Birding and Ecology in Daintree

Visit to Daintree National Park, Mossman Gorge National Park and a birding cruise on Daintree River

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Driving is the best way to get around

We stayed at a charming B&B called the Red Mill House in the town of Daintree. It is landscaped with fruit trees that are well utilized by native birds and bats. The proprietors are a retired English couple who are devout birdwatchers.

Today we took an early morning boat trip to see birds aboard a motorized row boat with Specialized River Tours. The owner of Specialized River Tours, Chris Dahlberg, came by our lodge at 5:45 a.m. to wake us. The boat was scheduled to depart at 6:30 a.m. It was pouring cats-and-dogs, but the boat, which was fully booked (with no cancellations) left on time. Besides us, there was an American couple, a man from Ireland, and another man. Everyone (except for Robert and I, and the other woman) had great eyes for spotting things and an excellent knowledge of birds. Cruising the Daintree River, we saw lots of birds despite the rain: including cormorants, anhingas, pelicans, flycatchers, and a warbler-like bird (Australia no longer has any birds which are classified as warblers). We even saw a crocodile which really doesn’t look much like an alligator. It lacked the gator’s smile among other things.

Daintree National Park has boardwalk paths examining different phenomena. One walk features the evolution of ecosystems from 30,000 years ago to the present; another deals with horticulture; and a third examines different ecosystems such as a swamp dominated by mangroves and strangler figs; a wet forest with tree ferns and epiphytes; a dry forest dominated by eucalyptus; and a rain forest which developed on an old sandy beach with limited nutrients available. In this type of rain forest there is a much greater distance between trees and plants than in other types of rain forest because survival is difficult. It was an interesting day.

There is a genuine (non-tourist) Aboriginal village in Mossman. We tried to sign up for an Aboriginal led hike of the Gorge but guided hikes are not offered on weekends. We hiked by ourselves on a three kilometer loop trail through forest, past flowing gorges. There are signs identifying the trees and the uses the indigenous population make of the fauna. Signs also discuss the interactions among specific types of trees, insects and animals, and the whole recycling process within the ecological system. The Park is wonderful.