ON THE ROAD AGAIN

Mid January saw us pulling up stumps and heading to the south west of WA. We had enjoyed our time at work and play at Horrocks Beach, but the lure of the open road and the prospect of new vistas and birding opportunities beckoned.  

We fare-welled the local Ospreys that had kept us entertained along the beach and one last visit to nearby Port Gregory netted me a surprise bird and a lifer, Long-toed Stint, along with an assortment of other waders. 

Eastern Osprey

Eastern Osprey

Long-toed Stint

Sharp-tailed Sandpiper (left) & Long-toed Stint

A Splendid Fairy-wren was a standout in the dry surrounds of our campsite at Ellendale Pool near Geraldton. We have found these charming little birds to be the most inquisitive and fearless of their family, besides the Superb Fairy-wren in the east of the country.  

Splendid Fairy-wren - male

We travelled along the coast to Jurien Bay and explored the Pinnacles in Nambung National Park. These unique limestone formations gave the landscape an otherworldly aspect. 

  

Sunset at Jurien Bay jetty

The Pinnacles

We swung back inland where it got progressively hotter and some of the locals at New Norcia were seeking shelter in the shade of the Salmon Gums.

  

Galahs - male (left) & female 

Large, noisy flocks of Western Corellas were a highlight at Mogumber, not only because of their antics, but also the first time we had seen this WA endemic. This was the more common northern sub-species, also known as Butler's Corella.  

Western Corellas

At Northam a small group of Mute Swans, descendants of birds introduced over a century ago, were cruising the placid waters of the Avon River. This self sustaining population is the only one in Australia and birders come from far and wide to see it and tick it, which I duly did!  

Mute Swan

Sacred Kingfisher

At Dryandra Woodlands, while searching for Numbats, we came across a pair of  Bush Stone-curlews laying low in the heat of the day. Although the birding was a bit slow we did pick up a family group of Blue-breasted Fairy-wrens (lifers) near the village and the Scarlet Robins were always active. The Numbats remained elusive!

Bush Stone-curlews

Scarlet Robin - male

A report of a rare Eurasian vagrant on the coast south of Mandurah had us back on the coast, camping at Herron Point where I had easy access to Lake McLarty, where this unlikely visitor had been seen. There were many Australian Pipits and White-fronted Chats on the edge of the lake, but after a couple of hours of searching and with the help of a fellow birder, late in the afternoon we finally got on to it. Little ripper! The photos below were taken on subsequent visits 

Red-throated Pipit

Red-throated Pipit

As well as this mega rarity, the lake had an outstanding array and number of waders and waterbirds. Out of the many hundreds of shorebirds along the shallow waters of the southern shoreline I spotted a Broad-billed Sandpiper, a fairly rare bird for the area and also a lifer. Pectoral Sandpipers were also a standout, but the Ruff and Reeve that had been seen recently I failed to find, not for lack of trying!

Broad-billed Sandpiper - Lake McLarty  (photo by Nicholas Hart) 

 Lake McLarty

At  Rotary Park in  nearby Busselton a lone Musk Duck was paddling in the murky, algae infested waters of the Vasse River and as I explored the riparian vegetation I was surprised by the sight of an unusual looking Willie Wagtail. 

Musk Duck - male

This particular bird has a condition known as leucism, where certain pigments are missing from it's plumage, in this case only partially. And I thought I'd stumbled upon a new bird!

Willie Wagtail

My goal of publishing a new post at least once a month hasn't quite happened so far this year, due to a lack of a wi-fi signal in many places, and also because we are spending so much time exploring and birding this incredible land of ours! Hopefully more regular updates to resume.

Cheers and Happy Birding!

FABULOUS FAIRY-WRENS

Having been travelling again since leaving the Sunshine Coast, Queensland in early May, we have seen some wonderful sights and fantastic birds.

Previously I have been trying to keep a chronological record when posting, but with lack of time and internet coverage, I will publish random highlights of our ongoing journey, at least until we settle somewhere for a while.

Meanwhile, here are some images of four of the six fairy-wren species found in Western Australia. Currently in Geraldton, we are are too far north for the Red-winged Fairy-wren, a WA endemic, and the Blue-breasted we have still to find.

This male Variegated was busy advertising his territory to all and sundry in Mirama National Park at Kununurra. 

Variegated Fairy-wren (race rogersi - Lavender-flanked form) 

The two birds below weren't anywhere near as co-operative, especially the male who was in full breeding plumage, quite vocal and loud for a fairy-wren. These shots were taken at Victoria River in the Northern Territory, although this species is also found in the Kimberley just over the border in WA.

Purple-crowned Fairy-wren - female 

Purple-crowned Fairy-wren - male

 I've included a much better image of this exquisite member of the Malurus family, courtesy of Ian Mongomery's fantastic website: http://birdway.com.au/index.htm

At Cape Range National Park we came across another form of the Variegated, one of four races across Australia.

Variegated Fairy-wren (Purple-backed form - race assimilis) 

Also at Cape Range, the White-winged were showing well, with the male not far off being fully coloured up. 

White-winged Fairy-wren - male 

White-winged Fairy-wren - female

At Nerren Nerren rest area, along the North West Coastal Highway, we observed a small group of Splendids going about their daily activities right near our campsite. One male was very inquisitive and came in very close when responding to my squeaking. I only had a few seconds to capture this stunning little fella while he hopped out into the open, and I was stoked with the results.

Splendid Fairy-wren

In Kalbarri National Park, a family group of what I thought were Blue-breasted were frustratingly staying out of range in the thick scrub, until some squeaking brought a male out for a quick ID shot. It was a Variegated, this species being very similar to the former, their ranges overlapping in this limited area of WA.      

Variegated Fairy-wren 

Cheers and Happy Birding

BOWRA SANCTUARY - Part 2

All up during our five day stay at Bowra we saw nearly 80 species of birds, the most conspicuous being the smaller bush birds. Some were easier to photograph than others, but my main aim when birding is to observe and enjoy the experience as a whole and if I get a decent image that's a bonus. 

Jacky Winter

Rufous Songlark

Zebra Finch

I still like to add new birds to my life list though, and did when I found a small group of Hall's Babblers in the thick Mulga scrub about 8 km from the Homestead, pishing one inquisitive bird in for a good look at it's identifying features. It didn't hang around for a photo though and was quickly flying and bouncing off with rest of the mob.    

Diamond Dove

Splendid Fairy-wren - female

A bird I failed to find even after some diligent searching around a known area for them was the Chestnut-breasted Quail-thrush, a cryptically patterned ground bird that obviously blends in well with it's preferred habitat.

Stony Ridge - spot the Quail-thrush!

While walking along looking for the elusive Quail-thrush I nearly bumped into the massive web of this  large spider. The females can measure up to 45mm in body length and the male a puny 6mm. 

 Orb Weaver

The image below along with the Brolgas in my previous post is a favourite, primarily because I very rarely snaffle three or more birds in one frame unless it's a distant flock of waders or such.  

Hooded Robins - 2 males and a female

Red-capped Robin

Bowra is renowned for its birds of prey and we saw seven varieties there. The bird list has 19 raptor species including Grey Falcon (seen on our previous visit) and Black Falcon, one that still eludes me and my official bogey bird.    

Brown Falcon

Black-shouldered Kite

  

Black-breasted Buzzard

Black-breasted Buzzard

Bowra Sanctuary is managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, an organization that owns 23 sanctuaries across Australia and well worth supporting. 

See here for more info: http://www.australianwildlife.org/Bowra.aspx

Bourke's Parrot

Cheers & Happy Birding