16 October 2017
Flying from Melbourne to Western Australia resulted in the addition of three extra hours of daylight and several time zone changes. We caught an early morning flight to Perth and was met by Lisa’s friend Andrew. Andrew and his wife Merilyn have graciously offered to show us around parts of Western Australia (Perth and points south) for the next ten days. Sweet.
After settling in at Andrew and Merilyn’s lovely home we went to nearby Herdsman Lake Regional Park. With skies threatening rain, and wind gusts over 25 mph., we forged on. Despite that, there were a fair number of birds present in the park. We were rewarded with lots of Purple Swamphens seen feeding on the grass in the park. An Australian Raven was being harassed by a Red Wattlebird and, funny thing, the Red Wattlebirds were being harassed by smaller birds.
We saw four Long-necked Turtles. After a good rain, which Perth recently had, the turtles come out of the water to lay their eggs. Andrew said they usually go to neighborhood gardens for egg-laying as the soil there is softer than in the park. Of course the poor turtles have to negotiate crossing the busy roads. Not all of them make it.
We also got to see some young hatch birds: Swamphens, Moorhens, Ducklings, Grebes, and Coots. I realized that while we’ve seen a fair number of young/baby birds over the years, I don’t think I’ve ever seen baby herons or egrets. I hope someday to see them. Guess I am never in the right place at the right time.
After Herdsman’s we came back for afternoon tea (coffee/tea and a sweet treat), then went out again to Bold Park, a forested park near Andrew and Merilyn’s home. Not much was moving due to the wind and it seemed as thought any bird landing on a tree was soon blown away. We were fortunate to briefly see a White-cheeked Honeyeater, which is a new bird for us. It was also good to just get out and walk.
Dusky Moorhen with a reed stalk
Eastern Great Egret – a different species than our Western Great Egret (although it looked the same to me at first glance)
Baby Great Crested Grebes – love the striping on their heads and neck
Pair of Great Crested Grebes
Purple Swamphen – one of many. Don’t you just love their feet (well toes actually). So big.
Can you see why they call this a (Western) Long-necked Turtle. Kind of freaky looking to me.
Dusky Moorhen with chick
Little Egret
Eastern Great Egret …
… looking at something in the air or on the ground
Australasian Shoveler
Herdsman Lake
Pacific Black Duck – probably one of the most prolific ducks in Australia (or at least the one we saw the most around Australia)
Pacific Black Duck and Eurasian Coot
Pair of Australian Wood Ducks
Australasian Grebe
The strong winds ruffling the feathers of this Purple Swamphen
Black Swan with cygnets
Black Swan cygnets
Yes, during breeding season Australian Mapgies (which aren’t really magpies) will swoop down and attack people. Some people have been serious injured (eye injuries mostly) by these birds.
So small, but look at those feet/toes – Baby Dusky Moorhen
Again a Purple Swamphen with ruffled (wind blown) feathers
Australian White Ibis (aka Sacred Ibis)
Little Corellas
Yellow-billed Spoonbill
Baby Australian Wood Ducks
This guy did not want to hang around for a photo – Purple Swamphen chick
Purple Swamphen (did I mention we saw a lot of them)
The Dusky Moorhens have a yellow-tipped bill
Willie Wagtail – this guy loves to wag its tail back and forth, back and forth, back and forth.
Australian Wood Duck family – there were several at the park
Eurasian Coots
Great Crested Grebe on a nest
Grey Butcherbird at Andrew and Merilyn’s house
White-cheeked Honeyeater at Bold Park
Rainbow Lorikeets. These birds are not native to Western Australia but have been making their way west from eastern Australia. They are loud, and roost in large flocks. While beautiful birds, they are not well liked in many places because they displace other birds during breeding.
17 October 2017
Today we went to King’s Park in Perth, spending the morning birding the grounds. Surprisingly we didn’t see any new birds, but lots of beautiful flowers and great views of the city center. From there we went to Alfred Cove to check out the waders. Here we saw the usual suspects (ducks, herons, egrets, cormorants), plus several Fairy Terns (a new species for us). We were hoping to see some shorebirds, but the water was too high. We ended out the day with a short trip to Freemantle, a nearby town with some old historic buildings. The town was hopping with tourists.
I plan to do a separate blog on the flowers of Australia, so many of the photos I took of the flowers in King’s Park will appear in that blog post.
Perth downtown skyline
Banksia species
Australian Raven and Laughing Kookaburra
One of my favorite Australian species
Australian Ravens are …
… very vocal. I don’t think he wanted the Kookaburra nearby. Must have been a nest with chicks close.
