State: Victoria
Operator: Wings Birding Tours
Minimum Price: AUD $ 5,180 Australia is a magical continent. Isolated from the nearest other landmass for more than 50 million years, the Australian fauna has evolved in wild and wonderful ways and many of its birds and mammals are found nowhere else. For many, the experience of looking at a unique creature is accompanied by delight and wonder, and in Australia this experience probably occurs more frequently than anywhere else. On our tour we'll hope to see emus, megapodes, lyrebirds, fairywrens, scrubwrens, honeyeaters, bowerbirds and, of course, kangaroos, possums, wombats, Koalas and the bizarre Platypus.
The Australian countryside is equally varied, ranging from the temperate forests, farmland, pastures and mallee scrub of the south, to arid deserts, rocky gorges and obtrusive monoliths such as Uluru (Ayer's Rock) in the Red Center. Our Southern Australia tour takes in all these habitats and samples a wide cross-section of Australia's wonderful natural heritage.
Day 1: The tour starts near Melbourne International Airport at 2 p.m., with an optional excursion to a local park to see our first colorful Australian birds including Galah, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Red-rumped Parrot, Laughing Kookaburra and Superb Fairy-wren. Night in Melbourne.
Day 2: Leaving early and driving north through the Victoria countryside we'll begin sampling Australia's amazing and varied avifauna with birds such as White-faced Heron, Maned Duck, Brown Falcon, Magpie-Lark and Australian Magpie. In the afternoon we'll arrive in the Deniliquin area where we'll spend the next two nights. While there are many species to be seen here, our main reason for visiting Deniliquin is to search for Plains-wanderer, a unique species in its own family. It is a nocturnal, buttonquail-like bird that can be very hard to find, but by driving across certain short-grass pasturelands we have an excellent chance of locating one. Other birds possible on our 'night-drive' include Stubble Quail, Little Button-Quail, Banded Lapwing and Inland Dotterel. Night near Deniliquin.
Day 3: The time of our start will depend on how late we stay out the previous night, but we'll spend the day in the Deniliquin area searching for local specialties that we are unlikely to see elsewhere during our tour such as Australasian Bittern, Superb Parrot, Crested Shrike-Tit, Gilbert's Whistler, Apostlebird and Striped Honeyeater. In the evening we'll have a second chance for Plains-wanderer should we have missed it the previous evening, and we'll also look for Boobook Owl, Tawny Frogmouth and Australian Owlet-nightjar. Night near Deniliquin.
Day 4: We'll spend another morning birding around Deniliquin and depending upon waterlevels may visit a selection of ponds in search of waders, crakes and rails. In the afternoon we'll drive back to Melbourne. Night in Melbourne
Day 5: Today we'll drive southwest of Melbourne to Brisbane Ranges National Park where we'll look for cute Koalas and striking Yellow-tufted Honeyeaters. Later we'll visit a small swamp near Geelong where Latham's Snipe winter, before driving down the spectacular coastal highway to Airey's Inlet where we'll look for the local Rufous Bristlebird and where a seawatch from a nearby headland may reveal a Shy Albatross or two. Night in Melbourne.
Day 6: After breakfast we’ll drive to Healesville, stopping en route at Toolangi State Forest in search of Rose and Flame Robins, and Crescent Honeyeater, and to marvel at the ancient Mountain Ash trees some of which are 200 feet tall! After checking into our hotel we'll visit a local park where Australian King Parrots and Common Bronzewings are abundant and provide excellent photographic opportunities. We'll also see an active bower of Satin Bowerbird and watch how the male decorates the bower with various blue items in order to entice the females of the area to visit and mate with him. After dinner there will be an optional spotlighting trip in search of Sooty Owl and we should see Greater Gliders and, with luck, a Yellow-bellied Glider as well. Night in Healesville.
