A Grand Finale of Australia’s Avian Wonders

On our very last full day in Australia, we attempted to savor the sounds of the Rainbow Lorikeets flying overhead because we wanted to bottle up the sights and sounds that make Australia so unique. Roger had no idea that in just 48 hours he would no longer be able to point out brightly colored parrots flying overhead or smell the fragrant eucalyptus trees. We were heading home.

Our final few days in Australia were spent in Brisbane along the east coast, the very area that Ross once called home 15 years ago. We had saved this area for last knowing that we could target many birds here in the event we had missed them elsewhere. Ross had methodically planned out this trip and knew that if we had started in Brisbane, we would be overwhelmed with potential lifers. (Not for him, he lived there, but for me.)

Sometimes I think Ross could give a masterclass on how to most effectively travel the world to see birds. I’ll never be able to share the excel spreadsheets in any kind of exciting way but he has a whole science behind where to go and when. Just know that he meticulously compiles an Excel spreadsheet for every target bird, strategically determining the optimal locations in each country to encounter each species. It has become a comprehensive science at this point.

After a quick flight from Cairns, we landed in Brisbane. I will be honest, I’m glad my last domestic flight in Australia was over. And because I don’t want to whine or complain about mishaps related to inept staff or lack thereof, and stupid rules, all I’m going to say is the airline industry is definitely not what it once was and leave it at that.

We visited Rob Morris at his home in Brisbane and stayed the night. Ross met Rob, a skilled birder and guide, 15 years ago, probably when they were both out birding the same areas. He offered to join us in search of Powerful Owl, knowing I was missing pretty much all of the owls of Australia. Together we checked out the mix of subtropical rainforest and eucalypt woodlands known as Mount Coot-tha Forest at JC Slaughter Falls where Powerful Owls are known to nest and often conspicuously roost. Unfortunately we didn’t see any. It was still a nice morning hike.

But…I have a confession. We may not have seen Powerful Owl, but we saw plenty of other birds at Slaughter Falls but I didn’t even bother making an eBird checklist. Sometimes we just like to go birding without having to worry about looking down at a phone or interrupting natural experiences with digital ones. I know I’ve heard people joke “but if you didn’t document it, did it even happen?” Well, to that the answer is yes. It’s always yes. There’s more to birding than always compiling an eBird checklist. Ross says he got into birds for the birds not for the list of birds. (We all know he cares deeply about his life list, but the list is not the why.)

Lamington National Park, established in 1915, is one of the oldest national parks in Australia. It is renowned for its ecological significance, diverse landscapes, and rich biodiversity. The park is part of the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area, which includes several national parks and reserves that collectively showcase the evolutionary history of the Earth. Both Ross and I were very much looking forward to this portion of our trip. In many ways we felt we had saved the best for last.

There’s an establishment within the park, O’Reilly’s, that is almost as old as the park itself. The O’Reilly family, originally dairy farmers, started welcoming guests to their guesthouse, now known as O’Reilly’s Rainforest Retreat, in 1926. And now O’Reilly’s seems to have a monopoly in the area. In addition to cabins and a campground literally adjacent to the park’s boundary, they have a cafe, a restaurant, an entire suspended bridge route through the forest and a vineyard down the mountain. The only place to stay even remotely close to Lamington is at O’Reilly’s, otherwise you must spend the night down the mountain and drive up to enter, a 40 minute endeavor.

Lamington National Park. The final stop on our Australian journey. As we hiked up in elevation, on the most perfect trail and surrounded ourselves with Antarctic Beech trees, I couldn’t help but look out into the forest before me and feel anything less than gratitude. Truly the gigantic trees covered in mosses and lichens were a sight I wanted to savor forever. Thank goodness for photos to capture a moment in time.

We hiked 7 kilometers in along the most amazing trail to get into habitat good enough to see Rufous Scrub-bird. This elusive species was the main impetus for our trek. We encountered a relatively responsive individual at the Toolona Lookout but couldn’t get close. The call of this bird was similar to so many other birds and we were having trouble differentiating it. Eventually we concluded we had heard at least 3. We turned around after hiking 7 kilometers to start on the journey back to O’Reilly’s. The whole reason for this hike was the Scrub-bird and I was becoming increasingly frustrated that we hadn’t seen it. Seeing this bird is no easy task however, and seeing a skulky bird with an 11 month old is even harder. Eventually we heard the high pitched call of a Rufous Scrub-bird so we clambered up the hillside after it. Again no dice. We waited, it called again. We tracked it all around. Finally Ross got a glimpse but I hadn’t. This time he took Roger away so I could have a chance and our plan worked. It wasn’t easy but with enough effort we both had sightings of this very secretive species! The spot we ended up seeing it was only ~3 km from the start of the trail! We could have avoided so much hiking if we had just seen it on the hike in! But good thing we love hiking and I wouldn’t trade that time amongst the thick Antarctic Beech Trees for anything!

