Mount Surprise

History

The town was founded by Ezra Firth, from the English county of Yorkshire, who along with his family settled in the area in 1864. The property struggled at first; relations with the indigenous inhabitants of the country were hostile and the country was not suited for wool growing. The discovery of gold in the 1880s and the subsequent gold rush allowed Firth to sell his sheep to the miners, convert his holding to cattle and become wealthy selling goods to the miners. In 1908, the Etheridge railway line reached Mount Surprise. Mount Surprise Post Office opened by July 1908. Mount Surprise State School opened on 12 February 1917. In October 1942, detachments of 16 Australian Field Company, Royal Australian Engineers travelled to Cooktown, Mount Surprise and Coen to build Repeater Huts.

Geography

The town is located in the Gulf Savannah in Far North Queensland on the Gulf Developmental Road, north west of the state capital, Brisbane and west of the regional centre of Cairns.

Most-observed species

• Galah

  Eolophus roseicapilla (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  104
• Blue-faced Honeyeater

  Entomyzon cyanotis (Latham, 1801) · Aves
  104
• Apostlebird

  Struthidea cinerea Gould, 1837 · Aves
  97
• Great Bowerbird

  Chlamydera nuchalis (Jardine & Selby, 1830) · Aves
  85
• Australian Magpie

  Gymnorhina tibicen (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  84
• Black Kite

  Milvus migrans (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  82
• Rainbow Lorikeet

  Trichoglossus haematodus (Linnaeus, 1771) · Aves
  77
• Pied Currawong

  Strepera graculina (Shaw, 1790) · Aves
  67