Australian Natural Adventuresnature travel, wildlife tours, adventure travel and general travel to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific
17-Day Birding & Wildlife Tour
AUSTRALIA
October 2007
Day 2 – Lost in Space Day 3 – Sydney / Cairns Day 4 – Great Barrier Reef Day 5 – Cairns / Atherton Tablelands Note: a full bird & wildlife trip list can be found here Day 6 - Inland / Daintree Day 7 - Daintree / Cairns
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Australian style is apparent—easy 
going,
casually efficient and very friendly. Qantas is known for its excellent
food and in flight service, so sit back and enjoy the hospitality,
meal and a movie. 
*D
waterfront
hotel, the 
areas are prime feeding for hundreds of shorebirds, from large pelicans
to tiny, busy Terek Sandpipers. Greater and Lesser Monglian Plovers,
two species of tattler and of godwit, Marsh and Broad-billed Sandpiper,
are some of the regulars, plus terns and a variety of herons. Low
tide is mid-afternoon today, and although not the best for shorebirding,
it is a medium tide and therefore not too far out. Although there
are no structured activities today, there will be a birding guide
on the Esplanade to help with shorebird ID. After our lunchtime arrival
the rest of the day is free to relax. Don't, however, be tempted to
have a nap or even lie down - we need to stay awake until at least
8pm to sleep well enough tonight to fall into the local time zone.
As well as the hotel restaurants there are 
and the sandy 
vegetated
cay formed on one end. Michaelmas Reef lies about 22 miles off the
coast just north of Cairns, with 
most
of which is off limits, is a National Park within the Great Barrier
Reef Marine Park. However, the birds are very tolerant of visitors
and stand thickly along the beach, allowing us to approach them within
a few yards and less. Immediately offshore in waist-deep water, the
first of the corals can be seen. For those not used to snorkeling,
there is no easier introduction—just walk up to your waist,
and bend over. 
of
fishes, and hard and soft corals. Parrot fish glean algae from the
coral, and small and medium predators search for food. Schools of
fish twist and flash between the outcrops. An occasional sea turtle
may be seen. You glide around the coral in a semi-submersible submarine,
dry and with your ordinary cameras, while a marine biologist describes
the species seen and some of the processes at work. If you are interested,
there are guided snorkel tours led by a marine biologist at additional
cost. On your trip out, one of the marine biologists explains the
development of this and other reef systems and gives us an introduction
to many of the animal species that you see. Lunch is a tropical smorgasbord.
In the afternoon you return to Cairns, under sail if the winds are
right. Your transport to the reef is a 
Early
this morning we are picked up to begin birding and looking for other
wildlife of the rainforest of the Atherton Tablelands. These World
Heritage listed rainforests, at
an elevation of about 2,500 ft, are home to some of Australia’s
rarest and most unusual animals, including four kinds of very restricted
possums, gliders, and the definitely weird tree kangaroo, a kangaroo
which has adapted to a life in the trees, rather than on the ground.
Your guide will take you to a small stream to wait for platypus, the
egg-laying 
mammal
unique to Australia, all the time describing the plants and dynamics
of the surrounding rainforest. The endemic birds of the region are
high on the target list. A special trip is made to a bower of the
beautiful Golden Bowerbird, and in this area Satin Bowerbirds should
also be seen. Mountain
Thornbill, Atherton Scrubwren, Bridled Honeyeater, Bower's Shrike-thrush,
the northern race of Lewin's Honeyeater and Fernwren are restricted
to these higher areas. Spotted Catbird, Pale Yellow-robin, Rufous
Shrike-thrush, Scrub Turkey, Grey-headed Robin, and Large-billed Scrubwren
are more altitudinally 
widespread.
Sunset will find us at a small swamp waiting for the evening arrival
of Brolgas and Sarus Cranes. After dinner other animals, perhaps including
the leaf-tailed gecko - eight inches long and colored and shaped like
a piece of bark - will be found and seen, as we spend a couple of
hours spotlighting for nocturnal animals, and owls including Barn
Owl and Lesser Sooty Owl - Rufous Owl is possible - always make this
a highlight of the day. D
This morning after an early birdwalk we head north, out of
the rainforest to drier country on the inland side of the Great Dividing
Range. Along the way we'll stop at a small gorge to look for Mareeba
Rock Wallabies, Pale-headed Rosella, Great Bowerbird, probable Red-winged
Parrot, lorikeets, and other dry-country birds. 
These
continue to be our focus, as we visit wetlands at Mareeba for a variet
y
of ducks and Black-necked stork. Our exact itinerary will depend on
bird activity, but we'll end the day back on the coast near Daintree,
for our early morning river trip tomorrow.
We
start the morning with a birding river trip with
Chris Dahlberg, aimed at finding species such as Shining Flycatcher,
Little Kingfisher, Papuan Frogmouth and Great-billed Heron. An average
of 50 species is seen, including non-birds such as Saltwater Crocodile
and Spectacled 
Flying-fox.
We then continue to bird lowland rainforest, estuary and open woodland
for target species, ending the day back in Cairns. Our three-day effort
should yield 100 - 200 species, and includes a variety of habitats
including dune, mangrove, estuarine, open scrub and forest, swamp,
river and lake, and lowland and upland rainforest.