Australia: Tasmania Trip Report (Nov 21 – 25, 2025)
After the Eastern Australia Tour crew was picked up from the airport, we met up with our last birding companion at the hotel and departed for our first birdwatching stop. The foothills of kunanyi / Mt Wellington offer good opportunities to encounter the first Tasmanian endemics. We drove up to the Springs, and as we stepped out of the vehicle, were immediately greeted by a calling Yellow-throated Honeyeater. Along our walk we spotted a couple more endemics, the Black Currawong and the Tasmanian Scrubwren. Afterwards we headed back down the mountain to the Hobart Rivulet, home of the world-famous urban platypuses and Australia’s Bird of the Year 2025, the Tawny Frogmouth.
Platypus © Sören Salvatore
Tawny Frogmouth © Sören Salvatore
Day 2 began with a drive to Mount Field National Park. Upon arrival, we enjoyed a picnic surrounded by Tasmanian Pademelons and a very curious male Pink Robin before setting out on our first walk. The park is a magical world of waterfalls and mossy rainforest, home to special birds such as Golden Whistler, Bassian Thrush, and Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo. Endemics including the Black Currawong, Green Rosella, Tasmanian Scrubwren, and perhaps the hardest to get good views of, the Scrubtit, rounded out a rewarding morning before lunch at the Waterfalls Café. Our lunch was interrupted by a strolling echidna, a sight we couldn’t miss. Little did we know that this would only be the first of many close encounters with echidnas on this tour.
Our group at Russell Falls
After lunch, we drove back towards Hobart to catch the Bruny Island ferry. On our way, we made a quick but very productive stop at Gould’s Lagoon. We were instantly greeted by a chorus of alarm calls and all sorts of birds chasing and swooping at a pair of White-bellied Sea Eagles flying low over our heads. The lagoon, a designated wildlife sanctuary, also provided excellent views of Freckled Duck, Grey and Chestnut Teal, and Australian Spotted Crake.
White-bellied Sea-Eagle © Sören Salvatore
Birding on Bruny Island began early the next morning with a tour of Inala Nature Reserve. Here, we enjoyed excellent views of the endangered endemic Forty-spotted Pardalote from Inala’s unique “Pardalote Platform” and learned about the conservation challenges and vital work being done to save one of Tasmania’s most iconic birds from extinction. None other than Dr. Tonia Cochrane, the founder of Inala herself, guided us through the conservation covenant and botanical garden.
Although we already had great views of a Grey Goshawk pair on our drive to Inala, we ended the tour with close-up views of this beautiful raptor.
Gray Goshawk (White morph) © Sören Salvatore
The afternoon at Adventure Bay began with a picnic surrounded by Swift Parrots, giving us extended views of the world’s fastest parrot feeding in eucalypt blossoms. Getting to see a critically endangered Swift Parrot is definitely worthy of a celebration, which we marked with a nice ice cream. We continued our day with sightings of a Hooded Plover, one of the island’s specialties. Bruny Island is a stronghold for this endangered species, which faces threats from disturbance and predation when they nest on exposed beaches. Before heading back to our accommodations, we stopped at a waterhole and saw our 12th and final endemic of the tour, the Strong-billed Honeyeater. Although another ice cream would have been very reasonable to celebrate this achievement, we saved it for another day.
Swift Parrot © Sören Salvatore
On our drive back to the hotel for a well-deserved dinner, we spotted yet another Bruny Island specialty, the Albino Bennett’s Wallaby. The island is home to around 200 white wallabies.
After dinner we drove to the Neck Rookery, home to around 10,000 breeding pairs of Short-tailed Shearwaters. Not long after sunset, they seemingly appear out of nowhere and start filling the sky above us before crash-landing onto the ground and running to their burrows.
Our last full day on Bruny Island started with a short walk around the Neck Campground in search of Satin Flycatchers. We spotted both males and females flying and calling in the dry eucalypt forests before exiting the trail onto the white-sand beach where we encountered Australasian Gannets and Great Crested Terns. Afterwards we headed to Adventure Bay to embark on our Bruny Island Cruise along the beautiful but rugged coastline of South Bruny. Although it was quite the rough ride, we were rewarded with views of Shy Albatross, Black-faced Cormorants and Australian Fur Seals. The icing on the cake was a huge Elephant Seal hiding among the rocks.
After a late lunch at the cruise terminal, we looped around the island and headed south again—this time on land—to do some birding around the South Bruny lighthouse.
Shy Albatross © Sören Salvatore
Elephant Seal © Sören Salvatore
Australia Fur Seal © Sören Salvatore
The next morning, it was time to end our stay on Bruny Island. On the way to the ferry, we stopped on North Bruny for some excellent Blue-winged Parrot sightings. While walking along the road, one of the guests spotted a struggling bird on the ground. After investigating further, we found a very cold and weakened Swift Parrot juvenile in the tall wet grass. Since we couldn’t find any evidence of an active nest nearby, we decided to capture the bird and bring it to the vet for inspection. Luckily the young Swifty was cleared by the vet without any injuries. After being nursed back to strength at the Bonorong Wildlife Sanctuary, the Swift Parrot was released again a couple of days after the tour ended.
Blue-winged Parrot © Sören Salvatore
Rescued Swift Parrot, juvenile © Keith Geller
Before ending the tour in Hobart, we made one final stop at Peter Murrell Reserve. We got great views of Striated Fieldwren, Shining Bronze-Cuckoo and a pair of Scarlet Robins. Although not quite a bird, but close enough, we also checked out some Flying Duck Orchids before ending the tour.
Flying Duck Orchid © Sören Salvatore
