What's About: Cairns & Tablelands Birding, 3 - 9 August 2026

A better week for quality, if not for numbers. Effort eased off on the Tablelands (around 56 observers over the week against 63 the week before), while Cairns held steady near 97. But the Tablelands more than made up for the quieter turnout by producing the best run of unusual birds we have seen in a while, most of it up around the southern Tablelands towns.

A rich few days on the Tablelands

The standout was a Spotted Quail-thrush near Irvinebank, a cracking and elusive bird that is always a highlight when one turns up. It came in the middle of an unusually good stretch: a couple of night birds in a Masked Owl and a red-morph Australian Boobook out towards Ravenshoe, and a yellow Australasian Figbird at Speewah. Four genuinely notable birds in a few days is a good week in anyone's book, and a reminder that the quieter southern Tablelands country repays a visit.

Arrivals and movement

The season kept ticking over too. A Little Eagle at Yungaburra and a Double-barred Finch down at Gordonvale were the pick of the fresh arrivals, with a Yellow-tinted Honeyeater on the western Tablelands. Latham's Snipe, the returning migrant we have been following, turned up inland this week as well as on the coast, a nice sign of birds still filtering through.

Where everyone was

Up top the Julatten patch and Abattoir Swamp did the steady work, with Crater Lakes and Hasties Swamp always worth the stop. On the coast Cattana Wetlands and the Daintree drew the crowds, and Saturday brought a real burst of activity across both regions. Even in a mixed week the good sites keep producing.

Flagged as unusual by eBird

Six species were flagged as unusual by eBird over the week. As always, we treat these as provisional until they are confirmed:

• Spotted Quail-thrush - reported near Irvinebank.
• Australian Masked-Owl - reported near Ravenshoe.
• Australian Boobook (red morph) - reported on the Tablelands.
• Australasian Figbird (yellow) - reported at Speewah.
• Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo - further reports from the Tablelands, near Mount Molloy.
• Latham's Snipe - reported on the coast and inland.

These records are flagged as unusual by eBird's automated filters and may be reviewed, corrected or withdrawn afterwards. We re-check each one against eBird before posting, but a flagged sighting is provisional until it is confirmed.

Our thanks, as ever, to everyone who got out and logged what they saw; the whole picture is built from those checklists.

That was the week around Cairns and the Tablelands. The good birds are about, so it is a fine time to be out.