 |
| Regent Bower, a magnificent bird common near O'Rielly's Guesthouse |
- On the east side of the park is Binna Burra Mountain Lodge, which can be reached via Binna Burra Road from Beechmont Road
- On the west side (also known as the Green Mountains) is O'Rielly's Rainforest Guesthouse, which is reached via Lamington National Park Road via Canungra.
Both lodges provide superb, albeit but somewhat expensive accommodation, and both lodges have camping with reasonably good facilities. Lamington National Park is networked with over 160 kms of marked walking tracks.
 |
| Rainforest along the Coomera Track, near Binna Burra. |
Lamington’s vast forested region contains Australia's largest preserve of pristine sub-tropical rainforest, being one of the major upland subtropical rainforest remnants in the world and the most northern southern beech cool temperate rainforests in Australia. The park ranges from palm filled valleys with waterfalls and crystal clear rivers to mist covered tops (1100 metres) clothed in cool temperate rainforests dominated by Antarctic Beech trees. Amazingly the root system of one the oldest Antarctic beech trees has been measured at being over 5000 years old. With a myriad of ridges and cliff lined valleys, Lamington sits on a plateau that consists of the remains of a vast ancient volcano, the remnant core of Mount Warning. The central core of subtropical rainforest is bordered by a variety of other typical Australian vegetation types and the diversity of plants and animals reflects this. For example Lamington boasts over 160 bird species, 900 species of vascular plants, and 70 mammal species.
Lamington is famous for being one of the best places for seeing a range of specialist Australian rainforest species, including Albert's Lyrebird, Rufous Scrub-bird, Eastern Bristlebird, Paradise Riflebird, Australian Logrunner, Noisy Pitta, Regent Bowerbird, Russet-tailed and Bassian Thrush, Marbled Frogmouth and Sooty Owl. Other interesting birds include Australia Brush-turkey, Eastern Whipbird, Pale Yellow and Eastern Yellow Robin, Golden Whistler, Rose Robin, Brown Cuckoo-Dove, Wompoo and Topknot Pigeon and there are also records of the extremely rare 'Coxen’s Fig-parrot', the southernmost sub-species of the Double-eyed Fig-parrot. In spring and summer you get migrants species include Rufous Fantail, Rose-crowned Fruit-Dove, Spectacled, Black-faced and White-eared Monarchs, and cuckoos.
 |
| Noisy Pitta: listen for there distinctive 'walk to walk'. |
One of the most sought after species at Lamington is the rare and extremely elusive Rufous Scrub-bird. When I was at Lamington in July 2007 I had good views of Rufous Scrub-bird along the Coomera Walking Track. This was 4 km down Coomera Circuit (starting from Binna Burra Kiosk) in a patch of grassy heath immediately behind the first rocky lookout. Other birds seen along this track on that day included Albert's Lyrebird, Noisy Pitta, Regent Bowerbird, Green Catbird, Pale-yellow Robin and Logrunner. Mammals seen along here included Red-throated and Red-legged Pademelon and a Long-nosed Bandicoot.
The main area for seeing Rufous Scrubbird is along the famous Border Track. This follows the border between New South Wales and Queensland along the top of the McPherson Range, linking Binna Burra to the O'Reilly guesthouse at Green Mountains. The walking distance of is 21 kilometres, so it's not short, and generally takes 7 to 8 hours to complete, allowing for time to stop and look at the great birds you see along the way. From either end they can usually organise transportation back to the side that you've come from. Check with the lodges for details. The best area for the birds is between Bithongabel (Mountain, 1198) and Mt Merino (1148), and the Mt Merino loop, particularly in areas of beech forest (where some of the trees may be 3,000 to 4,000 years old) with a grassy or heavily grown understorey.
For general birding:
- From O'Rielly's well known tracks include the Box Forest Circuit (10.9 km or 4 hours return from O'Reilly's), Toolona Creek Circuit (17.4 km or 6 hours return), and the Albert River Circuit (20.6 km or 7 hours return to O'Reilly's). It is also worth having a look at Python Rock Lookout (excellent for Albert's Lyrebird in wetter areas and Red-browed Treecreeper in drier areas) and Morans Falls, with the area around the carpark a good sites for birding. Green Catbird can usually been seen in the trees immediately above the walks entrance. Mick's Tower is also a recommended stakeout for the Marbled Frogmouth. The walk to Yerralahla pool (also known as the Blue Pool) is an excellent walk, and a particularly good walk to see Noisy Pitta.
