Day 1: Our tour begins midday, with the arrival of those participating in the preceding tour.After lunch we’ll head a bit to the west of Sydney, to spend the remainder of the afternoon birding around some of the parklands in the western suburbs of the city.Our actual route will change from year to year to optimize our birding potential, but the afternoon will give an excellent introduction to the common birds of the region, with species such as Laughing Kookaburra, Galah, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo and Superb Fairywren being among the expected highlights.Night in Sydney.

Day 2: For our first full day we will spend our time birding around the vast Royal National Park. We shall start with a search for Superb Lyrebird, one of the world’s most accomplished mimics along the pretty and very diverse Lady Carrington Drive. A trip out to the stunning coastal heathlands may well reveal New South Wales’s only endemic bird, Rockwarbler, as well as heathland specialties such as Southern Emu-wren, Tawny-crowned Honeyeater and perhaps even Chestnut-rumped Heathwren. We’ll look as well for a wide cross-section of more southerly Australian species, such as the glorious Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo, Superb Lyrebird, Little and Red Wattlebirds, and New Holland Honeyeater. A short seawatch on the handsome bluffs of Royal National Park should reveal numbers of Wedge-tailed, Short-tailed and perhaps Fluttering Shearwaters, and with the right conditions may also provide our first views of Black-browed or White-capped Albatrosses. In the late afternoon we should be able to track down a roosting Powerful Owl, perhaps the most impressive of the suite of Australian owls, near the park boundary. Night in Sydney.

Day 3: We’ll take a pelagic trip into deep water beyond the continental shelf. We’ll cruise out through Sydney Harbor and have a view of the famous bridge with a glimpse of the opera house below. During our day-long trip we should see many Southern Hemisphere seabirds that, depending on sea temperatures, may include Little Penguin, Australasian Gannet, Antipodean, White-capped, and Black-browed Albatrosses, Gray-faced and Providence Petrels, up to six species of shearwater, and diminutive Wilson’s Storm-petrels. We’ll feed the birds behind the boat and can usually draw in a selection of great seabirds to watch at arm’s length. Photographic opportunities are outstanding and binoculars are hardly needed. We won’t soon forget the fabulous experience of tossing bits of fish to White-capped Albatrosses bobbing about behind the boat. Cetaceans may also be a feature of the trip, and though none is guaranteed, in previous years we have seen Humpback and Sperm Whales, Pilot Whales, and Common and Bottlenose Dolphins. With the vagaries of the Southern Ocean in play, it is worth mentioning that should conditions not allow us to go out to sea, we’ll spend this day to the south of Sydney around Barren Grounds Nature Reserve, where we could see heathland birds such as Southern Emu-wren, Eastern Bristlebird, Beautiful Firetail, Pilotbird, and with some extreme luck perhaps even Eastern Ground-Parrot or Gang-gang Cockatoo. Night in Sydney.

Day 4: On the last morning in Sydney we will likely return to the coastline at Royal National Park where we’ll look for any of the species missed on our previous visit or visit another section of the park where the brightly colored Eastern Rosella and well-marked Yellow-tufted Honeyeater reside. We may also elect to investigate some of the many city parks near the hotel, where we might encounter birds such as Red-rumped Parrot, Red-whiskered Bulbul, White-plumed Honeyeater, or Yellow Thornbill. A midday flight up to Brisbane will allow us to look for Mangrove Honeyeater and Mangrove Gerygone close to the airport before we make the drive inland to Lamington National Park, an area of montane rainforest with a delightful climate. We’ll pass through open farmland and eucalyptus woods broken occasionally by marshes and streams, and we should see Gray Butcherbird, Little Friarbird, and perhaps Glossy Black Cockatoo or Pretty-faced (Whiptail) Wallaby. By late afternoon we’ll enter the subtropical rainforest of the Lamington Plateau, a change of environment marked by flocks of Crimson Rosellas. We’ll arrive at O’Reilly’s Guesthouse in time for some late afternoon birding. If we’re lucky we may be able to watch a Satin Bowerbird decorating its bower or hand-feed the many semi-tame Regent Bowerbirds, Australian King Parrots, or Crimson Rosellas that decorate the lodge grounds. In the evening Red-necked Pademelons graze on the lawns, and during dinner Short-eared Brushtail Possums often come to the dining room feeders. Night at O’Reilly’s Rainforest Guesthouse.

Day 5: O’Reilly’s Guesthouse is celebrated by birdwatchers worldwide for its amazing shows of multicolored tropical species, many of which are hand-tame and present fantastic photographic opportunities. Species that frequent the guesthouse feeders include bizarre Australian Brush-Turkeys, stunning Regent Bowerbirds (the guesthouse emblem)—the male being arguably the most beautiful Australian bird—more subtle but equally attractive Satin Bowerbirds, chunky Wonga Pigeons, cheeky Lewin’s Honeyeaters, and ragged flocks of Crimson Rosellas and Australian King Parrots. But the feeding frenzies around the guesthouse are by no means the only ornithological attractions at O’Reilly’s. Set in the heart of Lamington National Park, the guesthouse has lengthy trails that take off in various directions through superb montane rainforest containing a wealth of specialties that will be new for us. These include Paradise Riflebird (our first species of bird of paradise), curious Green Catbirds, entertaining Australian Logrunners, both Bassian and Russet-tailed Thrushes, remarkably confiding Eastern Whipbirds, three species of scrub-wren all so tame they will feed within feet of us, and many, many more. Perhaps the ultimate prize is Albert’s Lyrebird, a species with a tiny world range but also a very shy bird, usually heard singing but not always seen—and even then often just a large dark shape bounding away through the undergrowth. And after dinner we’ll make a serious attempt to find Marbled Frogmouth, a seldom-seen denizen of the high rainforest canopy. Night at O’Reilly’s Rainforest Guesthouse.

Day 6: After an early morning at O’Reilly’s searching for any species still missing and enjoying the superb ambience of the location and its many very approachable birds, we’ll drive back down the mountain and on to Brisbane, where we will catch a flight to Hervey Bay. Depending upon flight times we’ll spend some time birding along the coast here, where wader roosts can be quite impressive in both diversity and numbers. Wetlands in the region might hold numbers of Wandering or Plumed Whistling-Ducks or perhaps a hulking Black-necked Stork or dainty Green Pygmy-Goose. Night in Maryborough.

Day 7: Today will be a total contrast to the previous week, dominated as it was by forest birding (albeit fairly easy stuff with lots of showy birds). We’ll depart the small airstrip near Hervey Bay for the 40-minute flight out to Lady Elliot Island. This postcard-perfect coralline island sits near the southern reaches of the Great Barrier Reef, and although fully protected as part of the Great Barrier Reef Green Zone, it is serviced by a small airstrip and has excellent infrastructure for tourists. At 45 hectares in size, the island supports an amazingly rich variety of sea life, including resident Manta Rays and large numbers of nesting Loggerhead and Green Sea Turtles. The island also has the highest diversity of breeding seabirds along the reef. Thousands of Black Noddies and Sooty Terns breed in the shrubs around the island periphery, and we’ll look among them for smaller numbers of Brown Noddies and Bridled Terns. Other breeding seabirds here include the stunningly beautiful Red-tailed Tropicbird, Brown Booby, Roseate, Black-naped, and Greater Crested Terns, and Great Frigatebird. The island further supports a nice array of waders, including both Sooty and Pied Oystercatchers, Pacific Golden-Plovers, and both Gray-tailed and Wandering Tattlers. Landbirding here is also excellent, with Buff-banded Rails and the local Capricornia subspecies of Silvereye common sights around the island. For those who wish, there will be opportunities to inspect the corals and fish from a guided glass-bottom boat cruise, go snorkeling or swimming in the azure-colored from the beach —or even, for anyone already suitably qualified, go diving. In the late afternoon we’ll fly back to Hervey Bay, and then head back to Maryborough for the night. 

Day 8:  Today will largely be a travel day, as we will fly back down to Brisbane and then on to Cairns.  Our schedule will wholly be dependent upon the flight availability, but rest assured that we will spend whatever time we have free birding, either in the morning around Maryborough or the afternoon around Cairns. Night in Cairns.

Day 9: We’ll awake in the tropics, and after breakfast will spend a bit of time around the Cairns Esplanade, where Varied Honeyeaters, Torresian Imperial-Pigeons, Double-eyed Fig-Parrots and Australian Swiftlets should be in the parks, and a host of wading birds (tide permitting) will be out on the shoreline. We’ll then move to the south, to visit a small beachhead that often hosts a family group of Southern Cassowaries that have become somewhat habituated to the beachgoers. Seeing the birds always involves a bit of luck, but we’ll keep our fingers crossed. After lunch we’ll then drive inland to Yungaburra, arriving in time to do some birding near town. A short walk along a nearby natural area where we should find our first Spectacled or Pied Monarchs, little groups of Large-billed Scrubwrens and perhaps a pair of brightly marked Yellow-breaster Boatbills. A few Tooth-billed Bowerbirds typically are on territory along the trail, and we’ll try to see one singing as it sits just a few feet above its bower of carefully arranged leaves, all turned pale side up. We might even encounter our first bird of paradise in the form of a displaying male Victoria’s Riflebird. In the evening we’ll wander down to a nearby creek to look for one of the tablelands most famous mammalian inhabitants; the incredible Duck-billed Platypus. Night near Yungaburra.

Day 10: The remnant patches of rainforests that dot the Atherton Tablelands are rich in birds, many of which are virtually restricted to this tiny corner of the world. Our day will be broken into sections, providing all-day birding for those who wish or a chance to opt out occasionally to relax and perhaps explore the picturesque town of Yungaburra. Before breakfast we’ll visit one of the local patches of rainforest, itself a fully designated national park, where the fruiting trees around the parking lot attract a wealth of forest species that are likely to include bulky Spotted Catbirds, the elusive Double-eyed Fig Parrot, and highly localized Queensland endemics such as Gray-headed Robin and Bower’s Shrike-Thrush. After breakfast back in town we’ll visit a higher-elevation national park to search for species that don’t occur around Yungaburra, including Fernwren, Atherton Scrubwren, Bridled Honeyeater, and Mountain Thornbill. We’ll have a nice lunch in the idyllic town of Atherton and then spend the afternoon exploring the agricultural fields around the region, where numerous raptors and both Brolgas and Sarus Cranes are likely. After dinner we will offer an extended nocturnal outing into the higher reaches of the tablelands, where we may encounter Lesser Sooty Owl or several beautiful species of possum, including Lemuroid, Green, and Herbert River. Night near Yungaburra.

Day 11: Our pre-breakfast excursion will be to a nearby local reservoir, and if there has been rain or heavy dew overnight, we’ll watch the shoulders of the road for Buff-banded Rail and Brown Quail. The jaunty song of White-throated Gerygone may reveal its presence in one of the well-wooded gardens, and Tawny Grassbird, Red-backed Fairy-Wren, and Golden-headed Cisticola should be singing in the rank vegetation along the water’s edge. With luck they may perch high enough for telescope views. We may bird a bit in the area after breakfast as well if we are still on the lookout for some of the species, but by the afternoon we’ll be driving north across the tablelands to reach the wetlands around Lake Mitchell, which should hold a good cross-section of the area’s waterbirds, including Green Pygmy-Geese, Australian Pelicans, some migrant waders, and possibly both Brolgas and Sarus Cranes. Around the lake we often spot Pale-headed Rosellas, Chestnut-rumped Munia, and Double-barred Finch. With luck we might encounter the distinctive local race of Brown Treecreeper on the trunks of the trees, and we should have an opportunity to look at some of the impressively large termite mounds that liberally dot the landscape. In the late afternoon we’ll drive north to Kingfisher Park, where we’ll spend two nights. We’ll arrive in time to do some local birding in the afternoon, including at the lodge’s feeders, which attract Blue-faced, Yellow-spotted, and Cryptic Honeyeaters as well as delightful little Red-browed Finches and Chestnut-breasted Munia. After an early dinner there will be an optional spotlighting trip. With luck we might find an owl or a frogmouth, and we are sure to see some nocturnal mammals. Night at Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge.

