Cairns Centenary Lakes and Flecker Botanic Gardens; a tropical haven

Winter has come in Canberra and, while mild by the standards of much of the Northern Hemisphere, it's cold enough to get me thinking fondly of the tropics. I've written about Cairns before, focussing on the wonderful and justly famed Esplanade - see here - but today I'm writing about our other favourite part of this beautifully situated (but tourist-swollen) north Queensland city.

This is a sprawling 320 hectare site, with quite a bit of remnant vegetation, in the suburb of Edge Hill and at the foot of Mount Whitfield, just five minutes drive from the city centre. The definition of it is highly confusing and has changed over time. There are two entirely different elements to it. The formal gardens cover 38ha and most people think of them as the Flecker Gardens. To the south across Collins Avenue is the Centenary Lakes precinct. Officially the whole area is the Flecker Botanic Gardens; to avoid more confusion than already exists the formal gardens are now generally known simply as the Cairns Botanic Gardens and the rest of it as the Centenary Lakes.

A typical view of the Centenary Lakes; this is Freshwater Lake,
unimaginatively but unambiguously named. It was originally a three hectare ephemeral
swamp but was converted to a permanent lake in 1975.

The history stretches back to within a decade of the founding of Cairns in the 1870s. Botanist and horticulturalist Eugene Fitzalan founded a small formal public garden and nursery within the boundaries of the modern gardens. He was very well-regarded, worked with von Mueller, and has at least nine plant species named for him. However the modern gardens owe their name to Dr Hugo Flecker, a prominent radiotherapist, toxicologist and natural historian. He identified the source of mysterious deaths of swimmers as a box jellyfish, which was named Chironex fleckeri for him just before his death in 1957. He founded the North Queensland Naturalists' Club in 1932 and guided it as both a scientific and amateur body for the next 25 years. His story is a fascinating one and it's worth reading more about him here. The gardens were named for him in 1971, and some time later (I cannot find a date but the Centenary Lakes opened in 1976, so it could well have been then) the name was extended to the whole complex. 

It might be useful to have an idea of their layout for the account which follows; here's a basic map which should help.

It's a bit fuzzy, but I've added some yellow numbers to help with key features. 1; in the top left corner,
is the relatively small Cairns Botanic Gardens, rough rectangle bounded by the four obvious roads.
2; Saltwater Creek, a tidal creek which connects to the sea a short distance away.
3; Rainforest Boardwalk, an excellent introduction to the lakes area, via original swampy forest.
4; Freshwater Lake, a wonderful spot for water birds. 5; mangroves, which follow Saltwater Creek.
Courtesy Cairns Regional Council.

 

My interest is primarily in the Centenary Lakes system - you can see from the map how densely vegetated it is and most of this is remnant original forest. The formal gardens are just that - very pleasant but mostly of non-Australian plantings, and usually very busy with tourists. Still worth visiting while you're there of course, but I'm only going to feature one aspect of it today.

The Rainforest Boardwalk is our favourite way to approach the Centenary Lakes, though the picnic facilities and lakes are also easily accessed from Greenslopes Road at the bottom of the map.

The enticing western entry to the boardwalk. The fan palm leaves here
are metal!

The walk begins in palm forest, dominated by Alexander Palms Archontophoenix alexandrae; here the forest floor is wet but not generally flooded. This habitat has been almost totally eliminated in the Cairns area.

Alexander Palms dominating the palm forest, above and below.

The foliage of other trees, notably Blue Quandong Elaeocarpus angustifolius,
can be seen here also.

The clusters of small red palm fruits attract many birds (and bats by night), among which the noisy gregarious Metallic Starlings Aplonis metallica are most conspicuous.

Metallic Starlings (adult below, streaky immature, not very clear, above).

From here we move into Lowland Paperbark Forest, magnificently dominated by huge Giant Paperbarks Melaleuca leucadendra, some of them centuries old.

Giant Paperbark.

Lastly, with water lying on the surface of the ground, we enter Pandanus Swamp Forest, where Pandanus solmslaubachii rules with wet feet. 

The very distinctive foliage of pandanus.

The presence of Climbing Swamp Fern Stenochlaena palustris is also
diagnostic of the swamp forest.

Once we emerge from the forest we soon find ourselves on the banks of the Freshwater Lake where waterbirds are abundant, especially in the dry season. Some can be readily found down south...

Male Australasian Darter Anhinga novaehollandiae surrounded by Pacific Black Ducks
Anas superciliosa. Both are common and widespread, but shouldn't be ignored for that.

... others not so readily.

Magpie Geese Anseranas semipalmata, are strange goose-like waterfowl comprising their own
family. Common across tropical Australia (and southern New Guinea) but greatly diminished
elsewhere in Australia.

 

I think that Radjah Shelducks Radjah radjah (long known here as Burdekin Ducks)
are among the most beautiful ducks in the world.

