Day 1: Arrival in Cairns (Queensland)


After arrival in Cairns, the tour will begin with a meeting at 1pm so that we can head out birding around this small city. Some of the sites we may visit include Centenary Lakes, Cairns Cemetery, and The Esplanade. Targets will include Australian shorebirds along The Esplanade, such as Terek Sandpiper, Red-necked Stint, godwits, sand-plovers, gulls and terns. Cairns Cemetery can be a great spot for finding common Australian birds such as Willie-Wagtails, Rainbow Bee-eaters, Australasian Figbirds, Torresian Imperial-Pigeons, and White-breasted Woodswallows, as well as sleeping Bush Thick-knees. Centenary Lakes could yield some of our first tropical species such as Orange-footed Scrubfowl, Australian Brush-Turkey, Dusky Myzomela, Brown-backed and Yellow Honeyeaters, Metallic Starling, Green Oriole, and Black Butcherbird. The night will be spent in Cairns.

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Day 2: The Great Barrier Reef (Queensland)

After breakfast we will head to the local docks, where we’ll board a ferry that will take us out to the Great Barrier Reef for much of the day. Our first stop will be the tiny, sandy islet of Michaelmas Cay, a haven for nesting seabirds. The dominant nesting species is the Brown Noddy, although we will keep a sharp eye out for the scarcer Black Noddy hiding among them. There are also numerous terns on the island, mostly Sooty and Great Crested Terns, which are also sometimes joined by other species like Lesser Crested, Black-naped, and the occasional Roseate too. We will keep an eye out for any frigatebirds marauding above, as both Lesser and Great Frigatebirds can occur on the island too, and we may even pick up a Brown or Red-footed Booby flying over. Later on the boat trip there will be chances for those who wish to, to go snorkeling, or take a glass-bottomed boat tour of the reef. In the afternoon, we’ll return to Cairns for some late afternoon birding, and a second night.

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Day 3: Cairns Rainforest to Daintree (Queensland)
We will spend the morning birding the road to Lake Morris, which is bordered by lowland rainforest and leads up into hillier rainforest too. A massive list of birds awaits there, and we will be on the lookout for Yellow-breasted Boatbill, Wompoo and Superb Fruit-Doves, Spotted Catbird, Victoria’s Riflebird, Double-eyed Fig-Parrot, Cryptic, Macleay’s and Yellow-spotted Honeyeaters, Dusky Myzomela, Gray Whistler, and Barred Cuckooshrike, among others!

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After much of the morning in this area, we will travel towards Daintree. There are multiple routes that can be taken to Daintree, although we are likely to divert inland first to pass through dry country that could yield Blue-faced Honeyeater, Red-backed Fairywren, Red-winged Parrot and a visit to a Great Bowerbird bower, as well as a visit to a local wetland where Black-necked Stork, Black Swan, Green Pygmy-Goose, and Whistling Kites are all regulars. We might also pick up a passing flock of Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos in the area too. Although Cairns to Daintree is only a 90-minute drive, direct, we are likely to take our time and not arrive there until late afternoon. Time permitting, in the late afternoon, we might try for the scarce and difficult Lovely Fairywren near our hotel in Daintree.

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Day 4: Daintree River Cruise to Mareeba (Queensland)


At dawn we will take a boat cruise along the Daintree River and some of its narrow tributaries seeking birds and other wildlife. We will scour the trees for Wompoo Fruit-Doves and minuscule Double-eyed Fig-Parrots, while this can often be the best place to find Green Orioles. The low riverside vegetation holds handsome Shining Flycatchers, and we will also keep a sharp eye out for kingfishers such as the regular Azure Kingfisher and the rare Little Kingfisher. Although massive, the remarkably inconspicuous Great-billed Heron can sometimes be found here too. Using a local guide we may also get the chance to find one of the most cryptic birds of the Daintree, the Papuan Frogmouth, which nests in the trees lining the riverbank. After two hours along the river we will return to Daintree for a late cooked breakfast on their veranda. After breakfast we may check a few nearby spots for anything we are missing, before getting on our way to Mareeba, up on the Atherton Tableland. We will probably stop along the way to bird a few wetlands, or depending on the weather, we may even head up Mt Lewis to bird some of the high-altitude rainforest. Whatever we decide, there will be plenty of new birds waiting for us, and our list will continue to build.