Day 12: We’ll spend the morning birding the excellent grounds of the lodge and the lower slopes of nearby Mount Lewis. Several pairs of Noisy Pittas are typically on territory around the grounds, and a small creek attracts a wide array of birds during the heat of the day. We should encounter Spectacled and Black-faced Monarchs, the odd and perky Yellow-breasted Boatbill, Gray Whistler, Scaly-breasted Lorikeet, and the improbably coiffed Topknot Pigeon as we walk around the well-forested paths. Up on Mount Lewis we’ll seek out Fernwren and Chowchilla, two skulky but very vocal species that are extremely range-restricted. We’ll also head a bit inland to the drier eucalypt forests north of Mount Malloy, which support populations of Red-winged Parrot, Apostlebird, and the imposing Australian Bustard, and we should see the impressive bower of Great Bowerbird, which are quite common in the area. An early evening vigil at the lodge’s water features may reveal, with a bit of luck, one of the resident Red-necked Crakes. Night at Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge. 

Day 13: After a final early morning around Kingfisher Park, we will spend a bit of time visiting some local wetlands, where we might find White-browed or Spotless Crake, or perhaps even Cotton Pygmy-Goose.The area around Julatten can be excellent for a few often harder to find species such as the well-named Lovely Fairywren, an early arriving Buff-breasted Paradise-Kingfisher (with great luck), or perhaps “wintering” Blue-faced Parrotfinches.The afternoon plan will be flexible, allowing for some time off to explore the grounds or to seek out any local species that we may still be missing.Night at Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge.

Day 14: We’ll depart Kingfisher early, heading north and off the tablelands for morning boat trip on the Daintree River, which is likely to be one of the highlights of the trip for some, especially avid photographers. Waterbirds are numerous and tame and should include Australasian Darter, Rufous Night-Heron, Papuan Frogmouth, Shining Flycatcher, and Azure Kingfisher. We’ll also be hoping to glimpse some of the scarcer birds, such as Great-billed Heron, Black Bittern, and Little Kingfisher. After we pack up, we’ll head back to Cairns, where we’ll explore the varied birds that call this tropical city home. A visit to the botanical gardens should reveal Rajah Shelducks swimming among the water hyacinths, Bush Thick-knees tucked under the shade, Rainbow Bee-eaters flycatching from exposed perches, Australian Swiftlets coursing overhead, and a variety of honeyeaters including Yellow and Brown-backed. Depending on tide conditions, we’ll also visit the world-famous Cairns Esplanade, where extensive mudflats host hordes of migrant waders, including Greater and Lesser Sand Plovers, Terek Sandpiper, Gray-tailed Tattler, Eastern Curlew, and Great Knot.  We’ll also visit a bustling colony of Metallic Starlings, which build large communal nests reminiscent of weaver colonies in Africa. Their blood-red eyes have to be seen to be believed. Night in Cairns.

Day 15: Flights home.

2024 Narrative

IN BRIEF: Our 2024 Australia tour to the eastern states of Queensland and New South Wales provided a phenomenal mix of habitats and bird species, and a wide array of other wildlife. The first week was centered around the coastal lowlands between Cairns and Daintree, and the cooler pastoral highlands of the Atherton Tablelands dotted with remnant patches of upland rainforest. It’s hard to pick a favorite sighting when you spend a week in such an incredibly diverse area. Some of the highlights included our wonderful sighting of Southern Cassowary, displaying Great-billed Heron on Daintree River, an encounter with a family group of Chowchillas that were foraging in the open understory and the magical time we spent with a young male Golden Bowerbird that was practicing his repertoire and dance moves, seemingly oblivious to our presence. The wealth of life here in the north isn’t limited to the birds though, and sometimes with animals like Platypus, Striped Possum, Lumholtz’s Tree Kangaroo and the undeniably adorable Krefft’s Glider it can be the non-birds that really shine. We then moved down to the southern part of coastal Queensland where we took a flight out to Lady Elliot Island, a forested atoll near the southern tip of the Great Barrier Reef. Here we found thousands of Black Noddies and Bridled Terns, bold Buff-banded Rails, some ethereally white Red-tailed Tropicbirds, the local race of Silvereye that may well be granted species status at some point, courting Black-naped and Roseate Terns and a dazzling array of colourful reef fish. A bit further to the south we visited Lamington National Park and the famous O’Reilly’s Guesthouse, where we were greeted by masses of Crimson Rosellas, Australian King Parrots, and both Regent and Satin Bowerbirds around the grounds of the lodge. And in the woods, we found confiding Eastern Whip-birds, pairs of Australian Logrunners, Paradise Riflebirds, instructive views of Bassian and Russet-tailed Thrushes and stunningly coloured Rose Robins up in the canopy. We wrapped up the tour with two days around Sydney, surely one of the most picturesque cities in the world. Our pelagic trip out of Sydney was simply incredible, with two write-in species (White-chinned Petrel and Masked Booby), and three species that we haven’t recorded in a decade (Cape Petrel, Antipodean Albatross and Brown Skua). Along with the rarities we enjoyed excellent views of Black-browed and Shy Albatrosses, Providence and Gray-faced Petrels and four species of shearwater including lots of Flesh-footed. We made the most of our day around Royal National Park and the Sydney suburbs where we encountered several Superb Lyrebirds, a roosting family of Powerful Owl, cooperative Rockwarbler and a real treat with a roosting Sooty Owl.  

No trip such as this can be summed up by statistical means alone as the experiences and landscapes are integral, but our tally of 294 species of birds, 22 species of mammals, and dozens of species of fish, amphibians and reptiles certainly played a role in making this a very successful 13 days in the field, all the more impressive for our missing the first day and a half due to travel complications! For those that also took the adjoining tour to Victoria and Tasmania this year the overall trip totals were an incredible 435 species of birds and 37 mammals! 

IN FULL: Our group flight from the previous leg of the tour that ended in Melbourne arrived into Cairns at lunchtime, and once we had collected the van, we drove into town to meet the participants who were only taking the Eastern Tour. As the tide was at an advantageous level we headed down to the Esplanade to have a short introduction with local shorebirds and common birds of city parks. Along the shoreline we found several manageable sized flocks of waders that were quite close to the viewing boardwalk. As conditions were perfect, we worked through the flock slowly, picking out the salient identification features of birds that most North American birders dream of while scanning flocks at home. The most common species were Great Knot, Whimbrel and Bar-tailed Godwit, but we found decent numbers of Gray-tailed Tattler and Far Eastern Curlew, and a couple of foraging Terek Sandpipers. The beach was active for non-waders as well, with common species such as Silver Gull, Caspian and Australian Tern, Australian Pelican, Pacific Reef-Egret, White-faced Heron, Welcome Swallow, Willie Wagtail and Magpie-Lark admired in turn. New birds popped up above us as well, with some flowering trees along the boardwalk attracting a few very vocal Varied Honeyeaters (a local specialty on the esplanade), a rather staid but remarkably cooperative Brown Honeyeater, little flocks of Rainbow Lorikeets, and even a few brightly plumaged Australian Figbirds. In one particularly large fig we located about a half-dozen Rufous Night-Herons resting in the heat of the day, doubtless preparing to descend upon hapless crabs along the shore at dusk. The open grassy fields of the Esplanade were hopping, with the smart looking Torresian Imperial-Pigeons and fast flying flocks of Metallic Starlings passing overhead, groups of Peaceful Doves and Magpie-Larks striding about on the lawn, and introduced ferals like House Sparrow, Common Mynah and Rock Pigeon looking quite out of place in such a tropical setting.  

As the afternoon was starting to wane, we decided to wrap up our stroll along the coast and start the hour and a half journey up to the tablelands where we would spend much of the next four days. We left the lowlands of Cairns behind and drove uphill on a short but remarkably windy road that passes through alternating bands of rainforest and drier eucalypt forest before reaching the southern Atherton Tablelands. We pulled into our secluded lodge that is tucked into the Lake Eachem Rainforest and met the gracious owner before checking in and enjoying a delicious catered dinner. After we did the bird log for the day most of the group opted to make a short foray down to a special area where the lodge has set up an excellent viewing area for nocturnal mammals, with floodlights along the edge of the forest illuminating a nice patch of tree trunks. Here we quickly found a couple of Krefft’s Gliders lapping up sap from a couple of close trunks. These silvery-grey marsupials resemble overly fluffy flying squirrels, and like those animals have thin furred membranes along their flanks and limbs which allow them to glide long distances to escape potential rivals or predators. We were able to watch them at length, and at a ridiculously close range (thanks to their near daily exposure to human paparazzi).  

A Long-nosed Bandicoot; a cute rabbit-sized terrestrial marsupial with a long snout, pointy ears and a curious running hop was snuffling around in the leaf litter below the observation platform, and out in the parking lot we found our first Red-legged Pademelon; a small and oddly hunchbacked kangaroo that prefers humid forests. The little pond near the reception area proved quiet for frogs (compared to our last few trips), but we did excellent views of a pair of mating Green-eyed Treefrogs, and a nice study of a Striped Marsh Frog. For just a few hours in the afternoon it was a real whirlwind of sights and sounds, and we headed off to bed with great expectations for our first morning in Australia’s wet tropics the next day. The star of the mammal show though was the pair of Striped Possums that were also feeding on the provided sticky bait. This is the most colourful of Australia’s possum species, boldly black and covered with parallel white stripes and possessing a long and bicoloured tail it often features on the covers of books about Australian mammals. It is a shy species normally, and one confined largely to small pockets of rainforest around the Atherton Tablelands and Cape York Peninsula as well as a portion of New Guinea. One of the two animals allowed us quite close approach, and even repeatedly marked the tree with a curious waving around of its tail. It was a simply awesome way to cap off our first afternoon of birding. 

There can be few experiences dearer to a traveling birder than that precious first morning in a brand-new area. The stream of unfamiliar calls emanating from the forest and the flutter of colour and motion in the canopy, all signal that long- awaited birds heretofore seen only in the pages of fieldguides have now arrived as living creatures. We met for a pre-breakfast walk around the carpark of the lodge; a walk that basically became an impromptu big sit as a few of the trees around the margins of the small clearing were in fruit and attracting a heady mix of birds. We started off with repeated and close-range views of both Rufous and Bower’s (a Tableland endemic) Shrikethrushes that were foraging right along the edge of the carpark. Lewin’s Honeyeaters were seemingly everywhere around us, uttering their piercing machine-gun-like trills at regular intervals. Brown Cuckoo-Doves were chasing each other around in the canopy, and the grating growls of a couple of Spotted Catbirds allowed us to track down these often frustratingly elusive birds. At one point we watched a pair of Eastern Whipbirds as they foraged along the edge of the driveway, uncharacteristically out in plain view. Monarchs were particularly evident, with several active Spectacled Monarchs in the understory, a few silver and buff Black-faced Monarchs sitting out in the morning sun and one Pied Monarch flashing its wings and tail around in a fashion that would make a Redstart jealous, and occasionally clambering around the trunks in a vaguely nuthatch-like fashion. Even more exciting was the presence of a large number of Victoria’s Riflebirds; it’s not every day that one starts a daily bird list with a bird of paradise! We were able to watch several females at length as they came into fruit. Less boldly coloured than the males these females are still a very attractive study in brown and white, with an impressively strong and curved bill. Several males were about as well, flashing their reflective uppertails or crowns as they gathered up fruit. Near the end of our vigil, we found a trio of Rose-crowned Fruit-Doves. The first was sitting up on a completely exposed branch in the sun, but as is often the case the bird dropped out of sight before everyone could soak in the view. Happily though, a pair came in to feed in a fruiting tree and offered up better views, so that we could really enjoy their pink crowns, silvery-gray chests and tequila sunrise toned underparts. 

After breakfast we headed over to the nearby Curtain Fig National Park, where we spent a very productive hour checking the forest edge and walking around the short boardwalk that encircles the tree that the park was created to protect; a huge leaning strangler fig whose hundreds of tendrils cascade down from the angled trunk creating a waterfall in wood. As soon as we exited the car, we could tell that there were some fruiting trees about, as a noisy wheeling flock of Scaly-breasted Lorikeets kept crossing over the road. Here too was an obliging pair of Barred Cuckooshrike that appeared to be on an active nest just over the carpark. It’s a handsome steel-grey bird with heavily barred underparts and almost shockingly yellow eyes that is restricted to the Tablelands. A Gray-headed Robin (yet another Atherton tableland endemic) sat out on one of the short posts that mark the edge of the parking area and even hopped around on the open paved road; seemingly showing off for the cameras as it hopefully moved some leaf litter around in search of breakfast. We found the forest around the Curtain Fig a bit quiet, but did enjoy eye-level views of our first White-throated Treecreepers, and the tree itself was more than worth a visit.  

