Australian Ornithological Services
Outback tour
Queensland features in three Australian Ornithological Services’ tours.
Our famous Strzelecki Track Outback tour touches on Cunnamulla and Thargomindah in southwest Queenland. Key birds sought are Hall’s Babbler, Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush and Bourke’s Parrot, among many other species. We leave Tibooburra in NSW and drive a short distance through the Dog Fence into Queensland for Grey Grasswren.
Gulf of Carpentaria
Escaping the cold of the south, we run our annual Gulf of Carpentaria tour in June/July. The tour stretches across the Atherton Tableland to Georgetown for finches, such as Black-throated and Masked, up to Karumba where we cruise along the Norman River estuary for mangrove birds, like White-breasted Whistler and Mangrove Grey Fantail; and then over to Burketown in the heart of the Gulf where we explore the picturesque, pandanus-lined Gregory River for Purple-crowned Fairywren and Buff-sided Robin. We journey on to Cloncurry for Rufous-crowned Emu-wren, Spinifexbird and Painted Finch; and then to Mt Isa and Winton. Around Mt Isa, we search for Carpentarian and Kalkadoon Grasswrens in the spinifex hills, and around Winton we seek the newly split Rusty Grasswren. The tour loops east, and we finish the tour birding the Atherton Tablelands before returning to Cairns.
Iron Range NP
Prompted by some good accommodation now in Iron Range, we returned to this region of Cape York in 2015 after an absence of some 20 years.
We split the tour into two parts, Cairns to Kingfisher Park on the northern end of Atherton Tablelands and Kingfisher Park to Iron Range. Key birds on the way to Iron Range include Golden-shouldered Parrot and Red Goshawk. At Iron Range NP, we seek a plethora of Cape York endemics such as Trumpet Manucode, Eclectus Parrot and Palm Cockatoo.
Please see our website for details on future Outback, Gulf and Iron Range tours.
Meet the Guide
Hosts: Philip & Patricia Maher Australian Ornithological Services P/L
Address: P.O. Box 385 South Yarra Victoria 3141
Phone: 03 9820 4223 (Int. +61 3 9820 4223)
Mobile: 04 1731 0200 (Int. +61 4 1731 0200)
Email: enquiries@philipmaher.com
Website: www.philipmaher.com