BellBird Tours Birding Blog
Australia’s Outback Birds: Boom and Bust
The Australian outback is characterized by its extreme and cyclical weather patterns, oscillating between severe droughts and intense floods. These fluctuations, driven by a combination of climatic phenomena, have profound effects on the landscape, flora, and fauna, shaping the unique ecosystem of this arid region.
Special Six Grasswren Tour – October 2020
Due to Covid-19 and state border restrictions we had to juggle the usual tour itinerary around quite a bit to accommodate participants from various states. We ended up foregoing the usual Strzelecki track itinerary, which traverses 4 states, instead birding the Birdsville track and splitting the group in two, with one group starting in Mount Isa, Qld and heading south to Adelaide, led by Peter Waanders, and the other group starting in Adelaide, SA and heading north, led by Michael Greenshields, meeting up with the first group on the Birdsville track in SA, and from there on we birded together on our way and eventually back to Adelaide. A total of 155 outback species were seen by Michael’s group including 5 Grasswren species, and 206 species were seen by Peter’s group including 7 Grasswren species.
The Scarlet-Chested Parrots of Gluepot
ON A COLD EARLY winter morning at Birdlife...
Exotic Ethiopia Tour – February 2020
Tour overview A birding paradise if there ever...
Magical Malaysia Bird Photography Tour – February 2020
Tour overview This small group photography tour...
Exploratory Birding and Wildlife Tour, organised by the Uganda Tourism Board
Tour overview Peter and Helga did an exploratory...
Great Southern Tour 2019
Tour dates: 9-21 November 2019 Leaders: Peter...
Six Grasswren Tour – October 2017
Tour overviewDaily account Day 1: Day 1 of the...
Great Southern Tour – November 2017
Tour overview This exciting 13 day tour...
Private Birding Tour of Southern Outback Australia – August-September 2019
Introduction This trip is a private birding tour...
Tantalizing Thailand Birding Tour – March 2019
Introduction Birding Thailand always conjures up...
Top End Birding Tour – Aug-Sept 2018
Introduction Darwin and the Top End have to be...
Inala and Bellbird’s Outback South Australia Tour – July 2018
ITINERARY OUTLINE: Day 1. Fri 20 July 2018....
Sabah-Borneo Birding Tour – June 2018
Tour overview This 10-day tour took us once...
Western Specialties and Splits Tour – May 2018
Tour overview As a result of the recent splits...
Far North Queensland Tour – May 2017
This was a tour with returning guests from South Africa birding the Iron Range region in Far North Queensland. The aim was to see as many of the endemic bird species in the Far North as well as visit the Atherton Tablelands. The 9 day tour took us down to Etty Bay, south of Cairns, up into the Tablelands and then north to Iron Range concluding at Weipa. It was just after the wet season so the grass was high and the rainforest and woodlands were pristine. Some of the migratory birds that should have normally headed further north were still around which was a bonus.
Great Southern tour 2016
The Great Southern Tour concentrates on the many specialties of the southern coastal region of Australia and the South Australian outback. Coastal birding north of Adelaide and along the Great Ocean Road; the outback deserts and dry watercourses, with the rugged escarpments of the Flinders Ranges; Birdlife Australia’s splendid Gluepot reserve, the Murray River, we wander the plains around Deliniquin and marvel at the masses of waterbirds in Werribee to finish in the tall, hill forests near Melbourne.
Six Grasswren tour report September 2016
The September 2016 Six Grasswren tour was already the 11th year that we have done these tours. The aim was to see Striated, Short-tailed, Western, Thick-billed, Eyrean and Grey Grasswren and other wonderful outback bird species. The 6.5 day tour took us along the Strzelecki track through the outback of South Australia. It had been a wet winter and spring which means that the conditions were great for birding – probably the best I’d seen it in 5 years. There were plenty of wildflowers and birds breeding wherever we went.
Highlights of South Australia tour September 2016
The Highlights of South Australia birding tour provides an insight into the range of habitats present in South Australia, which contain some unique bird species including a small number of endemics. From the lush and green Mt Lofty Ranges around Adelaide to the outback deserts with spectacular mountain ranges, the bird-rich wetlands along the Murray River, beautiful coastal scenery and vast expanses of the famous semi-arid mallee scrublands, tour has it all.
Red Centre tour report July 2016
The “Red Centre”, as Australia’s outback around Alice Springs is named, hosts a variety of exciting bird species. Using Alice Springs as a base, this 4-day tour took daily trips out to different areas targeting enigmatic birds such as Dusky Grasswren, Rufous-crowned Emu-wren, Spinifexbird, Grey Honeyeater, Western Bowerbird, Painted Finch and more. Guided by Mark Carter, the tour visited the Eastern and Western MacDonnell Ranges, the sewage works, the Old Telegraph Station, the Tanami Road, Kumoth Bore and the Deep Well Road.