Leaving the Curtain Fig we moved on to a nearby side road that passes through a small section of open Eucalyptus woodland with a grassy understory. The birdlife here is incredibly different to that around the Curtain Fig, even though the two sites are, at best, a kilometer apart. We spent about forty minutes birding a grand total of 200m of this road, finding our first Yellow-faced Honeyeaters, responsive Rufous Whistlers, a passing Brown Goshawk and a very vocal White-throated Gerygone that was pouring out its stupendously varied and cascading whistled song. Here too we saw a couple of pairs of Eastern Yellow Robins in the understory of the open forest, and a single Lemon-bellied Flycatcher (actually another species of Australian Robin despite the name) up in the canopy. Gray Shrikethrush showed well, with several birds giving their rolling whistled call from the undergrowth, and out in the fields we could see small groups of cranes flying in the distance. After enjoying a little flock of Red-browed Firetails that were feeding on some seeding grasses right at the road edge we headed a short distance back to Yungaburra for a comfort stop. Since it’s hard to be outside in this corner of the world without seeing birds, the bathroom stop also gifted us with a trio of White-bellied Cuckooshrikes, several perched Australasian Figbirds and a single Scarlet Myzomela that finally decided it was ok to sit out in the open. Moving west towards the town of Atherton we passed through a section of agricultural land, soon screeching to a halt when we noticed a field full of little groups of cranes. As hoped, most proved to be Sarus Cranes, clearly showing the fully red hood and upper neck that helps differentiate them from the (slightly) smaller Brolgas which were also in the area. Having both species side-by-side made the comparison quite easy!  

Our final stop for the morning was at nearby Hasties Swamp. This large wetland has a nice two-story blind overlooking the lake that in the latter stages of the dry season is often generously stuffed with birds from the surrounding arid country out to the west. We stopped first at the marshier north end of the lake, where among the throngs of Australasian Swamphens, Pacific Black Ducks and Australian Ibis we picked out our first Pacific Heron, Little Pied and Little Black Cormorants, Australasian Grebes, Comb-crested Jacanas and at least two flashy Buff-banded Rails that were foraging out in the open. Once at the blind we found that the lake level was quite low, with a wide muddy margin that was perfect for foraging wading birds and rails. We scanned the edges, finding at least four more Buff-banded Rails, as well as our first close Royal Spoonbills, Grey Teal, Eurasian Coot, and Australasian Darter. The shoreline was hosting hundreds of Magpie Geese, an odd waterfowl-related species that is the only extant member of its order. At first glance they resemble long necked geese, but with bright orange largely unwebbed feet, a hooked bill and bony skull ornamentation they are quite unique. Out on the lake we spotted about a dozen Hardhead, Australia’s version of our northern hemisphere scaup or pochards. In short, the visit offered an excellent introduction to Australian wetland birds, and on the way back to the cars were happy to spot a pair of nesting Spectacled Monarchs along the path and a circling Whistling Kite.  

We enjoyed lunch at a small café in nearby Atherton and then headed south to the higher elevation forest in Mount Hypipamee National Park. More commonly known as ‘The Crater’ this park supports a large tract of forest at over 700m in elevation, and still has the full complement of the Atherton Highlands endemics, although a few are no longer findable on the short nature trail. Our first bird upon leaving the buses (with the exception of the ridiculously tame and even pushy Brushturkeys) was a sprightly little Grey Fantail, here of the local Atherton race, flashing its tail around like a proud father showing off a newborn baby. We walked back along the entrance road, which offers a nice access point for forest-edge birding. Here we stopped to watch a pair of Yellow-breasted Boatbill flitting around in the lower canopy. These tiny, brightly colored and huge billed birds can be tricky to see well as they prefer to remain high in the forest canopy. One of only two species in the world (the other occurring in New Guinea), Boatbills resemble somewhat oversized Tody Tyrants with an optimistic view of the world. The road edge also gave us close views of several foraging Large-billed Scrubwrens, a few chittering Brown Gerygones and a pair of Mountain Thornbills. Our main goal here was to spend a bit of time looking at a couple of bower sites for Golden Bowerbird. These paired maypole-style constructions are impressive, topping out at nearly three feet in height and often with horizontal display perches built in. I dare say that most humans would struggle trying to replicate one. A large tree had fallen in the area of last years’ bowers, but we located a new one a bit upslope and were thrilled to find the male in attendance. The bird was a young male, likely the same immature male that has been in the area for several years. It takes at least six years for the males to reach their full golden potential. Initially the bird was sitting quietly a few dozen meters from the bower, but as we quietly watched him he started singing and then, amazingly, decided to practice his dance moves. With outstretched wings and fanned tail he waggled back and forth showing off his now largely gold underwings and tail. In addition to the unique vibrato calls he was incorporating a lot of mimicry into his song, and the dance was transfixing as well. He kept on practicing for more than ten minutes and then shuffled his feathers and flew up into the higher canopy. This allowed us to move around a bit, and to take a closer view of his constructed bower, which this year included an impressive amount of pale gray-green lichens around the display area. Elated with this truly special experience (we missed this species completely last year) we quietly came back down the road, stopping for some high-fives and a bit of a short lecture when we were closer to the carpark. Because Golden Bowerbirds require large tracts of high elevation forest and occur only in the mountains around the tablelands, they are generally scarce, with populations largely isolated by intervening land clearing. With the current shifting of the weather, impending climate change issues, habitat fragmentation and a small and declining population the future for this species is somewhat bleak. Hopefully its charisma will be enough to mount a recovery and support plan. Our lecture was interrupted by a rollicking pair of Bridled Honeyeaters up above our heads. They remained high up in the canopy, but as they were along the road edge we could make out their bicoloured bills, pale blue eye and distinctive pale “bridle” streaks. After a quick snack and bathroom break we walked down to the actual crater, an impressive collapsed lava tube with a small but likely very deep lake at the bottom. It resembles in some ways the cenotes in the Yucatan, minus (one hopes) the many human sacrifices. This year the crater was more than just a geological stop for us, as a young Peregrine Falcons was perched near the cliff face well below the viewing platform; an interesting and excellent angle to observe this master of flight at work. 

Heading back to the north we returned to Hasties Swamp, this time specifically to scan the edges for a recently reported Australian Painted Snipe that had apparently been in the area for about a week. This highly nomadic, very cryptic, and endangered Australian endemic is one of the hardest species in the country. Not much is known about their movements or biology, as the birds move widely in response to local rainfall patterns and are never seen in any appreciable number. A project is underway to catch and satellite tag birds when possible, but to date (after well over a year) the project teams have only been successful at catching three individuals. The first of these moved over 800KM in the month after capture! Our return visit was successful, largely due to our scouting the prospective hiding places during our first visit. Susan spotted the bird tucked into the shade of some tall bent-over grasses on the far side of the shoreline. The bird moved around a bit during our stay, but generally remained partially hidden by some low forbs in the foreground. We could clearly see the white chest bands that flanked its chestnut toned throat and breast, and at several points could see the oddly shaped bill which is thick-based but slightly tapered and drooped. This sighting was only my second in 15 years of touring the country, and the first record of the species on any of my WINGS Australia tours! Our return visit also gave us views of a hunting adult White-bellied Sea-Eagle over the lake. It’s an impressive eagle, clad in silver, grey and white, but even our views of it gliding over the water with outstretched legs really couldn’t compete with the excitement of encountering the Painted-Snipe.  

We then headed back towards Yungaburra, taking back roads that crossed through a few small wetlands. Here we found our first (of many) Australian Wood Ducks and a small flock of Fairy Martins. We pulled into the quiet and quaint town of Yungaburra at just the right time to try for the locally famous Platypus along Peterson Creek. The small trail that winds along the creek has (unfortunately) been closed by the landowner; perhaps the platypus were becoming a tad too famous, but the viewing blind and bridge section was still accessible. We waited around for a half-hour or so to no avail, and after deciding that we would revisit the area the following morning, headed back to our lodge for a bit of time off and dinner. As this years’ participants were game for more we also took a short trip out after dinner in a successful bid at finding a couple of Barn Owls. As of 2024 these Australian birds are now recognized to be a separate species from the European and American Barn Owls, which made our success all the sweeter. 

The next day we again met early for a short vigil around the grounds of the lodge. This time we were thrilled to spot several gaudy Wompoo Fruit Doves sitting up above the main lodge building. This is an impressively large and colourful pigeon that is clad in an amazing technicolour coat of emerald, lime, yellow and purple. A few people also spotted a Pacific Emerald Dove before our group meeting time, making for quite a set of life pre-breakfast pigeons. We also tracked down our first Leaden Flycatcher and Fairy Gerygones, and again found that Victoria’s Riflebirds were pleasingly common and obvious. 

After breakfast we visited a largely forgotten patch of forest just a few miles out of town. This park was designated to protect another epically large tree, but over a decade ago the tree fell, leaving the area still protected but no longer visited by the general public, or signed as a site. The somewhat rough track in is kept open by researchers, but on all of our visits here I have yet to see another vehicle. The birds here are generally unwary and often responsive, and as the area is connected to some upland forest as well the biodiversity here is high. Just before we entered the forest we stopped to look at a young Pheasant Coucal that was perched up along the road. Impressively large, these bulky cuckoos forage largely on the ground, devouring anything that they can dispatch. Our chief goal once we entered the forest here was to try to encounter two species of skulky understory birds; the Chowchilla, and the Fernwren. Although this area has always produced at least vocalizing groups of Chowchillas on prior visits this time we struck out, hearing only a scrap of song from way off the trail once. Happily though, we had much better luck with Fernwrens. This aberrant thornbill is largely terrestrial and is restricted to higher elevation forest on the Tablelands. It is often extremely shy, staying far enough back in the thick understory that getting a clear view can be difficult. The pair that we found this year though performed well, skittering out into the open on multiple occasions and even lingering in the shade of a large trunk for a few seconds.  

Leaving the park behind we started back to the lodge to pack up and check out but got distracted when we found a patch of roadside grasses that seemed to be quite full of birds. We hopped out of the car and in quick succession enjoyed views of a pair of Golden-headed Cisticolas, a zippy Tawny Grassbird, two Brown Quail which flushed off the road edge and a pair of incredibly showy Red-backed Fairywrens. The last of these is often a group favorite, and the male of this pair did his best to impress, flaring his scarlet rump and uppertail coverts as he perched up in some open branches. 

After checking out we stopped in briefly at the remarkably busy (perhaps because of the holiday long weekend) Lake Tinaroo Boat Ramp, where we found far too many people on the lake in high-speed boats. The driveway was excellent though, with no fewer than seven Bush Thick-Knees spotted along the road edge. The birds were really approachable, and seemed to be curious about us; staring with their oversized yellow eyes and even taking the odd step towards us on their overly long legs. Here too we spotted our first Nankeen Kestrel that was sitting on a roadside light standard, and also scoped several dozen more Sarus Cranes that were foraging on the grassy slopes on the other side of the lake.  

At this point the morning was waning, so we left Atherton behind and headed north across the Tablelands, noting that as we did the elevation dropped and the countryside seemed to dry out. We arrived in Mareeba at lunchtime, and were surprised to find our normal café closed due to the King’s birthday holiday. Some quick thinking had us at a nearby bakery within a few minutes, where we loaded up on meat pies, desserts, cold drinks and sandwiches and then enjoyed a picnic lunch at the small Rotary Park. It turned out to be a fortuitous choice, as along with lunch we found close-up views of Scaly-breasted and Rainbow Lorikeets, Little Friarbird, Australasian Figbird and the incomparable Blue-faced Honeyeater all enjoying a bit of lunch as well in some flowering trees around the park. While watching the lorikeets we also noted our first Bar-shouldered Doves and a single Great Bowerbird that stayed partially hidden in the shade of the trees.  

