Cheepers!  Birding on a Budget  LLC

 Australia  is a naturalist’s dream come true. Australia has enormous diversity of habitats, including the world’s longest coral reef (the 1260-mile long Great Barrier  Reef). Our tour focuses on eastern Australia during the dry season. From the northeast, where we have a chance for cassowary, bowerbirds and platypus, to the  southeast’s lyrebirds, fairy wrens, wallabies, albatrosses and penguins, our tour samples a good portion of Australia’s scenery, avifauna and other wildlife.  Endemism is extraordinary; 5 non-passerine families and 15 passerine families  are endemic to Australasia, plus diverse marsupials, pigeons (26 species), parrots (53 species) and seabirds (79 species). A superb and exciting tour with mostly easy birding in comfortable surroundings – truly  unforgettable!


ITINERARY
Days 1 -2: Travel
You will leave the US on October 1, losing a day as you travel across the international date line, arriving in Cairns on the morning of October 3.

Day 3: Arrival in Cairns
Arrive in Cairns and spend the day at local birding locations including Cairns Esplanade and the adjacent mangroves, Centenary Lakes and the Botanic Gardens.  The Esplanade is a hotspot for waders on their southerly migration and often includes unusual species for Australia including Asian Dowitcher. Likely species include Red-capped Plover, Terek Sandpiper, Common Sandpiper, Great Knot, Grey-tailed Tattler, Beach Stone Curlew, Eastern Curlew, Masked Lapwing, Australian Pelican, Royal Spoonbill, Eastern Great, Intermediate, Little and Eastern Reef Egrets,  Striated Heron, Australian Pied Oystercatcher, Gull-billed Tern, Silver Gull, Collared Kingfisher, Yellow Oriole, Rainbow Lorikeet, Double-eyed Fig Parrot, Peaceful Dove, Mangrove Robin and Yellow and Varied Honeyeaters.

Also close to the centre of Cairns, Centenary Lakes and the adjacent Botanic Gardens provide habitat for  rainforest, fresh water and salt water wetlands. Species expected include Orange-footed Scrubfowl, Australian Brush-turkey, Pacific Black Duck, White-browed Crake, Peaceful Dove, Pied Imperial Pigeon, Papuan Frogmouth, Australian Swiftlet, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Laughing Kookaburra, Rainbow Beeater, Black Butcherbird, Yellow-spotted and Brown Honeyeaters, Helmeted Friarbird, Varied Triller, Australasian Figbird, White-breasted Woodswallow, Spangled Drongo, Leaden Flycatcher, Magpie-lark, Metallic Starling  and Olive-backed Sunbird. 

An after-dinner walk along the Esplanade provides a good opportunity to see Bush Stone Curlews.
Overnight Cairns (L)

Day 4:  The Great Barrier Reef
Today we will take a Great Barrier Reef cruise.  From Cairns we board our comfortable vessel, the Ocean Spirit,  for a relaxing  two hour cruise out to Michaelmas Cay, a true coral cay and bird sanctuary  located 40km north-east of Cairns, and part of the 2000 km long Great Barrier  Reef. Thousands of ground-nesting seabirds occur here: Sooty and Crested Terns, Brown Noddy, Silver Gull, Brown Booby, Greater and Lesser Frigatebirds, with a  chance of rarer terns and boobies. There will be opportunities for a refreshing dip or snorkel in these beautiful waters.
Overnight Cairns (BL)

Day 5:  Daintree River Cruise
Our destination today is the Daintree River, where we take a pleasant cruise through farmland and rainforest on the look-out for Great-billed Heron, Little Kingfisher, White-rumped Swiftlet, Cicadabird,  Spectacled Monarch, Pied Imperial-Pigeon, Black-necked Stork and Black Butcherbird, and possibly a saltwater crocodile.  We then drive to Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge, arriving in time to watch for Blue-faced and Graceful Honeyeaters and Red-browed Finch.
Overnight Kingfisher Lodge (BL)

