STARTING SOON:
2026 DATES OPEN NOW!
5th to 8th November, 2026
Location: The Crossing Land Riverside Eco Retreat, Bermagui, NSW
After an absolute ripper of a retreat last year amongst the beautiful forests and estuarine environments of The Crossing Land, near Bermagui, I’m just so happy to be able to come back again in 2026. In fact, the sheer abundance of bird encounters and ideal climate conditions we experienced last year were so delightful that I’ve decided to run the 2026 retreat across the exact same weekend.
Honestly, I’ve never seen so many nesting forest birds in so few days -it was a feeding frenzy of excited humans and busy birds!
My description below hopefully provides you with a solid basis from which you will feel compelled to want to join us at our 2026 South Coast Bird Language Retreat!
Although the calls of our native songbirds are unique to every species, they are all infused with distinctive qualities of sound which reveal something meaningful to us about the owner’s mood, intentions, relationships to others and much, much more. This is the basis of learning bird language. It is not essential to know the name of a bird in order to develop an understanding about what it might be saying. The trick is to learn to listen deeply with intention, attunement and enquiry.
To listen deeply requires a gentle retraining of the way your brain engages with nature’s voices and to sharpen your sensory awareness to an exquisite point you may not have realised possible. It’s a real thing. I’ve witnessed these changes happen in real-time to hundreds of people already. At this retreat I’ll show you how.
Essentially, I want to introduce you to the path of the wild naturalist (that’s naturalist, not naturist!), – a conscious path of genuine nature connection, mindfulness and joyful curiosity. The learning you’ll experience on this retreat can seriously change your life. That’s my promise.
OK, so what does it even mean to ‘listen deeply”? Is this some sort of waffly hippy nonsense? Do I need to know my pardalotes from my penguins?
Nope, not at all!
Firstly, I assure you, everything I teach about bird language is based on solid scientific research, avian ecology and more than 40 years of paying attention to birds. This is authentic learning you can trust.
Secondly, no you don’t have to be a certified, card-carrying birdwatcher already! In fact, my bird language retreats are purposefully designed for non-experts. The aim of the game here is to experience a bone-deep sense of genuine and personal nature connection through listening to birds. Birds are our teachers here. It’s not critical that we know all their names, not at first. The only essential prerequisite is that you love the little buggers. The rest will fall into place.
All lunch, dinner and morning tea meals over the course of the 3-day retreat are locally catered so all you need to bring are your breakfasts, extra snacks and chillout-time beverages.
The Crossing Land Riverside Eco Retreat is such an ideal location for a bird language retreat. Surrounded by estuarine river habitats, mature forests and extensive gardens, the property offers us a range of accommodation options, cosy group teaching spaces and abundant opportunity for hanging out with birds!
As with all my retreats, the group size is strictly limited to foster a close-knit experience and ensure everyone has the opportunity for profound personal learning. Make sure to book early be part of this authentically deep nature connection experience, we’d love to see you there.
Still need convincing? Read on…
For the vast majority of the human journey as a species we have been highly attuned to the natural world around us. Every one of our bodily senses operated at their upper limit as we paid the closest attention to the weather, animal behaviour, insect hatchings, flowering and fruiting events, seasonal indicators, each other and of course, birds. Birds taught us how to avoid predators, and for some people they still do. This wasn’t a hobby. This wasn’t about keeping a personal best list of species. This was, quite literally about staying alive.
Fast forward to the present and most of us have forgotten how to pay attention to nature. We no longer hear the voices of birds, nor do we appreciate or care for their meaning. But we should, for although most of us no longer fear being torn apart by massive carnivores, our brains and sensory systems still yearn for the connections of the old ways. And over the last two decades an array of scientific evidence across multiple disciplines has demonstrated how important nature connectedness is for maintaining optimum human health and wellbeing.
Learning bird language can, quite literally, extend your life, reduce stress, improve brain functioning, aid in wound healing, extend attention span, relieve tension, mitigate eco-grief, elevate your sense of vitality and purpose, as well as bring you deep, genuine joy through deepening your connection to the land we live on. Oh, and you’ll make new (feathered and non-feathered) friends along the way!
Photo by Sophie Gulliver
This retreat introduces you to a practical understanding and experience of bird language. Through engaging teaching sessions and time spent paying attention to the forest, you will expand your nature-observation and sensory awareness skills, track the movement of predators across the landscape and notice the subtle changes in seasonal transitions.
Presented by bird language specialist, wildlife naturalist and writer Andrew Turbill (that’s me), this is a retreat for anyone interested in going deeper in their personal relationship to birds and wild nature.
If you’re ready to move from being a “nature tourist”, forever just peering in from the sidelines, to becoming the “nature sentinel” able to be truly immersed in the experience, this retreat will be just the thing.
What some of last years’ participants said about their experience:
I feel that my world has expanded and my awareness will continue to grow and grow. I am hearing, seeing and understanding more than I expected in such a short time. Its like a switch has been turned on and I can’t wait to learn more.
I can’t go outside the same way anymore… I can’t even get out of bed the same way anymore either! It’s like my hearing has been deep-cleaned and now I’m tuning into the sounds of feathered residents in my street, my town…
Come join us to learn the magic of bird language!
Book now to get a 10% discounted rate on the first 15 tickets sold!
South Coast Bird Language 2026 Retreat Dates
Starting: 4pm, Thurs 5th November
Finishing: 2pm, Sun 8th November
Cost –
EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT PRICES (for the first 15 tickets sold)
# Adult (tent / van – 14 sites available) – $795
# Adult (bunk bed – 7 beds available) – $800 (you get the top & bottom bunk)
# Adult (twin singles room – 10 only) – $830
# Child (10 – 16yrs) – $690 – email me for ticket booking
Or contact me if you live locally and want to commute each day to the site
Additional Notes:
- All lunch and dinner meals catered for (you just need to provide your own breaky and snacks)
- Limited to 30 participants to create a more intimate course and learning environment.
Accommodation
You can choose from a range of options, pending availability (first come – first served). Check out pics of the bedding options for The Crossing Land Riverside Eco Retreat at this link.
Requirements
- You should be comfortable being in nature, including sitting on your own in the forest for up to an hour at a time.
- No previous birding experience required (this is not a ‘twitcher’ event)
- There is no minimum age however all attendees must be able to sit quietly and pay attention for extended periods in both the teaching space and the forest. The retreat is therefore not suitable for infants or young children under 8 years.
Further info
Contact Andrew at info@andrewthebirdguy.com
CANCELLATION TERMS AND CONDITIONS
| Cancellation timeframe (days prior to start date of retreat) | Cancellation fee |
| > 45 days written notice | 15% of ticket price |
| 45 – 15 days written notice | 50% of ticket price |
| < 15 days written notice | 100% of ticket price |
Additional notes –
- In instances of a ‘frustrated contract’ under the Australian Consumer Law and Fair Trading Act 2012, meaning it is impossible to perform or carry out our contract due to events beyond all parties’ control, the ticket holder will receive a full refund minus a 10% admin fee. Tickets can also be transferred towards a future retreat date within 12 months.
- Examples of a frustrated contract situation may include a Government declared lockdown or border closure or natural disaster. A contract is not frustrated if the situation means it is only inconvenient, difficult or expensive to carry out.
- In the instance of a retreat cancellation being made by Andrew-the-bird-guy, ticketholders will be refunded their full ticket price, or have their ticket transferred to a future event.