Next we headed a bit to the west into a more arid and rocky country, stopping in Granite Gorge. Its an odd spot; part caravan park, part zoo, but as the hosts here regularly water the ground and the park abuts a stretch of permanently flowing creek it is often excellent for birds. Just as we parked we could tell that we were in for a treat, as several dozen Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos were milling around over the campground. These huge and elegant birds are a treat to behold, with bright red or yellow-orange (depending on their sex) tail bases on an otherwise black and crested body. With their creaky calls and languid, vaguely mothlike flight pattern they really are spectacular. The flock stayed in the area for the duration of our visit, causing several camera cards to fill up, and providing an awesome visual and aural backdrop to the location. The real reason for the visit though was to look for Squatter Pigeons, and we had no trouble locating a couple of dozen individuals around the campground. Generally a tricky bird to locate, the birds here are semi-tame and very approachable, even wandering close to our feet at times! Some flowering trees around the grounds held a nice selection of honeyeaters, including Noisy and Little Friarbirds, several bright Blue-faced Honeyeaters, and a couple of Yellow Honeyeaters. The tree was also hosting a couple of Spangled Drongos and several Olive-backed Orioles, making for quite a busy scene. While watching the flowering trees we were elated to see a pair of Pacific Bazas arrive on the scene, with one bird rather incredibly perching right overhead and providing exceptionally good views. We often only see these distinctive raptors in flight, so to be able to study one at length and enjoy its thin crest, banded underparts and squared-off wings was phenomenal.  

We also took a short walk around the creek below the gorge where we found a juvenile Horsfield’s Bronze-Cuckoo being fed by two harried Sahul Sunbird “parents”. We also sampled the cold drinks and ice creams on offer at the reception, and several participants wandered down the trail to look at the small and undeniably cute semi-tame Mareeba Rock Wallabies that were hopping about in amongst the huge rounded boulders of the gorge. After greeting the wallabies we headed out, bound for Julatten and our rooms at Kingfisher Park, where we would spend the next three nights. A quick stop at Lake Mitchell on the way revealed a several pairs of stately Black Swans out in the marsh, and our first Green Pygmy-Geese swimming amongst a lily-laden pond.  

Our comfortable hotel in Kingfisher Park is situated in a protected track of rainforest adjacent to a small shallow creek, just a kilometer or so from the extensive forests of Mount Lewis. Our gracious hosts, Carol and Andrew, are excellent birders and naturalists, and in addition to showing us all our rooms they also introduced us to some of their local White-lipped Treefrogs, and the busy flocks of Red-browed Firetails and Chestnut-breasted Munias at the lodge feeders. Since we arrived at Kingfisher Park just after five, we managed to have a bit of time to settle into our rooms before we headed to a nearby country pub for dinner. 

The next morning, we met up for a walk around the Kingfisher Lodge grounds, beginning the day by walking the outer edge of the property where the first sun hits the trees. Some flowering bottlebrushes along the path were hosting Cryptic and Yellow-spotted Honeyeaters, which allowed us to spend a bit of time teasing apart the identification issues that surround Meliphaga honeyeaters. We then passed along the edge of a large paddock, picking out a few passing White-headed Pigeons, a perched Black Butcherbird, and a lovely pair of displaying Forest Kingfishers as we made our way down to Bushy Creek. The prior day a few participants had walked down to the same bridge in the late afternoon and had enjoyed an excellent session with the resident pair of Platypus, but they were not apparent for us in the morning. Once back at the lodge we enjoyed an excellent breakfast, accompanied by George and Matilda, the local pair of Orange-footed Megapodes who roamed the edges of the breakfast area hoping for falling table scraps. The feeders were also attracting a busy mixed flock of Chestnut-breasted Munia and Red-browed Finch, with several Bar-shouldered Doves picking up the seeds that were dropping to the ground.  

After breakfast we visited the lower stretch of road on Mount Lewis. Normally we would spend a half-day or more slowly birding up into the higher parts of the mountain but unfortunately a few months prior to our visit an epically bad typhoon hit the northern tablelands. An incredible 1.8m of rain (that’s roughly 6 feet) fell in just four days, causing huge amounts of damage to infrastructure and the landscape in general. At Kingfisher Park the orchard was flooded with more than 6 feet of water, and although the lodge itself suffered no direct damage the effects of the intense rain and flooding were still very evident. A lot of the smaller resident bird populations were hit hard by the storm, and although they will likely recover it was quite apparent that birds were scarcer than normal throughout the area this year. Mount Lewis in particular was hard-hit, with the bridge over Bushy Creek (at the base of the mountain road) completely washed away and an unknown number of landslides and downed trees on the road. As of our trip a makeshift bridge was in place, and construction was ongoing on a new bridge, but nothing had been done to clear the actual road. We had to content ourselves with walking up the roughly 700m of clear road after the bridge, forgoing the highlands here entirely (and losing our best chance at Atherton Scrubwren in the process). As we drove up to the creek we stopped when we heard a Noisy Pitta sounding off along the road. As is often the case the bird was reluctant to show itself, although roughly a quarter of the group got to see it perched in the mid-canopy before it vanished further back into the forest. A bit further on we tracked down a calling Common Cicadabird, a monocolored but still subtly beautiful cuckooshrike that we typically see few of on the tour itinerary. Some Topknot Pigeons were flying around at regular intervals, but stubbornly refused to land for us in a useful location. Their long tails and large size gave them away though, and a few passed by at a useful angle which displayed their wavy crests. Once we navigated through the bridge construction we entered the forest proper, but perhaps due to the construction activity found things to be rather quiet. We did enjoy excellent views of a pair of Grey Whistlers, several Spectacled Redstarts and tangled with another Noisy Pitta that showed itself to one or two more participants. Back near the base of the road we found a pair of Lovely Fairywrens bouncing around in some low tangles. This is a generally scarce species, occurring in coastal forests around the Cape York Peninsula down to about Townsville. Although the male resembles many of the other red-shouldered and blue-headed species across Australia the female is unique, with a full blue hood and white lores.  

Leaving Mount Lewis behind we stopped in for a short break at the lodge and then continued south for a late-morning visit to Abbatoir Swamp. A short boardwalk here leads through a small paperbark swamp and out to an overgrown marsh ringed with flowering bottlebrush trees. When the paperbarks are flowering (usually in October, but for some reason not in 2024) the area is abuzz with honeyeaters. We found things a bit quiet, but there were at least a dozen Brown-backed Honeyeaters, a few Dusky Myzomelas and a single Macleay’s Honeyeater foraging in the bottlebrushes, and we were thrilled to see a more than 2m long Scrub Python on the move under the boardwalk (the snake was voted bird of the location).  

We chose to have lunch at nearby Mount Molloy, taking in the dining experience of burgers or empanadas at the locally famous Swiss-Mexican restaurant. The gardens and parks around town are often excellent for birds, and as we had lunch, we picked up little groups of Rainbow Lorikeets and Blue-faced Honeyeaters in flowering bottlebrush trees along the sidewalk. Around the town’s public toilets, we found a pair of Red-winged Parrots and most of the group walked down a bit from the restroom building and located a pair of Grey-crowned Babblers in one of the backyards. After lunch we decide to make one more stop at the Mount Malloy state school before heading back to Kingfisher for an early afternoon break. Our chief reason for the visit was to acquaint ourselves with the locally famous Great Bowerbird bower in one of the school garden beds. We succeeded in that task quite easily, with views of a bowerbird before we even reached the carpark, and a truly opulent bower. Great Bowerbirds build an intricate and large runway of sticks, decorated with a mat of white objects (in this case bits of plastic and snail shells) and green fruits. On our last visit a few years ago this particular individual was quite enterprising and had found a pile of polished green glass pieces, which would not fade (and thus not need replacing). This year though, there were only a few bits of glass remaining and the bird was instead decorating with various bright pink plastic bits, a lovely and carefully placed set of bright pink plastic paint bottles, some shiny pieces of reflective pink foil, a few fuzzy pipe cleaners and, the coup de grace, a large red plastic toy shovel. Surely no visiting female bowerbird would be able to resist such artistry! 

In the late afternoon we set off again, this time bound for the western side of Mount Lewis and the town of Mount Carbine. This small ex-mining town sits in the rain shadow of the coastal range, nestled in a wide tropical grassland plain. Small creeks with riparian vegetation and lightly timbered patches give the region a vastly different feel to the much wetter and lusher coastal side of the range. We started birding at the Mount Carbine Caravan Park, a sprawling RV park with well-watered lawns and several residents who regularly feed the local birds. Here new species came thick and fast. Even before entering the actual park we were treated to views of a family group of Blue-winged Kookaburras, a nesting pair of Black-faced Cuckooshrikes, a single Apostlebird and several perched Galah and Pale-headed Rosellas! Once in the park we met up with the enthusiastic park owner who is obviously quite proud of her local birds and wildlife and after paying a nominal entrance fee walked around the ring of the largely forested campground area. Several lots were actively watering their lawns and gardens, and the water and shade were attracting quite a few birds including several more Apostlebirds, our first Torresian Crows and Crested Pigeons, and a quietly perched Tawny Frogmouth. There is something innately pleasing about frogmouths; plump, obviously soft and well feathered, with a wide head and expressive face and being able to see one at such close range, with its feathered tuft flopped neatly over its oversized bill was a real treat.  

Just before we reached the residence house again, we paused to admire a little mob of Agile Wallabies along the back fence. For a while the animals stared back at us with obvious curiosity, but eventually their mettle broke and the whole group bounded off, somehow squeezing through the gaps in the fence without even breaking stride. With the dry conditions and too frequent local fires these Wallabies had been having a rather rough time of it, but Nikki had started to supplement their diet with proffered sweet potatoes and the animals all seemed quite plump and happy in comparison to those we saw away from the camp.  

After thanking our host and leaving Mount Carbine we traveled a bit back to the south to investigate the ranchland roads around the Mary River. Here we quickly located an unusually large number of Australian Bustards that were striding around in the short- grass fields in full view (rather than remaining huddled in the shade of the scattered trees). These large bustards can be incredibly good at hiding in the tall grassy areas that they often prefer. A few individuals were even right along the roadside, providing excellent views. Soon after we began to watch them, we realized that we had stumbled upon an active lek site. At least two of the males were parading around the lekking grounds, with their pendulous wattles dangling from their chins. The nearby females seemed quite unimpressed, preferring to remain across the field in better foraging habitat. One of the males was actually displaying right on the road, and allowed us unparalleled views as we navigated slowly around it to continue down the path. On the more southerly road through the fields we lucked into a small covey of Brown Quail and a perched female Red-winged Parrot that showed better than the pair back at Mount Molloy. We headed south accompanied by a gorgeous peach sunset, stopping in for dinner back at the pub, where we were greeted by a reserved table with our name up on chalkboards, complete with little hearts. Evidently we had made an impression the previous night! 

As we had been unable to get up in elevation on Mount Lewis due to the road issues we were still missing one of the key Atherton endemics; the wonderful and unique Chowchilla. We decided to make that the key bird for the next day, a task that would require us to drive back south on the Tablelands in order to access a different area of higher elevation forest. To that end we enjoyed an earlier breakfast and departed Kingfisher by 7:20. This earlier departure meant that we could check out a few spots as we headed southwards. Our first stop was along a nearby road that although much changed by the winter typhoon still happily had a few small marshy ponds near its end. Here we were thrilled to finally connect with a small group of Wandering Whistling-Ducks (both species of Whistling-Duck had been strangely absent this year on all of our tours). In the largest of the ponds, we carefully scanned the margins of the emergent vegetation and within a few minutes located a White-browed Crake that was slowly working along the edge. This is primarily a tropical species which is widely distributed across the South Pacific and more northerly sections of Australia, and is a species that we often miss on the tour. As we headed out of the area, we spotted two Latham’s Snipes foraging along a little side channel of Bushy Creek, another species that we often miss. Once we reached Lake Mitchell we decided to stop for another scan of the marshes, this time with less heat haze and the sun at our backs. A large flock of Wandering Whistling-Ducks was loafing on the front shoreline, occasionally getting up and wheeling around before settling back down. We picked up some Glossy Ibis and a Great Cormorant out in the marsh, and greatly improved our views of several diminutive Green Pygmy-Geese, this time with comparatively gigantic Pacific Black-Ducks alongside them for comparison. Undoubtedly the most exciting find though was a Black-necked Stork that was slowly walking along on its oversized bright red legs. This species is the only stork found in Australia, but it’s a spectacular one, boldly patterned in starch white and satiny black with a huge bill that is probably the stuff of nightmares for Australian fishes and frogs.  

A quick comfort stop back in Mareeba produced a little group of White-throated Honeyeaters feeding in the flowering trees near the picnic tables, as well as repeat views of Scaly-breasted Lorikeets, Figbirds and Blue-faced Honeyeaters in excellent light. Our main birding site for the morning was a bit to the east of Mareeba along Davies Creek Road. This somewhat rough track parallels the pretty Davies creek as it slowly climbs up into the Kuranda Ranges. Initially the road passes through open grassy Eucalypt forest, with denser pockets of gum and fig along the clear-flowing creeks. As the road climbs grass trees and cycads appear, and eventually the road drops into some valleys with excellent upper elevation rainforests. As we made our way back towards the more humid forest those in the front van were treated to a female Painted Buttonquail in the road. Initially she was slowly walking towards the grassy edge, soon disappearing. We stopped across from the small gully that she had walked into and the bird flushed out, heading away in a blur of wings (this is the typical view that most birders get of buttonquail). This represented the first sighting of any species of buttonquail for our eastern tour!  

