Join us for one of our Cape York Fly In/Fly Out tours! During the  “Wet Season” when there is a chance that the main roads up the Cape will be  closed it is the best way to visit Iron Range for the migratory New  Guinea birding specials such as Red-bellied Pitta, Buff-breasted  Paradise Kingfisher and Black-winged Monarch which migrate south at this  time of year and then return north when the rains stop. Endemics such as Northern Scrub-Robin, Frill-necked Monarch and White-streaked Honeyeater all to be expected.Other specialties which mostly cannot be seen anywhere else in Australia such as Eclectus Parrot, Red-cheeked Parrot, Palm Cockatoo, Chestnut-breasted Cuckoo, Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Fawn-breasted Bowerbird, Black-eared Catbird, Magnificent Riflebird, Trumpet Manucode, Tropical Scrubwren, Green-backed Honeyeater and Tawny-breasted Honeyeater are there as well.

Tour starts & finishes: Cairns, Qld. 

Scheduled departure and return dates:

Tour commences with your flight from Cairns to Lockhart River on 4-Jan-24. Please arrive in Cairns the day before. Tour finishes with a flight back to Cairns on 8-Jan-24. Please depart Cairns the following day.

Please note, the flights from Cairns to Lockhart River and return are not included in the tour price, but will cost approximately AU$660 each way. We will book these for you at group rates and add to your bill. 

See daily itinerary below for further details. 

Leader: Jun Matsui or Phil Gregory

Difficulty: Low/Medium/ level of fitness required. This tour is suitable for most people with just a reasonable standard of fitness. There is some driving on dirt roads but distances are not great and there are no long hikes. We hire a vehicle while there and they can vary from utes to landcruisers depending on what is available and the number of people on the tour. Days can be hot and humid but at night the accommodation is air conditioned. Rain is likely so it is a good idea to bring lightweight rain gear and covered shoes.

What to bring: Please travel light. Binoculars, camera, mobile phone, chargers, power converter if you’re an international guest, insect repellent, sunscreen, personal medications, sun hat, water bottle, hand sanitizer. Lightweight rain gear and camera protection. Sturdy, covered footwear recommended. Rubber boots are handy but not essential . Scopes, super-telephoto lenses with tripods, and heavy suitcases discouraged. 

Clothing: Lightweight long pants, t-shirt and long-sleeved shirt, over the top of which you can wear layers that can be taken off as necessary, including a jumper/sweater and a rain-proof jacket. Neat casual attire for dinners. 

Meet your guide at Cairns airport prior to taking the flight from Cairns to Lockhart River (this flight is not included in the tour price but we’ll book for you at group rates). The plane is usually a Dash 8 seating about 80 people and if the weather is good and you have a window seat you can stare down at the emptiness of the Cape York peninsula. After leaving the Wet Tropics around Cairns we fly over dry savanna. The direct flight takes about 1.5 hours. On arrival the guide will pick up the vehicle and after checking into your accommodation you can start the exploration of the Iron Range area. Often the first birds we see are Palm Cockatoos sitting on the telegraph poles along the road to Lockhart River. Accommodation: Iron Range Cabins, Lockhart River (air conditioned, en-suite cabins; meals: D).

We have an early start and will spend the day birding Iron Range National Park. We will be looking for the local endemics in particular, Northern Scrub-robin, White-streaked Honeyeater and Frill-necked Monarch as well as the special birds which Cape York shares with New Guinea including the Eclectus Parrot, Magnificent Riflebird, Yellow-billed Kingfisher, Buff-breasted Paradise Kingfisher (Wet season only), Black-eared Catbird, Trumpet Manucode, Palm Cockatoo, Tropical Scrubwren, Black-winged Monarch (wet season only),Yellow-legged Flycatcher, Fawn-breasted Bowerbird, Tawny-breasted Honeyeater, Green-backed Honeyeater, White-faced Robin and the specialty of this time of year, the Papuan (Red-bellied) Pitta. We have a good chance of all these birds during our stay here, but do not expect to get them all at once.  Accommodation: Iron Range Cabins, Lockhart River (air conditioned, en-suite cabins; meals: B, L, D).

We’ll further explore the Iron Range area visiting Portland Roads and Chilli Beach for shore and sea birds. In this area we have a good chance of Torresian Imperial Pigeon, Striated Heron, Little Egret and Eastern Reef Egrets, Pied Oystercatcher, Pacific Golden Plover, Mongolian Sand Plover and Greater Sand Plover, Eurasian Whimbrel, Common Sandpiper, Grey-tailed Tattler, Red-necked Stint, Ruddy Turnstone, Silver Gull, Greater Crested Tern, Lesser Crested Tern, Bridled Tern, Little Tern, Black-naped Tern and Brown (or Common) Noddy. In the evening flocks of Metallic  Starlings swirl along the beach like noisy clouds as they come in to roost for the night. Fawn-breasted Bowerbird is also amongst the birds we will look for today if we haven’t already seen it near the airport. There is a great fish restaurant at Portland Roads and we will hope to be able to eat there. For people on special diets, we can arrange a different menu in advance. Accommodation: Iron Range Cabins, Lockhart River (air conditioned, en-suite cabins; meals: B, L, D). 

 As well as the Iron Range specials there are a number of more widespread birds we can hope to see including the Australian Brush Turkey which here has a light purple collar instead of the yellow collar found on the birds further to the south. Other birds we may hope to see include Double-eyed Fig Parrot, Little Bronze Cuckoo, Oriental and Brush Cuckoos, Azure Kingfisher, Collared Kingfishers, Noisy Pitta, Spotted Catbird, Lovely Fairy-wren, Large-billed Gerygone, Fairy Gerygones, Yellow-spotted Honeyeater, Graceful Honeyeater, Varied Honeyeater, Brown-backed Honeyeater, Hornbill Friarbird, Cicadabird, Varied Triller, Grey Whistler, Little Shrike-thrush, Yellow Oriole, White-breasted Woodswallow, Black Butcherbird, Pied Currawong, Rufous Fantail, Shining Flycatcher, White-eared Monarch, Spectacled Monarch, Yellow-breasted Boatbill, White-browed Robin, Mangrove Robin, Silvereye, Mistletoebird, Red-browed Finch and whole lot more . 

Spotlighting at night we may be lucky enough to find Marbled Frogmouth, Large-tailed Nightjar, Masked Owl or Rufous Owl. We may also hope for Southern Spotted Cuscus and Agile Wallaby. Accommodation: Iron Range cabins (en-suite cabins; meals included: B, L, D.)

Today we will bird the local area in the early morning in search of some of the more difficult species that may have eluded us earlier or just to get better views or photographs of birds we have seen already, before returning to the airport after lunch for our flight back to Cairns. (accommodation – own arrangements; meals included: B, L.). End of tour.