Rinyirru (Lakefield) National Park; a vast wild Queensland reserve

In the 1990s I first visited what was then Lakefield National Park, north of Cooktown at the base of Cape York Peninsula. I only stayed 3 nights the first time and though I thought it was one of the most magnificent parks I'd ever seen it took me 30 years to get back there. In retrospect I realise that I was helped the first time by the fact that it was in May, when the wet season floods were just receding from the plains and birds were active and breeding. The rains dominate from December to March, when at the peak the park is one vast wetland. The rains begin to ease during April and the waters start to recede. These days the park is closed for six months of the year, from the start of December to the end of May,  Last year we visited in August when things were drying out, and had to earlier than planned due to problems with the trailer fridge, which in turned damaged the trailer battery. Nonetheless it was a superb stay at two different camp sites, separated by a glorious drive.

Sweetwater Lake in the early morning in the north of the park. It is more than unwise to camp
near water because of crocodiles, so we had to walk about 30 metres from our camp for this view.

Nifold Plain in the north of the park.

Rinyirru is at the end of the red arrow in the far north-east of Australia.

Rinyirru is huge, covering nearly 540,000 hectares; it is some 120k from south (near the Old 
Laura entrance station) to north, on Princess Charlotte Bay. Our two camps are marked in
green; they are 105km apart by road. The road through the park (Lakefield Road) is a good one, 
unsealed but well maintained, and is accessible by sturdy two-wheel drive as long it is dry, 
but most of the side-roads to camping areas are 4WD only. We came from Cooktown,
to the south-east, and exited in the north-west to Musgrave Roadhouse on the 
Peninsula Development Road, the highway up Cape York Peninsula.

Rinyirru is the second-largest national park in Queensland (after the Munga-Thirri-Simpson Desert National Park). Its origins lie in the 1978 purchase by the Queensland government of Laura and Lakefield Stations for the purpose of forming a park, which was declared in the following year. I find this intriguing and surprising, as this was a notoriously ultra-conservative and corruption-riddled government, but I've not been able to find any background to the decision. Local Indigenous traditional owners were appalled that they had been left out of any consultation around the process and in 1992 lodged a claim with the Land Court of Queensland which in 1996 recommended that the land be ceded to them. Fifteen years of negotiations followed, culminating in a hand-over as Cape York Peninsula Aboriginal Land (CYPAL) by the Anna Bligh government in June 2011, when the name of the park officially changed to Rinyirru. The park is now managed jointly by eight clans of traditional owners and the Queensland Government. 

 

In a park this size there is inevitably a range of habitats, though diverse woodlands, mostly of eucalypts, dominate.

Typical roadside woodland in the south of the park along the main road. 
Darwin Stringybark Eucalyptus tetrodonta and Woollybutt E. miniata are
prominent in these woodlands.

Slightly different woodland with gums (ie smooth-barked eucalypts),
near our camp at 12 Mile Lagoon.

Along Lakefield Road heading north from Hanns Crossing the woodland becomes lower and sparser, with grassy understorey.

Big termite mounds, both these fluted ones and other massive rounded 'castles', 
are found throughout the park, though are most obvious in the grassy areas.

Massive 'castle' termite mound; our elderly vehicle is included for scale, not promotion!

Eventually at the Nifold Plain in the north, the trees mostly disappear and the grasslands - and termite mounds - extend to the horizon.

I find this an extraordinary landscape, especially when I recall how we used to have to fight for 
even a couple of hectares of natural grassland to be preserved down here!

A much smaller habitat, but very pertinent to us at our camp sites, is the gallery rainforest, or monsoon or vine forest, along rivers and around waterholes. This is a type of tropical rainforest that grows in a climate where the annual very wet season is followed by an extended dry period. These forests are lower and more open than true rainforests (where it rains all year round), with tangles of vines. At least some of the trees are deciduous. 

Looking across the clearing of our campsite (we tucked into the shade at the edge of the clearing) 
to the fringing monsoon forest at the edge of the Normanby River. 

This shot of the camp gives another glimpse of the monsoon forest too - I neglected to take any
photos specifically of this habitat! However this gives some idea of the low tough-leaved 
trees, quite unlike those of rainforest trees.

A couple of the trees in this fringing forest were particularly interesting. One I'm sure was a Brachychiton (kurrajongs, bottle trees etc), very big and deciduous with red flowers which attracted a lot of birds. However I'm having trouble matching it to the park plant list (the only two Brachychiton listed for the park are described as 'small trees') so I may be on the wrong track. Any suggestions welcomed! (No of course I didn't take a photograph...)

