Head to the Gold Coast hinterland as Australia's longest running birding program kicks off at O'Reilly's Rainforest Retreat on the 11th to 17th November.

Birders and nature lovers alike will descend upon Lamington National Park to observe and appreciate Australia's largest collection of sub-tropical birds and with wildlife experts, guides and artists in attendance the Bird Week program is sure to be a crowd pleaser.

One such expert, local Canungra artist and designer Tamlyn Geiger, is looking forward to revisiting O'Reilly's during Bird Week to share her love of fine art with guests.

“I am very excited to be a part of the Bird Week program and am looking forward to interacting with guests and sharing my love for water colours with them,” she said.

Tamlyn will be working on a canvas water colour bird scene over three days and invites everyone visiting O'Reilly's, including birders and beginner artists, to sign up.

“I love teaching people, especially in my favourite medium, and hope to attract other water colour artists and beginners to join in,” Tamlyn said.

The workshop is called Paint My Feathers and details on how to join in can be found at https://oreillys.com.au/events/annual-birdweek-2018/

Bird Week visitors will join wildlife experts, zoologists, researchers, photographers and artists in Lamington National Park to celebrate Australia's largest collection of sub-tropical birds with some 200 species of the 230 varieties residing in the World Heritage-listed region.

Only 90 minutes south of Brisbane and inland from the Gold Coast, birders will get the opportunity to see species such as the rare Alberts Lyrebird, not found anywhere else on earth. Other sought-after birds include the Paradise Rifle, Rufous Scrub and Regent Bowerbird.

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 Meet Bird Week talent – Artist and Designer, Tamlyn Geiger

Artist and Designer Tamlyn Geiger is a sought-after teacher in the Scenic Rim - a part of the Gold Coast's Hinterland that is abundant with Australia's stunning flora and fauna which Tamlyn draws from for her work.

Tamlyn was inspired by former Scenic Rim resident and Archibald Prize artist William Robinson who she used to watch paint.

Determined to impress Mr Robinson, Tamlyn set off on her own artistic journey to learn everything she could about different art movements and mediums.

Now 25 years on, Tamlyn enjoys sharing her passion with others by teaching both adult and children classes, and up until recently was resident artist at the Red Door Studio in Canungra.

"Artwork is my life; being a full-time artist and sharing this through teaching brings me a lot of joy."

Tamlyn loves the Canungra community having started the first local newspaper called the Pioneer Express, now the Canungra News, and former President of the Art & Culture Group. She is currently serving as President of the Historical Society with a determined goal to preserve and share local history.

More recently, for the first time in her career, Tamlyn is combining her digital background in graphic design with her love of fine arts and textile design.

“My aim is to create a body of work that combines graphic design and fine arts with textile print.”

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Lamington National Park: What makes it so special?

• Comprised of World Heritage-listed ancient Gondwana rainforest, more than 225 million years old
• Lamington wasn't Queensland's first national park however it is the most significant and was regularly referred to as 'Queensland's National Park' when gazetted in 1915
• Home to more than 200 bird species, 500 waterfalls and 160 kilometres of nature trails

Meet 2018 Bird Week Feathered Star Attractions:

• Noisy Pitta (Pitta versicolor)
• Marbled Frogmouth (Podargus ocellatus)
• Paradise Riflebird (Ptiloris paradiseus)
• Albert's Lyrebird (Menura alberti) - not found anywhere else on earth
• Regent Bowerbird (Sericulus chrysocephalus)

Commissioned media are welcome as day guests. For more information and to book your visit go to https://oreillys.com.au/events/annual-birdweek-2018/ or call 1800 688 722.

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