Tony Whitehead's family holiday trip report:

Bookings can be made online via their website.  A bonus of the trip was the onboard photographer who took pictures on the way out, on the beach and
underwater which allowed us to get some nice family shots instead of just birds!  Bookings can be made via their website www.passions.com.au A trip out to Green Island with Great Adventures gave us another opportunity to snorkel and a different group of birds.  An Osprey nesting on a channel marker was our introduction to the island.  Buff-banded Rails are everywhere and quite accustomed to people.  Numerous reef herons (grey and white) unfortunately weren't accessible for good pictures due to the tide.  A Pheasant Coucal, which was present when we arrived soon disappeared as the day visitors appeared.  A good trip--only 45 minutes from Cairns and the fresh water pool after a snorkel was a treat.

A new experience for us was crossing the Daintree River and driving up to Cape
Tribulation and we were lucky enough to encounter a Cassowary and young.  The
Daintree Discovery Centre www.daintree-rec.com.au gives a great understanding of the rainforest habitat with boardwalks and tower up through the canopy.  Birds are often difficult to locate in the rainforest but we were lucky enough to see Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Wompoo fruitdove, Rainbow Bee-eater and Spectacled Monarch during a short visit.
An area we ran out of time to explore was the Yungaburra region.  Hastie's swamp and Bromfield crater wound like great venues, as do the lakes and rainforest in the area.  We spent a few days camping there in the early 90's and I look forward to returning explore it better.


All in all it was a fantastic trip enjoyed by the whole family despite only really scratching the surface of what is available.
Information and links as at July 2008
Test and images copyright Tony Whitehead 2008 www.wildlight.co.na

The real standout for me was Chris Dahlberg and his early morning Daintree river trip.  Frank had put me onto Chris and I ended up doing three trips with him.  His knowledge of the river, birds and calls was almost uncanny.  His boat control was brilliant and he repeatedly put us into great positions for photography.  Chris leaves from Daintree Village in the early morning so the river is still and there is no disturbance from other operators.  It is a 90 minute drive north from Cairns which meant an early start but well worth it.  The whole family enjoyed two of the trips but I made one on my own as 4:00am starts were a bit much even for my birding and photography mad teenage daughter.  Chris was very generous toward us and is just a genuine nice guy who has a great job and does it really well!  His website:
www.daintreerivertours.com.au gives a good idea of what he offers and the daily bird lists indicate the species present.
The next place not to miss is Mareeba Wetlands.  A much drier habitat with lovely freshwater lagoons and lily patches that brought an entirely new variety of birds.  The manager, "Chook" Crawford, is a real Aussie character and extremely friendly and helpful.  We did a trip on the lagoon in his quiet electric powered boat and saw lovely pygmy geese (Green and Cotton), Jacana as well as more common water species.  My daughter and I returned the next morning for a three hour birding session with Chook who put us onto over 50 species with some great photo opportunities on many of them.  Accommodation is available onsite, which would be good as the general hours are not terribly photography friendly.  The earlybird trip is well worth it as it gives early access as well as a knowledgeable guide and is very reasonably priced. Their website www.mareebawetlands.com gives a good idea of what they offer.
Our first reef trip was with Passions of Paradise to Michaelmas Cay, which provided some great photo opportunities on birds as well as great beach based snorkeling.  We then moved off for a dive over another reef that was stunning.  Close up views of breaching humpback whales was a bonus.  A great day with a very friendly

In July 2008 we made a trip to the Cairns region in Queensland.  I first visited this area in the early 90's for the purpose of scuba-diving on the Great Barrier Reef and remember being more impressed by the rainforest and birds than the reef (this takes nothing from the reef which is stunning but I had been expecting that--the rainforest was a revelation).  The main purpose this trip was a family holiday centred around the Great Barrier Reef and the Daintree Rainforest.  This combined with birdwatching and bird photography well as it is a fantastic area for birds with a variety of diverse habitats from coral cays, to rainforest to relative dry inland habitats.  Before I left I did some
research and requested advice from contributors to http://www.birdphotographers.net forum who were very helpful and generous.  As the trip was primarily a family holiday I was not able to follow up on all the suggestions for good sites.  We were based at Cairns Beach Resort a short drive north of Cairns at Holloways Beach and used a hire car for day trips from there.
The Esplanade at Cairns is easily accessible and a good site with the opportunity for some decent shots despite being quite busy with walkers and runners.  Coinciding a high tide with late afternoon light works best.  I was pleased to bump into Frank Harrison who had offered some great advice on the forum and was very generous with a list of spots worth visiting.  I would love a month just to follow-up on all the places he suggested.
Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge in Julatten was another place recommended to me by forum member, Dean Ingwerson.  We managed only a brief stop for a picnic lunch and were allowed access to all the facilities for a nominal charge.  The birds are lovely and even though only there for two hours in the middle of the day I managed one of my favourite shots of the entire trip (McLeay's Honeyeater).  It would be a fantastic venue to spend a few days or more.
Their website www.birdwatchers.com.au indicates what is available.