The other I am sure of though, as it's well documented for the park. Gebang Palm (locally Kennedy Palm) Corypha utan is a large palm (growing to 20 metres) which is found on Cape York Peninsula and north through Indonesia and the Philippines to south-east Asia and India. It has a remarkable life history, somewhat reminiscent of many bamboos. After some decades it finally flowers spectacularly, producing hundreds of thousands of flowers, which of course then form fruits whose seeds are dispersed by birds and bats. Then, it just dies. We were able to see the various stages around our camp. 

Healthy big Gebang Palm by the track joining the scattered camp sites along the river.

This palm has flowered and is now covered in fruits. The leaves are already drooping;
they and the tree itself will soon be dead. 

Dead Gebang Palms which have shed their fruit to start a new generation
of these magnificent trees. 

But perhaps the essence of the park is in its waters, the numerous waterholes and the rivers which flow north through the park and discharge into Princess Charlotte Bay. A drive through the park offers regular lagoons by the roadside, and turnoffs to others. All bring their own rewards; here are a few such waterscapes. 

The Normanby River very near our camp; our only real regret from our visit is that we
weren't able to see any crocodiles, which was surprising as they are abundant in the park.
We certainly tried! The Normanby River is really a system of rivers with some 20
tributaries joining it from where it leaves the Great Dividing Range near Cooktown and
along its journey north to Princess Charlotte Bay.

The Normanby again, this time early in the morning; I didn't expect to see tendrils of 
mist rising from it, at low elevation and deep into the tropics. 

And some lagoons; there'll be a couple more among the bird photos below. 

Unnamed roadside lagoon; there are many of these and all are worth a look!

White Lily Lagoon by the Lakefield Road in the centre of the park. In August there was
a lot of water around so the birds were scattered widely; a couple of months later
I'd expect greater concentrations as the shallower pools drie out.

The rest of these lagoon shots were taken at Sweetwater Lagoon where we spent a lot of time just sitting and watching and absorbing. The first four were taken from 0610 to 0730, from before sunrise to full early sun.

This was a special camp, as you may have deduced, made more special by the fact that
there is only one dedicated campsite in the campground. We just had to hope that no-one
came along without a booking! (No-one did.)

 

This photo and the next were taken mid-afternoon.

Paperbarks Melaleuca sp., growing in the water at the edge of the lagoon near camp.

Paperbarks are an important part of the environment of Rinyirru, especially near (and in!) water.
I'm not sure of the species.

Paperbark, a different species, growing tall by our first camp alongside the 
Normanby River and here catching the last light of the day.

And a few animals (mostly birds) to finish. I'll start with some waterbirds, though only one of the others was more than 50 metres from water.

Perhaps my favourite, a Comb-crested Jacana Irediparra gallinacea which spent its days
stepping delicately across the lily pads (look at the fabulous toes evolved for just that
purpose) just in front of our camp.

Wandering Whistle-Ducks Dendrocygna arcuata and Green Pygmy-geese Nettapus pulchellus on 
White Lily Lagoon. Both these attractive ducks are found across northern Australia and in New Guinea
(and further afield still for the whistle-ducks). Ironically the Wandering Whistle-Duck doesn't
wander nearly as far into southern Australia as the other Australian species does.

(Distant) Magpie Geese Anseranas semipalmata at Breeza Lagoon, the site of the remnnants of 
the old Breeza stock camp. This is a very nice spot, with a picnic table under a shady mango tree.
If you're driving south and looking for somewhere for lunch and a cuppa, try and hold out
for this place. (Unlike us, who didn't know about it.)

At an anonymous roadside lagoon more whistle-ducks, plus a couple of very smart 
chocolate-and-white Radjah Shelducks Radjah radjah. And, a magnificent Black-necked Stork
Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus, surprisingly the only one we saw in the park.

Brolgas Grus rubicundus among the termite mounds on the Nifold Plain. This was the only one
of these wildlife photos taken far from water, though Brolgas are essentially wetland birds.

I spent some time wandering in the riverine monsoon forest along the Normanby River and the adjacent woodlands and found them quite productive for birds. Here are a few of them, including some common and familar birds, but it's always good to see them in a different setting.

Bar-shouldered Doves Geopelia humeralis are widespread along the coast and hinterlands
of northern and eastern Australia, often in drier situations. Their melodious and carefully 
enunciated "let's walk to school" was a background to the camp.

Great Bowerbirds Chlamydera nuchalis were also common around camp, but didn't come close.
They are the biggest of the bowerbirds and are common across northern Australia.

