Arrive in the remote north-west Queensland town of Mount Isa and make your own way to our accommodation. We will meet in the motel lobby at 6.30 pm for dinner.

Accommodation: Mount Isa (en suite rooms).

Meals included: D.

In the morning, we will visit a location on the edge of town to look for some of the local specialties among the rocks and spinifex. Our main target here will be Kalkadoon Grasswren, a short-range endemic restricted to a small area centred on Mount Isa. We will also look for Red-winged Parrot, Varied Lorikeet, Grey-headed Honeyeater, and the golden-backed northern form (subsp laetior) of Black-chinned Honeyeater. Diamond Dove, Peaceful Dove, Rainbow Bee-eater and Grey-crowned Babbler are also found here, and there is a possibility of encountering Spinifexbird, Painted Finch and Zebra Finch. We also hope to spot Purple-necked Rock Wallaby this morning. From here, we will head east to Cloncurry, stopping at a dam for a break and to check for waterbirds such as Wandering Whistling-duck, Green Pygmy-goose and Comb-crested Jacana, and to look for Pictorella Mannikin and the localised Cloncurry form (‘Cloncurry Ringneck’, subsp macgillivrayi) of Australian Ringneck.

Accommodation: Julia Creek area (en suite cabins).

Meals included: B L D.

Today, we head south across the Mitchell Grass downs to Winton. During the Early Cretaceous period (145 – 100 million years ago), this area was covered by a vast inland sea and is one of Australia’s richest locations for dinosaur and marine reptile fossils. As we travel across the plains, we will keep an eye out for birds of the open country such as Flock Bronzewing, Australian Pratincole and Australian Bustard. We might be fortunate enough to see red Flinders Poppy (Pimelea decora) and Emu Bush (Eremophila) in flower among the tussocks of grass. We will spend two nights in Winton.

Accommodation: Winton (en suite rooms).

Meals included: B L D.

Today, we will visit Lark Quarry Conservation Park to view the only known evidence of a dinosaur stampede. Here we will see the footprints of a large carnivorous theropod (Australovenator) hunting a herd of small, two-legged coelurosaurs (Skartapus) and ornithopods (Wintonopsis) at the edge of an ancient lake around 95 million years ago. We will visit some nearby sites to search for Rufous-crowned Emu-wren, Opalton Grasswren, Hall’s Babbler and Grey Falcon as well as Spinifexbird, Spinifex Pigeon, Purple-backed and Splendid Fairywren, Varied Sittella, Hooded Robin, Chestnut-breasted Quailthrush, Horsfield’s Bushlark, Australian Bustard and Red-browed Pardalote. Black Honeyeater and Bourke’s Parrot have also been seen on our past tours, as has Red-chested Buttonquail.

Accommodation: Winton (en suite rooms).

Meals included: B L D.

Today we will visit the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History which houses the world’s largest collection of Australian dinosaur fossils. During our tour here, we will see the fossil preparation laboratory and collection room. We will also take a walk in a canyon where we can see 800-year-old living Cycads (Macrozamia moorei) whose Cretaceous ancestors grew in this area. The museum’s interpretive display includes life-size bronze sculptures of many of the creatures that lived here 95 million years ago. In the afternoon, we will make our way to Longreach to join the South West Queensland tour.

Accommodation: none.

Meals included: B L.

Today has been set aside as an arrival day. Meet at 17:30 for a group welcome followed by dinner to meet your guides and chat about the details for the tour.

Accommodation: Longreach (en suite rooms).

Meals included: D

We will take the less-travelled route to from Longreach to Tambo, heading out through the grasslands towards Isisford. In 2024 we found loads of Australian Bustard, Spotted Harrier and Ground Cuckoo-shrike, as well as heaps of songlarks and bushlarks. We hope to arrive in Tambo with time to visit the lake, which provides permanent water in this dry landscape. Here were might find Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo, Galah, Weebill, Plum-headed Finch, Tree Martin, Rainbow Bee-eater, Peaceful Dove, Yellow-throated Miner, Torresian Crow, Rufous Whistler, Restless Flycatcher, Australian Darter and other waterbirds.

Accommodation: Tambo (en suite rooms). Meals included: B, L, D.

An early start for a big driving day as we head south on the Matilda Way from Tambo to Cunnamulla. We will take breaks on the way, one of which will be in Charleville, one of the oldest towns in western Queensland, replete with heritage buildings from the 1800s and the home to two of the six giant Vortex Guns used in 1902 in an attempt to end drought in the region. As we drive south, the scenery changes from expansive grassy plains to mulga lands and we will start to encounter species associated with the arid inland.