Day 7: This morning we'll make a very early start and visit Badger Weir, where the great attraction is Superb Lyrebird, indisputably the world's most remarkable mimic. It's a bird that is easy to hear but hard to see. While walking the forest tracks in search of the great mimic we should see Pink Robin and the spectacular Eastern Spinebill among others. After breakfast we'll drive to Phillip Island, stopping en route at a lake in search of Blue-billed Duck and other waterfowl. We'll arrive by lunchtime and will spend the afternoon looking for such local specialties as Black-faced Shag, Sooty Oystercatcher, Hooded Plover and Pacific Gull. In the evening we'll watch hundreds of Little Penguins and thousands of Short-tailed Shearwaters as they return from the sea to their nesting burrows in the sand dunes of Phillip Island. Night in Cowes.
Day 8: After an early morning trip to look for anything we might have missed yesterday, we’ll drive to the saltmarshes near Koo-Wee-Rup to search for Striated Fieldwren. Later we'll stop in Melbourne and visit a colony of Grey-headed Flying-Foxes, one of the most southerly outposts of this tropical family, and while there we'll keep a look out for Bell Miner and Little Wattlebird. The rest of the day will be taken up driving to Nhill, stopping along the way to look for beautiful Great Crested Grebes, bizarre Musk Ducks and flocks of Long-billed Corellas. Night near Nhill.
Day 9: We'll make an early start for the long drive north to remote Wyperfeld National Park. As we leave the vast grain fields of western Victoria and enter the park the landscape transforms to open woodland and grassy glades filled with Eastern Grey Kangaroos and Emus. Pink Cockatoos and Regent Parrots are major targets here, and we'll explore the dense mallee scrub in search of Southern Scrub-Robin, the beautiful Chestnut Quail-thrush, and Splendid Fairywren, perhaps the brightest species we'll see on the tour. Night near Nhill.
Day 10: Before breakfast we'll take an optional walk from our lodge in search of Scarlet Robin. After breakfast we'll visit a private mallee reserve where we'll look for Malleefowl, Painted Buttonquail, Shy Heathwren, Variegated Fairywren and Purple-gaped Honeyeater. Later we'll drive to Adelaide stopping on the way to look for Cape Barren Goose in coastal lagoons near the famous Murray River. Night in Adelaide.
Day 11: We'll spend the morning at the St. Kilda salt fields, home to thousands of waterbirds including Banded Stilt, Pied Oystercatcher and Fairy Tern. Later we'll visit Brookfield Conservation Park where we'll look for Mulga Parrot, Rainbow Bee-eater, Chestnut-crowned Babbler and Southern Whiteface in mixed open forest and grassy clearings. We'll end the day with a visit to a colony of the rare Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat. Night in Adelaide.
Day 12: A morning flight will take us to Alice Springs in the center of Australia. After lunch we'll visit Simpson's Gap National Park, open scrub country with a wealth of central Australian birds including Diamond Dove, Crested Bellbird, Rufous Songlark, Dusky Grasswren, Zebra Finch and Little Woodswallow. Among the marsupials, Black-footed Rock Wallaby is a local speciality. Night in Alice Springs.
Day 13: We'll make a pre-breakfast visit to the ponds of the local sewage works to look for Hoary-headed Grebe, Hardhead, Black-fronted Plover, Australian Reed Warbler and Little Grassbird. Later we'll visit the Old Telegraph Station in search of Red-browed Pardalote and Common Walleroo. In the evening we'll enjoy a picnic supper near a pool where Bourke's Parrots come to drink at dusk. Night in Alice Springs.
Day 14: Today we'll fly to Uluru (Ayer's Rock) and Kata-juta (Mount Olga), spectacular geological formations famous throughout the world. While experiencing the traditional sightseeing tours, we'll also keep and eye out for Crimson Chat and, depending on seasonal conditions, various honeyeaters and woodswallows. We'll stay to watch the sun set at the Rock, then fly back to Alice for the night.
Day 15: After some early morning birdwatching, participants not continuing on the Northern Australia tour will take a mid-morning flights to Sydney where the Southern Australia tour concludes.
Notes:
More Information
Special Departure Dates: Thursday 28 September to Thursday 12 October 2006
Trip Duration: 14 days
Departs from: Melbourne
Tour Ends: Sydney
Departure Days:
Departure Time: 2.00 p.m
Return Days:
Return Time: mid morning
All Prices: 2006 price about $5180
Single Occupancy Supplement $470
Tours
