BRISBANE BIRDING BREAKS

Our BRISBANE BIRDING BREAKS are short birding and nature tours of several day duration and, as their name suggests starting and finishing in Brisbane.

Brisbane Birding Breaks provide a variety of opportunities to explore some wonderful areas in South east Queensland and Northern New South Wales. These short trips are an excellent opportunity for those beginning birders who wish to learn as much as possible within a short time period. For experienced birders, too, these tours guarantee a great range of species within a few short days in areas within a few hundred kilometres of Brisbane.

Please do not think that these tours are just for Brisbane based birders! We encourage birders from all over Australia to fly up and join a tour. In fact it is very possible to do a couple of breaks back to back and have a weekend in the city between them.

   IN 2021...

Northern New South Wales

This is a wonderful short birding trip that begins in the Queensland capital city of Brisbane. The route is a six day loop ranging south along the New England Highway into New South Wales, cutting across picturesque ranges to the Pacific Coast before returning north via some of the finest birding sites in north eastern New South Wales. Queensland's Lockyer Valley will provide an entree into the birds of the inland and the 'granite' town of Stanthorpe with Giraween National Park nearby will add even more species. National Parks, with evocative names like 'Cathederal Rock', 'Washpool' and 'Oxley Wild Rivers' will be visited, their scenery admired and hopefully their birds ticked! Along the New England we will stay at the picturesque towns of Glen Innes and Armidale before heading east to bird along some great coastal sites such as Brooms Head, Ballina and Byron Bay.
Dates: TBA

Rainbow Beach and surrounds

 This birding trip focuses on the Cooloola section of the Great Sandy National Park and areas adjacent including Tin Can Bay, Rainbow Beach, Inskip Point and Great Sandy Strait. Main targets will include special species of the coastal heaths plus a special emphasis on the identification of migratory waders.

Dates - TBA

Bunya and Beyond Birding Break

This trip takes local Brisbane birders and visitors alike to the South Burnett region to explore a variety of habitats in and around agricultural areas and the rainforest island that are the Bunya Mountains. The variety of habitats will ensure a great variety of bird species.
Dates - TBA

    Stanthorpe and surrounds
      Stanthorpe is located south west of Brisbane towards the Queensland and New South Wales Border. It is Granite country and, especially in the context of Queensland, it is both wonderful for birds and wonderfully cool. Stanthorpe and nearby Girraween National Park represent the northern limits of distribution for a number of species such as Chestnut rumped Heathwren, Red Wattlebird, Turquoise Parrot, Scarlet Robin and Superb Lyrebird. So for Queensland birders it is an essential destination to grow their state lists! It also is a good wine growing area...
      Dates - TBA

    Sunshine Coast and Hinterland   
      The Sunshine Coast is the area we know best and it is home to a fantastic variety of wonderful bird species. Five days in and around the Sunshine Coast and its extensive hinterland should net close to 200 bird species; especially in the Spring and Summer seasons.
    Dates - TBA

    Bowra and surrounds

      Bowra is an Australian Wildlife Conservancy property, located near the outback town of Cunnamulla. The property was once, like many of the properties near the 'Mulla, sheep stations however it was purchased to protect the special birds present. Halls Babbler, Chestnut breasted Quail-thrush, Grey Falcon: to name a few. Other iconic outback birds like Emu, Major Mitchell Cockatoo, Budgerigar, White winged and Splendid Fairy Wren can be seen on the property as well as large mammals like Red Kangaroos, Common Wallaroos and both Eastern and Western Grey Kangaroos. Bowra is a place where you can sit by a billabong, with a cold beer in hand, and watch the birds come in to drink as a pink sunset unfolds in the west.
      Dates - TBA

          If you are interested in any of the above trips email Ken Cross on friarbird43@bigpond.com