Once back in the more forested humid valley we stopped when we heard a Noisy Pitta calling just off the roadside. While setting up to try to track it down though our attentions were pulled to a family group of Chowchillas that were scratching along in the open understory. These often skulky birds, with tufted crests, colored throat patches and bright eye-rings are generally loud and easy to hear, but can be frustratingly difficult to spot or follow on the ground in their preferred rainforest haunts. Chowchilas are a species of great conservation concern, as they are poor dispersers and need a decent amount of good forest to forage in. Just during the past decade populations have winked out in many of the smaller tableland parks, with good populations persisting only in the largest blocks of forest. This group of birds performed well, occasionally coming right out in the open and turning the leaf litter over as they foraged in front of a large fallen tree. The Pitta showed as well, although again only perching in visible spots for a couple of the participants to see before flying over our heads and back into deeper woods. A short walk along the stunningly clear flowing forest creek revealed a clump of not particularly fresh Cassowary poop, and a pair of perplexing Scrubwrens. At this elevation (over 700m) we were hoping for Atherton Scrubwren (our final tableland endemic), and although the birds came in to some proffered tape and perfectly mimicked the rolling song that supposedly is definitive for Atherton they then proceeded to head way up into the subcanopy. Atherton’s generally stay low in the undergrowth and seldom are seen above head height. A bit later we heard that same call coming from another pair of birds even higher up in the trees; making our tentative identification of these birds as Large-billed Scrubwrens virtually certain. It is likely that several decades ago these two very similar species did not overlap much, but with the clearing of a lot of mid-elevation forests the Large-billeds have spread well uphill throughout the tablelands. It is even possible that the two are now hybridizing, but as they look so similar and can both mimic other species calls it would be hard to know for sure without some genetic testing. On the way back out of the road we found a pair of perky Rufous Fantails that were flashing their impressively long and bright rusty rumps and tails as they foraged along the edge of a creek.  

We had lunch at a really nice Portuguese café in the tourist-filled town of Kuranda, and afterwards spent a bit of time slowly driving along nearby Black Mountain Road in the vain hope that the local Cassowary family might pop out of the forest for us. Usually, this road has a lot of fruiting figs with decent numbers of pigeons and other frugivores sounding off from the forest edge. On this day we found the birding to be pretty quiet in the mid-afternoon heat. We did find a striking male Tropical Rockmaster (a species of dragonfly that is so brightly colored that it elicited interest from nearly the entire group). The drive back up to Kingfisher was pretty uneventful, with a few flocks of Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, our first Little Corella and, at a little city park back in Mareeba, a Bush Thick-Knee in flight (a rare sight for this largely terrestrial species). We had dinner at the local pub which was finally open after being closed on our first two evenings at Kingfisher, and then headed off to bed to prepare for our early start the following day.  

The next day we set out early so as to reach Daintree Village in time for our 6:30 boat trip along a stretch of the Daintree River and up the adjacent Barratt Creek. We used two smaller boats this year, which allowed us to better explore upriver on this low morning tide. Our guide for the trip was Murray Hunt, an accomplished local birder and boatman who has been leading birding tours along the river for years. After a brief introduction Murray took us upstream to take advantage of the very low tide which had resulted in some large sand bars along the rivers edge. Along the way he pointed out some of the effects of the gigantic floods of this past January, where the river reached an incredible 18m above average, flooding the town and washing away buildings, cars, and virtually all the cattle in the adjacent fields. This flood had changed the character of the river, with many of the larger trees broken, higher sand banks along the edges and still visible debris hanging at rather alarmingly high positions in the trees. Our first stop produced excellent views of the jewel-like Azure Kingfisher as it perched at eye level just off the gunnel of the boat. We saw four or five of these gorgeous birds over the course of the morning, a feat that would be hard to replicate on foot. Here too was a medium-sized Saltwater Crocodile tucked under the shade of some overhanging trees, providing ample disincentive for anyone who was contemplating cooling off with a quick dip in the river.  

The boat trips offer amazing access to the mangrove lined channels, and Murray is intimately familiar with every living thing in the area. We slowly motored along, stopping to admire a nesting Papuan Frogmouth which took a bit of time for everyone to locate, as the adult was almost perfectly camouflaged between a couple of bare branches. Papuan is the largest of the three species of Frogmouths found in Australia, and looks remarkably like a Jim Henson Muppet Show puppet come to life. With an oversized thick bill, huge head, shaggy looking plumage and beatific smile they are at once comical and imposing. Shortly after the frogmouth both boats came together when a pair of Great-billed Herons flew in from around a bend in the river and perched along the bank in a tall bare tree. Amazingly the male was actively courting, with a puffed-out chest and choreographed pose he would repeatedly bow and then utter a deep resonant growl (somewhat reminiscent of the sounds a female Saltwater Crocodile makes around its nest) to the seemingly oblivious female. Eventually the birds moved off, virtually disappearing into a tangle of broken trees along the riverbank, an impressive feet for birds that stand over four feet tall. For the rest of the cruise we slowly made our way downstream and then up into the mangrove forests that line Barratt Creek. This creek sits in a more brackish environment, with dozens of species of mangroves lining the banks. We quietly motored up the creek using the nearly silent electric outboard that Murray had recently purchased. A few bends of the river later and we were soon admiring perky pairs of Shining Flycatchers along the bank, displaying their amazingly disparate male and female plumages as they engaged in a rigorous territorial dispute. With the relatively recent storm damage we found the trip to be quieter than usual for birds, but we still enjoyed the chortling Green Orioles, Australian Figbirds, Varied Trillers and Spangled Drongos perched in the larger trees, flocks of ethereally white Torresian Imperial-Pigeons passing overhead and tinkling Large-billed Gerygones busily constructing their seemingly messy but intricately constructed hanging nests. One of the boats lucked into a pair of Wompoo Pigeons perched in the canopy. The pair dropped down out of the denser leaves and put on quite a show, changing positions so that the group could appreciate them from all angles. The trip back up to the boat ramp produced views of flying Pacific Koel and hulking Channel-billed Cuckoos over the river, as well as a couple of hatchling Saltwater Crocodiles and a Common Treesnake that was tucked up in the canopy of a spreading mangrove. The trailing boat experienced a real coup with a group of five distant Whistling-Ducks that sadly kept flying upstream. The quick-thinking photographers in the group snapped a few pictures that confirmed the birds as Spotted Whistling-Ducks. This is another scarce species in far north Queensland, a relative newcomer to the country that has spread (sparingly) from adjacent New Guinea. A somewhat ephemeral breeding population seems to be becoming established around the Daintree drainage, but this marked only the second time we had encountered them here on the tour. We rushed both boats upstream but could find no sign of them perched nearby, and a quick check further up the creek by car once we were back on land was similarly unsuccessful.  

With a goal of looking for Southern Cassowaries to the south of Cairns in mind we left Daintree behind, noting the large percentage of homes here that are currently for sale (doubtless due to the repeated flooding in recent years). Near the tiny town of Wonga Beach we stopped to admire a Dollarbird that was perched on roadside wires. This multicolored bird is the only species of Roller to reach Australia, and sports round white wing patches in flight that (supposedly) resemble the old dollar coins in size and shape. Our views were good, with the morning sun really bringing out the birds purple and blue hues and bright red bill. Nearby we stopped in at a small fish farm, where by scoping the berms from outside the fence we picked up our first Pacific Golden-Plover, Common Greenshank and Black-fronted Dotterel, as well as a couple of foraging Australian Terns and a good-sized lock of Pied Stilt and Sharp-tailed Sandpipers.  

After lunch in Trinity Beach we drove out to the mouth of the Barron River for a short session with another set of waders. The tide was again quite high, leaving only a little exposed shoreline out on the spit, but we found a nice assortment of birds here at close range. New species included a handsome Greater Sandplover with some retained hints of breeding plumage, several Red-capped Plovers, a single Ruddy Turnstone and a small group of perched Great Crested Terns. As most North American birders have little experience with the eastern flyway waders it was also quite instructive for us to have second views of Far Eastern Curlew, Gray-tailed Tattler, Great Knot and Terek Sandpipers. A rather incongruous flock of Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos were flying over the beach; a small reminder of the fact that we were birding in Australia. On the way out we stopped to admire a small Yellow-spotted Monitor that was basking in the road. These large (big adults can be nearly 2m in length) lizards are more closely related to snakes than other lizards. They are very intelligent and hyper aware, and this individual took a rather lengthy view of our parked vans and cameras before sauntering off and ducking under a backyard fence. 

We then made tracks, passing through Cairns and heading further south into a region known as the Cassowary Coast. Just past the small city of Innisfail we turned towards the ocean, initially passing through some quite dry looking open suburbs. Here along the fencelines we were happy to spot a few dozen Rainbow Bee-eaters perched up and hawking for prey from their chosen perches. This is Australia’s only Bee-eater, but it’s a spectacular one, with a sky-blue rump, multicolored throat and breast and well-marked face. Also in the yards along the road we marveled at the number of Masked Lapwing and Bar-shouldered Doves that were out on the lawns, and at one point were surprised to see a Latham’s Snipe sitting in what appeared to be dry grass under the shade of a large tree. We were here for bigger things though, so we continued on, soon crossing over a low set of forested hills before dropping down at a small but very pretty white sand beach at Etty Bay. As we neared the shore, we started seen some helpful signs that raised our expectations. Every 100m or so there would be a placard proclaiming Cassowary Crossing, slow down for our Cassowaries, no-dog Zone, we love our birds etc. We arrived in the heat of the early afternoon and gave the birds about an hour to stroll out of the nearby forest. We met camper after camper who share comments like “It was right here about an hour ago” but for us there was no sign of our hoped-for beast on the beach, save for some very fresh and remarkably purple scat in the middle of the road. We decided to hop back into the buses and slowly cruise along the main road, keeping a close eye on the roadside verges and the edge of the forest. This proved a very successful strategy, as just around one of the bends we were thrilled to spot an adult female Cassowary walking along the road towards us. Cassowaries are impressive birds, weighing as much as 60 Kilos as adults, and covered in thick hair-like feathers (rather like giant Kiwis). Their huge muscular feet and large claws are formidable, as is their stout utilitarian bill. The bright blue and red neck, protruding red wattles and huge keratin head casque are quite ornate, combining to make for one of the more unique bird species in the world, and a signature species for Australia. The Australian Cassowary population is in decline, as they are heavily impacted by habitat fragmentation, vehicle collisions and stray dogs (and in New Guinea, hunters). Finding fully wild (ie. unacclimated) birds can be incredibly difficult, as although the birds are huge, they can be remarkably elusive in the dense understory of the forest. The birds around Etty Bay have become used to gawking humans, often walking around the roadsides, campgrounds and even the open beach, but as our first hour of searching revealed even here sightings are by no means guaranteed. The bird soon melted back into the woods, but happily after ten minutes or so it popped back out onto the road edge about a hundred meters down from our position and we were able to get an extended look and reams of photos. With some high fives and a bit of a whoop we headed back north to Cairns, arriving in time for a well-deserved dinner at our Esplanade hotel. 

Since our flight to Brisbane was in the mid-morning many participants opted to make a short visit to the centenary lakes section of the Botanic Gardens before heading to the airport. We took a short walk around the Freshwater Lake and along the adjacent edge of saltwater creek, finding a nice mix of by now somewhat familiar birds on the way. The main lake harboured several pairs of handsome Pacific Black Ducks, an Australasian Grebe, a somewhat wary Australasian Darter, and a hunting Great Egret. Around the little Chinese Friendship Garden we enjoyed views of a few perched up Figbirds and Hornbill Friarbirds, several caroling Black Butcherbirds and a very close male Sahul Sunbird that was feeding on some bright purple flowers. Some careful scanning also revealed our main target of the morning, with a perched Little Kingfisher tucked into some grassy vegetation at the back of the lake. We walked around to the back of the lake and thankfully the bird was still present, offering us really excellent views as it occasionally dove down in a successful bid for breakfast and then landed back in the low trees overhanging the lakeshore. It’s a remarkably small bird, clad in intense blue and crisp white plumage. Susan had glimpsed one on the previous day’s boat trip on the Daintree, but that bird zipped upstream before anyone else could get onto it. This brazen bird in the gardens more than compensated, and was a great bird to cap off our time in the north of Queensland (and our 200th bird species of the trip).  