- From Binna Burra I can recommend the Commera Circuit (17.4 km return to Binna Burra, 7 hrs - or just do the walk to the Coomera Falls Lookout and back, approx 10km), the Lower Bellbird Circuit (12km return, 4hrs), and for a really nice short walk head down the Border Track and cut back across to the Coomera Track (just over 500 metres from the start of the walk) and then walk back again. Most of the rainforest specialists can be seen here.
Two birds which often create problems of identification because they look so similar are Russet-tailed Thrush and Bassian Thrush. The Russet-tailed Thrush is actually more common and widespread than the Bassian at Lamington. The main difference is the white in the tail, looking specifically for the white outer tail feathers in the Russet-tailed Thrush. Only the corners of the Bassian tail is white while the Russet-tailed has white sides for the greater length. The Russet-tailed is a slightly more slender, finer bird that the Bassian which is more plumpish. The Bassian inhabited the higher altitudes down to about 850 metres, while the Bassian inhabited the lower areas, up to about 1,000 metres. The call is diagnostic too - calling early in the morning and just before dark. The Russet-tailed has a "phee-phoo" call, and the Bassian sounds very similar to a Blackbird. Once you've worked at the basic differences both species start be distinctive and not overly difficult to differentiate.
Duck Creek Road is a good site for Glossy Black-Cockatoo, Red-browed Treecreeper, Spotted Quail-thrush, Variegated and Red-backed Fairy-wrens, Painted Button-quail and in the drier patches and scrubby areas of rainforest and Lantana, Black-breasted Button-quail and Eastern Bristlebird have been recorded.
Raptors include Grey Goshawk (usually the grey morph, rather than white) , Collared Sparrowhawk, Peregrine Falcon and Wedge-tailed Eagle, and night birds include Tawny Frogmouth and Boobook Owl and the rarer rainforest dwelling Marbled Frogmouth and Sooty Owl.
Some of the other interesting mammals in the park include the Grey Kangaroo, Red-necked Pademelon, Long-nosed Bandicoot, Sugar Glider, Mountain Brushtail and Common Ring-tail Possum, Common Planigale, Greater Glider, Koala, the vulnerable Large-eared Pied Bat, and Platypus can be found in the larger creeks. Other interesting animals to be seen at Lamington include Carpet Python, Masked Mountain Frog, Richmond Birdwing Butterfly, the Giant Panda Snail, Lamington Spiny Crayfish (or Blue Mountain Crayfish), which is only found on the Lamington plateau in creek and pools above an altitude of 450 metres.
Lamington NP Bird List.
- Masked Lapwing (Vanellus miles)
- White Ibis (Threskiornis aethiopica)
- Dusky Moorhen (Gallinula tenebrosa)
- Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciliosa)
- Australian Wood Duck (Chenonetta jubata)
- Australian Brush-turkey (Alectura lathami) Common; one hung around our balcony.
- Black-shouldered Kite (Elanus axillaris) Binna Burra Rd.
- Nankeen Ketrel (Falco cenchroides) Binna Burra Rd.
- Wedge-tailed Eagle (Aquila audax) Binna Burra Rd.
- Brown Cuckoo-Dove (Macropygia phasianella) Seen on Coomera Circuit.
- Wonga Pigeon (Leucosarcia melanoleuca) Single bird seen near O'Rielly's.
- Crested Pigeon (Ocyphaps lophotes) Few birds seen on roadside in area.
- Topknot Pigeon (Lopholaimus antarcticus) Seen in rainforest Binna Burra.
- Galah (Cacatua roseicapilla)
- Sulphur-crested Cockatoo (Cacatua galerita)
- Rainbow Lorikeet (Trichoglossus haematodus)
- Scaly-breasted Lorikeet (Trichoglossus chlorolepidotus) Common in Canungra.
- Crimson Rosella (Platycercus elegans)
- Fan-tailed Cuckoo (Cacomantis flabelliformis) One heard on Coomera Track.