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Days 5-6: Atherton Tablelands (Queensland)


We will spend these two days visiting a variety of sites on the Atherton Tableland; there will be a lot of birds to fit in, so expect some long days. We will visit locations including Maryfarms for Australian Bustards and other dry country birds, Mount Lewis or the Lake Barrine area for high-altitude rainforest endemics like Chowchillas and Golden Bowerbirds, and also some of the wetlands in the area for whistling-ducks and Magpie Geese. The nights will be spent in the small town of Mareeba, a town that boasts healthy numbers of Eastern Gray Kangaroos on their local golf course!

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Day 7: Mareeba to Cairns (Queensland)


We will spend our final day on the Atherton Tableland chasing down any species we still need, before commencing the descent down to Cairns. If we are still looking for Southern Cassowary, we will make a visit to a regular area for this bird before returning to Cairns. Depending on how our list is shaping up, we will spend a couple of hours around Cairns, probably visiting the Esplanade (that comes loaded with shorebirds and other wading birds) or perhaps Centenary Lakes. There are quite a few wetlands around Cairns we can visit if we still need any waterbirds, or we could search for Crimson Finches and Chestnut-breasted Munias in farmland to the city’s north. Our last night in the Wet Tropics area of Queensland will again be spent in Cairns.

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Day 8: Cairns to Brisbane, to Lamington National Park (Queensland)


After a morning flight from Cairns, we will arrive in Brisbane and head straight into the field. Our first stop will be some mangroves near the airport, searching for Mangrove Gerygone, Mangrove Honeyeater, and Collared Kingfisher. We may also check some hotspots around Brisbane, depending in local bird news at the time. We will then head to areas around Lamington National Park, and the comfortable lodging of O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat. As we arrive, we will be straining to get out of the cars and watch the grain feeders which often attract Crimson Rosellas, Australian King-Parrots and Wonga Pigeons, and we will spend this first afternoon exploring the rainforest edges . Dinner will be in the lodge restaurant, where we may get to watch the friendly Mountain Brush-tail Possums wolfing down fruits in front of the restaurant windows. After dinner there will be an optional search for nightbirds, in particular the scarce Marbled Frogmouth and Southern Boobook. The next two nights will be spent at O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat.

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Day 9: Hotspots around Lamington National Park (Queensland)


We will have a full day to explore hotspots around this wonderful national park, and the open eucalypt forest that cloaks the hillsides below that; all close to our lodging in Lamington. We will begin by admiring the bowerbirds and parrots clambering around the cabins in the early morning, which will include the gorgeous black-and-gold Regent Bowerbird. Wonga Pigeons should easily be found along with Red-necked Pademelons (a small kangaroo) feeding along the grassy verges. We will take a pre-breakfast walk in the rainforest to search for some of the forest-interior birds like Paradise Riflebird, Australian Logrunner, Rose Robin, Green Catbird, and, if we are really lucky, the extremely secretive Albert’s Lyrebird. After a substantial spread for breakfast we will spend more time exploring the rainforest. After lunch we will take a drive down Duck Creek Road and bird some very different habitat, wet sclerophyll forest, which holds a markedly different set of birds. We will try to track down Red-browed Treecreeper along the rainforest margin, and perhaps Spotted Pardalotes and Variegated Fairywrens too. After another dinner at the O Reilly’s, we will have the option to go looking for nightbirds again if needed.

