Australia is a vast continent harbouring many fabulous, endemic birds and bizarre wildlife found nowhere else on our planet. During this exciting trip, we will cover an incredible range of habitats ranging from lush expanses of dense tropical rainforest, tall and stunted (mallee) Eucalypt woodland and sclerophyll forest to coastal heath, mudflats, rocky shorelines, grassland, spinifex, Mulga woodland and saltmarsh near the edge of the desolate outback. We can therefore expect a fantastic collection of endemic birds and incredible mammals.
Exploring the east of this vast country, we begin in northern Queensland where highlights include Victoria’s Riflebird from the bird-of-paradise family, Golden and Tooth-billed Bowerbirds, Spotted Catbird, Chowchilla, Beach Stone-curlew and the outrageous Southern Cassowary among a suite of Atherton Tableland and wet tropic endemics. We then continue to the world-famous Lamington NP in search of rainforest specialties such as Albert’s Lyrebird, Australian King Parrot, the brilliant Regent and Satin Bowerbirds, Australian Logrunner, Paradise Riflebird and Noisy Pitta amongst numerous other potential highlights. Flying south, we then stop in at Sydney, birding into the interior through New South Wales and Victoria all the way to Melbourne. During this final week of the Eastern tour, we hope to find several wet and dry-country specialties like the spectacular Superb Lyrebird, unique Pilotbird and Rockwarbler, the strange Plains-wanderer, a plethora of colourful parrots and cockatoos, Chestnut Quail-thrush, Striated Grasswren, Mallee Emu-wren, Rufous and Eastern Bristlebirds and the endangered Hooded Plover among many other mouth-watering species. We’ll also no doubt encounter many of Australia’s bizarre and iconic mammals such as Koala, Wombat, Echidna, Platypus and a large selection of possums, gliders, kangaroos and wallabies.
Top Birds Emu; Southern Cassowary; Black-necked Stork; Great-billed Heron; Wedge-tailed Eagle; Spotted Harrier; Black Falcon; Brolga; Sarus Crane; Pink-eared & Musk Ducks; Plainswanderer; Australian Bustard; Beach Stone-curlew; Hooded Plover; Red-necked Avocet; Banded Stilt; Inland Dotterel; Australian Pratincole; Victoria's & Paradise Riflebirds; Noisy Pitta; Superb & Alberts Lyrebirds; Rose-crowned, Wompoo & Superb Fruit Doves; Bar-shouldered Dove; Topknot & Squatter Pigeons; Torresian Imperial Pigeon; King Parrot; Eastern Ground Parrot; Powerful & Rufous Owl; Australian Owlet-nightjar; Yellow-tailed & Red-tailed Black Cockatoo; Major Mitchell's Cockatoo; Golden, Regent, Satin & Great Bowerbirds; Regents, Mangrove & Macleay’s Honeyeaters; Lovely, Superb & Splendid Fairywrens; Diamond Firetail.
Top Mammals Platypus; Short-beaked Echidna; Northern Brown & Long-nosed Bandicoots; Koala; Short-eared, Coppery & Common Brush-tailed Possums; Stiped Possum; Yellow-bellied & Sugar Gliders; Lemuroid, Common, Green & Herbert River Ringtail Possums; Musky Rat Kangaroo; Lumholtz's Tree-kangaroo; Agile, Whiptail, Red-necked, Mareeba Rock & Swamp Wallabies; Western Grey & Eastern Grey Kangaroos; Red-legged & Red-necked Pademelon; Spectacled Flying Fox.
Habitats Covered woodland, tropical and temperate forest, swamps, riverine woodland, grasslands, coastal bush, estuaries and ocean
Expected Climate hot and humid in north, cooler in the interior mountains of the central areas
Max Group Size 8 with 1 Rockjumper leader
Tour Pace & Walking easy going, short trails with some hills
Accommodation comfortable throughout
Ease of Birding mostly easy birding with a few tricky species
Number of Species Expected 370-400
Photographic Opportunities good to excellent
Erik Forsyth went above and beyond to give personal attention to each participant. How does he do it? Lack of sleep and a packed itinerary would challenge the best guide, but he seems to always be positive and light-hearted. Cracking dry jokes and comments – loved it!
It was a fantastic trip. Very satisfying and Angus did a great job : he really showed us the birds and took great care that we had everything we wanted and were able to enjoy our tour.
Erik Forsyth did a great job, and both his remarkable knowledge and his unflagging good humor were indispensable; I look forward to traveling with him again in the future.
Glen was excellent at finding the birds and keeping track of who had not yet seen specific birds. By the end of the tour there were very few birds not seen by all in the group.
Steve Davidson is a superb guide. He has a vast knowledge of Australian birds, other wildlife, and plants. He has a keen ear and I appreciated that he described what he was hearing. We had challenges in terms of Covid and flooding, and he very responsibly addressed both issues. I truly don't know how he had the stamina to guide, drive the extra miles on detours, and organize the needed diversions from the itinerary.