Tasmanian Birding & Mammal
Tour
21 February to 27 February 2010
Fully
accommodated tour seeking all Tassie endemic birds and species that
are difficult to see on the mainland, such as pink robin, beautiful
firetail and southern emuwren.
Mammals could include Tasmanian devil, southern bettong, eastern quoll, eastern barred bandicoot and platypus.
A pelagic trip off Eaglehawk Neck should give us a swag of seabirds.
The flight to Melaleuca, in the south west, for orange-bellied parrot is spectacular. The tour starts and finishes in Hobart.
(Day
1) Hobart to Bruny Island
Sunday 21 February
Our first birding in the Hobart area will be in the temperate rainforests
on Mt Wellington where we will seek out scrub-tit, which is one
of the more difficult Tassie endemics. Also present here should be olive whistler and yellow-throated honeyeater. We will then
catch the car ferry across the Dentrecasteaux Channel to Bruny
Island for forty-spotted pardalote, and other delights. After
dinner we will visit a colony of little penguins and short-tailed
shearwaters. Red-necked wallaby, Tasmanian pademelon and common brushtail (in a variety of colour phases) are abundant
on Bruny Island. We have a chance for masked owl.
Overnight: Bruny Island
(Day 2) Bruny Island to Hamilton (Mt Field NP area)
Monday 22 February
This morning we will bird the eucalypt forests and farmland on Bruny;
here we should pick up beautiful firetail, yellow wattlebird and black-headed honeyeater. Tasmanian native hens are
always in good numbers here. Swift parrot and yellow-tailed
black cockatoo may also be about. Along the coast we could see pied and sooty oystercatchers and hooded plover. We
journey back to the Tasmanian mainland after lunch and head towards
Hamilton, west of Hobart. Spotlighting tonight could produce the delightful eastern quoll and eastern barred bandicoot and a chance
for the furtive Tasmanian devil and southern bettong.
Overnight: Hamilton
(Day 3) Hamilton to Derwent Bridge
Tuesday 23 February
In the early morning we have a chance for platypus. Travelling
on to Mt Field National Park, we look for pink robin in massive
swamp gums and we have more chances for scrub-tit. Also prominent
here is the sinister looking black currawong. Higher up on the
mountain we should view flame robin. After lunch we will travel
further west to the centre of the Tasmania to the small settlement of
Derwent Bridge, on the edge of Lake St Clair. Spotlighting tonight gives
us our best chance for Tasmanian devil, plus common wombat and tawny frogmouth and more chances for eastern quoll.
Overnight: Derwent Bridge
(Day 4) Derwent Bridge to (Hobart area)
Wednesday 24 February
Birding the swampy heath lands around Derwent Bridge, we have a chance
for such delights as southern emuwren, beautiful firetail and striated fieldwren. The adjacent dry eucalypt forest should
produce strong-billed honeyeater and yellow wattlebirds and with luck some swift parrots might be about. We travel back
to Hobart after lunch to check out swamps for assorted ducks along the
Derwent River. Australasian bittern can also occasionally be
seen in this area. Tonight we will spotlight for masked owl one
of our more difficult owls.
Overnight: Hobart
(Day 5) Melaleuca return
Thursday 25 February
We witness spectacular scenery on our morning charter flight down to
the wilderness area of south-west Tasmania. This is the breeding area
of the rare orange-bellied parrot and we should have a good chance
of seeing them, and we might be lucky enough to get ground parrot. Here
we could also see beautiful firetail, striated fieldwren and have another chance for southern emuwren. Return to Hobart
airport in the afternoon.
Overnight: Hobart
(Day 6) Hobart to Eaglehawk Neck
Friday 26 February
This morning we will check out the mudflats around Sorell for waders
such as eastern curlew, bar-tailed godwit and various
sandpipers and plovers. We'll visit a sandspit along the coast, east
of Hobart, where Pacific gull, fairy tern and hooded
plover are possible. We will then travel down the Tasman Peninsula
to Eaglehawk Neck. The wet forest around Eaglehawk Neck can be good
for brush bronzewing and flame robin. Eaglehawk Neck has
its share of geological attractions such as the Tasman Arch, Blowhole,
Devils Kitchen and Tessellated Pavement.
Overnight: Eaglehawk Neck
(Day 7) Pelagic trip off Eaglehawk Neck
Saturday 27 February
This morning we voyage out into the Tasman Sea, travelling past the
Hippolyte Rocks, to the edge of the continental shelf. A great variety
of seabirds is possible if the gods are willing. These could include
several albatrosses such as wandering, royal, Buller's, black-browed, shy, yellow-nosed and maybe even sooty. Petrels such as northern and southern giant, cape, white-chinned, great-winged and Gould's are possible. Short-tailed and fluttering shearwaters should be in abundance and we should get a couple of the storm-petrels,
such as Wilson's and grey-backed, as well as the unusual
common diving-petrel. Pelagic trips are rich with possibility. The Hippolyte
Rocks are good for Australian fur seal and we sometimes see common and bottle-nosed dolphins, and if we are very lucky killer whale.
On
our return from the pelagic trip, about 34 pm, we will travel
back to Hobart Airport (those staying on in Hobart can be dropped back
in the city).
Additional
Information
Cost
of seven-day tour: $3,420.00 AUD twin share (includes GST); price does
not include airfares other than the Melaleuca flight.
Single
supplement: $500.00 AUD
Includes:
accommodation for seven nights including the pre-tour evening (20 February)
but does not include 27 February 2010.
All
meals from breakfast on 21 February to lunch on 27 February 2010; transport,
guiding, park entrance fees.
Not
included: alcohol, laundry, phone calls, personal items
Starting
time 7.00 am in Hobart on Sunday 22 February 2010
Accommodation
comprises good to excellent quality motels, cabins and B&Bs
Luggage:
Restricted to 2 bags per person.
Transportation:
22 seater bus or 12 seater mini-bus depending on numbers
Limited
to: 10 participants
Tour
leaders: Philip Maher and Patricia Maher
Please
note that the Melaleuca flight and pelagic trip are subject to weather
conditions.
Participants
are advised not to book flights to the mainland that depart prior to
6.30 pm on 27 February.
possible bird and mammal list
checklist of species seen on the February 2009 trip
checklist of species seen on the February 2008 trip
checklist
of species seen on the February 2007 trip
checklist
of species seen on the February 2006 trip
checklist
of species seen on the March 2005 trip
trip
report Tasmanian birding and mammal tour March 2004
checklist of species seen on the Tasmanian
birding and mammal trip March 2004
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