STARTING SOONish:
The Naturalist Journey
Bird Language Retreat
Victoria
New Dates: 18 – 21 February, 2027
Location: Caringal Scout Camp (adjacent Baw Baw National Park)
After a long and arduous quest (Frodo & Sam had it easy by comparison) I have finally found a wonderful new venue near Melbourne to hold our next Victorian Bird Language Retreat! It’s another forested scout camp, but this time minus the weekend warriors on their noisy motorcycles!
This will be my 3rd retreat in the great southern state and although it’s still a while off yet, previous retreats booked out pretty quickly. So, if you’re keen to be a one of the flock, I’d encourage you to snaffle up one of the early bird tickets (the first 10 tickets sold are at the early-bird discounted rate).
Ok, so what’s it all about then?
Over the last few decades many of us have been robbed of our capacity for focused concentration and sustained fascination. The global hijacking of our brains by social media has resulted in our attention economy becoming aggressively captured and monopolised. But we can, and we should fight back! This retreat will show you how learning the practice of paying attention to the language of birds can give your brain back to you.
This is not a retreat about bird ‘twitching” where we just tick birds off a personal best list (although a list we will still maketh). This is a retreat that adopts the approach of a naturalist, where everything we can notice in the environment is experienced through a lens of curiosity, scientific enquiry, humility and awe.
Your experiences during this bird language retreat will both firmly establish the naturalist principles but also advance your nature observation and interpretation capacities for a lifetime of learning.
You will learn to:
# change your brain’s listening habits so you can notice a greater range of available sound in the landscape
# differentiate between the calls of not only different species of birds, but the different types of meaning-specific voices they use
# use a variety of ways for remembering and recreating bird calls, making it easier to recall the same calls next time
# recognise different types of bird alarm and use these calls to observe more cool predators in the landscape
# slow down your nervous system and recover a greater capacity for sustained attention and focus
# use techniques and perspectives that allow you to more meaningfully engage with your local birds back home, to not only see them, but to truly get to know them for the ancient social beings they really are.
Through a hybrid model of outdoor presentations, story and direct personal experience of sitting in nature, the retreat promises to lift your nature observation and connection skills to a whole new level.
As with all Bird Language retreats, our lunch and dinner meals will be fully catered, with ethically sourced meals prepared onsite by Melbourne-based catering legend, Nectar. You only need bring breakfasts and snacks!
The group size for all bird language retreats is strictly limited to foster a close-knit experience and ensure everyone has the opportunity for profound personal learning. Make sure to book early because previous years sold out quickly. Hope you can make it!
Still not convinced?
Hear more about what bird language can teach us in this recent interview I did (with my dear friend Dan Lyons from Wangat Lodge) talking bird stuff with David Marr on ABC’s Radio National Late Night Live program.
Or this long form interview I did with Megan Floris for her luminary-stacked “Here We Are” substack series.
Or even this interview I did with Katie Payne for her Reskillience podcast (where I seem to cuss a lot).
But wait, here’s some more background info to help you decide:
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!
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 develop and expand your nature-observation and sensory awareness skills. The experiences and learning offered at this retreat will reprogram your brain to an older way of being in the world. Through active listening to the many voices of birds we track the movement of predators across the landscape and notice the subtle changes in seasonal transitions.
This is a unique opportunity to dramatically expand the scope and detail of what you are capable of noticing, to truly see what is really there.
Presented by bird language specialist, wildlife naturalist and writer Andrew Turbill, this is a retreat for anyone interested in going deeper in their personal relationship to birds and wild nature. After decades of doing his “dirt time” of patient watching, listening and learning, Andrew has gleaned powerful insights into how birds offer us a special opportunity for really paying attention to the world around us. His teaching approach is centred around a love for the Earth and developing a ‘curious mind’ for opening pathways of new learning. These are critical skills on our journey to moving from “nature tourist” to “nature sentinel”.
Likewise, it is a wonderful way to connect and have fun with others who value this kind of activity and learning. We will spend the time together in a village atmosphere sharing adventures, meals, stories, and curiosity at the secluded Caringal Scout Camp surrounded by trees, natural waterways (like seriously, the property is SURROUNDED BY RIVERS!), campfire, starry skies and abundant wildlife.
The skills and insights acquired in this workshop will fundamentally change the way you interact with birds and the natural world and can be readily applied in an urban-based natural setting as effectively as in wilderness. Every birdsong will become an invitation to listen, look around and learn. Every squawk will remind you we’re not alone in this world. Your friends will be amazed as you suddenly break off mid-sentence at work, dash outside and seemingly by magic “discover” a python resting in a nearby tree…or watch a falcon jet across the skyline.
Come join us to learn the magic of bird language!
This will be Andrew’s ONLY Melbourne retreat for 2026/7, so register now to secure a spot on the team. info@andrewthebirdguy.com
‘The Naturalist’s Journey’ – Bird Language Retreat, Victoria, 2027
18th – 21st February, 2027
Cost
(Early Bird Ticket): ADULT $825 / CHILD – $480
Early bird: available for first 10 tickets sold only
(Standard Ticket – after early bird runs out): ADULT $875 / CHILD – $480
Includes:
- Daily facilitation, teaching and mentorship by Andrew Turbill (aka: andrewthebirdguy)
- Personalised small-group guidance from a hand-picked crew of awesome ‘flock guides’
- 3 nights camping out under the stars at Caringal Scout Camp (655 Telbit Road
Caringal, VIC 3825) where we have booked out most of the entire property - All lunch and dinner meals fully catered (you just need to provide your own breaky and snacks)
- Limited to 35 participants to create a more intimate course and learning environment.
Accommodation
Participants bring their own camp set up, but I will supply a communal, under-cover gathering area and we have access to a large indoor mess hall for meals. Caringal has flushing toilets, hot showers and a vast bounty of wild nature.
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)
- 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
RETREAT 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.