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Day 10: Lamington (Queensland) to Sydney and Lithgow (New South Wales)


We will have a look at the progress of our list, before deciding what to do around O Reilly’s this morning (in Lamington). We will have time to look for a few birds in the rainforest if we still need them, or we can head back down into the wet sclerophyll forest along Duck Creek Rd. Later in the morning, we will check out and make our way back towards Brisbane, in order to take an afternoon flight to Sydney, from there we will drive across the Blue Mountains to Lithgow for the night. This is a great location from which to launch our first exploration of the forests of New South Wales, the following morning.

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Day 11: Capertee Valley to Forbes (New South Wales)


A dawn departure will have us in the famous Capertee Valley for breakfast, where the cool morning air will be ringing with the calls of honeyeaters. We will be treated to some other fantastic birds and it will give us a good chance to mop up some of the species we still need on mainland Australia, with the backdrop of the imposing Blue Mountains behind us. Birds such as Diamond Firetail, Yellow-tufted and Black-chinned Honeyeaters, Restless Flycatcher, Eastern Shrike-Tit, and Zebra Finch are all possible. Leaving the Capertee Valley behind, we will head back to Lithgow, before turning west for Forbes. The main attraction here is Gum Swamp, a large wetland that is a haven for waterfowl. We may be able to find Blue-billed Duck here, along with Pink-eared Duck, Hoary-headed Grebe, and perhaps the very rare Freckled Duck, as well as Cockatiel in the trees around the edges. The night will be spent in nearby Forbes.

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Day 12: Back Yamma to Lake Cargelligo (New South Wales)


We will spend the morning birding Back Yamma State Forest, an area of open woodland close to Forbes. This will provide us with a gradual introduction to some of the birds of Australia’s drier inland. Possibilities include Turquoise Parrot, Blue Bonnet and Mallee Ringnecks, and perhaps our first gorgeous Red-capped Robins. We will leave Forbes in the morning to continue west to Lake Cargelligo. It is not a birding trip without a visit to the sewage works, and that will be our first port-of-call on arrival there. We may find our first White-winged Fairywrens here, and it can be a good location for rails and ducks depending on local water levels at the time of our visit. The night will be spent in Lake Cargelligo.

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Day 13: Round Hill & Plains-Wanderer (New South Wales)


Another pre-dawn departure will have us enjoying breakfast as the sun rises and the birds start singing around us in the Nombinnie/Round Hill area. We will spend the morning here as we work to pick up a number of mallee specialists, plus a few other birds of the dry interior, including the incomparable Splendid Fairywren. While we only spend a short time in this habitat, this does allow us to add a swathe of new birds in this short period, nonetheless. We will have to drag ourselves away from Round Hill so we can get on our way to Hay and one of the highlights of the trip. The plains surrounding Hay are home to one of the most enigmatic and rare Australian birds, the Plains-Wanderer. We will take a night drive across the plains with local guides armed with spotlights and an intimate knowledge of this odd bird’s habits. Although it will mean a late finish, this is often the most highly rated outing of the trip, as we often get crippling views of this amazing bird. We will spend the night in nearby Hay.

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Day 14: Hay to Griffith (New South Wales)


After a long night looking for Plains-Wanderers we will take the opportunity to have an atypical late start. When we are ready we will make our way over to Leeton where the main attraction is one of the best wetlands in Australia, Five Bough Swamp. We will check the swamp for Red-necked Avocets and Red-kneed Dotterels working the muddy edges, Australian Shovelers, Hardheads, and Musk Ducks swimming in the open waters, and Swamp Harriers quartering the reedbeds. As the water levels vary greatly in Five Bough, our afternoon plan will be flexible, and may also involve a trip out to Binya, an area of brigalow, (a woodland habitat type), to the north. The night will be spent in the town of Griffith.

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Day 15: Binya to Robertson (New South Wales)


In the morning we will visit Binya, a wooded area near Griffith that holds some great birds like Splendid Fairywren, Speckled Warbler and sometimes even the rare Painted Honeyeater, along with White-winged Chough and Apostlebird. In the afternoon we’ll head eastwards towards the town of Roberston, probably arriving in time to make our first visit to the heathland of Barren Grounds, which is home to rare species, like Gang-gang Cockatoos and Pilotbirds. The night will be spent in Roberston.