This afternoon, we’ll settle in at our accommodation at Cunnamulla. Tomorrow, we will visit the nearby Bowra Wildlife Sanctuary, a former cattle station which is now a wildlife reserve managed by Australian Wildlife Conservancy. Bowra offers a range of different arid-zone habitats like mulga woodland, open plains and Coolabah-lined watercourses. Regional specialties here include Hall’s Babbler, Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush, Bourke’s Parrot, Chirruping Wedgebill and a resident pair of the near-mythical Grey Falcon. We’ll spend two nights here looking for these and other specials like Painted Honeyeater, Pink Cockatoo, Budgerigar, Cockatiel, Plum-headed Finch, Red-winged Parrot, Hooded and Red-capped Robins, Chestnut-crowned Babbler and Crimson Chat, to name a few

Accommodation: Cunnamulla (en suite rooms)

Meals included: B L D

We’ll have a full day to explore the range of ecotones here and will explore the various trails in order to have the best chance of the harder to find specialties. If water is present at any of the waterholes along the creek-lines we may find a range of water birds like Black-fronted Dotterel, White-necked Heron, Black-tailed Native-hen, Plumed Whistling-duck or even Freckled Duck. Honeyeaters regularly come in to drink, especially in the morning and late afternoon, and we should see White-plumed, Striped, Black-chinned, Singing, Spiny-cheeked and Blue-faced Honeyeaters. Bourke’s Parrot is a regular visitor and a quiet sit at one of the waterholes in the cooling afternoon may be rewarding, as they come in to drink quite late in the evening. Some of the more extensive patches of mulga woodland on the sanctuary have Hall’s Babbler, Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush and White-browed Treecreeper present, and the quail-thrush in particular is best attempted early morning as the males sing to advertise territory. In the evening we’ll try a bit of spotlighting, looking for Spotted Nightjar, Tawny Frogmouth and Australian Boobook, as well as reptiles like Marbled Velvet Gecko, Red-naped Snake and Gidgee Skink.

Accommodation: Cunnamulla (en suite rooms)

Meals included: B L D

Today we make our way further west. As we head along the Bulloo Developmental Road, we will look for birds of dry mulga woodland such as White-browed Treecreeper, Little Woodswallow, Splendid Fairywren, Red-backed Kingfisher and Ground Cuckoo-shrike. We will stop at Lake Bindegolly, where we’ll see if any waterbirds are present, whilst looking for arid-county birds in the surrounding shrublands like Chirruping Wedgebill, White-winged Fairywren, Black Honeyeater, Brown Songlark, Horsfield’s Bushlark and the amazing Orange Chat. We follow the course of the Bulloo River for part of our journey. The Bulloo is remarkable for being an isolated drainage, neither emptying into the Murray-Darling system or Lake Eyre basin. In the evening we could try a bit of spotlighting, looking for Spotted Nightjar, Tawny Frogmouth and Australian Boobook, as well as reptiles like Inland Marbled Velvet Gecko, Red-naped Snake and Gidgee Skink.

Accommodation: Quilpie (en suite rooms)

Meals included: B L D

We head into the Channel Country today. We have a good chance of Australian Bustards, as well mixed flocks of White-browed and Masked Wooodswallows, White-winged Triller, Rufous Songlark, Blue Bonnet, Mulga Parrot, Spotted Bowerbird, Red-browed Pardalote and hopefully if there has been recent rain – Pied and Black Honeyeaters in flowering Eremophila shrubs. Raptors should be well-represented, with Black Falcon, Black-breasted Buzzard, Spotted Harrier, Little Eagle, Wedge-tailed Eagle, Black and Whistling Kites and the ever-present chance of Grey Falcon or even Letter-winged Kite. We will stop at the tiny Outback village of Eromanga with its amazing fossil museum. The town lies on Cretaceous Eromanga Sea and fossils of dinosaurs and more recent megafauna have been excavated in the area. We will stay overnight at Windorah on Cooper Creek

Accommodation: Windorah (en suite rooms)

