Which bird species do you think is the biggest attraction to visitors of your lodge (please only name one species)?
The Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher
What is the name of your lodge, and since when has your lodge been operating?
Birdhaven Cottage, first guests were in 2021
Scarlet Honeyeater
How best to travel to your lodge?
Travel by road, with no 4wd needed.
What kind of services – except for accommodation and food – does your lodge offer to visiting birders?
We only offer the natural environment and don’t want to change the behavior of birds, by providing them with food, but we always make sure all our bird baths and ponds are full of water.
Chestnut-breasted Mannikin
What makes your lodge special?
Guests arrive and then can sit on the Birdhaven Cottage deck, and ‘the birds come to them’. The pond at the end of the deck attracts many species and is a hive of activity at certain times of the day. Guests also have access to the house deck, where other bird species are more likely to be seen.
Wompoo Fruit Dove
What are the 10 – 20 most interesting birds that your lodge offers good chances to see?
The Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher is the most popular, but they go back to PNG by April. Throughout the year, we have many honeyeater species here, along with sunbirds, Lovely Fairywrens, Red-browed Finches, Chestnut-breasted Mannikins, all the Fantails, Northern, Rufous, and Grey. It’s best just to go to eBird and look up Birdhaven Cottage in Julatten, as our guests know best, as they made all the entries to the species list.
Red-browed Finch
What is the best time to visit your lodge, and why?
If you want to see the Buff-Breasted Paradise Kingfisher, then November to late January is the best time. All our guests at other times of the year leave ‘happy’, getting amazing photos of lots of different bird species.
Olive-backed Sunbird
What other suggestions can you give to birders interested in visiting your lodge?
When you visit Birdhaven Cottage, please bring your own supplies of food because the nearest supermarket is 30 km away. Bring your camera and binoculars if you want to see the birds and capture them in photos
Rufous Fantail
Do you have activities for non-birders? If so, please describe.
Maybe doing some local walking for fitness, and just looking at whatever nature is around you.
If any reader of 10,000 Birds is interested in staying at your lodge, how can they best contact you?
Future guests can contact me at: bookings@birdhavencottage.com.au
Is there anything else you would like to share with the readers of 10,000 Birds?
Birdhaven Cottage was designed from the ground up to provide the maximum enjoyment for our guests. We’ve now had many returning guests along with over 180 original guests. We are always open to suggestions on how we could improve our Birdwatcher’s Cottage, in Julatten in Far North Queensland, Australia.
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