2022 Festival Program - Ordered by Day
( Book now )

Welcome to our 2022 Bruny Island Bird Festival Program, bursting at the seams with bird related events. 
Due to the added challenges of Covid we have a more streamlined selection of events and some numbers are necessarily smaller to fit covid guidelines.

Our community celebration of birdlife and nature is now in its 6th anniversary and we are proud of how it has become such a joyful and well loved Australian birding event.  Please take time to read through the program and absorb all the fantastic walks, lectures, workshops and events that will be part of the Festival.  We have done our very best to allow you to be able to attend a very diverse selection of activities over the 3 days, however you may have to plan carefully to fit in everything you wish to do.  
Remember there are many events that do not require a booking, and due to the generosity of our presenters and sponsors, they are often free or 'donation only' to attend.  The festival is diverse, inclusive and welcoming to all, no matter what your level of birding knowledge and interest may be.  We look forward to welcoming you to our very special Bruny Island Bird Festival on this unique and beautiful island.

Help plan your time at the festival with this Quick View Daily Event Chart - maybe print it out and circle the events you plant to attend to create your plan of campaign.  You can also look at the webpage where events are ordered by event type rather than by day.

This will be a Covid safe event with masks inside, hand sanitizing and social distancing. It is a Tasmanian Government requirement to be fully vaccinated to enter a licensed event venue where it is likely people will be standing and drinking.
Click here to Sign up for festival e-mail notifications. 

Let me know if you wish to be wait-listed for any sold out events and do join the Bruny Bird Festival Facebook Group where I post first with any available tickets.

1. Friday 25th March

Birding Bruny Island - Inala Day Tour

Pink Robin - Cat Davidson - Bruny Island Bird FestivalFriday 25th: 8:30am - 5:00pm ( Guide Paul Brooks ) - 2 PLACES LEFT
Saturday 26th: 8:30am - 5:00pm ( Guide Ramit Singal ) - SOLD OUT
Sunday 27th: 8:30am - 5:00pm ( Guide Cat Young ) - SOLD OUT
Monday 28th now running 8.30 - 5.00pm ( Guide Nick Mooney ) - 2 PLACES LEFT


Meet at Adventure Bay Hall carpark
Cost: $200 pp. Bookings required. Max 6 people 

A day tour of Bruny Island with a specialist Inala tour guide at a special festival only price will give you a fantastic opportunity to explore the many diverse habitats of Bruny Island (including a visit to the Inala Private Reserve ) and discover a fantastic selection of birds.  You will learn about their calls, their identifying marks, their behaviours etc. The Inala guides know Bruny Island intimately and are overflowing with information about the flora, fauna, history, geology and seasonal rhythms of this remarkable island.You will be travelling in an Inala vehicle throughout the day.
BYO lunch (Snacks and cold drinks provided)

Beach to Bush Walk with Festival Founder Bob Graham

Bob Graham - Beach to Bush Walk - Bruny Island Bird FestivalFriday 8.30am- 10:00am SOLD OUT
Saturday 26th 8.30am- 10:00am ( Also with guide Paul Brooks ) SOLD OUT
Sunday 27th 8.30am- 10:00am SOLD OUTNative Hen - Chris Tzaros - Bruny Island Bird Festival


Location: Adventure Bay start at Adventure Bay Hall 
Guide: Bob Graham
$10 adult, accompanied child under 12 free.
Booking required. Max 12

A Festival favourite guided by a passionate bird lover and Bruny Islander.  Bruny Bird Festival founder Bob Graham takes you on a gentle walk from the Adventure Bay shoreline through a selection of different habitats into beautiful tall forest.  Your guide will help you see, hear and understand the range of bird species to be sighted in each different ecotone.

Inala Conservation Reserve - Guided Walking Tour including the Forty-spotted Pardalote Platform ( morning and afternoon options )

Forty Spotted Pardalotes - Andrew Browne - Bruny Island Bird FestivalFriday 25th, Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th: 8:30am - 11.00am  (tour may run to 3 hrs)

FRIDAY 8.30am 2 SPOTS LEFT
FRIDAY 1.30pm 6 SPOTS LEFT

SATURDAY 8.30am 1 SPOT LEFT
SATURDAY 1.30pm SOLD OUT

SUNDAY 8.30am EXTRA GUIDE ADDED 10 SPOTS LEFT
SUNDAY 1.30pm 2 SPOTS LEFT


Location: MEETING AT INALA, 320 Cloudy Bay Rd, South Bruny - look for Festival flag and meet at carpark.


$50 adult, $25 accompanied child 12yr and under. 

