Pre-tour night

4 August 2012
Overnight: Cairns 


Day 1

5 August 2012
Cairns to Georgetown
Leaving Cairns early, we'll spend most of the day travelling to Georgetown. We drive through the remnant rainforests of the Atherton tablelands – always good for raptors. We'll be on the lookout for spotted harrier and grey goshawk and perhaps square-tailed kite. As we travel westward the country becomes increasingly drier. The forests and woodland around Mt Garnet may yield such delights as apostlebird, red-winged parrot, cockatiel, red-tailed black cockatoo and with luck, the red-eyed form of squatter pigeon. Forty-Mile Scrub NP could produce little shrike-thrush, fairy gerygone; and the beautiful striated form of varied sittella.

Overnight: Georgetown 



Day 2
6 August 2012
Georgetown to Karumba 

Today we bird the dry tropical woodland around Georgetown – usually a good area for finches and in particular for the declining black-throated finch, as well as double-bars and masked finches. Also here we could see banded and rufous-throated honeyeaters and the delightful diamond dove, as well as red-browed pardalote and the rare dark form of brown treecreeper. We then head north-west to Karumba, hopefully viewing the seriously cute spinifex pigeon along the way. Beyond Croydon we should also start seeing our first little woodswallows.

Overnight: Karumba 



Day 3

7 August 2012
Karumba area

A great list of species is guaranteed today. This morning we'll do a boat trip in the Karumba mangroves seeking out the mangrove specialities including white-breasted whistler, red-headed honeyeater, mangrove grey fantail, mangrove robin and yellow white-eye, plus ospreys and Brahminy kites and check out the mudflats for waders. We'll spend the rest of the day birding the Karumba area where species should include brolga, sarus crane, jabiru and Australian pratincole, as well as bush and waterbirds and a good bag of raptors.
Overnight: Karumba 



Day 4
8 August 2012
Karumba to Burketown
Today we travel west to Burketown in the heart of the Gulf Country. Birds we may encounter along the way include the highly nomadic pictorella mannikin, which can be in their hundreds one year and completely absent the next. The area can be good for raptors and we'll be on the lookout for black-breasted buzzard and square-tailed kite. Flock pigeon, known to vex birding guides, will be sought, and like pictorella mannikin can be present in big numbers some years and conspicuous by its absence the next.

Overnight: Burketown

Day 5
9 August 2012
Burketown
This morning we bird the Gregory River. The Gregory is a picturesque river lined with pandanus and a good spot for the delicately hued purple-crowned fairy-wren. Other species we should see along the river include the buff-sided form of the white-browed robin, crimson and masked finches, the golden-backed form of black-chinned honeyeater, bar-breasted honeyeater, and perhaps an overwintering channel-billed cuckoo. Spotlighting tonight could produce boobook and barking owls and perhaps spotted nightjar.
Overnight: Burketown

Day 6
10 August 2012
Burketown to Cloncurry
We'll bird the Gregory River again this morning before moving on.We have another chance for flock pigeon and maybe an Australian bustard or two on the Mitchell Grass plains as we cross the Leichhardt River floodplain. Later, further west in the tropical woodland we have a chance for varied lorikeet, spinifex pigeon and long-tailed and painted finches if the season has been favourable.
Overnight: Cloncurry

Day 7
11 August 2012
Cloncurry area 

With much patience this morning we'll search for the denizens of the spinifex – the rufous-crowned emu-wren and spinifexbird. painted finch and grey-headed and grey-fronted honeyeaters may capture our attention, and conditions being favourable, so will budgerigar, crimson chat and white-winged triller. We'll scan the cliffs for purple-necked rock-wallaby.
Overnight: Cloncurry area

Day 8
12 August 2012
Cloncurry to Mt Isa
Today we head to Mt Isa searching the creek lines for the uncommon Cloncurry race of the Australian ringneck. We may also connect with black-tailed treecreeper, as well as varied lorikeet and banded and rufous-throated honeyeaters if the bloodwoods are flowering. We'll check out the lakes around Mt Isa for jacana and green pygmy-goose, plus there's another chance for painted finch here should we need it. 
Overnight: Mt Isa

Day 9
13 August 2012
Mt Isa area 
Today we journey northwest of Mt Isa to seek out one of our most beautiful and least known grassswrens, the Carpentarian grassswren. This species, widespread in low numbers amongst the rocks and spinifex northwest of Mt Isa, was virtually unknown for most of the 20th century. It could take great cunning and know-how to secure good looks at this elusive species – or we may be lucky and fall over it! Other species possible here include spinifexbird, painted finch, grey-fronted honeyeater and owlet nightjar.

Overnight: Mt Isa

Day 10
14 August 2012
Mt Isa area 
The Kalkadoon grasswren, a split from dusky, is on the agenda today. This species resides in the rocky hills around Mt Isa. We will spend what remains of the day checking out waterbirds and any waders that may be about at Lake Moondarra. Overnight: Mt Isa

Day 11
15 August 2012
Mt Isa to Hughenden
We start our journey back across the Mitchell Grass plains of central Queensland. Here we have an excellent chance for that most nomadic of nomads – flock pigeon. Also possible on the plains are bustard, black falcon and spotted harrier. This is also a good area for ground cuckoo-shrike. Overnight: Hughenden

Day 12
16 August 2012
Hughenden to Malanda
We leave the Mitchell Grass plains behind and head back into the tropical woodlands of the western slopes of the Great Dividing Range. Here we could see the rare blue-eyed form of the squatter pigeon and the declining white-rumped form of the black-throated finch, both residing in this vast tract of tropical woodland. Overnight: Malanda

Day 13
17 August 2012
Malanda to Cairns

Malanda is situated in the heart of the Atherton Tablelands. We will be seeking the Atherton specialites such as golden bowerbird, tooth-billed bowerbird, spotted catbird, chowchilla, fernwren, Atherton scrubwren, mountain thornbill, Victoria's riflebird, Bower's shrike-thrush, grey-headed robin and Macleay's and bridled honeyeaters. After dark we'll spotlight for lesser sooty owl and Lumholtz's tree-kangaroo.

Overnight: Malanda

Day 14
18 August 2012
We'll continue to bird the Tablelands this morning for any species eluding us before travelling down to the Cairns lowlands where we spend the remainder of the day birding Central Lake, Cairns Botanic Gardens and the Esplanade. Birds today could include white-headed pigeon, barred cuckoo-shrike, varied triller, pied monarch, yellow-breasted boatbill, white-eared and spectacled monarchs, grey whistler, eastern whipbird, pale-yellow robin, yellow and varied honeyeaters and double-eyed fig-parrot. We plan to arrive back in Cairns in the late afternoon. Overnight: Cairns


Cost: $6,650 AUD (twin share) Single supplement: approx $870. Cost includes accommodation from pre-tour night to and including day 14; meals from breakfast first morning to breakfast post tour (day 15), guiding, land transport and park entry fees.

Tour leaders: Philip Maher & Patricia Maher

Vehicle: 22-seater or 12-seater bus or 2 x 4WDs depending on numbers.

Participant limit: 10

Weather: warm, mean maximum temperature is 27 degrees, mostly dry.