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Day 16: Barren Grounds to Sydney (New South Wales)


Early morning will see us back at Barren Grounds to continue searching for the many elusive species there, like Superb Lyrebird, Southern Emuwren and Eastern Bristlebird, before we head down off the coastal escarpment to Bass Point. This rocky peninsula juts out into the Pacific Ocean, and depending on the weather conditions can be a good location to pick up a few seabirds for our list, with Wedge-tailed and Short-tailed Shearwaters most likely. After that, we will head north back to Sydney. We should have time for an afternoon visit to hotspots around Sydney, to start picking up birds there like Eastern Spinebill, and maybe even a Superb Lyrebird. The night will be spent in a Sydney suburb.

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Day 17: Hotspots around Sydney to Hobart (Tasmania) 


Areas around Sydney offers many birds, and varied habitats (from temperate rainforest to coastal heaths), we will return there this morning to search for any birds we are still missing, which could be Superb Lyrebird, Rockwarbler, Tawny-crowned Honeyeater, Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo, Beautiful Firetail, and others. In the afternoon we’ll make our way to Sydney airport to take our flight to Hobart in Tasmania, for the final leg of our trip. The next three nights will be spent in Hobart.

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Day 18: Bruny Island (Tasmania)


In the morning, we’ll make our way over to the dock to take a short ferry ride over to Bruny Island (picking up a Black-faced Cormorant or two on the way), where much of the day will be spent, searching for Tasmanian endemics. Once we hit the island, we will bird our way south, keeping a watchful eye on roadside fences for Scarlet and Dusky Robins, and checking any blooming trees for the scarce Swift Parrot. The sandy beaches around Adventure Bay usually yield the endangered Hooded Plover, and may also produce Sooty and Pied Oystercatchers. In the late morning/early afternoon we will check a forested road for some more specialties such as the adorable Pink Robin, and further Tassie endemics like Strong-billed and Yellow-throated Honeyeaters, and Tasmanian Scrubwren. In the late afternoon we’ll return back to Hobart, by way of the ferry again. Another night will be spent in Hobart.

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Day 19: Mount Wellington and the Tasman Peninsula (Tasmania)


Our final day of the tour will find us at the base of Mount Wellington, on the western outskirts of Hobart. We will walk a flat forest trail looking for one of the more difficult Tasmanian endemics, the nondescript Scrubtit, as well as Olive Whistler and both Black and Gray Currawongs. This will be followed by a visit to the scenic summit of Mount Wellington, where open heathland can produce Striated Fieldwren and the beautiful Flame Robin. After enjoying the view from the top of Mt Wellington we will have lunch back in Hobart, before moving north to Eaglehawk Neck, one of Tasmania’s scenic coastal locations, where we will search for Cape Barren Geese. There will also be an opportunity here for a bit of sea-watching, with White-capped Albatross and a few different shearwaters possible. We will have dinner on the beach while we wait for a small colony of Little Penguins to return to their burrows after nightfall. Our final night will be spent back in Hobart.

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Day 20: Departure from Hobart


Transfers from our hotel in Hobart to the airport in Hobart, will be arranged the evening before to connect with international departures. Please confirm the times of your transfers with your tour leader the evening before.

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Trip Considerations

PACE: Intense. This tour attempts to see as many bird species as possible as well as some great mammals, and we usually amass an impressive list. Typical starts are between 5:00am and 5:30am; there is one earlier 4:15am start required due to an early flight. There are four late finishes (between 10-11pm); two of these are required due to flight schedules, and the others are for spotlighting birds and mammals, one of which can be considered optional if you would prefer to relax in the hotel. There are several fairly long drives on the tour, with drives of 3 hours or more on 5 days, and the longest being 6 hours. Many breakfasts and a few lunches will be taken in the field. Two boat trips are taken on this tour, one for most of the day to the Great Barrier Reef, and a two-hour trip on the Daintree River.

