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South West Western Australia birding and mammal tour
26 September to 5 October 2026
Pre tour night
26 September 2026
Perth Airport Hotel
Day 1
27 September 2026
Perth to Dryandra Forest.
We will start off our birding adventure at Victoria Dam on the western side of Perth where several endemic species occur. Species we could encounter include little wattlebird, western spinebill, red-capped parrot, Australian ringneck subspecies twenty-eight parrot, red-backed fairywren, spotted scrubwren and square-tailed kite.
After lunch we will head to Dryandra Forest.
Overnight: Narrogin.
Day 2
28 September 2026
Dryandra Forest.
We will spend the whole of day 2 and the morning of day 3 (if necessary) birding this wonderful remnant woodland. A whole array of iconic WA endemic birds and mammals occurs here. Species we could encounter include rufous treecreeper, varied sittella (western form), purple-crowned lorikeet, elegant parrot, western rosella, Gilbert’s honeyeater, western shrike-tit, scarlet robin (western race, which may be split at some stage; it looks quite different from the eastern one), western yellow robin, blue-breasted fairywren, western thornbill and regent parrot (another candidate to be split). As well as birds, we will seek out some marsupials that are now mainly confined to SW WA, i.e. numbat and woylie (brush-tailed bettong). We’ll spotlight to find the woylie as well as boobook owl and tawny frogmouth. A remnant population of bush stone-curlew also occurs in Dryandra and it is a great place to see echidna.
Overnight: Narrogin.
Day 3
29 September 2026
Narrogin to Stirling Ranges.
We will spend the morning birding about Narrogin or Dryandra Forest for any species we still need. Most of the afternoon will be spent driving to the Stirling Ranges with a few birding stops along the way.
Overnight: Stirling Range Retreat.
Day 4
30 September 2026
Stirling Ranges
One of our main targets here will be cryptic western whipbird, which has one of the most delightful calls of any bird in Australia. The taxonomists are having trouble deciding if this bird in the Stirling Range is a species in its own right. It has had several name changes over the last few decades. It does look quite different (much darker in the throat) from the one that occurs down at Cheynes Beach. Other species we will be looking for here include: Carnaby’s black cockatoo, western fieldwren, purple-gaped honeyeater and the western race of splendid fairywren. It is also a good backup spot for elegant and regent parrots, western shrike-tit and western yellow robin. The beautiful western brush wallaby also occurs here. Salt lakes in the area can have hooded plover and banded stilt on them at times. Banded lapwing also occurs in the area. Vegetation including stunning wildflowers are also a feature of the Stirling Ranges.
Overnight: Stirling Range Retreat.
Day 5
1 October 2026
Stirling Ranges to Cheynes Beach.
We will spend the morning birding in the Stirling Ranges for any species still missing, while not forgetting to stop and admire WA’s spectacular plant life. After lunch we will drive down to Cheynes Beach to begin our search for the highly frustrating noisy scrubbird and other species. The noisy scrubbird is one of the hardest birds to get your eyes on in Australia, so we will need a good deal of luck and perseverance to get satisfactory views of this species.
Overnight: Cheynes Beach Caravan Park.
Days 6 & 7.
2 & 3 October 2026
Cheynes Beach and environs
We have two full days to seek out the difficult three: noisy scrubbird, western whipbird (different race from the one in the Stirlings) and western bristlebird. Other species we will be on the lookout for here include red-eared firetail, brush bronzewing, white-breasted robin, southern emuwren, brown quail and the delightful honey possum. Spotted nightjar also occurs in the area. More opportunities here for the beautiful red-winged and splendid fairywrens. For those with an interest in herpetology, we will be on the lookout for tiger snakes (black form) and the western form of carpet python, as well as the king skink. Scanning the ocean, we have a good chance of southern right whale and maybe some shearwaters, Pacific gulls should also be about. The banksias are also a feature of this area as well as many other spectacular wildflowers.
Overnight: Cheynes Beach Caravan Park.
4 October 2026
Day 8
Cheynes Beach to Manjimup
Today we drive west towards Augusta on Cape Leeuwin, which is about as far southwest as it is possible to go in Western Australia. Our main target birds today will be the rare western corella in the Rocky Gully district and the difficult to identify Baudin’s black-cockatoo, which likes to feed on huge gumnuts in the bloodwoods.
Overnight: Manjimup
5 October 2026
Day 9
Augusta to Perth
We’ll visit Cape Leeuwin this morning if we still need rock parrot, which can be a tricky, plus any other species we need. The headland can also be good for seabirds and species we could encounter include yellow-nosed, black-browed and shy albatrosses. We head for Perth, checking out areas for regent parrot should we still require better views and maybe stopping at wetlands for terns or waders if there are any about. We’ll arrive back in Perth late afternoon.
Patricia & Philip fly back to Melbourne late 5 October 2026. We can book you Perth Airport accommodation if you wish to stay another night in Perth.
Cost: $9,345.00 AUD per person twin share
Single supplement: $980.00
Cost includes accommodation from 26 September to 4 October 2026, meals from dinner 26 September to dinner 5 October 2025, land transport while on tour and park entrance fees.
Number: three to six participants.
Guide: Philip Maher.
Logistics and most meals: Patricia Maher
