Uluru, perhaps better known as Ayers Rock, is an icon of central Australia. Photo: David Fisher
The states of South Australia and Northern Territory contain vast tracts of desert wilderness - the outback - and the only cities of any size are located in the extreme south and the extreme north. We’ll explore the areas around both these cities - Adelaide and Darwin - and will also visit Alice Springs, smack in the center of the continent. After a visit to the famous saltpans near St. Kilda with their teeming hordes of wintering Palearctic shorebirds, we’ll travel via the vineyards of the Barossa Valley to the mallee around Glue Pot reserve in search of many special inland birds restricted to this habitat, including the fascinating Malleefowl. Then we’ll fly into the Red Centre around Alice, where spectacular desert scenery forms a backdrop to the many wonderful birds we’ll see. We’ll also visit world-renowned Uluru (Ayer’s Rock) and Kata Tjuta (the Olgas) to view these amazing geological features and watch the sunset at the Rock. Darwin in contrast is tropical—humid, lush and green with a rich and colorful avifauna. The suburbs are filled with exotic birds and other bizarre wildlife, all well worth the three nights we’ll spend there before traveling south to Katherine in search of such specialties as Red Goshawk and Gouldian Finch.
This tour can be taken in conjunction with either or both of our tours Australia: The Southeast -Tasmania, Victoria and the Plains-wanderer and Australia: The East - Queensland and New South Wales.
Day 1: The tour begins this morning at Adelaide airport. After checking in to our hotel and lunch, we’ll visit a local wetland reserve where good numbers of waterfowl may include Australasian Shoveler and the cute Pink-eared Duck. Depending on the tide we may also visit nearby mudflats for a selection of herons, egrets, ibises, and shorebirds, perhaps including Pied and Sooty Oystercatchers. Night in Adelaide.
Day 2: We’ll spend the morning at the St. Kilda Saltfields, home to masses of waterbirds including Musk Duck, Banded Stilt, Pied Oystercatcher, and Fairy Tern. Thousands of Palearctic shorebirds winter here, and we should be able to study Sharp-tailed and Curlew Sandpipers and Red-necked Stint at close quarters. After lunch we’ll drive through the Barossa Valley, famous for its wines, and visit Altona Scrub, an area with a rich diversity of indigenous plants. Here we’ll search the mixed native pine forest for birds such as Yellow Thornbill, Rufous Whistler, and the spectacular Diamond Firetail. Later we’ll travel beyond the Mount Lofty Ranges to Brookfield Conservation Park, where in the late afternoon we’ll visit a colony of the endangered Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat. Night in Waikerie.
Day 3: Today we’ll visit Gluepot, the jewel in the crown of Birds Australia, Australia’s main ornithological conservation organization, and home to no fewer than six nationally threatened species. We’ll have a good chance of seeing the highly sought-after Red-lored Whistler, Striated Grasswren, and Black-eared Miner. Throughout the day we’ll visit the various habitat types that make the reserve so special, including mallee scrub, where we should have little trouble finding Southern Scrub-robin, Chestnut Quail-thrush, Gilbert’s Whistler, and the local race of the dazzling Splendid Fairy-wren. In taller old-growth mallee we’ll find several species of honeyeater; among them should be White-fronted and White-eared . Later on we’ll look for White-browed Treecreeper and Crested Bellbird in mixed black oak woodland, and search the more open woodland and grassy bluebush clearings in the western half of the reserve for birds such as Mulga Parrot, Chestnut-crowned Babbler, and Southern Whiteface. The birdlist for the reserve is extensive, and the possibilities are almost endless. Night in Waikerie.
We thoroughly enjoyed the tour—the birds and wildlife were so exciting, and the organization of our time was superb, with not a moment lost. This together with Judy and David’s enthusiasm and skill ensured that we saw and experienced the most we could during our time in Australia. We wouldn’t hesitate to travel with them again. And many thanks too for the office end of things; it all went very well.
