July Australia trip planning (1 Viewer)

Hi all,

I'm planning a trip to Australia with my family in July, and I'm hoping to get some advice. We'll be spending at least a week in the Cairns area, then have about 2 weeks to explore other areas, finishing in Sydney. The rest of my family is nature-oriented, but not really that interesting in birds. I've been to Australia one before and visited Daintree and Lamington, but I only really saw the more common species. I'm looking to visit some places with distinct birdlife from the Cairns area.


So my first objective is to decide where else to visit. We've got time to visit two places for about 4 days each. I'm considering Tasmania or Kangaroo Island and Melbourne, but I'd appreciate some advice on what birding would be like there in the winter. Would I still be able to see Little Penguins in July? Would the birds in Tasmania be much different from those in Melbourne?

Another option I'm considering would be visiting the Darwin area (Kakadu/Litchfield). Any advice on what to expect here would be nice as well. Are there any spots that are must see? Any advice on areas that would appeal to non-birders (scenic hikes, cultural landmarks, etc) would be appreciated as well.

Thanks for all your help. This is only the first of many questions to come...

Went in winter (August) to central Australia (Alice, Macdonnell Ranges, Uluru) and then drove to up to Kakadu and Darwin. I found the weather to be pleasant, just a little on the cool side, around Alice; I think this may have slightly diminished the bird activity (Uluru, in particular, seemed quiet; we saw about four or five new species there).

However, Kakadu was blinkin' amazing at that time of year! I remember, in particular, a cruise (ostensibly for fresh-water crocs.) on Yellow Water, with life birds at every turn (and this was our second Australia trip). The Mangarre Walk, in the East Alligator River section, seemed a reliable place for Rainbow Pitta - and, for those not so interested in stalking birds, mudskippers. Fogg Dam, on the way to Darwin, is great too.

P.C.

The latter part of my trip report should be useful for Kakadu and the Top End. Kakadu is probably a good bet for non-birders. The Yellow Water cruise is probably going to impress most people and some of the rock art sites like Nourlangie also have good birds.
http://www.birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=265435

In July, I'd be recommend that you be hitting up northern places, like Kakadu, rather than spending time in Tasmania/South Australia. July is our winter, the birds everywhere are more quiet (although Lyrebirds are out courting and very active, as are many owls, so the birding isn't entirely pointless) and winter on Kangaroo Island/Tasmania is, while good for antarctic birds such as albatross and a number of petrels, not an amazingly pleasant time to be in the south of Australia. If your family aren't birders, but just nature interested, they'll most likely find more northern and warmer/less wet areas infinitely more enjoyable.

Thanks for all the advice! Andrew, I stayed up reading your trip report for hours!

A few more questions: Can anyone recommend a good half day pelagic or whale watching tour with good naturalists (who can point out and ID birds) based out of the Sydney area (or at least a reasonable distance from Sydney)? I'm not up for a full day pelagic, but I'd love to see some albatross and petrels. Is there any way to see Little Penguins in the winter, anywheres near Sydney or Melbourne?

DarkFireFalcon said:

Thanks for all the advice! Andrew, I stayed up reading your trip report for hours!

A few more questions: Can anyone recommend a good half day pelagic or whale watching tour with good naturalists (who can point out and ID birds) based out of the Sydney area (or at least a reasonable distance from Sydney)? I'm not up for a full day pelagic, but I'd love to see some albatross and petrels. Is there any way to see Little Penguins in the winter, anywheres near Sydney or Melbourne?

Click to expand...

Details of pelagic trips from Wollongong and other places are available here:
http://www.sossa-international.org/
I guess there should also be various whale watching trips too. I did a nice trip out of Newcastle four years ago, which was good for views of Humpbacks. It wasn't that great for birds but I did see Yellow-nosed Albatross and Fluttering Shearwater.

In July, most of the humpbacks will be up north, so I'm not sure if you'd get out on a whale-watching boat. You'll be able to see Albatross from any of the sea-watching spots - not as good as out on a boat, but they'll be there. The regular Sydney pelagic doesn't run anymore, and I don't know of anyone who does half-day pelagics. You could, theoretically, jump on board a fishing charter and spend a couple of hours at sea, but they're unlikely to know what you're looking at. If you pay my way, I'll come out with you haha!

The Manly little penguin colony should have some penguins around in July, so get down there a bit before sunset, try to find the warden who guards them from idiots, and watch them.

Thanks for the tip TroyMutton.

Would the whale/seabird watching be better further north? I'm going to be spending some time in Cairns, is that too far north for Albatross and Petrels?

I know that seawatching takes lots of time and patience, and nothing is guaranteed, but you productive is seawatching from land in July? Do you need a stiff offshore breeze, or can seabirds like Albatross and Petrels be seen from a headland in any conditions? I'm leaning away from trying to do any land based seawatches myself, since I'm woefully inexperienced with Australian seabirds and I don't think I'll have all enough time to really devote to it.

Cairns is waaaay too far north for Albatross, and the continental shelf is a long way from the land. I can't think of any headlands that would be alright for seawatching there either. Your best bet for petrels up there would be going out on a boat to Michaelmas Cay, and you might get something tropical, like a Tahiti Petrel, but you most likely won't get anything typically Antarctic in residence that far north.

For the most productive sea-watching off Sydney, you want an onshore (so a SE or E) wind, ideally one that's been blowing for a day or 3, and then you'll get birds in. I'd be amazed if you didn't manage Black-browed Albatross in 30 minutes of sea-watching off Sydney in even moderate conditions, and you're pretty likely for Yellow-nosed as well. Shy and Wandering Albatross are likely as long as conditions are right - a day or 2 of onshore winds, ideally still blowing onshore while you're there. That said, you could have absolutely perfect conditions, put in 3-4 hours, and see not much more than some terns and gulls! Unlikely, but possible. Typically in winter, I'll do a short (1-2 hours) seawatch before work, and get 10-12 species in that time, including a handful of Albatross. Petrels are possible too, but significantly less likely. If you're not using a scope, I'd probably not bother on sea-watching, however - the birds are likely to be too far away if you're not familiar with them. That said, I'm happy to meet you at Mistral Point, Maroubra, if your schedule matches my availability, which unfortunately isn't flexible, and get you an albatross or 2.
Cheers
Troy

Forget owls in Sydney. Powerful Owls will be sitting on eggs by July so looking for them by any method will be potentially disturbing to their welfare.