Day 6:  Mount Lewis and Kingfisher Lodge
Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers’ Lodge, on the northern edge of the Tableland, caters exclusively to birders. Within the  grounds are Wompoo Fruit-Dove, Emerald Dove, Noisy Pitta, Red-necked Crake, Buff-banded Rail, Lesser Sooty Owl, Black-faced Monarch and an array of honeyeaters. Nearby is Mount Lewis covered in upland rainforest where we hope to find Atherton Scrubwren, Fernwren and Mountain Thornbill.
Overnight Kingfisher Lodge (BL)
 
Day 7: Atherton Tablelands
The Atherton Tableland is a region of beautiful scenery with lakes and waterfalls, green pastures, savanna, open woodlands and scattered wetlands nestled in national parks and state forests, as well as Queensland’s highest mountains rising to over 1600m. Birding can be superb: Sarus Crane, Blue-winged Kookaburra, Forest Kingfisher, Pied  Monarch, Chowchilla, Red-backed Fairy-wren, Chestnut-breasted Mannikin, Golden Bowerbird, Tooth-billed and Spotted Catbirds and Victoria’s Riflebird. On our drive, we look in dry eucalyptus country for Australian Bustards, we visit wetlands for Green and Cotton Pygmy-Geese and Brolga, and woodlands support Squatter Pigeon, Apostlebird, Great Bowerbird, Black-throated Finch, and the distinctive local race of Brown Treecreeper.  In late afternoon we reach Yungaburra, a National Trust village that has a platypus viewing platform.
Overnight Yungaburra (BL)

Day 8: Transfer to Mission  Beach
We head south to Mission Beach, which has a large population of Southern Cassowary. We pass through Wooroonooran National Park, an area of mature upland rainforest, and then into coastal rainforest along
palm-fringed sandy beaches. We walk trails in this areas looking for White-eared Monarch, Fig Parrot, Yellow-spotted Honeyeater, Topknot Pigeon and Varied Triller, and with luck we’ll spot a male Cassowary with chicks in tow.
Overnight Mission Beach (BL)

Day 9: Back to Cairns and Cairns Esplanade
We head back to Cairns for the night and check the Esplanade and other locations for any species we missed on the first day and any new arrivals.
Overnight Cairns (BL)

Day 10: Transfer to Lamington National Park
We catch an early morning flight to Coolangatta and drive to the Green Mountains in Lamington National Park.  This park covers most of the spectacular Lamington Plateau, a geologically fascinating plateau with deep gorges and caves that drops into the caldera of an extinct volcano and is covered in temperate rainforest. A feature attraction is the amazing Albert’s Lyrebird, and we make a special attempt to find this incredible mimic. Other goodies include Logrunner, Red-browed Treecreeper, Regent Bowerbird, Paradise Riflebird, Rufous Scrub-bird, Marbled Frogmouth among others.  At the end of the day we will arrive at O’Reilly’s Guesthouse for a two night stay.
Overnight O'Reilly's (BL)

Day 11: Lamington National Park
We will have another full day of birding in the area surrounding O'Reilly's in Lamington National Park.
Overnight O’Reilly’s (BL)

Day 12: Transfer to Stanthorpe
We head south into New South Wales, towards the town of Stanthorpe, visiting Girraween National Park. Overnight Stanthorpe (BL)

Day  13: Stanthorpe Area
We spend the day visiting several excellent locations in the Stanthorpe area. This attractive area has another suite of new species, including Little and Musk Lorikeets, Striped and Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters, Striated and Spotted Pardalotes, and Gray and Pied Butcherbirds. Regent Honeyeater, a spectacular species, is here as well as Turquoise and Red-winged  Parrots, Plum-headed Finch, Black-chinned Honeyeater, and Rufous Songlark. If time, we visit the Pillaga Scrub, yet another different habitat type of dense forest with new species of trees; here we could find Speckled Warbler, Diamond Firetail, Yellow-tufted Honeyeater, Glossy Black Cockatoo, Spotted Bowerbird and Double-barred Finch.
Overnight Stanthorpe (BL)

Day 14: Transfer to Brisbane Airport and flight to Sydney
We spend the day transferring to Brisbane airport for an evening flight to Sydney. On arrival we transfer to Wollongong for the night.
Overnight Wollongong area (BL)