Bookings required. Max 12 on each tour

Join an experienced Inala bird specialist for a 2.5 - 3-hour walking tour of Inala.
Inala is a 1,500 acre private reserve and a centre for conservation work for several threatened and endangered species. Inala is home to one of the largest known populations of Forty-spotted Pardalotes, and on this tour you will learn about the conservation efforts undertaken to protect these species, as well as searching for other Tasmanian endemics and specialities. Highlights include the possibility of most of the Tasmanian endemics including Strong-billed Honeyeater and the endangered Forty-spotted Pardalote.
This tour is being offered at a very special festival price.  Regular 3hr Inala property tours are $180 per person* younger family tours may be arranged if sufficient demand - Please ask.
Note: With large enough numbers on any particular tour, it could possibly be split into novice and experienced groups 

Inala Jurassic Garden Walk & Nature Centre self guided walk

5 Inala Jurassic Garden smlDaily: 9am - 4pmUlmo Eucryphia cordifolia from South America B Moriarty sml
Inala, 320 Cloudy Bay Rd, South Bruny - look for Festival flag.

$10 adult $5 child  No bookings required - Pay at Inala on arrival.

This is a self-guided walk - take as long as you like. Welcome to bring a picnic lunch to enjoy in the Gardens.The Inala Jurassic Garden is an educational facility highlighting the Gondwanan connections of a range of living plant families whose ancient ancestors thrived in the Jurassic period when the Gondwanan Supercontinent started splitting apart (about 185 million years ago) to form the southern land-masses that we now know as Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, South America and New Caledonia.
Designed across five acres of gently undulating land and accessed by a winding, wheelchair-friendly path, the Garden gives visitors an insight into the ancient connections of species that are planted in family groups to demonstrate the similarities between species that are now found in these geographically-distant countries.
If you take an Inala Property Tour ( see above) you are welcome to explore the garden afterwards for as long as you wish

More information about the Jurassic Garden can be found on the separate website here.

Bruny Island Bird Festival Art Exhibition  

Daily: Friday 25th, Saturday 26th, Sunday 27th  10am - 5pm
Location: Dennes Point Hall  North Bruny
Free entry, donations appreciated, no booking required
2018 Art Exhibition Art Exhibition 2018 1 Art Exhibition 2018 Opening with Kerry and Daniel Art Exhibition 2018 2
We are honoured once again to be exhibiting some of Tasmania’s finest artists at our Bird Festival Art Exhibition. This year the exhibition will be at Dennes Point Hall featuring a selection of paintings, photographs and sculptures inspired by the birds of Bruny Island.Take part in the people’s choice award and choose your personal favourite.
To enter your own work see separate web page - Art Exhibition.Most of the artworks will be for sale, along with a selection of cards and prints by the artists, guaranteed to please any bird enthusiast.

Artist in Residence - Lois Bury

Friday 25th, Saturday 26th, Sunday 27th
10am - 3pm each day
Location: Dennes Point Hall - North Bruny

We are very proud to have Lois Bury as our Artist in Residence during the Bruny Island Bird Festival.  When you visit the Art Exhibition at the Dennes Point Hall you will find Lois working on a bird painting during the festival.  She is generously allowing guests to watch her at work and ask her questions about her art and her techniques.
Lois is a self-taught bird artist and illustrator, showcasing her work with large artworks on canvas, miniature oils, posters, cards and (to-date) seven children's books.  Her latest illustrated book of ’The Way of the Weedy Seadragon’ author Anne Morgan, publisher CSIRO, won the picture book section of the Whitley Award from the Royal Zoological Society of NSW. 

Of particular interest are the 12 endemic birds of Tasmania, all of which are found on Bruny Island.
Lois will have examples of all forms of her art at the festival.
Free - Donations appreciated, bookings not required
Lois Bury Profile Pic Lois Bury 1 Lois Bury 3 Lois Bury 4 Lois Bury 5 Lois Bury 2

Inala Conservation Reserve - Guided Walking Tour including the Forty-spotted Pardalote Platform ( morning and afternoon options )

Forty Spotted Pardalotes - Andrew Browne - Bruny Island Bird FestivalFriday 25th, Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th: 1:30pm - 4:00pm  (tour may run to 3 hrs)

FRIDAY 8.30am 2 SPOTS LEFT
FRIDAY 1.30pm 6 SPOTS LEFT

SATURDAY 8.30am 1 SPOT LEFT
SATURDAY 1.30pm SOLD OUT

SUNDAY 8.30am EXTRA GUIDE ADDED 10 SPOTS LEFT
SUNDAY 1.30pm 2 SPOTS LEFT


Location: MEETING AT INALA, 320 Cloudy Bay Rd, South Bruny - look for Festival flag and meet at carpark.

$50 adult, $25 accompanied child 12yr and under. 