- Joyce Collins
Day 4: This morning we’ll travel the back roads to Morgan searching for the gaudy Regent Parrot and the curious-looking Apostlebird, calling in at Hart’s Lagoon on the way to see the many species of waterbirds, perhaps including Freckled Duck. At Morgan we’ll cross the famous Murray River by ferry. After lunch we’ll look for Redthroat and keep an eye out for Ground Cuckoo-Shrike. Then we’ll drive back to Adelaide, stopping for any birds we may have missed up to this point. Night in Adelaide.
Day 5: A morning flight will take us north to Alice Springs, at the center of the continent. This is desert country and contrasts strongly with the more temperate south. Known as the Red Center for good reason, the local landscape is dominated by the rich red color of the rocks, but the sparse vegetation is home to a surprisingly rich avifauna. After lunch in town we’ll visit Simpson’s Gap National Park, open scrub country with a wealth of central Australian birds including Pied Butcherbird, Western Gerygone, Gray-headed Honeyeater, Zebra Finch, Black-faced and Little Woodswallows, and, with luck, Dusky Grasswren. Local rainfall determines the distribution of many nomadic species, and some years we also see Budgerigar, Diamond Dove, Rufous Songlark, and Painted Firetail. Black-flanked Rock Wallaby is a local marsupial specialty. Night in Alice Springs.
Day 6: We’ll begin by visiting one of two spots farther away from town. Our choice will be determined by local conditions, but in either case we’ll be searching for many of the same species, including Spinifex Pigeon, Western Bowerbird, and Red-browed Pardalote. In the afternoon we’ll visit the Old Telegraph Station next to the spring after which the town was named, a good spot to see Common Walleroo. In the evening we’ll visit a pool where Bourke’s Parrots sometimes come to drink. Night in Alice Springs.
Day 7: Today we’ll take a charter flight to Uluru (Ayer’s Rock) and Kata Tjuta (Mount Olga), dramatic geological features known throughout the world. Much of the day will be spent learning about these features’ natural history and their significance to the local Aboriginal people, but we’ll also keep an eye out for Crimson Chat, White-fronted Honeyeater, and, depending on seasonal conditions, other honeyeaters and woodswallows. We’ll stay to watch the sunset at the Rock, then fly back to Alice after dark. Night in Alice Springs.
Day 8: We’ll make a pre-breakfast visit to the local sewage ponds to look for Hoary-headed Grebe, Hardhead, Red-necked Avocet, Black-fronted Plover, and White-backed Swallow. As the only extensive wetland in the middle of a vast desert, the ponds attract any species that is passing through, and most of our past visits have turned up something unusual. These have included such unlikely birds as Pied Cormorant, Freckled Duck, Gray-tailed Tattler, Long-toed Stint, Silver Gull, Orange Chat, and Brown Songlark. Who knows what we might find!
After breakfast we’ll catch a late-morning flight north to Darwin for a three-night stay. Here in the tropics we’ll encounter many new and colorful species. Figbirds perch on roadside wires, White-bellied Cuckoo-Shrikes undulate overhead, and Pied Imperial-Pigeons perch in the treetops. After checking in to our hotel we’ll visit the nature reserve at nearby East Point. Orange-footed Scrubfowl strut around the lawns fringing the reserve, and Agile Wallabies graze on the short turf. Depending on the tide we may check the exposed reefs for roosting shorebirds, which are likely to include Greater and Lesser Sand Plovers, Pacific Golden-Plover, Gray-tailed Tattler, Curlew Sandpiper, Red-necked Stint, and Red-capped Plover. If the tide is low, Eastern Reef Egrets and Striated Herons are sure to be fishing in the rocky pools, and the occasional Brahminy Kite will drift overhead. Night in Darwin.
Days 9-10: We’ll spend two full days at a variety of excellent birding spots around the town. At Howard Springs we’ll walk the nature trail in search of the brilliant and aptly named Rainbow Pitta. Most of the world’s pittas are skulking birds that are extremely hard to see, but this one is the exception. There are lots of other forest birds to look for, including Australasian Koel, Spangled Drongo, Shining Flycatcher, Little Shrike-Thrush, Yellow and Olive-backed Orioles, and a variety of strikingly patterned honeyeaters. There is also a camp of Black Flying-Foxes, as well as many exotic lizards, colorful turtles, and butterflies.