Day 15: Pelagic Trip
Today we have an all-day optional pelagic trip out of Wollongong to the edge of the continental shelf. 
Beyond the shelf, the ocean floor drops abruptly to depths of more than 4000 meters. We could encounter a plethora of seabirds – shearwaters including Flesh-footed, Fluttering, Short-tailed and Wedge-tailed, Pomarine Jaeger, Great-winged and Solander Petrels, Shy and Wandering Albatrosses, and much more. Once back on land we drive to Kiama.
Overnight Kiama (BL)

Day 16: Barren Grounds
We visit the coastal heathlands of Barren Grounds Nature Reserve for a chance at the critically endangered Eastern Bristlebird, as well as Powerful Owl, Superb Lyrebird, Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Southern Emu-wren,
Rockwarbler, Brush Wattlebird, Pilotbird and Ground Parrot. We then head inland to the Blue Mountains. Overnight in the Blue Mountains (BL)

Day 17: Blue Mountains and Capertee Valley
Wetlands  in this area support White-faced Heron, Straw-necked Ibis, Pink-eared and Blue-billed Ducks, Australasian Shoveler, Gray Teal, Hardhead, Hoary-headed and Australasian Grebes, Masked Lapwing, Sacred Kingfisher and Australian Reed Warbler.  Dry sandstone hills and open eucalyptus woodland are home to Black-shouldered Kite, Brown Goshawk, Wedge-tailed and Little Eagles, Brown Falcon, Nankeen Kestrel, Painted Button-quail, Common Bronzewing, Peaceful Dove, Galah, Red-rumped Parrot, Horsfield’s Bronze-Cuckoo, Yellow-rumped and Yellow Thornbills, Southern Whiteface, Eastern Shrike-Tit, Painted Honeyeater, Noisy Friarbird, White-browed Babbler, Varied Sittella, White-winged Triller, Olive-backed Oriole, several Woodswallows, Restless Flycatcher, White-winged Chough, Jacky Winter, Hooded Robin, Tree and Fairy Martins, Mistletoebird, Zebra  Finch and Australasian Pipit. We may locate Australian Owlet-Nightjar at a daytime roost.  Mammals should include Eastern Gray Kangaroo.
Overnight in Capertee. (BL)

Day 18: Transfer to Sydney
Today we spend our time looking for species missed up to now, perhaps Black Duck, Chestnut Teal, Swamphen, Wandering and Plumed Whistling-Ducks, or Fuscous, White-plumed and White-naped  Honeyeaters.
Overnight Sydney (BL)

Day 19: Departure
Our tour ends after breakfast, as we travel to Sydney’s Kingsford Smith airport for our flights home or on to Tasmania.
(B)

The  price INCLUDES:
-All  entry fees to reserves in itinerary
-Lodging 
-Meals as indicated (Self-pay for dinner at restaurants to allow for individual tastes)
-Expert bird guide during the entire trip
-Private transportation during tour
-Transfers to and from airport

The price does NOT include:
- International airfare
- Domestic flights within Australia (Cairns-Brisbane-Sydney)
- Tips
- Items of a personal nature, such as extra drinks, snacks, alcoholic beverages, laundry,
souvenirs, etc.


TERMS AND CONDITIONS:
Deposit of $800 for Eastern Australia tour, $300 for the Tasmania tour, or $1000 for both tours must be sent with registration (link for registration form is at the bottom of this page).
Balance is due on or before June 1, 2012.

Checks should be made payable to Cheepers! Birding on a Budget and mailed with the 3-page registration form to:
Cheepers! Birding on a Budget
Post Office Box 385
Spring Valley, OH 45370

Cancellation policy:
Cancellation should be made in writing (email or snail mail)
More than 6 months prior to departure – full refund of deposit
Between 4 and 6 months prior to departure – 50% refund of deposit
Less than 4 months prior to departure – No refund of deposit
If cancellation occurs after full payment is made, a refund will be given only if the vacant spot is
filled.   
           
Trip insurance is recommended.
You can compare prices offered by various trip insurance companies at this website:
http://www.quotewright.com/?sub_id=6056


Cheepers! Birding on a Budget LLC reserves the right to make changes in the itinerary if the need should arise due to unforeseeable circumstances such as weather, landslides, and
other natural phenomena, as well as suggestions by local guides in order to take advantage of an unusual birding opportunity.   Lodging is subject to change based on availability.