This year we were able to negotiate flights both to and from Hervey Bay, thus cutting out two quite long drives. Our flight to Brisbane landed on time and within an hour we boarded the ongoing flight, landing in Hervey Bay before 2pm. This gave us some time in the afternoon for some birding along the Fraser Coast. The flight also permitted us to see just why this south Queensland coastline is among the fastest developing parts of the country. With sparkling blue water, a complicated geography with many bays and inlets and bright white beaches it’s pretty much a developers dream. Thankfully for the local wildlife though large tracts of this area are protected in national parks, and a lot of the coast is inaccessible except by boat due to the paucity of roads. Once we gathered up our luggage and secured our new chariots we drove about fifteen minutes to one of the richest birding spots in Hervey Bay; the Arkarra Lagoons.

Our first stop was at a small pond just outside the park where we noticed a lot of waterfowl sitting around the grassy margins. Here we enjoyed close views of Magpie Geese that were finally close enough that we could really see just how prehistoric they look. Our first Plumed Whistling-Ducks were shuffling around the lawns, and the photographers in the group took a bit of time as a couple of Comb-crested Jacanas and Australasian Swamphens were posing nicely. This first pond held more than just waterbirds though, as the gardens around the water were hosting a pair of sunning Gray-crowned Babblers, our first Little Wattlebirds, several Pied Butcherbirds and an instructive comparison of Plumed and Great Egrets. Some flowering trees in the parking lot of the gardens were attracting an array of honeyeaters including our first Noisy Miners, a few Little Friarbirds and several Lewin’s Honeyeaters. We also walked around the trails that meaner through the lagoons and flooded forest (which closely resemble a Louisiana Bayou). These lakes were full of sunning Macquarie Turtles, a few Cormorants and Darters and clusters of breeding Australian Ibis or Eastern Cattle Egret, all resplendent in their full breeding finery. Also of interest was the large camp of flying foxes that have moved into the park since our last visit there a few years ago. Several hundred Black Flying-Foxes and a few Little Red Flying-Foxes were hanging about in the trees near the parks center. Occasionally one or two would take off and briefly fly around the canopy before settling back down, an act that allowed us to better understand just how large these megabats are.  

Eventually we left the gardens and drove through some fairly high-end neighborhoods that would not look out of place in Southwest Florida; with large houses in gated communities with lots of waterfowl rich ponds and flowering hedgerows. We made our way out to the coast and a small park with a restroom. On the way we stopped to admire a few perched Galah, a pair of large Yellow-spotted Monitors and our first Little Corellas. Those who walked out to scan the white sand beach past the bathroom block were treated to a close fly-by from a Brahminy Kite and a few passing Great Crested Terns and Silver Gulls. 

As we still had some time before we needed to check into our hotel in Maryborough we elected to make a short visit to a newly opened Ecological Reserve that was established by the Fraser Coast Council. It’s a small reserve, roughly centered on a low ridgeline that offers an excellent view of the surrounding country from the top. It was chiefly created to protect a small patch of tropical woodland; a habitat that is now all-too rare in this part of Queensland. There had been some recent reports of Black-breasted Buttonquail from the reserve, which made the area doubly attractive as a brief stop. Once we found the trail, we did indeed see evidence of recent buttonquail activity, as the forest floor was littered with the telltale shallow scrapes (termed platelets) that buttonquail make while feeding in the leaf litter. Sadly, there was no sign of any actual birds, but our walk was quite pleasant. Here we enjoyed a showy pair of Red-backed Fairywren, our first White-browed Scrubwrens, several more “Southern” Figbirds, an actually visible Pacific Koel and a pair of Pied Butcherbirds that given their obvious excitement at our arrival are probably used to being fed by visitors. We then headed on to our hotel in nearby Maryborough, where we enjoyed dinner and a bit of a cultural tableau at the local RSL Club. 

The following day dawned clear with blue skies and only a few scattered clouds, in short, a perfect day to visit the sparkling waters of the Great Barrier Reef. In previous years we had accessed breeding seabirds and the Great Barrier Reef via a catamaran from Cairns. With the recent and significant bleaching events that have severely affected the overall coral health of the northern sections of the reef we decided a few years ago to shift our reef day from Cairns to this new location offshore from Hervey Bay; accessing the area via a short flight out to Lady Elliot Island, a small coral atoll surrounded by a vibrant and healthy fringing reef and liberally covered with trees and shrubs which support a wealth of breeding seabirds. The island supports continentally important numbers of several species, and has the second highest diversity of breeding seabirds of any site on the Great Barrier Reef. We drove up to the tiny airport at Hervey Bay and were soon ushered into a small waiting room that was covered in large photos of swimming Sea Turtles, Manta Rays and an array of colourful fish. Our aircrafts took off as scheduled, passing along the shores of the incredibly beautiful Fraser Island, covered with a seemingly endless expanse of native forest, small lakes and hills and a miles long bright white sandy shoreline. As the plane neared the atoll we circled around a few times as we dropped towards the grassy airstrip that neatly bisects the small round island. It took only a second of looking out of the airplane windows for everyone to realize that this was indeed a special place. Hundreds of Black Noddies were perched on trees and bushes or flying overhead as they performed their tandem display flights. We were greeted at the airplane by a host from the on-island lodge who was soon trying to give us the run-down of our day on the island; though he had to compete with the nearly hand tamed Buff-banded Rails, and dozens of Bridled Terns and Black Noddies that were simply everywhere that we looked and completely untroubled by our presence.  

Once properly oriented we set out on a small loop walk around the island, where we started off by locating a few pairs of Red-tailed Tropicbirds that were tucked in the deep shade of some large octopus plants. These are the largest and most pelagic of the world’s three species of Tropicbird, with a very buoyant flight, ethereally white body plumage and bright red tail streamers, and although we kept the prescribed 2m distance from the nest sight our views were superlative, with a couple of mostly grown chicks. A little later we tracked down an adult that was tucked well into the brush, though with a bit of jockeying around it was possible to make out its namesake crimson tail feathers. Moving over to the end of the runway we found our first Pacific Golden-Plovers and Ruddy Turnstones, as well as yet more Buff-banded Rails and Black Noddies. Most seabird colonies around the tropics are largely unvegetated, and the visiting birder has to search through Sooty Terns and Brown Noddies in the hopes of finding just one Bridled or Black. Here we found the experience reversed, and with some careful searching we noted good numbers of Brown Noddies tucked into the low shrubs along the beach. Along the coralline coastline were several Pacific Reef-Egrets feeding in the shallows. Over the course of the day, we found eight or nine of these long-billed herons, most were white morph birds but at least two were deep purple-black. We even found an active nest, with a mixed pair of adults and a very young chick! The island possesses an endemic subspecies of Silvereye, and we were able to see several of these large and distinctively coloured birds as we walked along the edge of the forested half of the island. Dubbed the “Capricorn” Silvereye, this form is endemic to only a handful of islands along the Great Barrier Reef, and given the propensity for island-based endemism of white-eyes may well deserve full species status. In previous years we have tried experimenting with playback on these birds, finding that they generally ignore calls from mainland birds but respond vigorously to calls from the form of Silvereye from Lord Howe Island. Along the north beach we were happy to find several dozen Roseate Terns huddled under the trees. This elegant species breeds here in small numbers, and over the course of the day we estimated a local population of about 150 birds, several of which were nicely blushing pink. At the same section of beach we also picked out a pair of bright white Black-naped Terns (our only ones for the day) that were sitting out on an exposed rock just offshore. Here too we were treated to views of a four-foot long Black-tipped Reef Shark that was swimming right along the shoreline. Nearby we enjoyed excellent scope views of a group of perched Brown Boobies, a couple of foraging Wandering Tattler with two nearby Grey-taileds for comparison. 

We then headed to the lodge to enjoy a buffet lunch where we were joined at the table by pushy Buff-banded Rails that didn’t think twice about climbing over our feet or grabbing a stray chip from a plate (proffered or not). In the afternoon the group split up to enjoy the leisure activities of the island, with many people opting for a short snorkel trip out on the reef, or a wander around with bins or cameras in hand. A few kept birding though, finding a single Bar-tailed Godwit out on the lawns, a pair of handsome Sooty Oystercatchers with a nearly fully grown chick in tow, and better and repeated views of the wealth of breeding seabirds that call this island paradise home. Oddly we didn’t see any frigatebirds in the air above the island until right at the end of our time here when we found two perched Greaters in a stand of she-oak near the main lodge building.  

In the late afternoon as we readied to board our flights back to Hervey Bay we were allowed to walk along a different section of the runway as we headed to our parked plane. This little detour was all we needed to find a pair of Sooty Terns that were tucked into the low vegetation near our plane. Normally we see a few dozen Sooties during our day here, but the park naturalists had told us that the birds were seemingly late arriving this year. Our final new bird species for the island visit was furnished while some people were already on the steps to get up into the plane. A male Golden-headed Cisticola was perched atop some bare branches right at the plane’s door, seemingly bidding us farewell. We arrived back on the mainland after an easy half-hour flight; but pleased to have been fortunate enough to spend our day surrounded by such intense, wheeling life both in the air and (for those that sampled the sea) underwater. 

An amazingly opulent buffet breakfast put on by our hosts at the Kimba Hotel and consisting of a spread of local fruit, cheese, quiches and pastries started our next day on a good footing. The return flight to Brisbane this year was in the early afternoon, so we had a full morning remaining to explore more of the Fraser Coast. We started off with a morning visit to the coastal village of Maaroom. This small but well-kept collection of houses and a sprawling caravan park always has lots of parked cars but remarkably few (to no) visible people. With a significant number of Eastern Grey Kangaroos foraging out on the lawns and hopping along the driveways it could easily be seen as a set for some post-apocalyptic movie in which kangaroos have risen to be the preeminent form of sentient life. Our final total in the counting contest between town residents and kangaroos was a very lopsided 13-34 this year! Once at the shoreline we realized that we had hit the tide just right, with a huge flock of waders tucked right up on shore awaiting our perusal. The vast majority were Bar-tailed Godwits, Far Eastern Curlew, Pied Stilts and Great Knots, but we found a small flock of Red Knots, a few Curlew and Marsh Sandpipers, Red-necked Stints and Red-capped Plovers and several dozen actively foraging Terek Sandpipers. Having such diversity at close range is always a treat, and given that the species mix is most of the birds that north American birders can only dream of finding around home our time with the flock seemed doubly special. Apart from the shorebirds we watched Australian Gull-billed and Caspian Terns foraging over the bay and loafing on the beach, flocks of Australian Ibis and Royal Spoonbills snoozing on the lawns and close views of Galah, a striking, if a bit dopey looking, pink and silver cockatoo that is perhaps one of dry-land Australia’s most common birds. 

Our principal reason for the visit was to catch up with a trio of mangrove-based birds that we had not had an opportunity to look for up north. Our run of excellent form continued, as just as we reached the mangroves, we stopped to look at a small group of delicately plumaged white and black Double-barred Finches we also found several very vocal and responsive Mangrove Honeyeaters. Our second target performed well also, with a Torresian Kingfisher perched up on a high bare branch. This husky kingfisher was split from part of the old Mangrove/Collared complex, with a range that encompasses coastal north and northeast Australia and a bit of the adjacent New Guinea coast. This can be a hard species to see well, as they generally prefer to remain buried in the mangroves, calling loudly but staying in inaccessible haunts. We walked to the edge of the mangroves and were able to also locate a single Mangrove Gerygone, giving us the sweep of the main targets. 

After Maaroom we headed back to the north, for a repeat visit at the small environmental reserve near Takura. Once again we found plenty of evidence of recent (since our visit two day prior) buttonquail activity but no visible birds. This time we spent an hour or so walking along the forested trails, which proved to be quite productive. Among many species that we had at least passing familiarity with from our time up on the tablelands we experienced the vocal stylings of a Channel-billed Cuckoo that was tucked up in the canopy, and were thrilled to spot two White-eared Monarchs over the trail. This somewhat scarce species has a large range across a narrow band of eastern Australia but is nowhere common, and we record it on slightly less than half of our Eastern Tours. One of the two birds was in juvenile plumage, a quite distinctively different look than the smartly patterned adult. We had a bit more time at our disposal so we made a final stop in on the coast of Hervey Bay. We went out to the Gables, a series of sandstone spits that jut out from the corner of Point Vernon. Here we walked out on the shelf, finding a loafing group of Pied Cormorants and Great Crested Terns (and for one lucky participant a passing Lesser Crested Tern). The small tidepools here were full of tiny hermit crabs and a few small fish, and the warm sun and sparkling water really made it feel like we were on holiday.  

