Australian Ornithological Services Pty Ltd

Australian Ornithological Services will return to Peninsula Malaysia and Singapore. See the Panti Reserve trip report and other Asian trip reports at http://www.philipmaher.com/main.htm
Australian Ornithological Services P/L (formerly Inland Bird Tours) started in Deniliquin in the southern Riverina area of N.S.W. 15 years ago. The main focus of those tours was the Plains-wanderer. While the Plains-wanderer is still our flagship species we have increased our repertoire to include all States of Australia and New Zealand, specialising in difficult skulkers and nocturnal birds. In 1998 we toured New Guinea including Manus and New Britain Islands, and Sulawesi (Indonesia) in 2000.

Patricia Maher Australian Ornithological Services P/L
P.O. Box 385
South Yarra, Victoria 3141
phone/fax: +61 3 98204223
mobile 0417310200
Email: enquiries@philipmaher.com
http://www.philipmaher.com/

Sicklebill Safaris

Sicklebill Safaris was set up in 1997, specialising in tours to Australasia in general and New Guinea in particular, where, having run over 35 tours to that destination alone, we are the most experienced operator for that region with expert guides and unrivalled local contacts. We have a policy of supporting minimum impact, sustainable tourism ventures where possible, which helps to preserve and maintain these unique sites by providing the local people with a regular income from the intact forest. We have now expanded and offer destinations throughout the Pacific Region. We can provide a variety of tours ranging from those for the hard core birder to the most general of naturalists and have taken all-comers ranging from families with children through the super-fit to the less mobile elderly (though not all at once!) We prefer small size groups to maximise the quality of the experience in what can be challenging bird environments.

With over 400 species of endemic New Guinea is a must for any serious birder. On a 3 week mainland trip to Papua New Guinea you may see over 20 species of Bird of Paradise from the diminutive King to the world's largest birds of paradise, the Brown and Black Sicklebills. Particular favourites are the amazing Ribbon-tailed Astrapia, the truly bizarre King of Saxony and the rare and spectacular Blue Bird of Paradise. Other spectacular groups such as kingfishers, pigeons and parrots are also a well represented feature of the trips, with five species of paradise-kingfisher and all the tiger-parrots being seen on some tours, as well as one of the world's largest pigeons, the Southern Crowned. Other great birds can include Salvadori's Teal, the huge New Guinea Harpy-Eagle, Pheasant Pigeon, jewel-babblers and pitohuis, the rare and almost unknown Archbold's and Fire-maned Bowerbirds, the mysterious and almost unknown Greater Melampitta, Lesser Melampitta and Crested Berrypecker.

Still in the New Guinea region we also offer trips to the New Guinea Islands of the Louisiade and Bismarck Archipelagos, Buka, Bougainville and Manus which can add some of the most spectacular and rarely seen species of the region, with such delights as Goldie's Bird of Paradise, Nicobar Pigeon, Woodfords Rail, Sanfords Sea-Eagle, the huge and extremely rare Superb Pitta, Duchess Lorikeet, Song Parrot, plus Manus, New Ireland, New Britain and Solomons Boobooks to name but a few. The Indonesian province of West Papua is also one of our destinations and there we visit the Arfak mountains, the Raja Empat Islands and Sorong, the islands of Geelvink Ba, the Baliem valley and the area around Jayapura. See our web site for details.

The islands of the Pacific offer a huge avifauna with many islands having their own endemics. A new addition is our tours to the Solomon Islands where we again have a lot of local contacts (and the most experienced guide for the region in Guy Dutson) also Vanuatu, Fiji, New Caledonia, the islands of Polynesia, Micronesia, Taiwan and Japan.
 

We also offer superb Australian destinations, with great tours to the Northern Territory, Cape York and the entire eastern seaboard, the outback regions of southern Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania.

We offer a wide variety of services including scheduled tours which you are welcome to join if space allows, we will help you set up your own self guided tours and are happy to customise itineraries and set up private tours with or without our guides, for groups and individuals.

Why not take a look at our web-site www.sicklebillsafaris.com, where you can browse through our catalogue or look up a selection of trip reports and trip lists which are available there. For further information contact us:

Phil and Sue Gregory,
Cassowary House,
PO Box 387
Kuranda, Queensland 4881

Phone (International): 61 7 4093 7318
Within Australia: 07 4093 7318

Fax Intl: 61 7 4093 9855
Within Australia: 07 4093 9855
Eddress: info@sicklebillsafaris.com

Kirrama Wildlife Tours

Papua New Guinea Bird Tour (14 days) + 4 day extension to New Britain Island

Port Moresby - Kiunga - Tabubil (Ok Tedi Valley) - Mt Hagen (Kumul Lodge) - Tari (Ambua Lodge) - Port Moresby
(fly & drive)
6 birdwatchers minimum / 12 birdwatchers maximum

This itinerary is prepared by Brian Coates, author and photographer of birds of New Guinea, who is the guide in addition to Klaus on this tour.
Our tour will begin in Port Moresby where we will stay for two nights. We will visit hill forest habitat in Varirata National Park to look for Raggiana Bird of Paradise and Hooded Pitohui, plus other birds. We will also visit eucalypt savannah to look for various species including Fawn-breasted Bowerbird and Grey-headed Mannikin.

From Port Moresby we will fly to Kiunga, a port town located on the upper Fly River not far from the Irian Jaya border and surrounded by a vast expanse of lowland rainforest and swamp forest. We will stay for four nights in the Kiunga area, including a trip by boat up the Elevala River, where we will look for birds in the surrounding forests. Southern Crowned Pigeon, Palm Cockatoo, Pesquet's (Vulturine) Parrot, Little Paradise-kingfisher, White-bellied Pitohui, Flame Bowerbird, and Twelve-wired, King and Greater Birds of Paradise are just some of the many splendid species resident in this wonderful area.