 

Part of the flock, with Pacific Black Ducks.

 

And this was a real surprise when we visited the tropics in the summer
wet season a couple of years ago. Spotted Whistling Ducks Dendrocygna guttata are
found from the Philippines to New Guinea, and in the last couple of decades
have established a colony at Weipa up on Cape York Peninsula.
We'd not expected to see them in Cairns, some 800km to the south-east!
And it had been a while since I'd seen a new bird in Australia.

Other species can pop up anywhere in the gardens; these are all fairly common in Darwin but may be less familiar to you.

Black Butcherbirds Melloria quoyi have a most beautifully rich melodious call. They are now
placed in their own genus, away from the other butcherbirds.

Brush Turkeys Alectura lathami are found anywhere in the area, building their big incubating
mounds wherever it suits them.

Australasian Figbirds Sphecotheres vieilloti (here the northern yellow race)
are found anywhere there are figs (which is pretty well anywhere in this
part of the world). 

Helmeted Friarbirds Philemon buceroides are big noisy honeyeaters,
likewise widespread across the north.

Not seen nearly so often (partly for reasons this photo makes clear) is the
nocturnal Papuan Frogmouth Podargus papuensis. As well as New Guinea it is found
in Queensland down to nearly Townsville. We saw a pair, heavily camouflaged,
roosting in the mangroves by Saltwater Lake.

There will certainly be mammals present, but we've not been there at night. Here are a couple of others we came across; some you can't miss.

Krefft's Turtles Emydura krefftii are among those you can't miss - there's a healthy population
in Freshwater Lake, which come out to sun when things are quiet.

Skinks of course are abundant and diverse.
This is a female or non-breeding male Red-throated Rainbow Skink Carlia rubrigularis.
(Thanks to Steve Holliday for the id.)

Shining Oak-blue Arhopala micale. This is one of a group of butterflies whose
larvae are tended by ants as they feed; the ants provide protection and in turn 'milk'
the larvae for sugary secretions.

Orange-clawed Fiddler Crabs Uca coarctata along Saltwater Creek. They are found along most
of the Queensland coast in muddy shallows. These males are using their ridiculously enlarged
right claws to signal their dominance over other males and attractiveness for females.
They are useless for feeding, which is done by the much smaller left claw. The constant
movement of this claw, transferring food particles to the mouth, apparently reminded
someone of a fiddler's bow; apparently...

Not an animal (or a plant) of course, but I couldn't leave this impressive fungus out.

Basket fungus; at least I'm calling it that in the absence of better information
but it doesn't really resemble the Illeodictyon species which I know and are
usually known as baskets. Any help welcomed and acknowledged!

Finally, I mentioned earlier a part of the formal Cairns Botanic Gardens which I'll include here because of the particular presence of native animal species. This, perhaps surprisingly, is the impressive conservatory. 

Steamy and green, all that a tropical conservatory could be, and full of animal
life as well. It's a lovely experience.

The plantings in it are far from all native, but they attract an array of butterflies and even at least one attractive little snake. I imagine that the butterflies (all local species) have been introduced to the glasshouse, but they could leave if they wish, so I imagine there is some coming and going. 

 

Red Lacewing Cethosia cydippe, above and below.

Red Lacewings feed on a couple of species of rainforest vine.

Male Cruiser Vendula arsinoe. They are found from Queensland to
the islands to the north.

Female Cruisers lay their eggs not on the leaves of the native passionfruit which
is their host plant, but on nearby dead material on which they are less conspicuous.

The eggflies are a group of some 25 species of the genus Hypolimnas whose name purportedly refers to the 'egg' spots on the males' wings. It could well be true, and I've no better explanation.

Blue-banded Eggfly Hypolimnas alimena (on my trousers, inexplicably -
though I was doubtless sweating). It is found from Indonesia to NSW.

Varied Eggfly Hyplimnas bolina. They have a huge natural range from
Madagascar across Asia to northern Australia.

This skink had also taken up residence in the greenhouse; so far I've not
been able to put a name to it. Any assistance welcomed.

But the most surprising encounter there made us start momentarily, though it's quite harmless to humans. Not all the visitors were quite so sanguine however.

This elegant little Green Tree Snake Dendrelaphis punctulatus was gliding through
the undergrowth, paying no attention to us, though it climbs as well as its name suggests.
The skink, plus any geckoes and frogs present, are definitely at risk from it.

I hope that you can make it to the Australian tropics sometime soon in these difficult times; we're certainly aiming to be in north Queensland later this year (with fingers firmly crossed), and will spend a couple of days in Cairns. And while there we will certainly pay yet another visit to the Flecker Gardens. The visit wouldn't be complete otherwise. Maybe see you there?

NEXT POSTING THURSDAY 24 JUNE
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