Gulf and
Inland Bird Tour
13
Day Tour
6
birdwatchers maximum
Mt Isa - Lawn Hill National Park - Karumba - Cloncurry
- Mt Isa
The
first impression of Mt Isa relates to being a mining
town, but visitors are always pleasantly surprised to
find beautiful gorges and waterholes in this rugged
outback environment.
Pre-tour
day
Some guests arrive in Mount Isa before the tour, and
we are happy to book you in for this optional night.
Accommodation: All Seasons Burke & Wills, Mount
Isa
Day
1 & 2
The tour starts
at midday with lunch. Most guests arrive the night before,
so we usually go birding in the morning. In the Mount
Isa region the birding highlights include Kalkadoon
and Carpentarian Grasswrens, Spinifex Birds, Painted
Finches, Ground Cuckoo-shrikes and Spinifex Pigeons.
We travel to several waterholes and gorges, visit Lake
Moondarra and the Sewage Plant. Should we have problems
finding our target species we have more chances at the
end of the tour. Looking for the specialities keeps
us busy, as some of them are very difficult to find,
like the Carpentarian Grasswren. They are only found
in two small locations in Australia, and north of Mount
Isa is the one of the best spots.
Accommodation: All Seasons Burke & Wills, Mount
Isa
Day
3 - 5
We travel from Mount Isa via the Camooweal Road to the
southern part of the Gregory River, which is the best
area for the Purple-crowned Fairy-wrens. Depending on
interest we stop at the Riversleigh fossil site.
The destination is Lawn Hill Gorge, a smaller version
of Katherine Gorge in the Northern Territory. It's a
great birding and holiday spot, where we look for the
Sandstone Shrike-thrush, Purple-crowned Fairy-Wren,
Buff-sided Robin, Northern Rosella and the Channel-billed
Cuckoo, which stays here all year around.
We stay at Adels Grove, 10 km from Lawn Hill. The accommodation
is in air- conditioned small cabins with power, but
the generator gets turned off at night. In winter the
nights are quite cool, so that never was a problem.
There are only shared amenities, and hot water is produced
with wood-fire stoves, so it is all quite basic.
Lawn Hill is very inviting for swimming and canoeing,
as there are no motorboats on the water. More species
of Finches and Honeyeaters are found in this region.
Accommodation: Adels Grove, Lawn Hill N.P.
Day 6 -
8
From Lawn Hill we travel via Burke & Wills Roadhouse
to Karumba. As bird activity varies we stopped intermittently
on the road, have lunch at the Burke & Wills Roadhouse
and arrive in the afternoon in Karumba.
The mangroves at the coast of the Gulf are great for
Red-headed Honeyeaters, White-breasted Whistlers, Mangrove
Robins, Broad-billed Flycatchers and Mangrove Golden
Whistlers, while the vast Karumba plains are good for
raptors and grassland birds. The shoreline offers even
in winter some waders.
At night time we spotlight for Barking Owls.
Accommodation: End of the Road Motel, Karumba Point
Day
9
We drive via Normanton to Cloncurry. Near Normanton
we stop at the Norman River, where we usually catch
up with Brolgas and Sarus Cranes, plus other wetland
species. This is quite a long travelling day, arriving
at Cloncurry in the afternoon via Burke & Wills
Roadhouse.
Of course we stop for any interesting looking birds
on the way.
Accommodation: Wagonwheel Motel, Cloncurry
Day 10
We drive very early to the south of Cloncurry to search
for the Rufous-crowned Emu-Wren. These birds are very
difficult to see if the weather is not right. Windy
days are not good, so we aim to be at a certain spot
at sunrise before the wind comes up.
Around this area we also have chances to see the Kalkadoon
Grasswren and of course there are other birds. Even
Night Parrots have been historically reported south
of Cloncurry. After an early lunch in Cloncurry we take
a big break and go birding for a couple of hours in
the late afternoon.
Accommodation: Wagonwheel Motel, Cloncurry
Day 11 - 13
We leave Cloncurry and on the way to Mount Isa we visit
Clem Walton Park, which is also a very scenic spot.
It's a great place for Spotted Bowerbirds and more.
The next days will be used to look for missing birds
and maybe explore new areas. The tour finishes around
lunchtime in Mount Isa on Day 13. Transport is in a
6 (forward-facing) seater Toyota 4WD troop carrier,
and we carry a satellite phone and a First-Aid Kit.
Accommodation: All Seasons Burke & Wills, Mount
Isa
Tours | About Your Guide |
Reference Map | General Information | Bookings & Enquiries | Birding
Links | Home