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PHYSICAL DIFFICULTY: Easy. Most of the birding will be done from roads and mostly flat, well-maintained trails. You can expect to walk around 2-3 miles per day on average. There are no high altitude sites; the highest point is about 4000 ft (1200 m) on 2 days.

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CLIMATE: Highly variable. In the Cairns area it is tropical and humid, with highs of around 86°F/30°C. In temperate areas around Brisbane and Sydney, temperatures between 57°F/14°C and 75°F/34°C are expected. Tasmania will be the coldest part, with temperatures typically 48°F-64°F/9°C-18°C, but may be significantly cooler in the early mornings, when temperatures can drop to near freezing. Some rain can be expected, mostly in New South Wales and Tasmania.

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ACCOMMODATION: Good to very good throughout. All accommodations have private bathrooms, full-time hot water, and 24-hour electricity. Most lodges/hotels have wifi either in your room or at reception.

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PHOTOGRAPHY: The primary purpose of this tour is to have all the clients see as many birds as possible and seeing the birds will always take priority over getting photos. Tropical Birding does allow photography on our tours, but the tour leader will not allow photographers to move in front of the group for a photo until everyone has had a good look at the bird first. All of our guides are also amateur photographers, so they are happy to help you out within the limitations given here. 

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There are no feeders on this tour, but photography of Australian birds on the fly is often very productive. On this tour, the photographic opportunities are particularly good at Lamington National Park (O’Reilly’s) for species like Crimson Rosella and Australian King-Parrot, Regent and Satin Bowerbirds, Pied Currawongs and others. The visit to the tiny island of Michaelmas Cay on the Great Barrier Reef is also a treat for photography, where a number of nesting seabirds are seen up close, like Sooty Tern and Brown Noddy. These are merely the best photo sites of the tour, although in general this is one of the better destinations for photography, with many amateur photographers and the guides coming away with a healthy set of photos of some of Australia’s most impressive species.

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Other Information

TRAVEL REQUIREMENTS: A valid passport is required for entry into Australia. It should be valid for at least six months past the time of your scheduled return.  An electronic visa is required for citizens of the USA, Canada, the UK, South Africa, and most Western European countries. This can be done through an app or online application.  As of July 2022, some older tour participants (over 75 years old) may need to undergo a health examination in order to enter Australia. Whether you need an examination of this kind is only revealed during the application process. Therefore, it is extremely important that all participants apply for entry long before the start of the tour, to ensure there is time to schedule a health examination if one is needed.​

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WHAT’S INCLUDED?: Tips to local guides; accommodation from night of day 1 though to night of day 19; meals from dinner on day 1 to breakfast on day 20 (if you have an early flight on this day, you may miss the included breakfast); reasonable non-alcoholic drinks during restaurant meals; safe drinking water between meals; most hotels in Australia provide a kettle and tea and coffee; Tropical Birding tour leader with scope and audio gear from the afternoon of day 1 to the night of day 19; spotlighting tour with local guides on one night; transfer by taxi to the airports at the start and end of the tour; ground transport for the group to all sites in the itinerary in a suitable vehicle driven by the tour leader; one boat trip to the Great Barrier Reef (this will be shared with other people); one private two-hour boat cruise on the Daintree River; entrance fees to all birding sites mentioned in the itinerary; a printed and bound checklist to keep track of your sightings (given to you at the start of the tour – only electronic copies can be provided in advance).

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WHAT’S NOT INCLUDED?: Optional tips to the tour leader; international flights; domestic flights (THESE WILL BE BOOKED BY THE TROPICAL BIRDING OFFICE TO ENSURE THE GROUP ALL HAVE THE CORRECT FLIGHTS); excess baggage fees; snacks; additional drinks apart from those included; alcoholic beverages; travel insurance; excursions not included in the tour itinerary; extras in hotels such as laundry service, internet, minibar, room service, telephone calls, and personal items; medical fees; other items or services not specifically mentioned as being included.