Hey! There you are! I was starting to worry. Looking forward to more in-depth videos from India and those other places you announced at the end of this lovely video. If you have forgotten all about me, I'm the one that sent you insanely long comments on one of your earlier videos, maybe a year ago. Me and my partner will launch our Humdinger Aussie Trip at September 5 when we'll leave Sweden. Arrival to Darwin early afternoon Sep 6. We'll leave Australia from Sydney Nov 12, after dipping our toes in almost all states/territories, incl Bruny Island/Tasmania. Most of the time will be spent in Queensland and NT, which leaves a shrinking number of days for the remaining places. SA = only Gluepot. WA = just down to Stirling Range Retreat and back up with one night spent in Pingelly on the way down (trying to squeeze at least a few hours around Dryandra Woodland).
Great to hear from you! Thanks, it has been a while since the last video! I have been busy editing the main India documentary, I'm probably around half way through the rough edit at this point, there are several thousand video clips to edit, narration to write/record etc. so it has been a BIG job and will take a few months more to finalize.... Final video will run for one hour and cover the entire adventure. That project has consumed most of my editing time since I returned from India, but it was a fantastic trip and I'm looking forward to sharing it! There will be a second 'completely bird focused' video for India too. Wow that sounds like a fantastic trip, I'm sure you will thoroughly enjoy the birding in Australia! You're definitely planning to cover a significant portion of the country which is great and will give you the opportunity to see a lot of species. Are you hiring a car and driving through NT/Qld? How far up Cape York will you get, do you plan to visit Iron Range?
@@epicbirds2864 Rules for hiring car in Australia doesn't allow for crossing state lines I discovered at a very early planning stage 😞That forced us to do all state-hopping via domestic flights. It saves time, for sure, but the hassle of getting our cabin luggage down to approved weight is really a thing we'd preferred to not deal with. Camera equipment, laptop etc easily weighs more than those measly kilos allowed. And we have to do it 8 times... UGH. We'll fly up to Iron Range and stay at Portland House 4 nights, they'll fix the plane ticket and we'll hire their car while there. Since we don't have any guide anywhere, we're uncertain of how many bird species we'll see, really... Especially up there at Cape York. We hotly wish for Palm Cockatoo and Trumpet Manucode and Magnificent Riflebird and... and... and, yeah, you know?! In NT we'll make a 9 day loop, from Darwin to Timber Creek and back. We'll stay around Kakadu 2 nights/3 days. Queensland, incl Iron Range, is from Sept 16 to Oct 12. We'll be around Atherton Tablelands (Crater Lakes) 5 nights. I certainly hope we'll get the time to go out to Michaelmas Kay at least once, and maybe Green Island once, while we have our few days in Cairns. Last time in QL will be spent at O'Reilly's Oct 9-11, we'll take a flight to Brisbane for that. Then it's the flight to Adelaide, rental car to Morgan where we'll stay. Two days for visiting Gluepot if no hard rains before we arrive, making everything muddy... If so, we'll keep to birding around Morgan and what we can reach via blacktop roads. It's only Oct 13-16, time is always running out... Next stop is Perth, Oct 17-21, with the little loop south to Stirling Range I told you about earlier. Then onwards to Victoria/Melbourne Oct 22-28. We'll start with the drive north to Wangaratta, so we can check out Winton Wetlands and the Warby-Ovens NP area, maybe meet up with Duade Paton if he have time. He's a working man 🙂That's only 2 nights, not much time, then south-west to Werribee. We have planned a tour to WTP Oct 25 with Karen and Nimal (and their friend Tom). Maybe you've seen their channel Nature Photography Challenge here on YT. Dandenongs the next day, Phillip Island (hopefully with Penguins and Cape Barren Goose) the last whole day. Next day it's time to move to the airport. Flight to Hobart/Tasmania on Oct 29, drive directly to the ferry over to Bruny Island. We'll spend Oct 29 - Nov 3 there, two nights at INALA. That's the only guide we'll have on the whole trip, really, on Oct 31. That might help us to see most of the endemics, plus, we hope, Pink Robin. The last week we'll spend in NSW, flight from Hobart to Sydney on Nov 4. We'll spend two nights at Helensburgh, that give us one whole day at Royal NP to try to find Rockwarbler (and Pilotbird). Then it's up north, I have an old classmate that have emigrated there, lives close to Comara. We'll stay at Bellbrook for 3 nights before heading back in slow tempo. Flight home Nov 12. PHEW! It will probably be a tiresome trip in many ways, a lot of driving on the (for me) wrong side to get used to. The large cities will be worst, so it's good we start in Darwin... We're jokingly saying we'll probably see around 60-80 new species (the ones you can't miss plus some that's easy to get at O'Reilly's and at the two Crater Lake-lodges we'll stay at). Every bird over that will be a bonus! Set the bar low, to avoid getting frustrated and/or disappointed. 😏 Anyway, there I went again with the long comment... but, you asked, he he. The bird special from India is of great interest for me. I have a love/hate relationship with that country. Been there a few times. Our last time abroad before Covid lockdown was to NW India. Had some bad luck with weather in Nainital on Friday The Thirteenth...🙄 (I have a whole video series on my channel about that trip.)