We’ll visit Buffalo Creek, where depending on the tide we have a chance of glimpsing a Chestnut Rail. This secretive species spends most of its time hidden in dense mangroves, but we’ll certainly hear it calling and with luck might even see it. While we scan for the rail, other mangrove species will entertain us, perhaps including noisy Black Butcherbirds, musical Green-backed Gerygones, dainty Yellow White-eyes, and dazzling Azure Kingfishers. Migrant shorebirds and terns may be roosting on the nearby beach, among them many of the shorebirds that breed in Siberia and winter in Australia. Among the resident waders that may also be present we’ll be keeping an eye out for the massive but surprisingly elusive Beach Thick-knee.
The Palmerston sewage ponds may hold a few waterbirds to interest us (as well as our only real chance for a Freshwater Crocodile), but it is the mangroves that will be our main focus, one of the few places we can hope to see Mangrove Robin, Mangrove Fantail, and Mangrove Gerygone. The surrounding grassy patches can also be good for finches, perhaps including colorful Crimson Finches and beautifully patterned Chestnut-breasted Mannikins.
A late afternoon visit to Knuckey’s Lagoon is always a delight. We’ll search among hundreds of Pied Herons, Magpie Geese, Radjah Shelducks, Green Pygmy-Geese, and Comb-crested Jacanas for scarcer species such as Wood Sandpiper and Long-toed Stint. Local rarities recorded here in the past have included Garganey, Ruff, Little Ringed Plover, Oriental Pratincole, and Yellow Chat.
We’ll also visit a number of special stakeouts for such sought-after species as Little Curlew, Oriental Plover, Rufous and Barking Owls, Tawny Frogmouth, Northern Rosella, and Collared Kingfisher. Nights in Darwin.
Day 11: We’ll drive to Fogg Dam in the early morning, stopping along the way to look for Horsfield’s Bushlark and Black-faced Woodswallow. The lagoons behind the dam were originally intended for rice cultivation, but thousands of Magpie Geese quickly put an end to that scheme and the area was turned into a nature reserve. Now this mass of reed-beds and lily-covered ponds is home to many waterbirds; among the scarcer species we’ll be searching for Brolga, Black-necked Stork, Royal Spoonbill, White-browed Crake, Broad-billed and Restless (Paperbark) Flycatchers, Tawny Grassbird, and Golden-headed Cisticola. Later we’ll drive south to Katherine, on the main road to Alice Springs, stopping along the way to look for Hooded Parrot, Northern Rosella, Varied Lorikeet, Black-tailed Treecreeper, and Masked Finch. Night in Katherine.
Day 12: We’ll leave Katherine early in search of Cockatiel, Yellow-tinted and Banded Honeyeaters, and a variety of finches including the stunning Gouldian. We’ll then look for one of our main targets, Red Goshawk, a rare and local species seldom seen on bird tours in Australia. We’ll also search for other local specialties such as Black Bittern and Apostlebird. After lunch we’ll drive back north to Darwin, stopping along the way to look for any species we may still be missing. Night in Darwin.
Day 13: The tour ends in Darwin after breakfast.
Updated: 02 March 2009
Prices
- 2010 price about $6,320*
- Single Occupancy Supplement $750
- 2011 Tour Price Not Yet Available*
Notes
* This tour is organized by our British company, Sunbird. Please review the explanation of our Sunbird pricing here.
This tour is limited to eight participants with one leader, 16 with two.
Although the 2010 tour begins formally on the morning of October 14 with the arrival of the flight from Melbourne bearing the group and leaders from our Tasmania, Victoria, and the Plains-wanderer tour, participants in this South Australia and Northern Territory tour will almost certainly want to arrive in Adelaide the previous day, October 13. Those choosing to arrive early should contact the WINGS office for information and assistance.