During this six day program you will learn about the Top End’s unique flora and fauna from a researcher who has studied them for over twenty years. Ornithologist and leader of the program, Dr Richard Noske, Senior Lecturer-Biology at CDU, will be your guide to some of the Territory’s most famous locations. Groups are kept small, so you get a quality, valued experience.

• Days 1 and 2
  On the first two days of the program, you will attend illustrated lectures at CDU’s Casuarina Campus, to provide you with essential background information to enhance your bird watching experiences throughout the course. You will also visit the local mangroves in Darwin to get up close to some of its birds as they are banded for ecological studies.

The next four days will be spent on a field trip from Darwin to Kakadu and the Katherine-Timber Creek Region:

• Day 3
  On the third day you will start with bird watching at Fogg Dam and Beatrice Lagoon and learn about the seasonal floodplains at Windows on the Wetlands visitor centre near the Adelaide River. You will then travel to Mary River for a boat cruise to see riverine birds and freshwater crocodiles, before heading to Kakadu National Park, a World Heritage site. Here you will experience waterbirds en masse at Mamukala, before arriving in Jabiru for the evening.
• Day 4
  Day four will see you admiring some of Kakadu’s most prominent natural attractions and traditional Aboriginal art, as you observe some of the region’s special birds, endemic to the sandstone escarpment. After the famous billabong cruise on Yellow Water, we will drive to Pine Creek to spot another NT-endemic, the Hooded Parrot.
• Day 5
  On Day five the scenery changes dramatically as we approach the vast mesa-studded grasslands surrounding Victoria River, stopping at several sites to search for finches before arriving in Timber Creek for the evening.
• Day 6
  The final morning of the tour will be spent birding around Timber Creek, observing many species typical of this semi-arid region. Then it’s back to Katherine, with options for either a boat cruise up the spectacular Nitmiluk (Katherine) Gorge or a swim at Edith Falls in Nitmiluk National Park, before your transfer back to Darwin.

Each night on the field trip you will be allocated comfortable accommodation. In Jabiru we will stay at Lakeview Park, in Katherina, at Knott’s Crossing Resort, and in Timber Creek, at Gunamu Tourist Park. Dining out each evening at local restaurants is also part of the adventure.

Please contact us for more details on accommodation and sleeping options.