@@Hummingbirder1 Sorry for the delay, it has been busy down here as it is university exam period (I am a lecturer/course coordinator).... That is very interesting, I have never heard of hire care companies restricting interstate travel in Australia - were you originally looking into hiring cars during covid when there were temporary restrictions/bans on most interstate travel? We had visitors from the UK here only a few weeks ago and they drove through SA, Victoria, NSW and Qld without issue in the same hire car. That being said, Australia is a massive country so driving the distances you are planning to traverse would be a big challenge and cost a lot in fuel, so your plan to fly sounds like a good compromise to me, allowing you to visit every corner of the country! Iron Range will be great, there are so many species there that you can't see anywhere else in Australia, I loved being in the rainforest watching Eclectus Parrots at their nest (I believe the nest tree was toppled by a cyclone since then) but watch out for the giant stinging trees if you walk in the forest. I managed to one lone Palm Cockatoo well and a few fly over, hopefully you'll get some good views too. The Magnificent Riflebird was a highlight, listen for their distinctive calls (it is the whistle you hear during the 'brand sequence' at the start of each of my videos), I was lucky to find a male which would return to the same perch early each morning to call. Trumpet Manucodes eluded me but I did hear them calling frequently, hopefully you will have better luck! It is a hard place to find the birds though as they are so often high in the canopy, but with some patience you can see some great species! Kakadu is huge for just three days, where do you want to visit/stay? Will you visit Pine Creek for the Hooded Parrots? The Qld section sounds great, you will love the Atherton Tablelands! Are you planning to camp at Gluepot while you are there or stay nearby? It is a lovely spot, it will be warm in October for sure, but the hides should provide a lot of activity particularly in the early morning/evening. There is usually a noticeboard where you pay your camping fee and it contains details about what species have been seen where/when - it is worth checking that out when you arrive as it will give you some good information about which hides are getting the most birds at the time you visit. you could also phone the ranger closer to when you arrive to learn more about the prevailing road conditions. You will see a lot of Australia which is fantastic and I'm certain you'll see way more than 70-80 species - I suspect you might see that many in a day in the Top End or north Qld.... Ah yes I remember seeing some of your videos about India, they were great! Hopefully the upcoming India special will bring back the good memories! I loved traveling in India and definitely plan to return in the future, I'd particularly like to see the far NE around Arunchal Pradesh and return to Sikkim. There's so much to see!
