Endemic Birds of Southwest Western Australia

Arrive in Perth and make your way to your accommodation. Meet your guide and the group for a short trip briefing at approximately 6pm. Overnight: Perth. Meals: None.

After breakfast, depart Perth and head south, stopping at birding sites along the way. Lake Clifton offers waders and waterbirds alongside an ancient thrombolite reef, and Big Swamp Reserve in Bunbury is often productive. After lunch, visit the Cape Naturaliste section of Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park, where woodland meets rugged coastline and woodland birds mix with seabirds. Continue south to Augusta on the Hardy Inlet for the first of two nights. Species you may see today include Baudin's and Carnaby's black cockatoos, western rosella, red-capped parrot, white-breasted robin, red-eared firetail and various raptors, waterbirds, waders and seabirds. Overnight: Augusta. Meals: B/L/D

Spend the day at Cape Leeuwin, the southwestern-most point of mainland Australia and the meeting point of the Indian and Southern Oceans. The grounds around the lighthouse, the rocky bays and the heathlands are likely spots for rock parrot, southern emu-wren, splendid fairywren and sooty oystercatcher, with various seabirds possible depending on conditions. From the point, continue north to picturesque Hamelin Bay, where short-tail stingrays and eagle rays glide in the shallow waters. Heading on towards Margaret River (Wooditjup Bilya), stop for woodland birding in Boranup forest, watching for Gilbert's honeyeater, red-winged fairywren and other species. Return to the hotel to rest before an evening visit to a nearby inlet. Overnight: Augusta. Meals: B/L/D

Head east into Greater Beedelup National Park, where Big Brook Dam and its surrounding karri forest attract a wealth of birds. Watch and listen for western shriketit, Gilbert's and New Holland honeyeater, purple-crowned lorikeet, spotted scrubwren, western gerygone and red-winged fairywren, along with pardalotes, whistlers and ducks. Continue on to Walpole and check into the motel, then explore part of Walpole-Nornalup National Park with its enormous red tingle trees and forest lookouts. Overnight: Walpole. Meals: B/L/D

An early start to the Coalmine Knolls on the Nornalup Inlet, where western grey kangaroos and quokkas are still active in the morning and bird activity is high. Continue to the Valley of the Giants Treetop Walk to explore the forest canopy from above. After lunch in Denmark (Koorabup), the pristine Wilson's Inlet estuary (Marjit) offers another stop for waterbirds. Continue on to Cheynes Beach for the first of two nights. After dark, head out on a spotlighting walk to look for Quenda (southwestern brown bandicoot), quokkas and the tiny, elusive honey possum, which feeds at banksia flowers. Overnight: Cheynes Beach. Meals: B/L/D

A full day exploring Cheynes Beach, a small coastal settlement surrounded by protected heathland and boulder-strewn headland, with cabins a short walk from the quiet beach. There is time for a siesta after lunch. This is the best place on the tour to look for the Big 3 skulkers (noisy scrubbird, western bristlebird and western whipbird (black-throated)), all easier to hear than to see and requiring patience. The area also offers good sightings of southern emu-wren, red-eared firetail, white-breasted robin, western spinebill and Carnaby's black cockatoo. Overnight: Cheynes Beach. Meals: B/L/D

A final early-morning walk at Cheynes Beach before heading north to the Stirling Ranges National Park, with its dramatic sandstone peaks and the lookouts at Bluff Knoll (Bular Mial). Continue across the wheatbelt to Dryandra National Park, checking in at the guesthouse in Narrogin before an afternoon visit to the park. The wandoo and jarrah woodlands at Dryandra are excellent for western shriketit, Gilbert's and other honeyeaters, blue-breasted fairywren, rufous treecreeper, and a range of robins and parrots. Overnight: Narrogin. Meals: B/L/D

Spend the morning in Dryandra looking for numbats and any remaining target species. Dryandra is one of the few places this termite-feeding marsupial can be seen in the wild, and mid-morning during the warmer months gives the best chance of a sighting. Continue to Perth, stopping at a lake on the way, and arrive in the city by mid-afternoon (around 3 to 3:30pm) in time for evening onward flights. Meals: B/L