About us

I moved to Cairns with my family in 2009. Being a birdwatcher for 23 years and particularly interested in waders. I have also been interested in nature conservation and completed my diploma in Conservation and Land Management in 2003. I have a number of volunteer experiences including Little Tern Taskforce and Helmeted Honeyeater Recovery project. I taught myself website designing and found that I could help conversation by designing the first Birdlife Northern Queensland website.

I lived in the south of England for the first half of my life, where I trained and worked as an analytical chemist. I emigrated to Innisfail in the early 1990s where I have enjoyed working as a school science technician. Interested in birds since early childhood, I have increased my knowledge and fascination of them enormously since joining Birdlife and attending their talks, field trips and campouts.

Doug launched Birdwatching Tropical Australia’s tours in January 2012 after many years of recreational birding in Australia and South Africa. Doug Herrington’s accumulated experience of 20 years birding and exploring the Wet Tropics of Queensland, Australia has given him him an intimate knowledge of the birds and wildlife of Northern Queensland.

Since returning to live in far north Queensland about 10 years ago, I’ve been based in Cooktown, at the start of Cape York. It is a meeting place for our birds, and I’d like it to be more of a meeting place for our birders. Meanwhile, I spend time helping to organise the monitoring of our unique Queensland grasswrens further west. That’s what is so great about our region – there is much to still learn and discover!

Birding allows me to indulge my passions; love of birds, flora and other fauna, walking in pristine places, and travel. Being part of the BirdLife Northern Queensland committee team is very rewarding. It provides opportunities to make positive change in our region. I enjoy the diversity too, from research and conservation actions to being editor of the newsletter, where I get to communicate with many fabulous like-minded people and share that experience with others.

Graham Harrington is a former long-term research scientist at CSIRO and involved in many projects including supervising PhD students working on biology and ecology projects. He is a former President of BirdLife Australia and has initiated and developed many bird research projects in northern Australia including our work on Grasswrens. Graham is also very much involved in many community groups including the long-running Malanda Theatre Company where he is well-known for both acting in and producing plays. His rainforest property is a refuge for wildlife.

I originally grew up in Western Australia but have lived in northern Queensland for over forty years. Professional career at James Cook University in environmental science and continue as an Adjunct Professor. My focus is on long term conservation and advocacy to the wider community for a better outcome for our birds. I am a keen birder, successfully completed the Bird-a-day challenge in 2016 and love to spend much of my spare time enjoying and photographing our birds. A recent highlight was finding and photographing Letter-winged Kites.

One of my earliest memories is of my Father taking we children outside to look for the return of the Dollarbirds each summer. Stories of Brolgas and their massive decline in numbers over the four generations of my family who lived on the grazing property. It was my Father who instilled in me a love for the natural environment and all Australian flora and fauna. Growing up in the central west of NSW was an added bonus although we attended school in Sydney and then Sydney University.

As a BirdLife Australia staff member Golo manages the organisation’s national Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) Program from our most biodiverse corner of the country. He also initiated and coordinates BirdLife Australia’s Indigenous Grant for Bird Research and Conservation. For the North Queensland Branch, Golo runs the ‘Stickybeaks’ Family Group. Golo is happy to speak on a number of birdy topics and can provide volunteering opportunities through the KBA Program.

WA born and raised: long-time birder. Travelled widely in Australia, New Zealand, Kenya, South Africa, and South-east Asia. Assisted in fauna surveys for National Parks WA and Perth Zoo; Environmental Consultant WA and SE Asia for Government and private enterprise. Enthusiastic about wildlife education, particularly birds: eg cub scouts and primary schools; eight years Perth Zoo Docent (Volunteer Guide); Birds Australia WA’s schools, and adult “Birds for Beginners” programs. Retired 2006 then travelled widely around Oz photographing birds and learning lots. Now living in Cairns using photo collection in research and writing about birds and ecology to educate and interest everyone possible before its too late!

I grew up on the Island of Jersey in the English Channel and have always been surrounded by nature. My journey with birds is relatively recent, my interests have traditionally been slightly more flying mammal focused both in my previous career as a zookeeper and ecologist. While it may not have been a passion growing up, I still knew my backyard birds and would look forward to the arrival of the Barn Swallows each summer and can remember the story of their migration captivating me at a young age. Fast forward to my 30’s and my partner and I decided to try and see a Great Bittern that was over wintering at a local nature refuge and while I didn’t get to see it, we started looking at all the other wetland birds and we were soon hooked. We moved to Australia later that year and since then have been enjoying birding in Far North Queensland and helping on surveys when we can. I volunteered in 2021 to help coordinate the Crane Count and haven’t looked back.