree 45 mins.
Atherton Tablelands 45 mins.
Cairns 1 hr. 20 mins.
Cooktown 2 1/4 hours.

We recommend local bird expert David "Chook" Crawford from Close-up Birding Adventures for extensive birdwatching tours of the wider area.

An overview of Birdwatching in the Mt Molloy and Julatten areas courtesy of Lloyd Nielsen, July 2010

North-eastern Queensland has one of the highest number of endemic species of birds in Australia. All can be found in the Mt Molloy - Julatten - Mt Carbine areas on the northern rim of the Atherton Tableland. This region with its great diversity of habitats, is also the richest for birdlife in Australia.

Using Mt Molloy, (just north of Mareeba and just 5 minutes from Sweetwater Lodge), as a central point, just over 300 species of birds, including all 13 Wet Tropics endemics, have been recorded within a 15km radius of the township. No other region in Australia can make such a claim, not even Kakadu!

A number of rare and elusive birds may be observed in north-eastern Queensland, e.g. the Southern Cassowary of the rainforests of the eastern rim; the Australian Bustard which roams the dry tropical grasslands to the west; the rare Red Goshawk, and the diminutive Lovely Fairy-wren. This region also represents the southern limit of the endangered Buff-breasted Button-quail, Australia's least known bird.

Many migrant species that have wintered to the north of Australia return to this region to breed, probably the most notable being the Buff-breasted Paradise- Kingfisher, surely one of the most eye-catching of Australia's birds. Waders, (shorebirds), that breed close to the Arctic circle return to take advantage of the warmth and plenty of the southern summer.


Here is a list of the birds that can be found in the Julatten/Mt Molloy area courtesy of Fine Feather Tours.

Orange-footed Scrubfowl Magpie Goose Wandering Whistling-Duck Pacific Black Duck Grey Teal Australasian Grebe Darter Little Pied Cormorant Little Black Cormorant White-faced Heron Great Egret Intermediate Egret Cattle Egret Australian White Ibis Straw-necked Ibis Black-necked Stork Pacific Baza Black-shouldered Kite Square-tailed Kite Black Kite Whistling Kite White-bellied Sea-Eagle Collared Sparrowhawk Brown Falcon Australian Hobby Australian Kestrel Purple Swamphen Bush Stone-curlew Masked Lapwing Brown Cuckoo-Dove Emerald Dove Squatter Pigeon Peaceful Dove Bar-shouldered Dove Woompoo Fruit-Dove Sulphur-crested Cockatoo Rainbow Lorikeet Scaly-breasted Lorikeet Red-winged Parrot Pale-headed Rosella Brush Cuckoo Gould’s Bronze-Cuckoo Common Koel Channel-billed Cuckoo Pheasant Coucal Tawny Frogmouth White-rumped Swiftlet Laughing Kookaburra Blue-winged Kookaburra Forest Kingfisher Sacred Kingfisher Little Kingfisher Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher Rainbow Bee-eater Lovely Fairy-wren Red-backed Fairy-wren Striated Pardalote Large-billed Scrub-wren Lesser Sooty Owl Southern Cassowary

Large-billed Gerygone Fairy Gerygone Noisy Friarbird Little Friarbird Blue-faced honeyeater Macleay’s Honeyeater Yellow-spotted Honeyeater Graceful Honeyeater Bridled Honeyeater Yellow-faced Honeyeater Yellow Honeyeater White-throated Honeyeater Brown Honeyeater White-cheeked Honeyeater Brown-backed Honeyeater Banded Honeyeater Dusky Honeyeater Scarlet Honeyeater Lemon-bellied Flycatcher Pale-yellow Robin Grey-crowned Babbler Grey Whistler Rufous Whistler Little Shrike-thrush Yellow-breasted Boatbill Black-faced Monarch Spectacled Monarch White-eared Monarch Pied Monarch Leaden Flycatcher Magpie-lark Grey Fantail Northern Fantail Willie Wagtail Spangled Drongo Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike White-breasted Cuckoo-shrike Varied Triller Olive backed Oriole Figbird White-breasted Woodswallow Victoria’s Riflebird Torresian Crow Spotted Catbird Great Bowerbird Richard’s Pipit Australian Pipit Double-barred Finch Red-browed Finch Chestnut-breasted Mannikin Yellow-bellied Sunbird Mistletoebird Welcome Swallow Tree Martin Fairy Martin Golden-headed Cisticola Silvereye Metallic Starling Common Myna