Australian Ringneck
Baby Australian Wood Ducks
Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo. These birds feed on nuts called “honkey nuts”
Hatch year Red Wattlebird
Striated Pardalote – these birds have an easily identifiable two-note chip
18 October 2017
Off to Denmark, with an overnight stay at Narrogin. Although Denmark is only a 5.5-hour drive from Perth, we were booked at Barnia Mia to see some animals that only come out at night. Our first stop of the day was at Bungendore Park. We didn’t see or hear much, but as we were leaving Lisa saw a small bird that didn’t look familiar. It turned out to be a female Western Spinebill. A new bird for us. We got some decent looks of the bird, but hope to see a male later.
From Bungendore Park we drove to the Dryandra Woodlands, which recently became a National Park. This is a small area of woodlands in Western Australia. Most of what we’ve passed through on our way to the woodlands was farmlands. We checked out several places hoping to see the Numbat, a small marsupial with a very long tongue. This marsupial is diurnal so we were hoping to see it crossing the road or eating alongside. No such luck.
A big problem in Australia is the introduction of Red Fox, which prey on native animals. The population of marsupials have declined considerable as a result of the Red Fox and feral cats. The government of Australia has an active program to rid the country of these two nuisance species, including the use of poisons.
This is the bait used for feral cats
These signs are spotted frequently in National Parks and nature reserves. 1080 Poison is used primarily to eradicate Red Fox.
We did get several new birds in the Dryandra Woodlands, including the Rufous Treecreeper – a pretty little treecreeper. There were lots of them present. We also got to see and hear the Western Gerygone, which has a beautiful song. Hard to miss this bird’s song – very melodic.
We stopped for dinner at Old Mill Dam (dams here are essentially ponds) to eat dinner. When we got there we saw several Short-billed Black Cockatoos (aka Carnaby’s Black Cockatoos). They come to the dam to drink before roosting for the evening. We got good views of two on a dead tree limb, but too far away for decent photos. There were at least three other cars in the parking lot, and several people walking around with large-lens cameras.
After dinner we drove to Barna Mia, which is a predator-proof sanctuary located approximately 170 kilometers southeast of Perth. For $20 Aussie dollars you can experience up to six possible nocturnal creatures eating food put out by staff. We got to see four of the six animals: Bilby, Boodie, Mala, and Woylie. I didn’t take any photos and later wish I had. Fun to watch these animals eat and look right at you as they are doing so. Sometimes they would run right past your feet. If you are ever in the area, stop and partake of this experience. Well worth the money, which goes to the conservation of these animals.
Rufous Treecreeper
Rufous Treecreeper
These are one species of trigger plants. According to the International Trigger Plant Society (yes, one does exist) All three flowers have their triggers cocked back, waiting for an insect to arrive to drink nectar. The jostling of the insect sets off the trigger, which then strikes the insect, covering it with pollen. The insect then moves to another flower, this one ready to pick up pollen from a visitor, completing pollination. For more information check out: https://search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?p=trigger+plants&ei=UTF-8&hspart=mozilla&hsimp=yhs-002
Dragon Orchid
Red-capped Robin – Male
Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoos came to the Old Mill Dam to drink
Yellow-rumped Thornbill
We did see a lot of Rufous Treecreepers in Dryandra National Park
19 October 2017
We spent last night in a hotel in the town of Narriogin. After an early morning breakfast it was off to Denmark with several stops along the way to check out birds (Lisa and I) and flowers (Andrew and Merilyn – well Lisa and I checked out the flowers too, and Andrew the birds).
At our first stop – the Foxes Laire – near town we were rewarded with a great sighting of a Red-capped Parrot – a new species for us. We also saw a fair number of Brown-headed, White-naped, and White-cheeked Honeyeaters. These birds were busy feeding on the flowering trees and shrubs. At one point, four juvenile birds flew to the shrubs within five feet of Andrew and I. Busy little birds, feeding away.
At our third stop, where we had lunch, Lisa and I were walking around checking out the birds when I spotted a Western Yellow Robin. We had been hoping to see this bird, and after several days of trying we were finally rewarded. As Jack would say – timing is everything.
We arrived in the town of Denmark around 2:30 pm, and stopped for mandatory afternoon tea before heading out to check the ocean and nearby beaches for waders (shorebirds to us in America). We did see several Pied Oystercatchers and a single Sooty Oystercatcher. Otherwise, no shorebirds. Andrew thinks the water was too high, and maybe a tad bit too early for waders. We did see two juvenile Pacific Gulls. Pacific Gulls have huge bills for a gull. Hard to miss.
