Wildlife-Watching at Binna Burra, Queensland

Binna Burra, inland from Queensland's Gold Coast in Lamington National Park, lies within the Central Eastern Rainforest Reserves World Heritage Area. The area is part of the 'Green Cauldren', the northern rim of a massive ancient volcano. Pretty cool, right?

These days, Binna Burra is a state hub for forest hiking and wildlife-watching, acting as one of the two main entry points to this iconic rainforest. We’ve just been up there for a two-night winter trip – our first visit – so I thought I'd write up some notes on the experience.

Exploring the Area

Binna Burra is on the Lamington plateau (part of the remnant volcano), where the +800 m altitude has allowed for a huge area of lush temperate and subtropical rainforest to develop. It's widely known amongst bird-watchers, in particular, for its forest birds.

We were there for a general walkabout rather than searching for any specific wildlife. We're 'new' to the area – Mads is from Brisbane, and I went to uni there, but that was a loooong time ago – so we were happy enough just to explore and take photos of whatever we could find.

After checking in for our accommodation at Binna Burra Rainforest Camp at the cafe (see below), right at the end of Binna Burra Road, we asked the friendly staff member there for their wildlifey walk recommendations. She suggested the Tullawallal Circuit, a ~5 km loop to the most accessible patch of Antarctic beech trees, a reminder of Australia's biogeographic history as part of Gondwanaland. You can get there via either the first part of the Border Track, on the east, or the Loop Track on the west, then return along the other.

Both of these tracks are flat and easy to walk along. We're the world's slowest walkers when we're searching for wildlife, so this loop was a good length for a morning walk, or you can easily extend the journey by going further along one of the tracks that fan out from the Border Track (you can download a pdf trail map for Binna Burra here – handy to have saved on your phone).

Binna Burra is a popular area, and you can expect plenty of company over the weekend. Most people are there for longer walks along the 100 km+ of trails, so there's plenty of loud chatting going on. Weekdays provide a more peaceful experience if you can get away. The Border Track is the busiest, so you've always got the option of getting off the main thoroughfare; the 'Loop Track' is a good alternative. If you’re primarily there for bird photography, the Border Track had more light in the mornings, while the Loop Track was better in the afternoons.

Of course, if you're staying overnight at the camping ground or lodge, you'll see a lot less foot traffic if you start before the day-trippers arrive.

There are no shops at Binna Burra except for the cafe at the trailhead, so bring along snacks to extend your non-hangry walking time :)

Wildlife Spotting

The cool conditions meant we didn’t see a single reptile (sad face), but we’re looking forward to getting back in the spring when they start waking up.

There were plenty of birds about, but generally either up in the high canopy or down in thick undergrowth, which made for tough photography. Binoculars are highly recommended if you're trying to identify the birds you see.

Mads got a quick glance at a lyrebird on the Loop Track, and I saw quite a few birds that were new for me. I found the Merlin Bird ID app very helpful. It's free; you just enter in the size of the bird, its main colors, and where you saw it (on the ground, in a tree, etc) and it generates a list of probable species. I'd pre-loaded a list for Binna Burra on my phone, which was nice to walk around with once we lost mobile reception in the forest (there's 4G signal around the campground and cafe).

*Australian logrunner, with a face full of something crunchy*

We didn't see many mammals: one pademelon (probably, I didn't get a look at it) and some small rodents on the start of the Caves Track. If you do see something cool, posting it to iNaturalist is a great way to both get an ID and record it. I've started uploading all my wildlife sightings. Super fun.

It was (very) cold in the evenings in late June, when we visited, but the spotlighting will probably be amazing once the weather warms up – a powerful head torch is a good investment. Evenings after rain in warm weather are likely to be a great time to see some interesting frogs.

Binna Burra Rainforest Camp

It's not cheap (we paid AU$294 for the two nights), but I'd recommend the safari tents at Binna Burra for overnighting in the area. The views are stunning. This was the outlook from in front of our tent:

*The view from the Safari Tent at Binna Burra*

There are chairs and a low table on the veranda outside the tents, and most seemed to have a fire pit which people were making excellent use of – it was a marshmallow toast-fest in the evenings.

Inside our tent were two bunk beds, with a double below and a single above, with a comfortable mattress. There’s a single power point in the tent, so bring a power strip if you'll have multiple things to charge. There are two USB charging points too. There’s a (powerful) single strip light on the roof, so a softer camplight for after dark is nice. You'll need to bring your own pillows, sheets, and blankets, or you can hire them from reception.

There was a single amenities block, with good hot showers, and a laundry and washing area behind it. That was where we went to fill our water bottles, so a larger water container would be nice to carry back to the cabin for refills.

It's genuinely cold at night in winter, so be prepared with plenty of warm clothes.

*The Groom’s Cottage – an excellent spot for a sundowner and a quick meal*

The upgrade option is the Sky Lodges, just down the road, which look down the Numinbah Valley to the Gold Coast. They are close to the temporary Skydome, constructed to mark the site of the main lodge prior to the horrific fire in 2019. That’s a great place to soak in the sunset views.

*Looking northward from the Skydome area*

We don't have our own camping gear at this point, so we ate at the cafe / restaurant for breakfast and lunch. That was expensive, but the food was great and I regret nothing. Mmmmm, breakfast burgers.

We ate dinner at the Groom's Cottage at the northern end of the campsite on both nights. There aren't many food options there (and they're reheated, not made fresh), but we enjoyed the meatballs, and it's a fantastic spot for a sundowner. It was open from 4.30– 7 pm.

Pro tip: you can still buy ice creams at the main restaurant later in the evening.

*Looking down the Numinbah Valley to the Gold Coast*

All-in-all, the campground is a good base for multiple hikes through a beautiful area. We're planning to head back for a few days in spring to explore properly. We’re keen to walk the full Border Track between Binna Burra and O'Reilly's, a one-way walk (you can get a drop-off / pick-up from either end). Great views apparently.

Wildlife Photography Notes

I was using my Sony 200–600 mm G lens, and Mads was using the Sony 100–400 mm GM; both with Sony A7R III cameras. I used my iPhone 12 Pro Max for the general snapshots.

Forest bird photography is one of the toughest assignments in wildlife photography due to a torturous combination of small, distant, fast-moving subjects, lots of obstructions, and poor lighting. I prefer to have full control over my autofocus in the forest because of all the potential obstructions, so I was using single-point focus.

Most of the images we’ve included here were at or close to my maximum ISO tolerance (I've set my upper limit for Auto ISO at 12,800). I've used Topaz Denoise AI or Sharpen AI on most of these photographs to help clean them up. I do basic edits in Lightroom, then open the image as a Smart Object in Photoshop (from the ‘Edit in’ menu), and apply either Topaz Denoise AI or Sharpen AI as a filter. I’d make a short video on it, but I don’t know how to use Photoshop so I’m probably doing it wrong…

Settings-wise, I was in Aperture priority the whole time, with Auto ISO Min SS usually set to Fast, dropping to Standard occasionally. I had my aperture set to the lowest possible for the lens, f/5.6–6.3 on the 200–600 mm, and dreamed of testing the Sony 400 mm f/2.8...

It's an ancient law of wildlife photography that, after slogging through the bush for hours, you'll get your best photographs in the car park. We leaned into this and went searching the open areas along the road to the Skydome during golden hour in the late afternoons, prior to sundowners, as it was too dark in the rainforest by then anyway.

Hope that helps!

Simon.