Stokes

History

The locality is named after John Lort Stokes, who was commanding officer of HMS Beagle from 1841 to 1846.

Geography

The Leichhardt River forms the western boundary of the locality. Together with the Alexandra River, the Cloncurry River, the Flinders River and the Saxby River and numerous creeks, they all flow from south to north through the locality. The Alexandra River becomes a tributary of the Leichhardt River at the north-western point of the locality and the Cloncurry River and Saxby Rivers both become tributaries of the Flinders River in the north-east of the locality, leaving only the Leichhardt and Flinders Rivers to continue to flow into the Gulf of Carpentaria to the north. The flatness of the land gives emphasis to a hill locally known as Bang Bang Jump Up on the Burke Developmental Road as it is the only sudden change in elevation within a very long distance and is of interest to tourists both as a lookout over the surrounding countryside and because they find the name amusing.

Most-observed species

• Spotted Nightjar

  Eurostopodus argus Hartert, 1892 · Aves
  6
• Brown Falcon

  Falco berigora Vigors & Horsfield, 1827 · Aves
  3
• Magpie-lark

  Grallina cyanoleuca (Latham, 1802) · Aves
  3
• Zebra Finch

  Taeniopygia guttata (Vieillot, 1817) · Aves
  3
• Black Kite

  Milvus migrans (Boddaert, 1783) · Aves
  3
• Little Eagle

  Hieraaetus morphnoides (Gould, 1841) · Aves
  2
• Black-faced Cuckooshrike

  Coracina novaehollandiae (Gmelin, 1789) · Aves
  2
• Common Bronzewing

  Phaps chalcoptera (Latham, 1790) · Aves
  2