White-cheeked Honeyeater
Australian Ringneck Parrots
Brown-headed Honeyeater
Andrew and Merilyn checking out the flowering plants
Spider Orchid
Western Grey Kangaroo with her Joey (baby Kangaroo)
Western Yellow Robin
View from Andrew and Merilyn’s place in Denmark
Eastern Osprey
20 October 2017
In the morning I walked Andrew and Merilyn’s property in search of birds, finding a Western Rosella (parrot) on the telephone wires and a Red-winged Fairywren flitting amongst the ferns – two new birds. There were a number of Baudin’s Black-Cockatoos flying over, along with lots of Red Wattlebirds and New Holland Honeyeaters. After breakfast, Lisa and I birded the neighborhood. There were lots of birds in the dense vegetation, including a female and male Western Spinebill. Glad we got a good look at these birds. We had seen the female Spinebill briefly the day before.
We then went to several beach locations with Merilyn and Andrew looking for the elusive Hooded Plover, which remained elusive. Considering there are only 600 Hooded Plovers left in the world, it isn’t surprising we didn’t see the bird. I was so hoping to see this species, but maybe next visit to Australia. We did get some really good views of the Baudin’s Black Cockatoo. No flyovers here, although they did fly in and land on vegetation a short 50-feet from us. It was easy to see their long bill, plus the red eye ring and black bills on the male, and the black/gray ring and light colored bill on the female. Yes, that close. Well not that we could see these features with the naked eye, but we could see them very well with our binoculars.
The beaches we visited were beautiful. Lots of impressive large rocks, and at Green Pools the beach was very inviting. I could have gone swimming in the ocean if I had brought my swimsuit. The weather was sunny and in the 70s. Lots of people out enjoying the beautiful weather. At Elephant Rock we had a Sooty Oystercatcher on the beach sticking its long red bill into the sand for worms. Every once in awhile the oystercatcher pulled out a long worm, consuming it. The bird didn’t seem to mind people walking the narrow stretch of beach.
Australian Ringneck – here the “28” subspecies so named because its call sounds like “twenty-eight”. Hmmmm. I wish I had known that when we saw the species so I could agree or not about the sound of its call.
Red-eared Firetail – feeding on grit along side the road
The beautiful “Splendid Fairywren” – male
Grey Shrike-Thrush. We were told they weren’t really a shrike and they weren’t really a thrush.
Female Splendid Fairywren
Australasian Pipit
Australasian Pipit
No dogs OR cats are allowed in National Parks or nature reserves . Of course not everyone heeds the sign.
Silver Gull
Baudin’s Black Cockatoos
Honkey nut – main food source of the Carnaby’s and Baudin’s Black-Cockatoos
Greater Crested Terns on a rock at Green Pool
Andrew on top of a rock
Sooty Oystercatcher with a worm
The narrow beach where we found the Sooty Oystercatcher
Here the oystercatcher is looking for more worms. The name oystercatcher is a misnomer.
Splendid Fairywren – Male
The fairywrens are my Australian favorite bird species. These birds were photographed in Merilyn and Andrew’s yard at Denmark. What a fantastic yard bird.
21 October 2017
Our goal today was to find three birds: Noisy Scrubbird, Western Bristlebird, and Western Whipbird. When I say find, I mean hear the birds. All three birds are very elusive and hard to see. The favored habitat is thick coastal heath. And guess what? We didn’t see them. I don’t think many people do as there aren’t very many photos out there of the birds.
Our first stop was Cheyne Beach where a friend of Andrew’s had given him some advice at where we might find the Noisy Scrubbird. No luck. These birds breed during the Australian winter months, so that is when they are most noisy. They get their name for a reason we were told. I just wish we could have heard the bird calling. We did find the White-breasted Robin, which we have been trying to find for the past two days. This is a small gray and white bird, and he showed himself nicely at the parking lot where we had lunch.
After lunch we went to Two Peoples Beach to look for the Western Bristlebird and Noisy Scrubbird. We were checking out the coastal heath shrubs when we heard the Western Bristlebird. The sound was very close. We looked and looked, but didn’t see the bird. We waited until the bird called again and then walked into the shrub. At one point I must have been awfully close to the bird because it stopped calling mid song. But try as I might, I could not see the bird or even movement within the shrubs. When we next heard it, the bird had moved off a short distance. We probably spent a good 30-45 minutes looking for the bird and seeing absolutely nothing. The vegetation is quite dense and the birds use the tunnels through the vegetation created by small nocturnal animals. Thus, it is very easy for these birds to move through the dense vegetation undetected.
