KEN CROSS IN FAR NORTH QLD: MOSSMAN TO WETHERBY STATION VIA THE DAINTREE RIVER AND MT LEWIS

I am writing this after a very full day which kicked off about 4-30am; an early start to leave Mossman to arrive in Daintree village for an early morning river cruise. Now it is nearly 8-30 and we are at a working cattle ranch, Wetherby Station near Mt Molloy, having enjoyed the excellent hospitality of the hosts here, John and Kath Colless.

Daintree Village and cruise.

Murray Hunt on the Daintree

Shining Flycatcher

Papuan Frogmouth

Daintree River

Brown backed Honeyeater nest or sunbird?

Shining Flycatcher male on nest

Shining Flycatcher

Daintree River - group #2

Common Tree Snake

Green Oriole

Australian Swiftlet

Daintree River

Australian Swiftlet

Mt Lewis.

Tooth billed Catbird - a Wet Tropics endemic

Tooth billed Catbird display area

Bridled Honeyeater - a Wet Tropics endemic

Chowchilla - a Wet Tropics endemic

Red bellied Black snake

poor picture of an Atherton Scrubwren

Wetherby Homestead

Wetherby Station. The property is located on the western edge of the Great Dividing Range, North West of Cairns in Far North Queensland. The township of Mount Molloy is 4 kms from the homestead. The Mulligan Highway between Mareeba and Mount Molloy runs north-south through the property. The property straddles two bioregions, the Wet Tropics and the Einasleigh Uplands. Wetherby Station has a unique range of environments ranging from rainforest to Savannah grasslands and bush. The property has a typical savannah landscape – open woodland with a grassy understorey. The significant watercourses of Little Mitchell River, Rifle Creek and Spear Creek run through Wetherby, providing ideal habitats for many species of birds, reptiles, frogs and mammals.

A list of species observed during ongoing audits can be accessed. Northern Gulf Resource Management Group hosted a naturalist weekend visit to Wetherby during 2008 when 74 species of birds, 12 butterflies and 114 species of flora were identified.