FROG CHORUSES

Listen as familiar gardens and wetlands become noisy with frog calls after a downpour. An experience people may discover close to home.

Where:

Freshwater wetlands across the coast and catchments.

When:

After rain and during the first few hours after dark.

Watch with Care:

FrogID recommends recording calls for identification, avoiding handling frogs, and cleaning and disinfecting footwear between frog habitats.

CORAL SPAWNING IN THE BAY
Look below the surface to witness a subtle miracle of marine life! Under the cover of summer night skies and guided by rising water temperatures and late-season full moons, local hard corals undergo synchronized spawning events across the Bay’s reefs.

Underwater Hot Spots: Inshore fringing reefs around Peel Island, Green Island, Goat Island, and Myora Reef, as well as offshore reefs at Flinders Reef and Flat Rock.

When: Mid to late summer (January to February). High-latitude corals in Moreton Bay mature later in the season than their tropical northern neighbors, triggering mass spawning events after seasonal sea surface temperatures peak.

Did You Know? Moreton Bay hosts over 60 species of scleractinian hard corals—from massive stress-tolerant Dipsastraea in the western Bay to delicate branching Acropora at Myora Reef!

THE SOUNDS OF SUMMER
Listen out for the Bay’s returning summer soundtrack! The ringing “coo-ee” of Pacific Koels and the raucous cries of Channel-billed Cuckoos announce the arrival of many visitors from Indonesia and New Guinea, back to breed in our leafy neighbourhoods.

Where to Listen:
Gardens, parks and leafy streets around the Bay and its islands. Look for fruiting fig trees and listen in the early morning—you might hear these visitors from your own backyard.

When:
September to March, with calling especially noticeable in spring and early summer.

SHOREBIRDS RETURN
Bring your binoculars and marvel at the remarkable travellers spending summer on the Bay. After epic journeys from their northern breeding grounds, migratory shorebirds join our resident species to feed on tidal flats and gather at high-tide roosts.

Safe viewing Hot Spots:
Kakadu Beach bird hides, Banksia Beach, Bribie Island (Yarun); Toorbul shorebird roost, southern Esplanade; Osprey House, Griffin; Nudgee Beach; Wynnum North bird hide and Wynnum foreshore; Oyster Point, Cleveland.

When:
September to April for migratory visitors; resident shorebirds year-round. Visit roosts around high tide, or watch birds feeding as the falling tide exposes the flats.

Watch with Care:
Enjoy the view from hides and established paths, give resting birds plenty of space, and leave dogs at home.

See the Bay’s Shorebird Events

SOUTHERN WHALE MIGRATION
Find yourself a spot on high point and be in awe as these giants make their way south to Antarctica along teh Humpback Highway, after their winter breeding season off the Queensland coast.

Land-based Hot Spots: 
Bray Rocks, Caloundra; Ocean Beach, Bribie Island National Park (Yarun);  Point Lookout,  Minjerrabah; Cape Moreton, Mulgumpin.

From the Water:
Northern and Eastern Moreton Bay.

When:
Through to Early November

TURTLE TRACKS AT DAWN

Read the story left in the sand by a nesting turtle. A morning beach walk offers a way to appreciate turtle season while leaving nesting animals undisturbed.

Where: 

Minjerrabah; Mulgumpin, Bribie Island National Park (Yarun)

When: 

Summer, within the broader November–May nesting and hatching season.

Watch with Care:

Leave tracks and nests undisturbed, stay outside protective fencing and leave dogs at home.

FLYING-FOX NIGHTLY FLY-OUTS
As dusk falls, witness thousands of our vital pollinators take flight, heading out across the Bay to feed on flowering natives on the Islands.

Try your luck:
As night falls on the Esplanade near Weinam Creek in the Redlands, The Southern Bay Islands, the Sandgate/Shorncliffe foreshore, southern Woorim Beach and Woody Bay, Bribie Island.

When:
Bay fly-overs during spring and summer flowering seasons.

MANTA AGGREGATION
Experience the majestic spectacle of reef mantas (Mobula alfredi) taking advantage of natural cleaning stations along the Bay’s outer reefs. Watch as these gentle giants glide gracefully over the seabed while cleaner fish groom them—an extraordinary wildlife encounter in Moreton Bay’s offshore waters.

Underwater Hot Spot:
Manta Bommie, off Point Lookout, North Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah).

When:
November to April, during the warmer coastal water season. The east coast population of reef mantas follows a seasonal water temperature window (around 22–24°C), moving south to Moreton Bay for summer and north toward tropical reefs for winter.

Land-Based Viewing:
On exceptionally calm, clear summer days, mantas can occasionally be seen gliding near the surface from the North Gorge Walk at Point Lookout.

LEOPARD SHARK GATHERING

Dive into summer off Minjerribah, where beautifully spotted leopard sharks gather around the island’s rocky reefs. Watch these graceful sharks glide above the seabed or rest on sandy patches—an unforgettable encounter with one of the Bay’s seasonal visitors.

Underwater Hot Spot:
Manta Bommie, off Point Lookout, North Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah).

When:
November to April, with peak gatherings generally between November and February.