Our Services

Our guides can pick you up from the nearest railway station (this being Sutherland – a station on the Illawarra Line) or, if you’re coming by private vehicle, meet you at a pre-arrange location. Pick-ups from the Bundeena ferry terminal are also available.

The Royal supports a variety of habitat types that includes rainforests, heathlands, sandstone escarpments and wetlands, our tours visiting a number of these. Within the Royal is the only endemic bird to NSW, the Rock Warbler (Origma solitaria). Whilst no guarantees are given, this would be a bird we’d target during our tour.

The Royal has a large number of resident birds all year round so tours at any time of the year will give good results. That said, Spring and Summer are definitely the better months with a lot of migrants having returned from the northern hemisphere. During the Spring and Summer months we do get migratory species such as the Sacred Kingfisher (Todiramphus sanctus), Oriental Dollarbird (Eurystomus orientalis) and Rufous Fantail (Rhipidura rufifrons). When the winter eucalypts are flowering, there is a chance to get the endangered Swift Parrot (Lathamus discolor), a bird that over-winters from Tasmania.

Our tour rate is AUD$300 per person for a full day (minimum 8 hours) (children under 10 free). During our tour we will visit a number of habitat types. Within each habitat, we will spend at least an hour, walking and spotting birds. We will not be doing long walks, but will be traversing natural environments that will mean stepping over logs, dodging shrubs and avoiding mud.

What To Bring

Sturdy shoes, long pants and a hat are highly recommended. During the winter months, a jumper and carrying a raincoat in a backpack should also be considered.

Upon request, I can provide binoculars if needed, but I note that they wont be the top of the range items.

We are happy to start your tour whatever times suits you.

We will provide a vehicle that can accommodate up to 5 birders, a scope, tea, coffee, soft drinks, drinking water, snacks, insect repellent and sun block. We will break for lunch at a local cafe (cost to be covered by guests).

If you have a bigger group size, and your own vehicle, use of that is an option (i.e. travel convoy style) or, with a bit of notice, we can accommodate this by using another of our cars and providing a driver (additional cost of AUD$150 incurred to cover the provision of the second driver for the day).

Spotlighting tours to target those nocturnal raptors present in the Royal available upon request (at a fee of an additional AUD$100 per person).

Payment via direct deposit is requested. Once all is confirmed, we’ll email you our bank details. We will ask you to deposit 50% of the cost when booking your tour and any additional requirements. If you cancel up to 3 weeks before your tour, we will refund 75% of your deposit. Two weeks to one week before we will refund 50%. No refunds are available if you cancel within a week of your tour.