@@epicbirds2864 Hi again, and sorry for *my* delay! We were on vacation to the Swedish west coast, and I didn't bring my Aussie travel file 🙂 About the car hire conundrum... I don't know, I think the Covid restrictions were over when I planned the trip, but maybe not. But, as you say, domestic flights between the states is an OK compromise, but also a source for stress. You know, apart from getting the cabin bag within weight restrictions, there's always the risk the checked-in bags won't show up when and where they're supposed to. Such things do happen. There are two domestic flights that isn't direct. Darwin-Cairns which goes via Brisbane (only one direct flight, with totally wrong arrival time), and Adelaide-Perth, which goes via Sydney. Fingers crossed nothing goes wrong, bcs the itinerary doesn't give much room for waiting for astray check-in bags! About Kakadu: indeed, 3 nights isn't much! Only one whole day... We have to check eBird what places to focus on, maybe. Wish-list: Bardedjilidji, Ubirr, Nawurlandia, Nourlangie. We'll take the earliest Yellow Water cruise before check-out for continuing to Pine Creek. So, yes, Pine Creek is on the itinerary 🙂 We won't do any camping, not at Gluepot or anywhere else. So, we'll stay at Morgan Colonial Motel, and we have some time checking the Morgan area as well, which have its own eBird "hotspot".
@@Hummingbirder1 no worries, I am also on vacation, I’ve had my first two days in Borneo! I know exactly how you feel about the issue of luggage…. My checked baggage didn’t arrive in Borneo on Sunday and I only received it today so had to make do with my cabin bag which I had luckily packed so that I could survive the trip if my checked baggage went astray. I guess you just have to pack as well as you can and assume that it will all work out, if something goes missing you’ll just have to work around it, but I think it is very unlikely for domestic flights. Pinecreek will be great, I always remember seeing the hooded parrots years ago drinking the dew from the roof of water tanks there. Ok that makes sense, I guess you’ll have to make some early starts to get into Gluepot each morning, but it will be worth it to see the large flocks of mulga parrots, ring neck parrots and possibly regent parrots (among other birds) drinking at the hides. You will have a 4wd? Enjoy the rest of your vacation!
Well done finding them in Belair, they are a difficult bird to see! These birds were at Hallet Cove a few weeks ago, in the past I've looked for them in places like Monarto Woodlands but had previously only seen the platelets and not birds.
Lovely. Well produced.
Thank you! I’m working to improve the production quality on my videos, so I certainly appreciate your encouragement!
Hey! There you are! I was starting to worry. Looking forward to more in-depth videos from India and those other places you announced at the end of this lovely video.
If you have forgotten all about me, I'm the one that sent you insanely long comments on one of your earlier videos, maybe a year ago. Me and my partner will launch our Humdinger Aussie Trip at September 5 when we'll leave Sweden. Arrival to Darwin early afternoon Sep 6. We'll leave Australia from Sydney Nov 12, after dipping our toes in almost all states/territories, incl Bruny Island/Tasmania. Most of the time will be spent in Queensland and NT, which leaves a shrinking number of days for the remaining places. SA = only Gluepot. WA = just down to Stirling Range Retreat and back up with one night spent in Pingelly on the way down (trying to squeeze at least a few hours around Dryandra Woodland).
Great to hear from you! Thanks, it has been a while since the last video! I have been busy editing the main India documentary, I'm probably around half way through the rough edit at this point, there are several thousand video clips to edit, narration to write/record etc. so it has been a BIG job and will take a few months more to finalize.... Final video will run for one hour and cover the entire adventure. That project has consumed most of my editing time since I returned from India, but it was a fantastic trip and I'm looking forward to sharing it! There will be a second 'completely bird focused' video for India too.
Wow that sounds like a fantastic trip, I'm sure you will thoroughly enjoy the birding in Australia! You're definitely planning to cover a significant portion of the country which is great and will give you the opportunity to see a lot of species. Are you hiring a car and driving through NT/Qld? How far up Cape York will you get, do you plan to visit Iron Range?
@@epicbirds2864 Rules for hiring car in Australia doesn't allow for crossing state lines I discovered at a very early planning stage 😞That forced us to do all state-hopping via domestic flights. It saves time, for sure, but the hassle of getting our cabin luggage down to approved weight is really a thing we'd preferred to not deal with. Camera equipment, laptop etc easily weighs more than those measly kilos allowed. And we have to do it 8 times... UGH.
