Oh, this is actually a really tricky question because I’m terrible at narrowing things down. So I won’t. And I’ll give you a few instead.

Hornbills in Cambodia are right up there. I used to live there but wasn’t that into birding while I was there, so have gone back a few times birding now, and they have a few different hornbills and have been lucky enough to see a couple of different species a few times. One time I got close enough to get some cool shots at good range.

Same with seeing the various Bee-eaters and Kingfishers over there. Sometimes driving and hiking for hours and then, boom! When you finally find what you’re looking for it’s always exciting right?

The truth is, when it comes to birds and wildlife in general, I’m pretty excitable, so there’s plenty of different bird encounters I’ll never forget.

Cassowaries at Mission Beach, my first Pale-headed Rosella and Red Wing Parrot, almost every time I see a white bellied sea eagle, watching Rainbow bee-eater hawk for bugs right above me. Seeing two Superb Lyrebirds flying around after each other. Discovering my own little spot to watch Azure kingfishers in Cobboboonee.

And actually, you know what else would be right up there? Driving through Ceduna a few years ago on the way back from whale watching, and spotting a flock of Pink Cockatoos in the pine trees on the foreshore and sitting there, quite close to these bird I find REALLY tricky to get close to, and shooting them for an hour or so while they demolished pine cones. That was very cool.

I’m going to have to say Costa Rica because… bloody. hell. We are SUPER lucky to have great birds in Australia, but South America is next level, isn’t it? I bloody love hummingbirds so they’d be right at the top of my list - I saw one once in North America and it was excellent - but Costa Rica also have toucans and macaws and…quetzals!!!!! And holy crapioli.

So yeah, let’s say Costa Rica assuming that golden ticket is first class. Because I’m a bit too precious these days to fly for 7,000 hours up the back of the bus.

And because I’m terrible at giving absolute (and short) answers, honourable mention goes to northern Malaysia where I probably WILL go next to see Hornbills and Kingfishers - two of my other favourite birds. I have an itinerary and guide lined up already, just trying to pick the perfect time.

Or Cape York to see the Palm Cockatoos and the yellow-billed kingfisher because I’m a bit obsessive and want to see all of Australia’s kingfishers and that’s the only place you can see that one.

So bugger it, can the golden ticket be a multi stop round trip? In which case ‘all of the above’… and probably a few other places in South America while we’re in the neighbourhood, and then there’s great birding in SEAsia as well, so… ah, yeah.

If all else fails and that golden ticket doesn’t come my way, FNQ is the duck’s guts. Went birding there for the first time at the end of 2024 and would go back there in a heartbeat!

So I’m an addict, (18 years in recovery), so when I get into something, I REALLY get into it. When I got into running, i ended up running 100km ultra marathons.

Same with birding.

I’ve always ‘liked’ birds, even bred finches when I was a kidlet, but about 10 years ago I started taking photos and…. slippery slope. The 70-100 lens turned into the 100-400 which turned into the 200-600 and now I’m shooting on the 400-800 and sometimes with a 1.4x or even 2x teleconverter. People laugh at me for shooting at f11, but it’s just how I roll.

I even ended up buying a conservation property a little while back where pretty much every day is about making sure there’s water for the birds and critters. And again, what started as putting a simple bowl of water out turned into installing a ‘waterhole’ complete with wifi controlled refilling so they’re never without water when it’s hot. And live camera feeds of course so I can see who comes to visit. My list currently sits at around 50 different bird species which isn’t bad for that area.

When it hit 45+ last summer I even drove out and put up some shade cloth for them. So I think it’s safe to say birding is a pretty big part of my life, although my focus (pun intended) has shifted from just seeing and photographing birds, to a bit more of an education and conservation angle.

I’m a bit involved with a group called ReBirding the Ranges and I even host an event for Nature Foundation called ‘Birds & Bingo’ here in South Australia during the Nature Festival every year - it’s like bingo, but with birds instead of numbers. Trust me, it’s a thing - so yeah, I think we can say birds and birding and nature in general really, are a pretty big part of my life these days.