The midday flight back down to Brisbane went as scheduled, and once we organized our new cars we made our way south of Brisbane and eastwards and up into the mountainous Lamington National Park for our base for the next two nights at the incomparable O’Reilly’s Eco-Lodge. We arrived at the beginning of the ascent into the park in the late afternoon, stopping first at the restrooms in Canungra and then at a nearby spot along Canungra Creek where we successfully heard a very close, and very invisible Pale-vented Bush-hen along the creek. This is a very secretive moorhen-like species that is generally more vocal and obvious during the wet season and often remains hidden deep within dense riparian habitat. Here too we were treated to views of both Red-backed and Superb Fairywrens dancing around in the tops of some chest-level shrubs. We then started the drive uphill on the narrow and windy road that snakes its way up into Lamington National Park, stopping a few times to appreciate a couple of Pretty-faced Wallabies along the roadside clearings. As we neared the lodge a sudden shift from dry Eucalypt forest to a temperate rainforest full of cycads, moss, some Nothophagus trees and ferns was a surprise to many.  

We began our full day around Lamington National Park with a short pre-breakfast walk around the lodge grounds where we caught everyone up on the common birds that frequent the clearings around the lodge. Quite a few of the participants mentioned that when they awoke and opened the blinds they were already tallying lifers from (and on) their balconies! It’s certainly nice when the common birds include such absolutely stunning species as Regent and Satin Bowerbird, Australian King Parrot and Crimson Rosella, Wonga Pigeon and Red-browed Firetail! It’s not just the species list here that make an impact, but the tameness and approachability that a visiting birder can revel in. Instead of quietly lurking in the underbrush and hoping for a quick part-view of a calling Eastern Whipbird here one just scans the lawn or holds out some walnuts and one waltzes in without a care. It is, simply put, an amazing experience, akin to the Galapagos Islands in many respects. After spending the requisite amount of time taking in the colour show and getting selfies of King Parrots and Crimson Rosellas perched on various heads and shoulders we started a short walk around the periphery of the lodge grounds and down around the nearby campground. Near the National Park bathroom block we found some trees that were heavily laden with large red fruits. This bounty was attracting a steady stream of visitors including a half-dozen plump Green Catbirds that showed off well as they gobbled fruit at a prodigious pace. Often this species is quite hard to see well, as they sound off from high up in the canopy remaining stubbornly hidden in tangles well overhead. This year we must have hit the fruiting cycle just right, as we had multiple views on both days around the lodge and a few more along the forest trails. Our timing was not, unfortunately good for Albert’s Lyrebirds however. On this first morning we heard a bird at one of the three customary territories, but it was only occasionally singing and was in a position well downslope from our vantage point. A few participants were lucky enough to see it as it foraged through the leaf litter, but most sadly had to make do with an audible encounter. 

Some flowering bottlebrush trees around the carpark were attracting a steady stream of Lewin’s Honeyeaters and a few dapper Eastern Spinebills, both of which posed nicely for photos. Eastern Yellow Robin, Gray Shrikethrush and Yellow-throated and White-browed Scrubwren were along the forest edge, occasionally coming right out onto the lawns or nearby posts, and Brown Gerygones and Brown Thornbills were chattering away from the trees. Near the campground we found a few more fruiting trees hanging over the main road. These were heavily attended by a flock of Topknot Pigeons that were (finally) perched for us. After many views in flight, it was great to be able to really appreciate their flared bouffant hairdos and long black and white banded tails as they hung above us and devoured gobs of small currant-like fruits. Our final find for the pre-breakfast walk was of a thrush that was foraging along the edge of the road. There are two species of extremely similar thrushes in the mountains around O’Reilly’s. Bassian Thrushes tend to prefer the higher reaches of the montane ridges, dominating in the sections of forest with thick undergrowth, tree ferns and cycads while Russet-tailed Thrushes are the more common species on the lower slopes in drier and more open forests. The lodge sits right between these two zones, and there is considerable overlap between the two species on the trails near the lodge. When they are not calling separating the two species is tricky, but thankfully this bird was out in the open and rather still. We could clearly make out the brighter rufous tinge to the uppertail, white tail corners and pale tipped coverts lacking any shaft streaks that marked the bird as a Russet-tailed Thrush. 

After breakfast we investigated the top end of the Wishing Tree Track; a small and lesser-used trail that descends from the lodge through excellent forest down to Moran Creek. Most years we have encountered a displaying Lyrebird in this area, but this year there was no sign of the bird. The walk was productive though, as we managed multiple clear views of a Noisy Pitta perched up in the mid-canopy. Initially it was facing away, with just the emerald-green back and turquoise shoulder spot visible, but eventually the bird turned, revealing the tawny underside and buff and black head in our binoculars, providing a much more satisfying study than the less cooperative birds up north. Here too we found a displaying male Satin Bowerbird attending his bower (which was liberally strewn with bright blue plastic bits and bobs) and were treated to a very confiding pair of Logrunners that were scrabbling around in the leaf litter just off the trail.  

We then set off down the network of park service trails that run out from the lodge. Here, Large-billed, Yellow-throated and White-browed Scrubwrens hopped around us at incredibly close range, while pairs of Australian Logrunners scratched hopefully in the leaf litter just a few feet away. Eastern Yellow Robins were plentiful, often perching within touching range and looking at us inquisitively. Even normally retiring species like Eastern Whip-bird are tame here, boldly hopping by in the open, or (in the case of one bird) even climbing up to an eye-level perch and checking out the contents of our outstretched hand. We walked about a mile through the rainforest, and found pairs of Brown Gerygones, several hefty Green Catbirds up in the canopy, and a few Gray and Rufous Fantails and Black-faced Monarchs flashing about in the midstory. Most of the walk along the border track was fairly quiet, but the Gondwanaland influences, long looping vines, tree ferns and many interpretive signs kept us amply entertained. As we rounded the back end of our loop walk we neared the small but well laid out botanical garden that is tucked into the woods at the end of the boardwalk trail. Here the overstory is a bit more open and shorter, and we successfully managed to coax a calling Rose Robin down from the canopy. It’s a stunning species; clad in delicate pink-red and slate grey, and being able to see it as it perched in the mid-canopy with a dark green background that set off its glowing pink chest was certainly memorable. As we were ogling the robin we heard the telltale growl of a nearby Paradise Riflebird, and as luck would have it, were soon watching a male as it foraged along some bare limbs overhead, occasionally leaning over the branches to reveal the flash of green iridescence on his throat or uppertail. It stayed around for several minutes, allowing us to watch as it probed into crevices or ripped off small chunks of lichen or epiphytes as it worked along the dead limbs with its long and curved bill. Getting views of this species around the road system near O’Reilly’s is becoming harder with each passing trip as the forest here has been receiving below average rainfall for many years. Recent research has shown that the Birds-of-Paradise likely initially evolved in Australia, retreating uphill and into the humid montane forests of New Guinea as the lowlands began to dry out and Australian rainforest patches shrank. Although the Paradise Riflebird is now the most southerly-distributed species of BoP it is quite probable that a hundred thousand years ago there were many species present in the mountains of southern Queensland. 

By this point it was lunchtime, so we enjoyed lunch at the café, surrounded by sweeping valley views and dozens of anxiously hungry Pied Currawongs and Crimson Rosellas and a few Satin Bowerbirds. We selected outdoor seating for our meal, and we generally successful at keeping the avian horde at bay. Some chips did find new consumers though, and it was remarkable how the different species treated their newly won delicacies. The Currawongs and Bowerbirds immediately heading out to consume or hide their prizes from the other assembled birds but the Rosellas took a different approach, simply grabbing a snack and sitting at the table or on a patron, delicately balanced on one foot as they slowly nibbled the chips away to a small nub. After some time off we met up in the mid-afternoon and hopped in the cars to explore a side road that leads down to Duck Creek. Here we bumped along for a few kilometers, through some impressively long but thankfully shallow muddy pools until we came to a patch of open Eucalyptus forest with an understory of grasses, grass trees, and lantana thickets.  

We wandered around along the road here for an hour or so, finding the windless and warm conditions very pleasant, but strangely finding the birds quite reticent. Several White-naped Honeyeaters were up in the high canopy, but they simply refused to come any closer (quite odd for this normally very social and responsive species). The local Lewin’s Honeyeaters were all over the place though, and aggressively chasing other birds so perhaps we can put the blame on them. We did find a little group of responsive Striated Thornbills (with some Browns for a good comparison), and also tracked down a family of Variegated Fairywrens that were bouncing around a dense Lantana thicket just off the road. This snazzy species is now restricted to a narrow band along the eastern side of the Great Dividing Range in Southeast Queensland and coastal New South Wales (with the split off Purple-backed Fairywren occurring over the rest of the country). As we wanted to have a bit of an early dinner so that we could go out on a night excursion afterwards we decided to call it an afternoon, heading back up to the lodge for some time off before we met to do the checklist. 

After dinner virtually the entire group set out for a short drive to look for some of the areas nocturnal life. The conditions for night birding were great, with a relatively clear sky, an impressively bright moon, cool but not outright cold temperatures and calm winds. We drove down the road and out to an area where I have had multiple sightings of Marbled Frogmouth over the years. Amazingly, soon after I started a bit of playback we heard a response from a pair of birds, but it took quite a while before we were able to get eyes on one of the birds as it sat in a low vine tangle just above eye-level with drooped wings, puffed up feathers and a stare worthy of an American boxer trying to psyche out his opponent during the pre-match televised interview. This is undoubtedly the most difficult species of Frogmouth to see in Australia, with a fairly restricted range and more retiring habits than the other two species. Nests of this species are very rarely found, and as they roost high up in dense rainforest canopies they are seldom seen in the daytime. There are actually two populations of this species in Australia, with a smaller subspecies up on the Cape York (and into New Guinea) and this larger and more plumed form that is restricted to the higher mountains near the Queensland/New South Wales border. Since the two populations are allopatric, visually distinct and possess different calls they likely should be treated as separate species. After some high fives and a bit of jockeying around some oncoming traffic we headed back up to the lodge. 

Our final morning around O’Reilly’s started much as the first, with a wheeling show of colourful species nearly at our fingertips. This time we also enjoyed excellent views of waddling Wonga Pigeons and Pacific Emerald Doves around the carpark which posed nicely for photos. We then walked the margins of the forest, checking on all three of our historically productive Lyrebird locations. This time none of the birds were calling, although we did hear some brief phrases from the previous days bird well downslope in the woods. The walk produced other goodies though, as we enjoyed good views of several White-headed Pigeons, found a very vocal Fan-tailed Cuckoo and played around with a pair of Logrunners that were virtually running over our feet as they crisscrossed the trail.  

We bade farewell to this justifiably famous lodge and its ever-revolving flock of semi-tame birds a bit before 9 o’clock, trying to leave some birding time for the road down and the lowlands as we made our way down to the Gold Coast and our mid-afternoon flight on to Sydney. Our first stop was just a kilometer or so down the road, at the Python Rock Trailhead. Here we spent a very enjoyable hour or so walking out to another patch of dry forest where we were successful at tracking down an extremely cooperative pair of Red-browed Treecreepers. The largely forested walk here is stunning, and along the way we also found two more Russet-tailed Thrushes and an adult and recently fledged Bassian Thrush. The latter stuck around long enough for most to see the telltale buffy shaft streaks and dull uppertail that help to separate this species from Russet-tailed.  

