Day 1: Cairns to Lockhart River (Iron Range)

We take a late morning to early afternoon flight from Cairns up to Lockhart River. We will be transferred to an enclave near the Iron Range National Park. We will spend four nights at the magnificent Green Hoose which is surrounded by Iron Range National Park.

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Days 2-4: Lockhart River Area Hotspots

Lockhart River is one of the most revered sites in northeast Queensland, and indeed, all of Australia. It’s bird list reveals why; there are many species best found there, which are specialties of the region, and give it a flavor of the densely forested tropical island of New Guinea to the north. For Australians looking to build a country list, this is a must do site. In the rainforest canopy, fruit doves occur, with three species at this site, Superb, Wompoo and Rose-crowned. However, the stars of the forest canopy are the parrots, not least the gargantuan Palm Cockatoo, which has no likeness on Earth. Red-cheeked Parrot are another noisy Cape York specialty. However, the prince among parrots in Cape York is arguably the Eclectus Parrot, with its strikingly different plumage between the sexes, the females being the brighter gender, vivid vermilion red and blue, while the males are less colorful, but no less striking being brilliant emerald green with a red bill. Down on the forest floor, some of the avian targets require more effort to find but getting a view of the crimson-bellied Papuan Pitta makes the effort all worthwhile, ranking as one of Australia’s most stunning birds. Another terrestrial bird, the Northern Scrub-Robin is also of interest down in the leaf-litter. The forest is home to two striking kingfishers, Yellow-billed, which in Australia is confined to this extremity, and the beautiful Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher is a migrant that comes to breed in Cape York, having crossed the Torres Strait from its New Guinea wintering grounds.  Within the understorey we may find the Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo, one of the most distinctive sounds of Cape York, as well as the striking White-faced Robin. The forest is also home to a dazzling variety of monarchs, with five species occurring, including two specialties on our target list, Black-winged and Frill-necked Monarchs. As if that was not enough, these verdant rainforests are home to two species of bird-of-paradise found nowhere else in Australia, the Trumpet Manucode and Magnificent Riflebird, the latter restricted to this part of Australia only. Now all of this may sound daunting, but many of these birds will be seen without the grounds of the Green Hoose, so those people needing a little down time throughout the day will still be in the thick of it with Eclectus Parrots flying over, Tawny-breasted Honeyeaters feeding in the garden, and Yellow-billed Kingfishers calling from above the cafe'. In Mangroves (pp. 89) and areas outside the forest, other notable birds occur, like Mangrove and White-browed robins, and Fawn-breasted Bowerbird. Other specialties will be Tawny-breasted and Green-backed honeyeaters, and Yellow-legged Flycatcher. This is also a good site to venture out after dark, with an abundance of nightbirds in the area. Three nightjars occur, Spotted, White-throated and Large-tailed, as well as Rufous Owl, and both Marbled and Papuan frogmouths.

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Day 5: Lockhart River to Cairns​

After some final birding around Green Hoose, we will take a midday flight from Lockhart River back to Cairns. The details of the morning really depends on which birds have been accommodating and which have given us some trouble. We fully expect to be spending time chasing better photos of birds we have already seen