We'll fly up to Iron Range and stay at Portland House 4 nights, they'll fix the plane ticket and we'll hire their car while there. Since we don't have any guide anywhere, we're uncertain of how many bird species we'll see, really... Especially up there at Cape York. We hotly wish for Palm Cockatoo and Trumpet Manucode and Magnificent Riflebird and... and... and, yeah, you know?!
In NT we'll make a 9 day loop, from Darwin to Timber Creek and back. We'll stay around Kakadu 2 nights/3 days.
Queensland, incl Iron Range, is from Sept 16 to Oct 12. We'll be around Atherton Tablelands (Crater Lakes) 5 nights.
I certainly hope we'll get the time to go out to Michaelmas Kay at least once, and maybe Green Island once, while we have our few days in Cairns.
Last time in QL will be spent at O'Reilly's Oct 9-11, we'll take a flight to Brisbane for that.
Then it's the flight to Adelaide, rental car to Morgan where we'll stay. Two days for visiting Gluepot if no hard rains before we arrive, making everything muddy... If so, we'll keep to birding around Morgan and what we can reach via blacktop roads. It's only Oct 13-16, time is always running out...
Next stop is Perth, Oct 17-21, with the little loop south to Stirling Range I told you about earlier.
Then onwards to Victoria/Melbourne Oct 22-28. We'll start with the drive north to Wangaratta, so we can check out Winton Wetlands and the Warby-Ovens NP area, maybe meet up with Duade Paton if he have time. He's a working man 🙂That's only 2 nights, not much time, then south-west to Werribee. We have planned a tour to WTP Oct 25 with Karen and Nimal (and their friend Tom). Maybe you've seen their channel Nature Photography Challenge here on YT. Dandenongs the next day, Phillip Island (hopefully with Penguins and Cape Barren Goose) the last whole day. Next day it's time to move to the airport.
Flight to Hobart/Tasmania on Oct 29, drive directly to the ferry over to Bruny Island. We'll spend Oct 29 - Nov 3 there, two nights at INALA. That's the only guide we'll have on the whole trip, really, on Oct 31. That might help us to see most of the endemics, plus, we hope, Pink Robin.
The last week we'll spend in NSW, flight from Hobart to Sydney on Nov 4. We'll spend two nights at Helensburgh, that give us one whole day at Royal NP to try to find Rockwarbler (and Pilotbird). Then it's up north, I have an old classmate that have emigrated there, lives close to Comara. We'll stay at Bellbrook for 3 nights before heading back in slow tempo. Flight home Nov 12. PHEW! It will probably be a tiresome trip in many ways, a lot of driving on the (for me) wrong side to get used to. The large cities will be worst, so it's good we start in Darwin...
We're jokingly saying we'll probably see around 60-80 new species (the ones you can't miss plus some that's easy to get at O'Reilly's and at the two Crater Lake-lodges we'll stay at). Every bird over that will be a bonus! Set the bar low, to avoid getting frustrated and/or disappointed. 😏
Anyway, there I went again with the long comment... but, you asked, he he.
The bird special from India is of great interest for me. I have a love/hate relationship with that country. Been there a few times. Our last time abroad before Covid lockdown was to NW India. Had some bad luck with weather in Nainital on Friday The Thirteenth...🙄 (I have a whole video series on my channel about that trip.)
@@Hummingbirder1 Sorry for the delay, it has been busy down here as it is university exam period (I am a lecturer/course coordinator)....
That is very interesting, I have never heard of hire care companies restricting interstate travel in Australia - were you originally looking into hiring cars during covid when there were temporary restrictions/bans on most interstate travel? We had visitors from the UK here only a few weeks ago and they drove through SA, Victoria, NSW and Qld without issue in the same hire car. That being said, Australia is a massive country so driving the distances you are planning to traverse would be a big challenge and cost a lot in fuel, so your plan to fly sounds like a good compromise to me, allowing you to visit every corner of the country!
