Advice on Australia (1 Viewer)

[jeigenauer]

Hello

I need advice on the best time to bird Australia. I can travel there for an extended period (a month) in June or July, but I don't know if those are good months.

If that is a good season to bird there, could I also undertake a trip to New Zealand?

Thank you,

John E.

 

[chowchilla]

Hello

I need advice on the best time to bird Australia. I can travel there for an extended period (a month) in June or July, but I don't know if those are good months.

If that is a good season to bird there, could I also undertake a trip to New Zealand?

Thank you,

John E.

Any time is good.

Most of Australia's birds are endemic or near endemic so you'll see lots whenever you come here. We don't have bitterly cold winters compared with most of the States (seeing as you're coming in the winter) and it is the best time for outback birding as you won't be dealing with temperatures in the 40s. You will of course miss most summer visitors (such as Pied Imperial Pigeon, but even then a few stick around), but there will be plenty to see.

Temps here in Cairns (the most avian diverse part of the country) are in the mid 20s mid-winter: warm sunny days and bright sunshine; think of a Florida winter. Down in the southern third of the country it will be much cooler and may be really quite cold (though still above zero), though not unpleasantly so and probably nothing you're not used to.

Now you just have to decide where to go in your month, this is a big country and you won't be able to visit it all! Two or three centres would get you a good number of species; a more hectic (and more expensive, internal flights can be pricey unless you get special deals) schedule would of course get you more.

If you're interested in Cairns, PM me for more advice, I'm happy to help.

 

[MJB]

Hello, I need advice on the best time to bird Australia. I can travel there for an extended period (a month) in June or July, but I don't know if those are good months. If that is a good season to bird there, could I also undertake a trip to New Zealand? Thank you, John E.

John, Chowch is a great guy to tag along with; he knows his stuff, much to my benefit in 2011!

However, it can get very cold in Oz midwinter in the Blue Mountains - minus one C in a 40-knot gale was not warm!

I would suggest that you concentrate on only one or two areas - Cairns, as Chowch advised, and perhaps Darwin/Broome/Kakadu (the latter perhaps better in July to avoid any late rainy season); dividing your time roughly equally between the two.

NZ looks small on the map, but it's about 25% larger than the UK but with about 8% of the UK population size. That means it often takes much longer to go from A to B because much of the country doesn't have high-speed roads, especially South Island.

My own view is that NZ requires at least three weeks, and even then, you have to limit the time spent in the remotest areas.

There is much good advice on Bird Forum in the Oz & NZ section (see http://www.birdforum.net/forumdisplay.php?f=553) and many people, (like Chowch) willing to help.
MJB

 

[jeigenauer]

Thanks for Australia advice... keep it coming!

Chowchilla and MJB

Thanks so much for the reply. They were very helpful. I am going to check out the thread you suggested before I post more questions.

Thank you from the birdiest inland county in the US (Kern).... AND the worst air!

John E.

 

[chowchilla]

However, it can get very cold in Oz midwinter in the Blue Mountains - minus one C in a 40-knot gale was not warm!

I suppose I did overlook the fact that up in the mountains it can get very cold indeed. Aus after all has larger snowfields than Switzerland in winter. I imagine Tassie would be freezing as well!

Still, I've birded Brissie area mid-winter and Melbourne's Mornington Peninsula and found them a pleasant cool change from Cairns though very cold at night - the houses and other properties down south are often poorly insulated.