Day 1: Arrivals into Darwin International Airport (DRW). 

Day 2: Today we will focus on the rare Chestnut Rail, a notorious mangrove skulker, plus the stunning Rainbow Pitta which inhabits nearby monsoon thickets. Our wanderings should also produce Red-collared Lorikeet, Torresian Kingfisher, Rufous-banded Honeyeater, Arafura Fantail, Mangrove Robin, and hopefully Rufous Owl on one of their well-known day roosts.

Day 3: Full morning around Darwin again for missing targets before heading to Kakadu National Park, inevitably seeing hundreds of Magpie Goose and other special wetland birds like Green Pygmy Goose, Pied Heron, Comb-crested Jacana, and Brolga along the way. Our afternoon a walk along the edge of the Arnhem Escarpment should produce the endemic Chestnut-quilled Rock Pigeon, while spotlighting near our accommodation is almost certain to turn up Barking Owl.

Day 4: Visiting Nourlangie Rock, we will target Banded Fruit Dove and White-lined Honeyeater, these being the other two gettable Arnhem endemics in Kakadu. Depending on where the fruiting and flowering trees are, this may require a bit of a hike. Once we're done, it will be time to head onwards towards Pine Creek where there are usually plenty of Hooded Parrot feeding on the grassy fields during the late afternoon.

NOTE: Red Goshawk is occasionally nesting in the region, and we will have time to detour for this very rare species today if any of the locations are active.

Day 5: At dawn we will stake out a well-known watering hole where Gouldian Finch come to drink, usually joined by Masked Finch and Long-tailed Finch. We will spend the remainder of the day searching for the tricky Northern Shriketit, at a site which usually also produces Varied Lorikeet, Black-tailed Treecreeper, Varied Sittella, and Rufous-throated Honeyeater. After dark we can stumble around for a few hours in search of Chestnut-backed Buttonquail, which is best found at night.

Day 6: Today we'll cross into Western Australia, making morning stops for the exquisite Purple-crowned Fairywren along with Australian Bustard, Banded Honeyeater, and Buff-sided Robin. We will have time this evening to look around town for Star Finch and Yellow-rumped Mannikin, two specialties of the area.

Day 7: Birding around Kunnanurra this morning for any missing species before starting the Gibb River Road, a long and bumpy 4WD track which will eventually take us to Drysdale River for overnight. 

Day 8-9: We'll head to Mitchell Plateau this morning, where we will camp for two nights (we can provide tents and sleeping mats if required). The sought-after Black Grasswren is not uncommon in the escarpment, while endemic White-quilled Rock Pigeon and Kimberley Honeyeater are sister species to their cousins that we saw earlier in Arnhem Land. Two good subspecies to get are "Yellow-faced" Partridge Pigeon, and "Sandstone" Purple-backed Fairywren which often hang around near our superb campsite at Mitchell Falls, one of the remotest places in Australia. More birds to see include Northern Rosella, Red-backed Fairywren, Bar-breasted Honeyeater, Silver-crowned Friarbird, White-gaped Honeyeater, Silver-backed Butcherbird, Great Bowerbird, and Sandstone Shrikethrush. One major advantage of camping here is that we can go out after dark in search of some excellent marsupials like Monjon, Golden Bandicoot, Scaly-tailed Possum, and Ghost Bat.

Day 10: After another full morning exploring the Mitchell Plateau (those sneaky Black Grasswren sometimes take a couple of days to see well), we'll drive back to Drysdale River for overnight. It's a really long drive tomorrow, so we'll turn in early!

Day 11: Leaving early, we'll get started on our way to Broome. There won't be much time for stopping, but we could come across Black-breasted Buzzard or something else of interest along the way. Overnight in Broome. 

Day 12: Where the red desert sand meets the turquoise blue ocean at Roebuck Bay, Broome is a haven for birds and other wildlife. The mangroves will be our main focus, holding some excellent species like White-breasted Whistler, Mangrove Fantail, and Dusky Gerygone, plus more widespread birds like Red-headed Honeyeater, Mangrove Golden Whistler, Broad-billed Flycatcher, and Yellow White-eye. We will also do our best to find Yellow Chat, a rare wetland-loving honeyeater which is usually staked out here. 

Day 13: Long drive to Newman, passing through some amazing and remote scenery. The lithology in this region is amongst the oldest in the world - some rocks on the surface here had already solidified into continental crust four billion years ago. 

Day 14-15: Birding in the heart of the Pilbara, our two major targets are Pilbara Grasswren and Western Quail-thrush, both quite common in the right places! There are plenty of other western arid zone specialties like Grey Honeyeater, Slaty-backed Thornbill, Western Bowerbird, Painted Firetail, and a distinctive endemic subspecies of Spinifex Pigeon. For those who wish, we can take some late-night drives in search of interesting mammals and reptiles. This is also an excellent way to find Little Buttonquail and Australian Owlet-nightjar. 

Day 16: Flights out from Newman Airport (ZNE), either back to Darwin or down to Perth.