One of the craziest parts about staying at O’Reilly’s are the Crimson Rosellas and King Parrots that can be seen up close and personal. While the practice of feeding birds is generally discouraged or prohibited in many natural areas in Australia, O’Reilly’s is one exception where bird feeding is part of the experience. Probably because they’ve been doing it for decades, have some kind of influence on the legislation, and have been grandfathered in, tourists can pay a small fee to purchase appropriate food and have the parrots come sit on their arm, shoulder, or head and eat to their hearts content. While I think an argument could be made that this behavior absolutely alters the natural behavior and diet of the animals, I’m not complaining. I like seeing birds up close and so do many tourists, many of whom know little about birds. So in my unprofessional opinion, feed all the parrots you want! Who cares?!

While feeding the parrots was nice, it gets better. For those willing to wake up at the crack of dawn with a package of raisins (sultanas) or blueberries in their pocket, they can experience feeding the Regent Bowerbirds. I’m not sure many other experiences could top having an extremely rare bird come sit on your hand to grab a handout. This was a highlight of our time at O’Reilly’s for sure!

But Stanley, the resident Bush Thick-knee is another treat. He spent most of his days sitting, kneeling, or standing near our accommodation and we walked by him at least a dozen times a day. Stanley will tolerate pretty much anything and he even let us take a family selfie inside of his eyeball.

After leaving Lamington, we headed back into Brisbane. As I’ve alluded to before, and mentioned extensively in the past (here and here) Ross used to live in the Brisbane area. He attended Bond University for two semesters when he was 19 years old. He wanted to go to Bond for all four years of his collegiate degree but his parents, who were footing the bill, really did not want him on the other side of the world. So a compromise of one year at Bond and the rest at the University of Pittsburgh was made. (But Ross graduated college in just 3 years because of course he did.)

Bond University is located on the Gold Coast of Queensland, Australia. It is a small school but apparently has been Australia’s top university ‘for the educational experience’ for 17 consecutive years. Ross loved his time at Bond and as someone who had a fantastic educational experience at the University of Pittsburgh, I would get a little frustrated with him every time he talked about how much more he learned at Bond than at Pitt. Ross and I were friends when he moved to Australia and would still chat frequently from across the world, so I’ve always known about how much he loved his time at Bond. (We’ve known each other since we were 15 years old.) I was very excited to get to see such a big part of his life in person. So after Lamington we carved out some time to walk the university grounds. It was perfect timing to be in between semesters because we had the campus all to ourselves and didn’t have to worry about Roger getting in the way of any students rushing to class. Roger particularly enjoyed climbing up ‘The Thinking Steps,’ which were the bane of Ross’s existence as a student at Bond. These steps were designed to be one and a half paces long, intentionally slowing the pace of students and providing time for reflection, something that, if you know Ross, would definitely drive him crazy!

While we got to show Roger so many different birds and truly got to see him experience birdwatching, I will say that going owling with a small baby is not something we ever figured out. We tried staying out after dark on multiple occasions bur for whatever reason we always got unlucky with owls. More often than not, we put going out at night off because of Roger’s sleep needs. Even on our last full night of the trip I still needed to see Masked Owl, White-throated Nightjar, Powerful Owl and even Southern Boobook, a bird I’d probably heard at least two dozen times by now. Ross would often go out at night without me while I stayed behind with Roger. I may have missed a lot of owls, but I got to see so much else!

We accomplished so much in such a short amount of time and as we reflected back on that, we smiled. One could spend a lifetime in Oz and still have more to see and do and we were proud of the ~580 species (Ross) and 510 species (Melissa) that we did see. Ross is now only missing 3 species of endemic birds for all of Australia (Princess, Orange-bellied, and Night Parrots). One could maybe argue 4 birds if you still consider Black-eared Miner to be gettable, but we don’t.

We visited every province and territory and I think we really got a chance to see the real Australia. But will I be back? Oh, yes. Most definitely. I’m already counting down to my next trip down under, even if it’s several years away and Ross does indeed plan to completely clean up someday! All of his remaining parrots are definitely gettable!

This birding took place September 1-2, 2023