From Kiunga we will travel by road to Tabubil in the Ok Tedi Valley where we will stay for two nights. Here we will explore the hill and lower montane forests for a range of species including Striated Lorikeet, Blue-collared Parrot, Black-bellied Cuckoo-shrike, White-rumped Robin, Obscure Berrypecker, Carola's Parotia, and Magnificent and Greater Birds of Paradise.

We fly from Tabubil to Mount Hagen where we transfer to Kumul Lodge. The Lodge is located in upper montane forest. Most of the birds found here are not present in the lower elevations visited so far. As a further attraction, some of the birds around the Lodge are very confiding.

Next we will fly to Tari where we will transfer to the world famous Ambua Lodge, situated at the edge of cool montane forest at an altitude of 2130 m (7000 ft). Here we will stay for four nights while we look for birds in the surrounding forest, ranging up to Tari Gap, and also in the Tari Valley. The many special birds present in this splendid area include New Guinea Eagle, Papuan Lorikeet, Whiskered Lorikeet, Brehm's Tiger-parrot, Blue-capped Ifrita, Spotted Jewel-babbler, Regent Whistler, Wattled Ploughbill, Belford's Honeyeater, Red-collared Myzomela, Crested Berrypecker, Archbold's Bowerbird, Macgregor's Bowerbird, Loria's Bird of Paradise, Crested Bird of Paradise, Short-tailed Paradigalla, Ribbon-tailed Astrapia, Stephanie's Astrapia, Brown Sicklebill, Lawes' Parotia, King of Saxony Bird of Paradise, Superb Bird of Paradise, Brown Sicklebill and Blue Bird of Paradise.

Following our stay at Ambua Lodge we will reluctantly transfer to Tari and then return to Port Moresby for our afternoon flight to Australia or to fly to New Britain Island for the optional extension.

Walindi Plantation Resort is located on New Britain, the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago. Here are found a number species that are endemic: (i) to the islands of Northern Melanesia, (ii) to the Bismarck Archipelago, and (iii) to New Britain.

At Walindi we will look for birds in nearby forested and marine areas. Species to be found here include Melanesian Scrubfowl, New Britain Buzzard, Red-knobbed Fruit-dove, Red-knobbed Imperial-pigeon, Blue-eyed Cockatoo, Eastern Black-capped Lory, Violaceous Coucal, Pied Coucal, Black-headed Paradise-kingfisher, White-mantled Kingfisher, Bismarck Pied Monarch, Ashy Honeyeater, Bismarck Flowerpecker, Buff-bellied Mannikin and White-backed Wood-swallow. We will also visit two or three small islands in Kimbe Bay to look for small-island specialists, including Nicobar Pigeon, Beach Kingfisher and Island Monarch.

Please take a look at the itinerary of this great Papua New Guinea Tour.

THE ISLANDS OF THE BISMARCK ARCHIPELAGO & NEW GUINEA'S HUON PENINSULA

In addition to our usual PNG Bird Tour, Kirrama Wildlife Tours is offering a boat tour that will visit key islands of the Bismarck Archipelago and the mountains of New Guinea's Huon Peninsula. This tour is designed to observe birds that are endemic to those remote locations.

Our accommodation for this tour will be on the comfortable, air-conditioned MV FeBrina, except for two nights at Walindi Plantation Resort on New Britain and one night in a village guest-house on New Ireland. During the tour we expect to list more than 200 bird species.

The Bismarck Archipelago is a semi-circular chain of islands lying northeast of New Guinea, some large, others tiny. These islands are of volcanic and oceanic crust origin and have never been connected to the New Guinea mainland. The birds that have colonized these islands are typically strong-flying species, mainly of Australo-Papuan ancestry although some are of Oriental origin. Using the islands as stepping-stones, they arrived directly from New Guinea and indirectly via the Solomon Islands, and also directly and indirectly from Asia. Due to their long isolation many of these birds are now well differentiated from their parent stock and many have completed speciation. These include several raptor species, various pigeons and parrots, a cockatoo, two coucals, three boobooks, several kingfishers, Superb Pitta, Mussau Triller, various fantails and monarch flycatchers, New Ireland Drongo, three friarbirds, five Myzomela honeyeaters, a flowerpecker, a white-eye, three mannikins, Atoll Starling and a wood-swallow. While at sea we will be looking out for Heinroth's Shearwater and Beck's Petrel - two rare and little-known seabirds that are endemic to Northern Melanesia.

Set amid pristine tropical waters, the Bismarck islands are fascinating and delightful places to visit. They enjoy a warm and pleasant climate, have prolific and luxuriant vegetation, and are inhabited by friendly people.

The magnificent mountains of the Huon Peninsula are also an island - an ecological island - where certain upland species have evolved in isolation from their nearest relatives on New Guinea's central ranges. These mountains are off the beaten track and are seldom visited by birders. The avifauna here includes three splendid endemic species of birds of paradise, one endemic bowerbird and two endemic montane honeyeaters, plus numerous special New Guinea birds, some of which (e.g. Spotted Berrypecker) are difficult to find elsewhere.

Please take a look at the itinerary of this wonderful Papua New Guinea Island Boat Tour.

Klaus & Brenda Uhlenhut,
Phone Intl: 61 7 4065 5181 Within Australia: 07 4065 5181

Email: info@kirrama.com.au