Bookings required. Max 12 on each tour

Join an experienced Inala bird specialist for a 2.5 - 3-hour walking tour of Inala.
Inala is a 1,500 acre private reserve and a centre for conservation work for several threatened and endangered species. Inala is home to one of the largest known populations of Forty-spotted Pardalotes, and on this tour you will learn about the conservation efforts undertaken to protect these species, as well as searching for other Tasmanian endemics and specialities. Highlights include the possibility of most of the Tasmanian endemics including Strong-billed Honeyeater and the endangered Forty-spotted Pardalote.
This tour is being offered at a very special festival price.  Regular 3hr Inala property tours are $180 per person* younger family tours may be arranged if sufficient demand - Please ask.
Note: With large enough numbers on any particular tour, it could possibly be split into novice and experienced groups 

Welcome Gathering Meal & Festival Opening
MEAL SOLD OUT - YOU ARE STILL VERY WELCOME TO MILL AROUND OUTSIDE AND / OR JOIN THE EVENTS AFTER DINNER

Friday 25th from 5:00pmWelcome BBQ 2018 ToniaWelcome BBQ 2018
Adventure Bay Hall area

Cost: $20 Adult $10 Child ( u 12 ) for a plate of great food.
Licensed event - no BYO. Bookings essential

Join us for the first evening of the Bird Festival and a community welcome informal meal.  This is a lovely time to mill around and banter with a gathering throng of fellow bird and nature lovers.  We shall begin with a Welcome to Country, followed by a brief speech to officially open the festival and welcome you all.  A relaxed and informal pasta meal will follow. 

The meal on Friday night will be provided by Caterers BrunItaly and sourced from fresh local ingredients.   Bruny Island's beautiful produce meets ancient Italian traditions!

Everyone who books dinner will be sent a catering form in advance of the festival so you can let us know your meal preference and any dietary requirements.
Time: From 5pm for the opening,
5.30 for the Meal
6pm Nightly Bird Count ( see below )
6.30pm for the book launch of the Inala Nature Foundation "Guide to Birds of Bruny Island ( Our selection of Iconic species )" ( see below )

Nightly Bird Count at Adventure Bay Hall with Karen Dick ( Fri ) and Ramit Singal ( Sat & Sun )

Location: Outside Adventure Bay Hall HQDaily Bird Count 2018
Time: 6pm Friday, Saturday and Sunday

Before each evening's event, come together as a merry group to record what birds we have all seen during the day on Bruny. Join the rapid fire Bruny Bird name shout-out led by bird guide Karen Dick to mark the days tally on a giant chart.As with all such counts, what seems so straightforward can lead to pistols at dawn! So as a guideline, more than one person must have been present for a sighting to be valid.  If only one person was present or a rare bird ID is contested by others, then photographic evidence will help your cause greatly! The results will be for communal enjoyment, not a scientific record.
Inala Nature Foundation Bird Book Front CoverInala Nature Foundation Book Launch
Guide to Birds Of Bruny Island ( Our selection of Iconic species )
6.30pm Adventure Bay Hall

Hot off the Press - A wonderful brand new field guide book to the iconic birds of Bruny Island.The Inala Nature Tours Guide to Birds of Bruny Island, Tasmania, is a handy photographic reference to 72 of the island’s iconic species, including all 12 Tasmanian endemics. All proceeds from the sale of this book support the Inala Nature Foundation’s work on conservation, habitat restoration, and wildlife rehabilitation  The book contains birds chosen by the Inala team and with beautiful diagnostic images generously provided by some of the incredible photographers who have visited Inala and Bruny.Please join us to celebrate the launch of the book where you can purchase a copy if you wish.
A guide to the Twelve Endemic Birds of Tasmania with Cat Davidson

cat profile picFriday 25th March 7pm - 7.45pm
Adventure Bay Hall 
Cost: $10 Adult | $5 Child
Licensed event - no BYO. 

After dinner, Inala guide Cat Davidson will present a whistle stop tour through the twelve wonderful Endemic Birds of Tasmania.  Jump start your festival schedule by familiarising yourself with the diverse and fantastic twelve endemic birds before you head out to see them in their native habitats during the rest of your time on Bruny.
Learn their diagnostic features, their calls, their songs, their behaviours and their habitats. Join in a fast and furious fun group learning session and become more confident as a Tasmanian birder.  Suitable for all ages and abilities. 

black headed honeyeater currawong Dusky Robin forty spotted pardalote green rosella native hen 1 Strongbilled honeyeater Scrubtit scrubwren thornbill yellowthroated honeyeaters yellow wattle bird

Endemic Bird Images: With thanks to Jennifer Cossins from Red Parka

Penguin & Shearwater Colony Tour

Eric Bounty Islands 9Mar19 2 smlFriday 25th 7pm - 8.30pm SOLD OUT

Saturday 26th 7pm - 8.30pm SOLD OUT
Penguin Shearwater Tours 2022
Location: Meeting at The Neck Carpark
Guide: Dr Eric Woehler
$10 adult, Children under 12 and with an adult $5.
Bookings required. Max 15 per night

Join Dr Eric Woehler of BirdLife Tasmania and an Inala bird guide to visit the Little Penguin colony at The Neck.  Learn about and hopefully see Little Penguins as they make their way from the ocean back to their burrows after dark. You will also see the beautiful Short-tailed Shearwaters who breed at this site after their epic migration journey across the oceans from the Antarctic to the Arctic.
Wear weather appropriate clothing. Bring your own torch, red cellophane will be provided. ( will also be available at HQ in Adventure Bay )  NB: No flash photography.