Gluepot Reserve & Bowra Sanctuary Birding Safari

Fly into Charleville airport where your guide meets you just after lunch before driving to Cunnamulla for the first dinner together. Crossing the vast plains of central Queensland, interspersed with eucalypt-lined creeks, keep an eye out for budgerigar, Australian bustard, singing bushlark, brolga, Australian pratincole, spotted harrier and more along the way. Overnight: Cunnamulla (meals: D)

Spend a full day exploring Bowra Station, a beautiful property of woodlands, shrublands, grasslands, and riparian vegetation providing both breeding habitat and drought refuge for an impressive diversity of semi-arid wildlife. For years it was run as a conservation-minded sheep station and is now owned by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy. As evening sets in, meet your AWC host for "Bird call" — a chance to share your bird count with other travellers, with data collected and used for research. Overnight: Cunnamulla (meals: B, L, D)

Another full day exploring Bowra Station, looking for black-breasted buzzard, little woodswallow, chestnut-breasted quail-thrush, Hall's babbler, Bourke's parrot, plum-headed finch, and red-browed pardalote. Keep eyes peeled for the enigmatic grey falcon — one of Australia's rarest raptors and a genuine outback prize for any birder. Overnight: Cunnamulla (meals: B, L, D)

After a final morning birding walk chasing any local specialties, we pack up our gear and depart Cunnamulla for Tiboorburra, a 500 km drive on outback roads. We’ll make many birding stops en-route hopefully picking up any birds we’re still missing from the previous days, options are many but include Flock Bronzewing, Australian Pratincole, chats, Inland Dotterel, Budgerigar, Cockatiel and uncommon raptors such as Black-breasted Buzzard and Black Falcon. Overnight Tibooburra (en-suite rooms). Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner included.

Spend the day exploring Sturt National Park, protecting a large swathe of NSW outback habitat. Target cinnamon quail-thrush, gibberbird, orange and crimson chat, and flock bronzewing. At the end of the day, watch for Bourke's parrots coming in to drink at a waterhole. Tonight's stay at the remote Packsaddle Roadhouse offers a typical outback pub experience with loads of character. Overnight: Packsaddle (meals: B, L, D)Spend the day exploring Sturt National Park, protecting a large swathe of NSW outback habitat. Target cinnamon quail-thrush, gibberbird, orange and crimson chat, and flock bronzewing. At the end of the day, watch for Bourke's parrots coming in to drink at a waterhole. Tonight's stay at the remote Packsaddle Roadhouse offers a typical outback pub experience with loads of character. Overnight: Packsaddle (meals: B, L, D)

After an early morning bird walk, head south along the Silver City Highway and witness the landscape shift from gibber plains to mulga scrub to mallee with spinifex understorey. Watch for pink cockatoo and bluebonnets during the morning drive before arriving at the convergence of the Darling and Murray Rivers at Wentworth, with waterbirds and the first chance for the beautiful regent parrot. Overnight: Berri (meals: B, L, D)

Spend the entire day in the 1,000,000 ha block of mallee eucalypt scrub containing BirdLife Australia's Gluepot Reserve. A sheep station until 1996, Gluepot was purchased by BirdLife Australia to protect the black-eared miner and five other nationally threatened species, becoming one of Australia's great conservation success stories. Target shy heathwren, southern scrub-robin, crested bellbird, jacky winter, hooded robin, and black-eared miner through ancient mallee. Overnight: Berri (meals: B, L, D)

An early start returns you to mallee country searching for species that eluded you at Gluepot — mallee emu-wren, striated grasswren, and red-lored whistler among the targets. After lunch at a secluded picnic location, the drive heads three hours towards Adelaide with stops for remaining species. Your guide will drop you at Adelaide airport or your hotel late afternoon. Please do not book outgoing flights departing before 19:00. Accommodation: Nil (meals: B, L)