Iron Range will be great, there are so many species there that you can't see anywhere else in Australia, I loved being in the rainforest watching Eclectus Parrots at their nest (I believe the nest tree was toppled by a cyclone since then) but watch out for the giant stinging trees if you walk in the forest. I managed to one lone Palm Cockatoo well and a few fly over, hopefully you'll get some good views too. The Magnificent Riflebird was a highlight, listen for their distinctive calls (it is the whistle you hear during the 'brand sequence' at the start of each of my videos), I was lucky to find a male which would return to the same perch early each morning to call. Trumpet Manucodes eluded me but I did hear them calling frequently, hopefully you will have better luck! It is a hard place to find the birds though as they are so often high in the canopy, but with some patience you can see some great species!
Kakadu is huge for just three days, where do you want to visit/stay? Will you visit Pine Creek for the Hooded Parrots?
The Qld section sounds great, you will love the Atherton Tablelands!
Are you planning to camp at Gluepot while you are there or stay nearby? It is a lovely spot, it will be warm in October for sure, but the hides should provide a lot of activity particularly in the early morning/evening. There is usually a noticeboard where you pay your camping fee and it contains details about what species have been seen where/when - it is worth checking that out when you arrive as it will give you some good information about which hides are getting the most birds at the time you visit. you could also phone the ranger closer to when you arrive to learn more about the prevailing road conditions.
You will see a lot of Australia which is fantastic and I'm certain you'll see way more than 70-80 species - I suspect you might see that many in a day in the Top End or north Qld....
Ah yes I remember seeing some of your videos about India, they were great! Hopefully the upcoming India special will bring back the good memories! I loved traveling in India and definitely plan to return in the future, I'd particularly like to see the far NE around Arunchal Pradesh and return to Sikkim. There's so much to see!
@@epicbirds2864 Hi again, and sorry for *my* delay! We were on vacation to the Swedish west coast, and I didn't bring my Aussie travel file 🙂
About the car hire conundrum... I don't know, I think the Covid restrictions were over when I planned the trip, but maybe not. But, as you say, domestic flights between the states is an OK compromise, but also a source for stress. You know, apart from getting the cabin bag within weight restrictions, there's always the risk the checked-in bags won't show up when and where they're supposed to. Such things do happen. There are two domestic flights that isn't direct. Darwin-Cairns which goes via Brisbane (only one direct flight, with totally wrong arrival time), and Adelaide-Perth, which goes via Sydney. Fingers crossed nothing goes wrong, bcs the itinerary doesn't give much room for waiting for astray check-in bags!
About Kakadu: indeed, 3 nights isn't much! Only one whole day... We have to check eBird what places to focus on, maybe. Wish-list: Bardedjilidji, Ubirr, Nawurlandia, Nourlangie. We'll take the earliest Yellow Water cruise before check-out for continuing to Pine Creek. So, yes, Pine Creek is on the itinerary 🙂
We won't do any camping, not at Gluepot or anywhere else. So, we'll stay at Morgan Colonial Motel, and we have some time checking the Morgan area as well, which have its own eBird "hotspot".
@@Hummingbirder1 no worries, I am also on vacation, I’ve had my first two days in Borneo! I know exactly how you feel about the issue of luggage…. My checked baggage didn’t arrive in Borneo on Sunday and I only received it today so had to make do with my cabin bag which I had luckily packed so that I could survive the trip if my checked baggage went astray. I guess you just have to pack as well as you can and assume that it will all work out, if something goes missing you’ll just have to work around it, but I think it is very unlikely for domestic flights.
Pinecreek will be great, I always remember seeing the hooded parrots years ago drinking the dew from the roof of water tanks there.
Ok that makes sense, I guess you’ll have to make some early starts to get into Gluepot each morning, but it will be worth it to see the large flocks of mulga parrots, ring neck parrots and possibly regent parrots (among other birds) drinking at the hides. You will have a 4wd?
Enjoy the rest of your vacation!
I was lucky to catch a brief glimpse of one of these guys at Belair not that long ago. Where'd you see these?
Well done finding them in Belair, they are a difficult bird to see! These birds were at Hallet Cove a few weeks ago, in the past I've looked for them in places like Monarto Woodlands but had previously only seen the platelets and not birds.