Bowling Green Bay is a national park in the

City of Townsville The City of Townsville is a local government area (LGA) located in North Queensland, Australia. It encompasses the city of Townsville, together with the surrounding rural areas, to the south are the communities of Alligator Creek, Woodstock ...

and

Shire of Burdekin The Shire of Burdekin is a Local government in Australia, local government area located in North Queensland, Australia in the Dry Tropics region. The district is located between Townsville and Bowen, Queensland, Bowen in the River delta, delta ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

, Australia, 1,103 km northwest of

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

, and 28 km south of

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

and 59 km north of

Ayr Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire Subdivisions of Scotland, council area and the historic Shires of Scotlan ...

. It is a

Ramsar Convention The Ramsar Convention on Wetlands of International Importance Especially as Waterfowl Habitat is an international treaty for the conservation and sustainable use of Ramsar sites (wetlands). It is also known as the Convention on Wetlands. It i ...

listed site. The park protects diverse range of habitats including the rugged, forested landscape surrounding Mount Elliot and Saddle Mountain as well as coastal estuaries between Cape Cleveland and Cape Bowling Green.

Landforms

Mount Elliot rises 1,342 m and has numerous creeks on its eastern slopes, of which, Alligator Creek is the most important. The creek is a popular place to swim and to watch birds drinking the creek's water or feeding on riparian vegetation. The parks incorporates the floodplains of the Haughton River. This includes one of the largest

wetland A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The ...

s on the east coast of Australia. The wetland arose as the coastal streams deposited material into the calm waters of Bowling Green Bay. It is composed of mud and sand flats, swamps, isolated hills, mangrove forests and inter-tidal flats. Behind the areas where mangroves grow are bare salt pan. These wide expanses are a unique characteristic of

North Queensland North Queensland or the Northern Region is the northern part of the Australian state of Queensland that lies just south of Far North Queensland. Queensland is a massive state, larger than many countries, and its tropical northern part has been ...

wetlands produced by comparatively low rainfall and a short

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...

that never washes the salt away.

Fauna

The

brolga The brolga (''Antigone rubicunda''), formerly known as the native companion, is a bird in the crane family. It has also been given the name Australian crane, a term coined in 1865 by well-known ornithologist John Gould in his ''Birds of Austral ...

and

magpie goose The magpie goose (''Anseranas semipalmata'') is the sole living representative species of the family Anseranatidae. This common waterbird is found in northern Australia and southern New Guinea. As the species is prone to wandering, especially wh ...

find habitat in the sedge swamps of Bowling Green Bay. The park is one of the best places to see the rarely observed

zitting cisticola The zitting cisticola or streaked fantail warbler (''Cisticola juncidis'') is a widely distributed Old World warbler whose breeding range includes southern Europe, Africa (outside the deserts and rainforest), and southern Asia down to northern Aus ...

. Other bird species include the

whistling duck The whistling ducks or tree ducks are a subfamily, Dendrocygninae, of the duck, goose and swan family of birds, Anatidae. In other taxonomic schemes, they are considered a separate family, Dendrocygnidae. Some taxonomists list only one genu ...

, black duck,

spoonbill Spoonbills are a genus, ''Platalea'', of large, long-legged wading birds. The spoonbills have a global distribution, being found on every continent except Antarctica. The genus name ''Platalea'' derives from Ancient Greek and means "broad", refe ...

ibis The ibises () (collective plural ibis; classical plurals ibides and ibes) are a group of long-legged wading birds in the family Threskiornithidae, that inhabit wetlands, forests and plains. "Ibis" derives from the Latin and Ancient Greek word f ...

and

jabiru The jabiru ( or ; ''Jabiru mycteria'') is a large stork found in the Americas from Mexico to Argentina, except west of the Andes. It sometimes wanders into the United States, usually in Texas, but has been reported as far north as Mississippi. ...

. Crocodiles are found in the estuarine and swamp areas.

Facilities

Camping in the park in permitted at the Alligator Creek campground. Bush camping is permitted at Cape Bowling Green. No open fires or domestic animals are permitted in the park.

Access

Access to the park is via the

Bruce Highway The Bruce Highway is a major highway in Queensland, Australia. Commencing in the state capital, Brisbane, it passes through areas close to the eastern coast on its way to Cairns in Far North Queensland. The route is part of the Australian Na ...

. Cape Bowling Green is accessible via the village of Alva Beach.

References

External links