Meals included: B L D

If we have time, we’ll have a pre-breakfast look along Cooper Creek, then we’ll leave Windorah. Our destination is Birdsville, one of Queensland’s most famous Outback towns. The day will involve a bit of driving but, as always, we’ll have stops along the way. Birds we might encounter include Pallid Cuckoo, Horsfield’s Bronze-cuckoo, Purple-backed Fairywren, Inland Thornbill, Varied Sittella, Crested Bellbird, White-fronted, Singing and Spiny-cheeked Honeyeaters, and Black-faced Woodswallow. As we approach Birdsville, we cross the Sturt Stony Desert – a vast, open and mostly treeless landscape consisting of the small, pebbly substrate known as gibber. We’ll have a chance of the fascinating Gibberbird in this environment, as well as the possibility of Cinnamon Quail-thrush, Inland Dotterel, Australian Pratincole, Australian Bustard, White-backed Swallow, Australian (Gull-billed) Tern, Banded Lapwing, Little Button-quail, Australian Ringneck, Chestnut-rumped Thornbill, Southern Whiteface, Apostlebird and Little Crow. Depending on whether rain has fallen recently, there may be small numbers of the highly nomadic Flock Bronzewing present in the area as well. Diurnal reptiles will hopefully be out and about, and we’ll keep eyes peeled for Mulga Snake, Central Bearded Dragon and Gould’s Monitor.

Accommodation: Birdsville (hotel en suite rooms)

Meals included: B L D

We’ll have a full day to explore this area, with excursions out to the west and north to look for a few star specials of the region. To the west is the mighty Simpson Desert with its enormous red sand dunes, and here we’ll look for Eyrean Grasswren in the canegrass amongst the swales. This is a charismatic and active species, however we will need to sit quietly amongst their chosen habitat for the best chances of a look. Out on the lignum flats to the north of Birdsville we’ll have a try for Grey Grasswren, an extremely elusive bird that is entirely restricted to the floodplains of the lower Eyrean basin of the corner country where NSW, QLD & SA meet. Mammals we should see include Red Kangaroo, Western Grey Kangaroo and Common Wallaroo (Euro). At night we can head out with spotlights in hand to look for night birds such as Spotted Nightjar, Australian Owlet-nightjar and Australian Boobook, and for critters like Dusky Hopping Mouse, Smooth Knob-tailed Geckos and Broad-banded Sand-swimmers. Australia’s biggest goanna, the Perentie, is also a chance here.

Accommodation: Birdsville (en suite rooms)

Meals included: B L D

After a quick final look around Birdsville this morning, we drive north We will stop along the way at river crossings to look for Black-eared Cuckoo, Black Honeyeater, Brown and Rufous Songlark, and nomadic flocks of Cockatiel. On arrival at Boulia we will check into our accommodation and explore the town. Depending on our arrival time, we may have time to visit the marine fossil display in the town’s Heritage Centre. Once on the floor of a great inland sea, the area is a productive site for Cretaceous fossils including ichthyosaurs. Birding around town might turn up Brolga, Rufous Songlark, Cloncurry form of Australian Ringneck and Mistletoebird

Accommodation: Boulia (en suite rooms)

Meals included: B L D

After breakfast we will leave Boulia and head north to Mount Isa, birding en route. Species we will be searching for include Black and Grey Falcons, Red Goshawk, Rufous-crowned Emu-wren and Ground Cuckoo-shrike. We should also see Red-browed Pardalote, Budgerigar and Wedge-tailed eagle. Little Button-quail has also been seen on our past tours there. At Mount Isa, we will visit some  rocky gorges close to town to look for Kalkadoon Grasswren, the Golden-backed form (laetior) of the Black-chinned Honeyeater, Red-winged Parrot, Spotted Bowerbird and other dry country birds. There is also a good chance of Purple-necked Rock-wallaby, restricted to the ranges of NW Queensland.

Accommodation: Mt Isa (en suite rooms)

Meals included: B L D

Today we will commence the tour with a drive to the tropical woodlands and rocky spinifex-clad hills to the north-west of Mt Isa in an attempt to locate one of the regional specialties – Carpentarian Grasswren. This low-density species may take a bit of tracking down, and we will have the full morning to try our luck. Other birds in the area include Black-tailed Treecreeper, Varied Lorikeet, Rufous-throated Honeyeater, Paperbark Flycatcher and Long-tailed Finch. Mid-afternoon we will return to Mt Isa and if time and energy levels allow, we can have a look around Lake Moondarra for a few birds like Green Pygmy-goose, Wandering Whistling-duck, Blue-winged Kookaburra, Australian Pratincole, Comb-crested Jacana, Pictorella Mannikin, Spinifexbird, Painted Finch, Grey-fronted Honeyeater and Spinifex Pigeon.

Accommodation: Mt Isa (en suite rooms)

Meals included: B L D

Own arrangements to transfer to Mount Isa airport and depart.

Accommodation: none

Meals included: B