Little Bronze-Cuckoo Chalcites minutillus. This one sat in a small tree by the track and posed
obligingly - except for its refusal to get its head out of the shade so we could admire 
its bright red eye rings! Like nearly all Australian cuckoos they are brood parasites, 
with an apparent preference for gerygones (genus Gerygone,
small songbirds in the thornbill family also often referred to, confusingly, as 'warblers').
Two known hosts, Fairy and Large-billed Gerygones, were present in the area.

Rainbow Bee-eater Merops ornatus, a common breeding migrant in southern Australia
which spends winter in the tropics. Usually found close to water, where dragonflies
are a favourite food source. 

White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike Coracina papuensis, another fairly common bird of the
northern tropics which can also be seen further south, though less commonly,
 and of the islands to the north. This one hung around the edge of the campground clearing, 
keeping an eye on us.

White-bellied Sea-eagle Icthyophaga leucogaster. This is one of a pair which had a
territory along the river near the camp, from where their protracted territorial loud honking duets
started before dawn. They are magnificent birds, found along marine and inland
waterways from India to Tasmania.

A Whistling Kite Haliastur sphenurus, a very common bird found almost throughout Australia
especially along streamlines. Often thought of as mostly scavengers, they are also competent
hunters, of animals from smaller vertebrates to insects. Their call is familiar along waterways,
a clear falling whistle followed by a series of rising sharp notes.

Apart from waterbirds there didn't seem to be as much bird diversity around Sweetwater Lake, for no obvious reason, though we didn't have a lot of time there. The highlight was probably the pair of Black-backed Butcherbirds which lurked in the monsoon forest around the lake. This is one of five species of Australian butcherbird, with this one having the most limited distribution, found only on Cape York Peninsula. (It also occurs in southern Papua New Guinea.) Rinyirru is close to its southern-most limits.

Black-backed Butcherbird Cracticus mentalis. Unfortunately this is probably the 
best photo I could manage! They weren't particularly shy though they wouldn't let
me get very close, and insisted on sitting within foliage. We seem to know surprisingly
little of its behaviour in Australia; most of what we do know comes from PNG observations.

And finally a couple of other animals.

Painted Grasshawk Neurothemis stigmatizans with lunch - perhaps the remains of
a large fly? - at Breeza Lagoon. This distinctive dragonfly is found across tropical
Australia and from the western Pacific to India.

Yellow-spotted Goanna (or Monitor) Varanus panoptes, inspecting our camp
at Sweetwater Lake. This handsome goanna is the third-largest in Australia. 
It is found widely across northern and western Australia but numbers have
crashed in many areas where toxic Cane Toads have arrived. 

Well that's it for now on Rinyirru; if we'd been a bit luckier with our fridge we'd have stayed a bit longer and I'd have probably had more to share with you. However I sincerely hope that it's been enough to encourage you to visit for yourself one day, if you're driving on Cape York Peninsula or even visiting Cooktown. It really is a special place.

But, as a special bonus, I'm going to end with a couple of photos from nearby Artemis Station, just off the Peninsula Development Road south of Musgrave. Here there is a major conservation study, fully supported by the station, of one of Australia's rarest birds, the exquisite little Golden-shouldered Parrot Psephotellus chrysopterygius.  Visitors are welcome and a campground - with picnic shelters, toilets and showers (hot, per a wood heater!) - is provided. There are two parrot feeding stations near the campground, with mesh cages which allow the parrots to come and go safely, while excluding large competitors (eg Galahs) and predators (eg Black-backed Butcherbirds). They rely on open woodlands with termite mounds, in which the parrots nest. Heavy grazing and changed burning regimes which lead to increased tree cover (favouring predators) and loss of important parrot feed grasses have reduced total numbers to perhaps only 300 breeding pairs, found only in  a couple of tiny areas on Cape York Peninsula. On Artemis the Shepard family, guided by researchers, are seeking to reverse this decline with changed management practices. It seems to be working, though this superb effort needs to be replicated elsewhere.

Golden-shouldered Parrot habitat on Artemis Station, by the campground.

One of the feeding stations with a Golden-shouldered Parrot male outside and a 
couple of females or immatures inside. They can easily slip through the mesh
but larger birds (such as the Pied Currawong visible on the other side of
the feeder to the left) can't.

Male Golden-shouldered Parrot, a truly exquisite little bird. 

Female or immature bird perched outside the feeder.

NEXT POSTING THURSDAY 4 JUNE

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