The day was quite windy, which didn’t help any in our search for the birds. We left the area empty handed except for hearing the Western Bristlebird. We felt fortunate enough to have had that opportunity.
Banksia flower
New Holland Honeyeater
More Splendid Fairywrens …my favorite…
Grey Fantail
We’ve seen a lot of these birds
Golden Whislter – Male
Banksia flowers
Another type of Grass Tree
This is a sundew species
An orchid
Australian Pelican
22 October 2017
Today we drove to West Cape Howe National Park in search of the Western Thornbill. This bird likes forested areas and we stopped at two different areas to search for the bird. As you can probably guess we didn’t find it during the first stop. We heard a lot of birds, but didn’t see much.
Our next stop was Shelley Beach. Here we got really good looks of the White-breasted Robin. Funny how you look and look for a species and then once you finally find it, they show up everywhere. The bird was hawking, although Lisa did see it drop to the ground and grab a worm. The bird was found adjacent to the parking lot and the restrooms, and rarely flushed when someone walked by to use the facilities.
In a grassy area near the parking lot were four Red-backed Fairywrens – two males and two females. I had seen one briefly two days ago, but today I got excellent looks and some fairly decent photos. It was fun to sit and watch them search for food, always flitting about. They don’t hold still for long.
We then proceeded to our second forested area to search for the Western Thornbill. This time we did get the bird, and we didn’t have to walk far into the forest. We didn’t get the best looks, but enough to identify and enjoy the bird. We also saw two Grey Fantails flying about – fun to watch them fan their tales – with one of them going to a nest. It looked as though they were “feathering” their nest. The nest was a small, round cup high in a tree.
Our final stop of the day was Monkey Rock near Denmark. We did a short hike to the rock and got great views of the surround area. On the rocks, we saw several skinks – Mourning and Common Southwest Ctenonus.
Tomorrow we leave Denmark and head back to Perth. Our time here has been great. This part of Western Australia is beautiful with its sandy beaches and rocky coastline. And Andrew and Merilyn made it special.
Australian Magpie – yes this is the bird that likes to attack people during the nesting season. As you can see from its beak, you wouldn’t want to be a recipient of its attack.
White-browed Babbler looking for grub on this post
White-browed Babbler
White-breasted Robin. I didn’t notice the twine on the tree until I saw the photo on my computer
Is there grub below
Red-backed Fairywren – Male, of course
Wild Wysteria …
… up close
Andrew, Lisa, and Merilyn on Monkey Rock
Andrew taking in the view from Monkey Rock
Mourning Skink
Common Southwest Ctenonus
Another “mourner”. This one looks like it had recently ate
Australian Wood Ducklings – these ducklings had just crossed a busy road with its parent
23 October 2017
Left Denmark today. We really enjoyed our time here with Merilyn and Andrew. What great hosts.
We did make several stops along the way to bird and for Merilyn and Andrew to note what plants were in bloom. They do this whenever they go to Denmark and back. They have set places they stop on the way to and from Denmark.
At one stop we had a Fan-tailed Cuckoo calling. At first we weren’t sure what it was, with Andrew thinking it might just be the cuckoo. So we played the call and sure enough the bird came swooping in to check out the competition. We had some great views of the Cuckoo, but not very good photos. As we were driving out there was a Stubble Tail, which we’ve seen in other parts of Australia. Here the coloring was not as black or dark as in New South Wales or Queensland. When you get too close to these reptiles they stick out their black tongue.
At another stop – Sullivan Rock – we got to see an Echidna (aka Spiny Anteater, although not related to the South America anteaters). This is a small solitary, egg-laying mammal with course spines and hair. When approached it will try and burrow into the ground or vegetation, which tried to do when we came close. In a way, its spines remind me of porcupine quills. At this same location we also saw a Rock Dragon. We’ve seen more lizards in Western Australia than any other location to date.
Yellow-rumped Thornbill
A spider that Lisa almost walked into – and it was big
Fantail Cuckoo
Stubbie Tail (aka Bobtail, Shingle-back – note black tongue
Rock Dragon
Echidna …
… here trying to hide in the vegetation
Western Gerygone
24 October 2017
We arrived back in Perth yesterday. This morning Lisa and I went back to Bold Park in the morning and birded. We had some great views of the surrounding area, a beautiful walk in the park, and enjoyed lots of various parrot species flying about, including the Rainbow Lorikeet.