- Southern Boobook (Ninox boobook) Heard at night Binna Burra.
- Laughing Kookaburra (Dacelo novaeguineae) Common.
- Sacred Kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus) O'Rielly's Winery.
- Rainbow Bee-eater (Merops ornatus) O'Rielly's Winery.
- Noisy Pitta (Pitta versicolor) Heard on Coomera Circuit.
- Albert's Lyrebird (Menura alberti) Python Rock Track, Coomera Circuit and Border Track
- Rufous Scrub-bird (Atrichornis rufescens) Coomera Circuit.
- White-throated Treecreeper (Cormobates leucophaeus) Common.
- Variegated Fairy-wren (Malurus lamberti) Forest edge Binna Burra
- Superb Fairywren (Malurus cyaneus)
- Red-backed Fairy-wren (Malurus melanocephalus)
- Spotted Pardalote (Pardalotus punctatus) common
- Striated Pardalote (Pardalotus striatus)
- Yellow-throated Scrubwren (Sericornis citreogularis) Common on rainforest tracks.
- White-browed Scrubwren (Sericornis frontalis) Common around Binna Burra.
- Large-billed Scrubwren (Sericornis magnirostris) Common around Binna Burra.
- Brown Thornbill (Acanthiza pusilla)
- Striated Thornbill (Acanthiza lineata)
- Little Friarbird (Philemon citreogularis) Around Binna Burra.
- Blue-faced Honeyeater (Entomyzon cyanotis)
- Noisy Miner (Manorina melanocephala) Common Binna Burra, etc.
- Lewin's Honeyeater (Meliphaga lewinii) Most common honeyeater.
- Brown Honeyeater (Lichmera indistincta) Lower down hill.
- Yellow-faced Honeyeater (Lichenostomus Chrysops)
- Eastern Spinebill (Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris) Common.
- Rose Robin (Petroica rosea). One seen balcony at Binna Burra.
- Pale-yellow Robin (Tregellasia capito) Rainforest at Binna Burra.
- Eastern Yellow Robin (Eopsaltria australis)
- Logrunner (Orthonyx temminckii) Fairly common rainforest. Listen for the tell-tale rustling of leaves.
- Grey Shrike-thrush (Colluricincla harmonica)
- Little Shrike-thrush (Colluricincla megarhyncha) One on creek O'Rielly's Winery
- Grey Fantail (Rhipidura fuliginosa) Common.
- Willie Wagtail (Rhipidura leucophrys)
- Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike (Coracina novaehollandiae)
- Green Catbird (Ailuroedus crassirostris) Rainforest on Bellbird Track, Coomera Track, Border Track, the beginning of the Python Track. Interestingly no cat-like calls were heard, only the robin like 'tick tick' call.
- Satin Bowerbird (Ptilonorhynchus violaceus).
- Regent Bowerbird (Sericulus chrysocephalus) O'Reilly's, start of the Python Rock walk; at Binna Burra roadside vegetation next to the grassy area.
- Red-browed Finch (Neochmia temporalis)
- Welcome Swallow (Hirundo neoxena)
- Tree Martin (Hirundo nigricans)
- Silvereye (Zosterops lateralis)
- Brown Gerygone (Gerygone mouki) Rainforest walks around Binna Burra.
- Bassian Thrush (Zoothera lunulate) Rainforest walks around Binna Burra.
- Eastern Whipbird (Psophodes olivaceus)
- Mistletoebird (Dicaeum hirundinaceum)
- Pied Butcherbird (Cracticus nigrogularis)
- Australian Magpie (Gymnorhina tibicen)
- Pied Currawong (Strepera graculina)
Mammals
- Red-legged Pademelon (Thylogale stigmatica) Common Binna Burra and rainforest tracks.
- Red-Necked Pademelon (Thylogale thetis) Grassy areas Binna Burra.
- Long-nosed Bandicoot ((Perameles nasuta) Seen at night near the carpark at Binna Burra.
- Black flying-fox (Pteropus alecto) Small colony along river near Cunungra.
- Eastern Grey Kangaroo (Macropus giganteus) Farmland in lower areas.
- Red-necked Wallaby (Macropus parryi)
