Since 1998 Phil has led some 30 trips there, these have ranged from private clients with particular needs such as family groups, parrot enthusiasts and photographers, to hard core world listers. A truly impressive list of birds has been seen. These have included 26 species of bird of paradise including Brown, Black and Pale-billed Sicklebills, Ribbon-tailed Astrapia, Carola's and Lawes Parotia, Blue, King-of-Saxony, Greater, Lesser, Emperor, Crested and King Bird of Paradise. We have also seen such marvels as New Guinea Harpy Eagle, Victoria and Southern Crowned Pigeons, Flame Bowerbird, Long-billed Cuckoo, Shovel billed Kingfisher, Red-bellied and Hooded Pittas, 5 species of Paradise-Kingfisher and many more. Additional highlights included Fire-maned Bowerbird, New Britain Bronzewing, Nicobar Pigeon, Bismarck Boobook and an undescribed species of Microeca Flycatcher. We have unrivalled experience in the Bismarck (New Britain and New Ireland) and Admiralty Islands (Manus) where over 50 endemics can await the intrepid birder including Black, Finsch's, Grey and Red-knobbed Imperial-Pigeons, Violaceous and White-necked Coucals, Black-headed Paradise, White-mantled and Bismarck Kingfishers, Meek's Pygmy-Parrot, Superb Pitta, Bismarck, New Britian and Manus Boobook Owls, Bismarck and Admiralty Pied Monarchs, Rufous-faced Thicket-warbler and Manus Rufous Fantail. Phil has also now lead 3 trips to Bougainville seeing such things as Sanford's Sea-eagle, Woodford's Rail, Solomon's Boobook, Bougainville Monarch, Bougainville Crow, Ultramarine Kingfisher, Duchess Lorikeet, Pied Goshawk and Claret-breasted Fruit Dove.

Sicklebill has also runs tours to most parts of Australia:
· Darwin/Kakadu/Katherine area plus Alice Springs and Uluru (Ayer's Rock).
· The Eastern seaboard to the Cairns, Brisbane and Sydney areas. Pelagic trips can be included.
· Far North Queensland where we have recorded over 330 species within a 2 hour drive of Cassowary House, Kuranda.
· Southern and Western Australia
· Tasmania for the 12 endemic species
· Iron Range/Cape York Peninsula for Golden-shouldered Parrots, Palm Cockatoo, Red-cheeked Parrot, Magnificent Riflebird and the other New Guinea specials of the region.

And further afield: · West Papua with it's 42 endemic species including Wilson's and Red Birds of Paradise, Arfak Astrapia, Black-faced Bowerbird and Western Crowned Pigeon. · Sulawesi with 89 endemics including Maleo, Lilac-cheeked Kingfisher, Satanic Nightjar, 2 species of Racquet-tail, Malia and Sulawesi Thrush. · New Zealand with its unique avifauna including Brown and Little-spotted Kiwi, Blue Duck, Yellow-eyed Penguin, Wrybill, Black Stilt, Kokako, Kea, Kaka, and Rifleman. · Malaysia for the birds of Fraser's Hill, Taman Negara, Kinabalu and the wonderful Danum Valley. · New Caledonia home of the bizarre Kagu, Cloven -feathered Dove, Horned Parakeet and 15 other endemics. · The Solomon Islands, a classic island hopping trip for over 80 endemics. · Fiji, visit three beautiful islands to look for Golden Dove, Silktail, 2 shrikebills, Masked, Red and Maroon Shining Parrots and a wealth of honeyeaters and pigeons. · Japan for some of the most outstanding winter birding on earth. Steller's Sea-Eagle, Blakiston's Fish Owl, Japanese, Hooded and White-naped Cranes, Baikal Teal, Mandarin Duck, Black-faced Spoonbill, Saunder's Gull, Yellow-throated Bunting, Long-tailed Rosefinch and Asian Rosy Finch.

If you are interested in any of these destinations or others within the Australia/Pacific region please get in touch. Local guiding from Cassowary House, our small beautifully sited rainforest guest house in far north Queensland is also an option.

Phil lived in the remote Western Province of PNG for 7 years, and business partner Dr Ian Burrows was Professor of Biology at the University of PNG in Port Moresby for 8 years. Between us we have enormous experience and knowledge of New Guinea and the Australasian region, which we love to share with our clients.

