Gluepot Reserve & Bowra Sanctuary Birding Safari

You’ll fly into Charleville airport where you’ll be met by your guide just after lunch, before driving to Cunnamulla for our first dinner together. Crossing the vast plains of central Queensland, interspersed with eucalypt-lined creeks, we hope to come across Budgerigar, Australian Bustard, Singing Bushlark, Brolga, Australian Pratincole, Spotted Harrier and more. Overnight: Cunnamulla (en-suite rooms). Dinner included.

Full day at Bowra Station. This beautiful property consists of a patchwork of woodlands, shrublands, grasslands and riparian vegetation, providing both breeding habitat and drought refuge for an impressive diversity of semi-arid wildlife, with a particularly rich community of birds. For years it was run as a conservation-minded sheep station and is now owned by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. As evening sets in, meet your AWC host for "Bird call"; a chance to share your bird count with other travellers. This data will be collected and used for research. Overnight: Cunnamulla (en-suite rooms). Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner included.

Another full day to explore Bowra Station, looking for species such as Black-breasted Buzzard, Little Woodswallow, Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush, Hall’s Babbler, Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush, Bourke’s Parrot, Plum-headed Finch, Red-browed Pardalote and who knows, maybe even the enigmatic Grey Falcon! Overnight: Cunnamulla (en-suite rooms). Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner included.

After a final morning birding walk chasing any local specialties, we pack up our gear and depart Cunnamulla for Tiboorburra, a 500 km drive on outback roads. We’ll make many birding stops en-route hopefully picking up any birds we’re still missing from the previous days, options are many but include Flock Bronzewing, Australian Pratincole, chats, Inland Dotterel, Budgerigar, Cockatiel and uncommon raptors such as Black-breasted Buzzard and Black Falcon. Overnight Tibooburra (en-suite rooms). Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner included.

All day around Tibooburra. Sturt National Park protects a large swathe of NSW’s outback habitats and birds we may come across here include Cinnamon Quail-thrush, Gibberbird, Orange and Crimson Chat and Flock Bronzewing. At the end of the day we have chances of Bourke’s Parrots coming in to drink at a waterhole. Tonight we will be staying at the remote Packsaddle Roadhouse, a typical outback pub with loads of character. Overnight Packsaddle (en-suite rooms). Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner included.

After an early morning bird walk we pack our gear and head south along the Silver City Hwy and witness the landscape change from gibber plains to mulga scrub to mallee with it’s spinifex understorey. There’s a good chance of Pink Cockatoo and Bluebonnets during our morning drive before arriving at the convergence of the Darling and Murray Rivers at Wentworth. Plenty of waterbirds here as well as our first chance for the beautiful Regent Parrot. Overnight: Berri (en-suite rooms). Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner included.

The entire day is spent in the 1,000,000 ha block of mallee eucalypt scrub that contains a number of reserves including Birdlife Australia’s Gluepot Reserve. A sheep station until 1996, Gluepot was purchased by Birdlife Australia to protect the Black-eared Miner and five other nationally threatened species and has become one of Australia’s conservation success stories. Shy Heathwren, Southern Scrub-robin, Crested Bellbird, Jacky Winter, Hooded Robin and Black-eared Miner are some of the species we’ll be targeting today. Overnight: Berri (en-suite rooms). Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner included.

An early start will see us at another seemingly endless stretch of mallee where we’ll be searching for species that eluded us at Gluepot yesterday which could include Mallee Emu-wren, Striated Grasswren and Red-lored Whistler. After lunch at a secluded picnic location we will drive the 3 hours towards Adelaide, stopping briefly a number of times along the way for chances to pick up any remaining species. Your guide will be able to drop you at the airport or your Adelaide hotel late this afternoon, please do not book any outgoing flights that depart before 19:00. END OF TOUR. Breakfast & Lunch included.