Once down the mountain road we enjoyed our picnic lunch and cold drinks in the village park at Canungra, surrounded by an array of flowering trees that were bringing in Noisy Friarbirds, Noisy Miners, noisy flocks of Rainbow Lorikeets and a few noisy kids. Since we had a bit of time left in our schedule we made a short stop a bit to the East to check out a long-standing colony of Bell Miners. We parked and as soon as we exited the vehicles we could hear their ringing tones emanating from the nearby forest. We walked in along a dirt road and were soon standing underneath the birds. As is often the case it took a few minutes to actually lay eyes on them, but soon enough we were looking at several Miners in the trees above us. These olive-green honeyeaters, with bright orange legs and bill, and loud pinging calls are often extremely frustrating to see well as they call from the mid to upper canopy. A colonial, cooperatively breeding species that specializes on feeding on the concentrated and sugar rich waste of Scale Insects called Lerps, Bell Miners are aggressive towards competitive species, chasing other species out of their large colony sites. This makes the Bell Miner society effectively an agrarian one, with the birds tending their lerp colony and preventing unwanted pests. The forest walk also gave us a perched Spectacled Monarch and nice views of both Varied Trillers and Scarlet Honeyeaters. The miners proved to be our final new bird for the wonderfully birdy state of Queensland, where this years’ Eastern tour list was an impressive 258! Our flight out of the small and generally well-organized Coolangatta airport was delayed by a strong band of thunderstorms which closed the runway down for well over an hour, but eventually we took off, landing in Sydney about 2 hours late.  

We spent the first full day exploring the large and wild Royal National Park, just a little south of metropolitan Sydney. The first National Park created in Australia (and second designated in the world), Royal encompasses 15000 hectares of coastal heath, dry forest, and patches of temperate rainforest in the valleys and boasts an amazing diversity of bird (and plant) life. Our local contact in Sydney lives close to the park, and has spent decades exploring the various sub habitats. Acting on his suggestion we spent the morning walking down Lady Carrington Drive, an old roadbed that follows a meandering stream and passes through patches of more humid forest. Some recent and highly political machinations between local residents and the road authority has resulted in a lowering of the river level above the dam. This has left substantial exposed shoreline and little islands in the river, and certainly affected the local wildlife. Our primary goal for the walk was to locate a Superb Lyrebird, and although we had to walk more than a bit further than normal, we were eventually able to track a pair of these incredible birds down. Generally wary and hard to see in the field the birds in Royal National Park are somewhat used to people and allow a closer approach. The first two individuals played a successful (on their part) game of hide and seek with us, showing for brief moments between the trail and the river but soon vanishing into thicker vegetation. Thankfully the third bird was much more cooperative, showing off well as it foraged in some gaps in the understory near the creek.  

Though it was near the end of our nearly month-long set of tours through the country interesting bird species were still popping up throughout the morning. New Holland Honeyeaters and Little Wattlebirds were common companions down the trail, soon becoming almost a distraction when they appeared in denser cover. Golden Whistlers seemed to be almost everywhere, giving a musical counterpart to the errant and raucous yarks from passing Sulphur-crested Cockatoos and the maniacal cackling of distant Kookaburra. A nesting Tawny Frogmouth was a particularly good find, and after a bit of effort we successfully connected with a nesting pair of Beautiful Firetails. This last species is a stunner, covered with thin black bands across its entire body and possessing a bright red rump and bill and delicate blue eyering. Understory birds put on a good showing as well, with Brown Thornbill, Gray and Rufous Fantails and Wonga Pigeons being ogled in turn. The car park held a continuous array of Maned Duck including several family groups with fuzzy young in tow, Laughing Kookaburra, Little Corella, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo and Rainbow Lorikeets, all absurdly tame and eminently photographable. It was a good stroll, and one in which we were able to see a few new birds and bid a fond (almost) farewell to a host of birds that had become our near daily companions over the month.  

We took lunch at the small café back on the banks of the Hacking River. The open lawns around the cafe were playing host to flocks of very tame Sulphur-crested Cockatoos, a family group of Australian Swamphen and a healthy crop of Australian Magpies and lurking Laughing Kookaburras. The birds here have always had a somewhat unhealthy relationship with the dining area, but during the covid years they seem to have grown even more attentive to the arrival of food. The long suffering waitstaff have to bring baskets to cover the food, and one of our participants experienced a lightning-fast aerial swoop by a Kookaburra just as the waiter was delivering the plate to the table! I suppose dining outside in Australia always carries a bit of risk that one will end up sharing a meal with the local wildlife.  

After lunch we decided to take advantage of the still excellent and calm weather with a quick trip out to the stunning coastline of the park. Here, at the somewhat exotic sounding Wallamolla Point we walked on a newly constructed boardwalk that leads out to the Sandstone ledges that form the clifftops of the shore. With 40-60 Meter drops to the sea, crashing surf on the rubble below, small ravines with patches of short heathy vegetation and azure-blue bays the coast here could easily fill a tourist catalogue. Happily though, instead of the somewhat expected resort hotels and beach umbrellas we found the region largely empty of people, and generally unspoilt. Our main birding goal for the spot was accomplished with only a bit of searching when we found a single Rockwarbler bouncing along the sandstone cliffs below us. This is an attractive species, with a bright rusty breast and expressive tail. Rockwarblers are aberrant thornbills and are endemic to the sandstone escarpments on the eastern half of New South Wales. With long bills that they use to pry into cliff cavities, and a preference for ledges and rock rubble they seem an ecological equivalent to our Rock or Canyon Wrens. The open skies above the heathland proved productive as well, with a few pairs of Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoos slowly flying along the coast and occasionally perching awkwardly in the higher shrubs. These huge and impressive birds, with their bright yellow tail flashes, and mournful eerily gull-like calls are utterly captivating. A hunting Black-shouldered Kite and distant Little Eagle put in appearances as well. Looking out to sea we were treated to views of several migrating Humpback Whales lolling about or even breaching not too far offshore. A pod of Common Dolphins was in the area as well, making for quite an active seascape.  

Leaving the park behind we stopped in at a nearby public garden where we stopped to look at a colony of Grey-headed Flying-Foxes that were hanging by the dozens in the trees around the carpark, like oversized paper Halloween ornaments. Below the bat roost we enjoyed close views of a dozen or more handsome Chestnut Teal. Although the dapper chestnut and green males are distinctive in their breeding plumage the females of these two closely related ducks are only subtlety different. A large Eastern Water Dragon sunning on a patch of sand added a reptilian flavor to the site, and several participants spent quite a few minutes photographing point black Cockatoos and Rainbow Lorikeets. Steve then took us to another nearby site where he keeps tabs on a pair of Powerful Owls. These huge owls seem to enjoy the suburban/forest interface, feasting on possums, and the occasional cats that thrive in the fire-suppressed and flowering-plant rich gardens. Along a small creek we enjoyed lengthy views of two large chicks and a pair of watchful adults in the shade of a small creekside tree. Their massive talons and baleful stares certainly made us believe that they are well named. The park was also hosting our first good views of Gray Butcherbirds, and a quiet procession of successively fuzzier dogs. During our time with Steve he also took us to a roosting site for a Sooty Owl, a bird that we generally do not get to see on any of our Australia tours. This bird cooperated beautifully for us as it stared down from its chosen sandstone cave. Sooty Owls are related to the more familiar Barn Owl, but rather than being a pale cream are dark grey and covered with fine flecks of white. The sighting was only our second in 14 years of tours, and we felt quite fortunate for our luck! 

Our final birding stop for the day was quite close to our hotel, at a weedy little park just off the golfcourse, and in sight of the international runway. We found the trail to be choked with fruiting mulberry bushes, which were attracting a lot of birds. Most were exotic species (much like the mulberry itself), with flocks of European Starling, several striking Red-whiskered Bulbuls, and a few Spotted Doves and Common Myna. But a few native species were about as well, including particularly approachable Superb Fairywren and New Holland Honeyeaters. In the small section of mangroves near the ponds we found a chattering flock of Yellow Thornbills, a handsome bright yellow species with an almost orange face and throat. In the small wetland pond we found Pied Stilts and White-faced Herons hunting in the shallows, and a few more Chestnut Teal. The adjacent municipal park gave us some flowering trees with a few bulky Red Wattlebirds foraging in the blossom, as well as our only Eastern Rosella of the trip. For a small urban park, it was quite a productive stop! 

The coastal sections of New South Wales had been battered by near-constant high winds and rain for much of the prior month, but by some minor miracle the three days that we were birding in the region were calm and clear. The seas were calm as well, and with little wind in the forecast we set out on our pelagic trip in high spirits. Our trusty commercial sport fishing boat left from the Rose Bay Ferry terminal early in the morning, with great views of the magnificent Sydney Harbour, Opera House and Harbour Bridge as we left port. Just before reaching the heads (the prominent headlands that mark the mouth of the natural harbour) we stopped to look at an obviously hungry Short-tailed Shearwater that was paddling around in the calm waters. We fed it a bit of chum and then motored out into the Pacific, soon encountering our first Wedge-tailed Shearwaters. Using their languid flight style as a base we soon worked out the quite different flight styles of Short-tailed and Flesh-footed (strangely very common this year) Shearwaters as they circled around the boat. Having a steady trickle of chum jettisoned from the stern kept the flocks interested and close, which really facilitates close study. While watching the first groups of birds at leisure a flurry of excitement was created by our first Black-browed Albatross that glided up our wake and circled the boat several times, making the shearwaters look like toys under its outspread wings. We continued to motor out to deeper water, heading towards the continental shelf about 25 miles offshore. A bit further out the first Shy Albatrosses appeared. It’s always amazing how fast these birds actually are; one second you spot one on the horizon angling towards the boat and seemingly in the next second they are scrabbling around the stern for scraps. Also on our way out to the seamount we were treated to passes by at least two Brown Skuas and two Pomarine Jaegers. The jaegers were both brief, but one of the Skuas made multiple passes of the boat, showing off its hulking dark body and prominent white wing panels to good effect. We encounter Poms roughly on half of the pelagics, but this marked only the second time we experienced a Skua on the boat trips. Even more noteworthy a small group of Australasian Gannets came by the boat with a Masked Booby in tow. This is truly a rare species, and was not only a new one for the WINGS cumulative list but also was new to the Sydney Pelagic Cruises list!  

Eventually we arrived at the Brown Seamount and cut the engines, chumming and drifting with the stiff while birds came in to sit on the water near our stern, or to lazily fly around the boat. A couple of Grey-faced (a recent split from Great-winged Petrel) and Providence Petrels gave extended flight views as they cruised around. The Albatross numbers climbed quickly, with numbers of Shy and eight or nine Black-browed scrapping over the choicer bits of fish. The Shys were graceful if a bit imposing birds and were noticeably larger than the adjacent Black-browed, making quite the impression as they paddled around the back of the boat. Here too we found another write-in species when a White-chinned Petrel came in to check out our proffered food. The bird stuck around for nearly an hour, making multiple passes around us and occasionally joining the little flock of birds sitting at our stern.  

We bobbed along with the slick for a while longer, taking in a few Wilson’s Storm Petrels that were pattering on the chum slick behind us, with two or three birds visible at a time. Just before we started the trip back a huge brown albatross appeared on the horizon, soon materializing into a young Antipodean (Wandering) Albatross that caused quite a ruckus when it landed in with the masses of markedly smaller Black-browed and Shy. It had been several years since we had seen this king of the tubenoses on the pelagic trip, and the sighting definitely removed all doubt that we were being treated to the best that an October Sydney trip could offer. On the way back the trip grew even sweeter with a flyby from a handsome Cape (now generally known as Pintado) Petrel, another cooperative Brown Skua and a single Hutton’s Shearwater that managed to avoid most of us by staying low in the wave troughs. As we neared the coastline we stopped a bit south of the Heads to look at a couple of loafing New Zealand Fur Seals that were stretched out on rocks at the base of the cliffs; a great end to a truly spectacular pelagic.  

As several participants elected to not go out to sea this year, so Susan took them inland to the Barren Grounds National Park where they enjoyed a morning birding in the heath. Perhaps their best find there was an amazingly cooperative Eastern Bristlebird that sang out in the open for several minutes. They also stopped in again at Wattamolla in Royal National Park and went on a longer walk out into the coastal heath, where they tracked down several Southern Emu-wrens and a pair of Chestnut-rumped Heathwren. The two groups were both in tired but high spirits over dinner, trading stories of their respective days. These stories also included some reminiscence about the entire trip, with the most mentioned highlights including Southern Cassowary, Platypus, Red-backed Fairywren, Marbled Frogmouth, the Pelagic day and our very first dawn chorus morning back at the Chambers Ecolodge. 

Usually on the final morning we go out birding again around Sydney but as virtually all of the participants this year had morning flights or other plans (and since the weather was supposed to involve steady rains) we scrapped the birding plans and instead spent the morning taking folks to the airport or their downtown hotels. 

 - Gavin Bieber

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