Birding at the edge of the outback

Located due west of Rockhampton and roughly the same distance as Brisbane, Longreach was for a long time marketed as “the edge of the outback”.  AI now insists that Longreach is not at the edge, but “firmly in its heartland”.  No matter, I spent a year there in 1985, and ever since it’s had a place in my heart.

My recent visit was part of a mother’s day gift.  My wife has an interest in birds – small ones in particular – the ones that flitter and tweet and show incredible and unexpected flashes of colour as they move from grassland to shrub to tree, sometimes as flocks but often seemingly alone.  The juxtaposition of the harsh outback with the, assumed but perhaps misguided, frailty of these small creatures is, in itself, a reason to take a closer look.

And so it was that at 6:30 am we were picked up from our motel by Chris Symmons, a doctor by profession, but also an expert on birdlife and an agreeable soul to boot.

Out of town and across the Thompson River we turn onto a floodplain laced with waterholes.  Binoculars are a critical piece of kit and Chris has not skimped – warblers, whistlers, bee-eaters - my Nikon Monarchs are so clear I am wondering if what I am looking at is real!  It’s not only the clarity of view, Chris’ measured, easy delivery makes the activity accessible and enjoyable, even for those with a passing interest.  Just metres away, a bee-eater pair land on a branch.  They both have extended tail feathers, tendrils perhaps, but the males’ are longer.

Further up the road Chris has access to a property laced with dams, some of which don’t dry out.  Here, set against red dirt and hardy gidgee scrub, pelicans glide, shags flap a lot for not much result, and egrets wait patiently for their next meal.  A fellow client, eagle eyed, spots movement.  We’re all looking, and there on the opposite bank is a bower bird.  Wait, there’s two.  They’re making a bower – it is spring, after all.

Later, away from the road, we’re following small groups of birds given away only by their erratic chirping.  A wren appears, the blue of its features almost too bright to look at. At the other end of the biological family, emus rest from the now-warm sun, and on the way back into town we spot several chicks.

Longreach Birding Tours offers the sort of morning out that makes a holiday.  It’s personal, it’s interesting, and it’s in no way contrived.  Plenty to do in Longreach and surrounds, but definitely go birding with Chris.

Tours run several days a week and the longer tour is $200 per person.  David French paid his own way.