Gavin Bieber and Susan Myers on their recently concluded tour to Queensland and New South Wales, Australia

Our tour covering Queensland and coastal New South Wales kicked off with a fine week around Cairns and the Atherton Tablelands.  From a surprisingly bold Noisy Pitta striding around the grounds at Kingfisher Lodge to an unexpectedly difficult but very much appreciated Southern Cassowary in the rainforests near Kuranda there was a wealth of birds.

Noisy Pitta  Photo: Ade Buckel

Southern Cassowary

The bird diversity in the northern reaches of the tableland was higher than normal, benefitting from the record droughts to the west. Larger than usual numbers of Australian Bustards and Squatter Pigeons and a few truly irregular species to the area such as Diamond Dove made for excellent birding.

Diamond Dove

Australia has more than a few beautiful species of pigeons, and we were happy to see gaudy Topknot Pigeons perched in the canopy and large numbers of the elegant Torresian Imperial Pigeons along the coast.

Torresian Imperial Pigeon

Our day on the Great Barrier Reef was complicated by some boat issues, but the birds were plentiful, with 11 species of terns seen over the course of the day (Here is a mixed flock with Black-naped, Common, Roseate, and Lesser Crested Terns). We must give special  mention to the area’s many species of mammals, especially this sleeping Lumholtz’s Tree-Kangaroo (and the very cooperative Platypus) that we found south of Yungaburra, our pleasant base on the tablelands.

 
Black-naped, Common, Roseate, and Lesser Crested Terns on a Great Barrier Reef beach

Lumholt's Tree-Kangaroo

Our second week centered around the famous O’Reilly’s Lodge SW of Brisbane and Royal National Park on the southern outskirts of Sydney.  The birds around O’Reilly’s are astoundingly tame. Forest birds often investigate your shoelaces and even normally very shy birds like Eastern Whipbird can be easy to spot.  Bolder birds like Rufous Fantail can be positively pushy.

Eastern Whipbird

Rufous Fantail

The gorgeous Regent and Satin Bowerbirds are common visitors around the lodge, where Eastern Spinebills frequent the flowering shrubs, and Australian King Parrots look over (or from) your shoulder for any dropped tidbits.

Regent Bowerbird

Satin Bowerbird

King Parrot

 Our scheduled pelagic trip out of Sydney was cancelled due to high winds and swell, but our backup visit to Barren Grounds National Park gave us superlative views of Eastern Bristlebird. Royal National Park was a great and scenic backdrop for our final day and a half, with Superb Lyrebird showing well, and dazzlingly blue Azure Kingfishers lining the creek. 

Superb Lyrebird

Azure Kingfisher

We finished the Eastern Tour with 283 species, and an amazing 444 species for the two tours combined. .  It is always with a touch of sadness that I board the plane to leave this amazing continent, and I very much look forward to next year’s tours!