We can arrange tours for individual clients or small groups as required.

Please contact us at:

Cassowary House, PO Box 387, Kuranda 4881, Queensland, Australia.
Phone ++61 (0)740 937318, fax ++61 (0)740 939855
e-mail: sicklebill@optusnet.com.au

Past Trips

2005

Japan Winter Stopover (for Field Guides Inc.) Jan 30th - Feb 8th
Dubai Hypocolius bash (private group tour) Feb 8th – Feb 12th
Hong Kong stopover (private group tour) March 23rd – March 26th
Taiwan (for Field Guides Inc.) March 26th – April 5th
Eastern Queensland and Top End (private group tour) April 19th – May 8th
New Guinea (for Birdseekers) May 15th – June 1st
New Guinea Islands (for Field Guides Inc.) June 10th – July 2nd
New Caledonia (for Field Guides Inc.) July 17th – July 26th
Papua New Guinea (for Field Guides Inc.) July 26th – Aug 16th
Fiji Stopover (for Field Guides Inc.) Aug 16th – Aug 20th
Australia (for Field Guides Inc.) Sept 3rd – Oct 6th
Eastern Queensland (for Field Guides Inc.) Oct 18th – Nov 2nd
Tasmania (for Field Guides Inc.) Nov 2nd – Nov 7th
New Zealand (for Field Guides Inc.) Nov 26th – Dec 14th
Sub-Antarctic Islands Cruise (for Heritage Tours) Dec 14th – Jan 3rd


Forthcoming Trips

2006

Dubai, Bahrain and Oman Hypocolius (Sicklebill Private Group Tour) Jan 20th - Feb 3rd
Japan Winter Stopover (For Field Guides Inc.) Feb 3rd - Feb 12th
Japan in Winter with Ryukyu Islands Extension (For Field Guides Inc.) Feb 10th - Feb 26
Taiwan (For Field Guides Inc.) Mar 16th - Mar 26th
West Papua with Halmahera Extension (Sicklebill Tour) April 3rd - April 29th
Uganda (For Field Guides Inc.) May 3rd - May 25th
Australia Top End and Eastern Seaboard (Sicklebill Private Tour) June 10 - July 3rd
New Caledonia (For Field Guides Inc.) July 16th - July 25th
Papua New Guinea with Fiji Extension (For Field Guides Inc.) July 25th - Aug 19th
Outback Australia (For Field Guides Inc.) Sept 3rd - Sept 22nd
Solomon Islands (Sicklebill Tour) Sept
Australia Top End (Sicklebill Private Tour) Sept 23rd - Oct 1st
Australia Part 2 with Tasmania Extension (For Field Guides Inc.) Oct 17th - Nov 6th
New Zealand (For Field Guides Inc.) Nov 18th - Dec 6th

If you would like to receive our quarterly newsletter and/or brochure please email sicklebill@optusnet.com.au.

Proposed Tours 2007

Dubai and Oman (Sicklebill Tour) Jan 20th - Jan 30th
Winter Japan 1 (For Field Guides Inc.) Feb 2nd - Feb 12th
Winter Japan 2 (For Field Guides Inc.) Feb 11th - Feb 22th
Taiwan (For Field Guides Inc.) Mar 15th - Mar 25th
Mainland New Guinea and New Britian (Sicklebill Tour) April 3rd - April 25th
West Papua (Sicklebill Tour) April 3rd - April 23rd
Uganda (For Field Guides Inc.) May 2nd - May 24th
Micronesia (Sicklebill Tour) May 13th - May 27th
Papua New Guinea Islands (For Field Guides Inc.) June 9th - July 1st
Papua New Guinea with Fiji Extension (For Field Guides Inc.) July 18th - Aug 12th
Papua New Guinea Greatest Hits (Sicklebill Tours) July and August
New Caledonia (For Field Guides Inc.) Aug 11th - Aug 20th
Gabon (Sicklebill Tour) September
South Africa (For Field Guides Inc.) Oct 6th - Oct 28th
New Guinea and Australia (For Field Guides Inc.) Nov 1st - Nov 19th
New Zealand (For Field Guides Inc.) Nov 17th - Dec 5th