South Australia - 7 Day
South Australia is one of the most exciting places to explore for bird watchers. There are wonderfully diverse environments to be explored within a day of our capital city, Adelaide. Bird watchers will enjoy the deserts in the north, the amazing pristine coastal regions and the wet lagoons of the south-east.
© Steve Knott/Nature Portfolio
Superb Blue Wren
Itinerary:
Day 1
Arrive at Adelaide airport where you will be met by your private specialist birding/wildlife guide. Birding around Adelaide (Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo, Eastern and Adelaide Rosella, Musk and Purple-crowned Lorikeet, Fan-tailed Cuckoo, Crested Shrike-tit, Yellow-faced and White-naped Honeyeater. Also wetland species (Baillon's and Spotted Crake, Lewin's Rail) and drier mallee/heath species (Southern Scrub-robin, Shy Heathwren, and Purple-gaped Honeyeater). Then onto some wetlands for the possibility of Cape Barren Goose, Freckled Duck, Baillon's, Australian Spotted and Spotless Crake, Little Grassbird and Golden-headed Cisticola. Accommodation: Hotel in Waikerie (en suite room). Meals: Lunch, Dinner
Guide Price per person sharing: £ 2,290 (Based on a tour for two persons)
Deposit: £ 400 per person
Please enquire for single supplement.
Price includes: 6 nights accommodation, specialist private guide from arrival at airport on day 1 to afternoon of day 6, transport including airport transfer on day 1, meals as mentioned in itinerary, entry fees and activities specifically mentioned in itinerary.
Price excludes: Flights to and from Adelaide, some meals, personal expenditure, alcoholic beverages, phone calls, airport transfer on day 7.
Day 2
We depart very early in the morning to visit a reserve owned and operated by Birds Australia and home of the critically endangered Black-eared Miner. We arrive at sunrise when the bird species there are most active. Possibilities include Malleefowl, Red-lored Whistler, Gilbert's Whistler, Hooded Robin, Southern Scrubrobin, Black-eared Miner, Striated Grasswren, Shy Heathwren, White-browed Treecreeper and Major Mitchell Cockatoo. Leave the reserve late afternoon and return to Waikerie around dusk. Own arrangements for dinner this evening. Accommodation: Hotel in Waikerie as for last night. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch.
Day 3
We depart from Waikerie around sunrise. During the morning we visit two river Murray wetlands looking for waterfowl including Freckled Duck, and a Regent Parrot breeding site. We will then travel some 400 km to the Flinders Ranges, an impressive range of steep hills and soaring rock formations on the edge of Australia's outback. Along the way we search for semi-open country specialists such as Redthroat and Brown Songlark. At Flinders Ranges search the spinifex-grass covered slopes for the Short-tailed Grasswren. Also a great opportunity to see Red, Western Grey and Euro Kangaroos. Own arrangements for dinner this evening. Accommodation: Wilpena Pound (en suite rooms). Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
Day 4
Early morning birding (Southern Scrubrobin and Grey-headed Honeyeater). Then search for Elegant Parrot and Grey-headed Honeyeater. We visit the fossil site of the Ediacaran fauna, which lived a little before the great explosion of multicellular life at the beginning of the Cambrian Period. The rocks here date back over 800 million years. Also a chance of seeing the endangered Yellow-footed Rock-wallaby. We will arrive at Mt Lyndhurst, on the edge of the Strzelecki desert, later in the day and will search for Chestnut-breasted Whiteface, Inland Dotterel, Thick-billed Grasswren, Cinnamon Quail-thrush, Chirruping Wedgebill and Rufous Fieldwren. We then proceed to the Lyndhurst Hotel, a typical outback pub with basic facilities but lots of character. Accommodation: Hotel at Lyndhurst (basic but clean accommodation with the possibility of shared bathrooms). Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Day 5
Spend the day exploring the Strzelecki Track across the desert for most of the day, looking for species such as Budgerigar, Crimson, Orange and Gibber Chat, Eyrean Grasswren, Ground Cuckoo-shrike, Letter-winged Kite and Black-breasted Buzzard. Return to Lyndhurst after dark. Accommodation: Hotel at Lyndhurst as for last night. Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner.
Day 6
Depart Lyndhurst around sunrise. Today we'll travel the almost 700 km back to Adelaide. Visit an Arid Lands Botanical Gardens (White-winged Fairy-wren, Chirruping Wedgebill, Rufous Fieldwren and Redthroat). A nearby coastal lake usually has Banded Stilt. Also the possibility of species such as Little Eagle, Elegant Parrot, Grey-fronted Honeyeater, Slender-billed Thornbill, Elegant and Blue-winged Parrot and possibly also Rock Parrot today. Arrive back in Adelaide late afternoon and say goodbye to your local guide. Dinner on your own this evening. Accommodation: Hotel in Adelaide (en suite rooms). Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Day 7
Depart for your next destination. Meals: Breakfast.