Daintree Rainforest Observatory - James Cook University

30/07/2026

What's happening in the rainforest this month?

Every month, our team heads into JCU's Daintree Rainforest Observatory's canopy crane plot to record which trees are flowering and fruiting. This long-term phenology monitoring helps us understand how rainforest plants respond to changing seasons, climate, and extreme weather over time.

Some months are quiet, while others reveal an abundance of flowers and fruit in the canopy. This month's survey came with an unexpected visitor - a beautiful amethystine python soaking up the morning sun on top of Decalobanthus peltatus vines.

📸 Challenge: One of these photos shows the fruit of a rainforest tree. It's endemic to the Daintree region. Can you guess the species? Leave your answer in the comments before we reveal it!

Long-term datasets like this are incredibly valuable. They allow researchers to track changes that only become apparent after many years, helping us better understand how one of the world's oldest rainforests is changing through time.

06/07/2026

🎬 Recommended for you:

Daintree Ospreys: Season 2026 🦅

⭐ Live action
⭐ Family drama
⭐ Hungry chicks
⭐ Non-stop food deliveries
⭐ Zero ads

The chicks have hatched, and the next episode is unfolding live. Tune in to the Daintree Rainforest Observatory - James Cook University's live nest we**am to watch feeding time, sibling antics and all the surprises that come with raising a young osprey family.

Who needs streaming services when nature puts on a show like this?

📸: Daintree Rainforest Observatory we**am

03/07/2026

The osprey eggs on the canopy crane have hatched! Daintree Rainforest Observatory - James Cook University has welcomed two new team members with the hatching of a couple of osprey chicks.

Daintree Rainforest Observatory - James Cook University has welcomed two new team members with the hatching of a couple of osprey chicks. JCU: James Cook University, Australia
Full story: https://shorturl.at/nVGMV

18/06/2026

Thrilled to share this one. Matt made this remarkable find right here in our own backyard at the Daintree Rainforest Observatory, after one of our regular night spotlight tours.

A James Cook University PhD student’s late-night solo survey has led to the first recorded sighting of a microwhip scorpion in the Daintree Rainforest. JCU: College of Science and Engineering Daintree Rainforest Observatory - James Cook University
Full story: https://shorturl.at/0rQCi 🦂

18/06/2026

A brilliant week hosting the ABC Backroads team at JCU's Daintree Rainforest Observatory - James Cook University . Watch this space for the air date

09/06/2026

Lovely to see the DRO canopy crane ospreys getting a write-up from JCU. These two have been nesting here for over 15 years. Right now there are two eggs on the go. 🥚🥚🦅

James cook University's Daintree Rainforest Observatory - James Cook University Canopy Crane is home to a growing family of nesting ospreys, with live-streamed video capturing the feathered fish-loving couple’s journey to parenthood.

From their prestige high-rise location overlooking the World Heritage Wet Tropics rainforest and turquoise waters of the Coral Sea, the family of ospreys are currently up to egg number two, taking turns to nurture their fragile cargo while perched out on the tip of JCU’s massive crane.

With big sticks needed, building an osprey nest is not a straightforward activity - especially when observatory personnel remove them at the end of each year, to undertake essential crane maintenance.

“They'll bring the first stick on top of the metal structure, and then the wind will catch it and it kind of swivels and then falls through the gap. They take a deep breath, go get another stick, try again," said DRO Manager Mr. Larson

“It's actually pretty quick once they get started. It only takes a few weeks.

“It's fascinating to watch them.”

Watch here 👉🏽https://tinyurl.com/4y83zw24
Read more here 👉🏽https://tinyurl.com/39pee6x7

03/06/2026

JCU's Daintree Rainforest Observatory welcomed students from James Cook University's Tropical Entomology course this week.

Students gained hands-on experience across a range of collection and identification techniques: light trapping for nocturnal insects, aquatic invertebrate sampling in creek and pond habitats, active collecting across rainforest and edge habitats, and laboratory work building pinned insect collections. Students also had the opportunity to access the rainforest canopy in the DRO canopy crane.

Field classes like this one are a cornerstone of what JCU's DRO offers. The Daintree provides a classroom that simply can't be replicated indoors, and the student feedback reflected that clearly. One participant captured it well:

"You can read every book in the world on how to do the best push-ups, but you can't get any stronger until you actually do some."

JCU: James Cook University, Australia

26/05/2026

Osprey nest update

There are now two eggs in the osprey nest at the tip of JCU's DRO canopy crane.

After last week’s first-egg announcement, the second egg has now arrived, and both adults have been spending time around the nest as incubation continues high above the rainforest canopy.

In this clip, one adult is sitting on the eggs before standing up and handing incubation duties over to the other parent.

Ospreys commonly lay 2–3 eggs in a breeding season, so we’ll be watching closely over the coming days to see whether the clutch stays at two or grows to three.

If all goes well, osprey eggs usually take around 5–6 weeks to hatch, so there is still a long stretch of incubation ahead before any chicks appear.

We’ll keep sharing updates as the season progresses. You can also follow the nest live through the camera on the DRO website:

www.jcu.edu.au/daintree/research/live-cameras

JCU: James Cook University, Australia

19/05/2026

The first osprey egg of the season has arrived at JCU Daintree Rainforest Observatory (DRO).

Our resident ospreys have been nesting at the very tip of the canopy crane jib for at least 15 years, high above the rainforest canopy, and have become familiar faces to many of our followers over the years.

This year's first egg has now been laid, marking the beginning of another nesting season at the DRO.

The nest is monitored by a live camera mounted on the crane, giving a close-up view of the pair as they incubate eggs and raise chicks high above the canopy. You can watch live on our website: https://www.jcu.edu.au/daintree/research/live-cameras .

We'll be sharing updates throughout the season as things unfold.

JCU: James Cook University, Australia

18/05/2026

A tiny but significant discovery at the DRO! 🕷️

JCU: James Cook University, Australia PhD candidate Matt Connors, also part of the DRO team, has found a Microwhip Scorpion (Order Palpigradi) at the DRO, one of the only records of a native species outside of Western Australia. With just 138 described species known worldwide, palpigrades are among the most obscure arachnids on the planet, and this is a genuinely rare Queensland record.

At around 1.5mm long, this one is easy to miss, but hard to forget once you've seen it up close. The incredible image was taken at 5x magnification and focus stacked by photographer Caitlin Henderson

Congratulations to Matt and Caitlin on a fantastic find, and a great example of the kind of biodiversity discoveries that happen when curious people spend time looking closely at the Wet Tropics.

Yellow Monday - Matthew Connors Nature Photography
She's got Legs - Australian Spider and Insect Photography