Deeral, Etty Bay and TYTO Wetlands August 2026

On the way from Cairns to Etty Bay, we stopped by at the Deeral Boat Ramp to see if there is something interesting by the creek.

Munro Creek

A bird has flown into the thicket near the water and started singing.

A male Shining flycatcher! 

He was singing for a while and there was a female coming closer to him but sadly I couldn't get a good shot of her. 

Back on the road, we were lucky to spot a train running only 4 times a week 😄

At Etty Bay, we had a good view of a White-bellied sea eagle flying over us.

It flew to the edge of the point and perched in a tree.

at sunrise the next morning

After seeing the cassowary again in the morning, satisfied, we left the bay and headed for TYTO Wetlands.

TYTO Wetlands

The lakes near the entrance were managed very well and look like a place for a picnic.

a great number of Plumed whistling ducks 

Inside the wetlands area, there are many warning signs saying 'You are in the CROC country!" 🐊

Luckily, we didn't experience anything hazardous.

a pair of Forest kingfishers

male Leaden flycatcher

female Leaden flycatcher 

Brown-backed honeyeater

Crimson finch

Bar-shouldered dove

male Mistletoebird

Spangled drongo

 Pacific baza

We'll be back to TYTO in three days on the way back to Cairns 👋

Etty Bay August 2026

We rented a car and drove to Etty Bay on the Cassowary Coast for staying a night at the campsite, where there's a strong possibility that we'd encounter a Southern Cassowary.

And there it came! It was suddenly just there. 

How fascinating!!

It was slowly walking around the beach and the campsite, ignoring all the fuss around it. 

You would notice the crowd moving along with the bird first, rather than the bird itself.

I wouldn't like the idea of bumping into one in the dark...😱

Look at its legs and feet!!

The signs are everywhere on the campsite and the beach, asking campers not to leave food out in the open, 

and yet, some people don't care...!😠

Cairns August 2026 VI

Michaelmas Cay is one of the biggest seabird colonies in Australia and even in August, a so-called winter month, this little sandy island was packed with them.

The number of the boats and people, which can get to the cay, is restricted per day and you can land only in a small patch marked by a rope and signs.

Once on land, the birds are so close! 

Brown booby

a precious egg!

Sooty terns

Sooty terns and Crested terns

The black bodies with white speckles are young sooty terns, the black body with a white head in the middle is an adult Common noddy.

a young Sooty tern

Sooty tern & Common noddy

a Great frigatebird (I think)

Silver gull, Pied oystercatcher and Crested terns

a lot of Silver gulls

An unattended egg can become an easy snack for gulls.

During the peak season, there will be 20,000 pairs of breeding birds on this cay! Can you imagine that!

Cairns August 2026 V

We went round to the adjacent cemetery as well.

Lots of Rainbow bee-eaters were flying around. 

Straw-necked ibis 

We saw many honeyeaters and our first Double-eyed fig-parrots in the trees in the cemetery but there's no picture of them 😔

Back in the Botanic Gardens 🌳

Sahul sunbird

Leaden flycatcher

Green oriole (Yellow oriole)

Torresian imperial pigeon

Little pied cormorant

Radjah shelduck