We headed back to Andrew and Merilyn’s house for lunch, stopping at Perry Lake Reserve – across the street from Bold Park – to check out one of the lakes. At first it didn’t look like there were any birds on the water, but when we got a closer look we found all kinds of birds. There was a pair of Dusky Moorhens with a chick. The chick had already developed its bill like mom and dad, but otherwise was a little fuzzball. The European Coots had four youngsters that looked as though they had hatched only a couple days ago, except for one young bird that looked much older. Then, not to be left out, the Grey Teals had one duckling. The presence of a Brown Goshawk in Bold Park might be why there was only one duckling remaining. Finally there was an Australasian Grebe with two chicks, also quite small. So a pond full of chicks.
We also found White-necked and White-faced Herons, two Nankeen Night-herons, a Little Pied Cormorant, Purple Swamphen, and the surprise and delight of the day – a Buff-banded Rail, of which I almost got a photo. Those birds can sure move fast.
We spent a leisurely afternoon at Andrew and Merilyn’s home, with me being able to catch up on my blogging. Tomorrow is our last full day in Western Australia. I have really enjoyed this part of Australia, but I am sure it is because of our gracious and generous hosts: Andrew and Merilyn Burbidge. Thank you for everything. You are always welcome in Homer, Alaska, or wherever we may live.
Long-billed Corella
White-cheeked Honeyeater
This Long-billed Corella is in its nest hole. Lisa scratched the tree and the corella popped out to see what was going on.
Downtown Perth from Bold Park
We went to an overlook area and these etchings were on the railing going up to the overlook area.
View of Downtown Perth from the overlook
Eurasian Coot and chick
25 October 2017
Today we headed south to check out some possible waders (shorebirds) at Peel Inlet. And indeed we did find some: Bar-tailed Godwit, Great Knot, Curlew Sandpiper, and some smaller shorebirds that were just a little bit to far away to identify even with my spotting scope, and the wind and rain. In addition to the shorebirds there were a fair number of Australian Shelduck. These are really beautiful ducks, but in the few times we have seen them they’ve been too far away to get decent photos. Dang. Also at this area we had some really nice views of the Red-capped Parrot – a colorful parrot species.
Our next stop was the Creery Wetland Preserve, but not much activity here with respect to shorebirds – except for the Common Greenshank. We checked out two other spots before settling in at Cafe 158 for lunch. They serve breakfast all day long, and since I like breakfast I ordered the French Toast. Haven’t seen french toast on the menu at any of the places we’ve eaten breakfast on this trip so this was a real treat. We then hit the road again to check out the Lake McLarty Nature Reserve, a Ramsar site. Ramsar sites are internationally significant wetlands. I concur that this is a great wetland site.
At McLarty we had our best bird sightings for the day. The lake had over 50 Black Swans, with many taking care of cygnets (baby swans). There was also a fair number of Shelducks present. At the parking area we heard a raucous call and found a young Galah high in a tree screaming for its meal. Galahs nest in tree holes and the youngster had its head sticking out the hole and one of the parents was busy feeding the youngster, jamming food into its demanding mouth.
We took a short walk down a dirt road and saw six or more Regent Parrots fly into the trees. Two sat nicely on a branch for us. Took us a while to identify the birds because in Western Australia they are more green than yellow, like in other parts of the country. We think there was a nesting pair nearby as there was at least one adult who stayed and kept watch over us as we watched.
Walking further down the road we were treated to four different raptor species: Osprey (sitting in a tree near a very large nest – we couldn’t tell if there was a bird on the nest), Whistling Kite (also sitting near a large nest – and again we couldn’t tell if there was a bird on the nest), a Nankeen (aka Australian) Kestrel (got good views of this bird in flight, when it was hovering), and two (Woohoo!!!) Swamp Harriers. We think the Swamp Harriers had a nest in the reeds along the lake and a Whistling Kite was harassing the harrier pair – probably trying to steal eggs or chicks to feed its mate or own young.
Alas it was time to head back to Perth.
Red-capped Parrot
Nankeen Night Heron
Boardwalk at Creery Wetland Preserve
Eastern Osprey
Here is its nest
Regent Parrot
Even in Australia they have these hilarious signs … okay, maybe not so funny
Tomorrow we say goodbye to Andrew and Merilyn (they have been great hosts), and head to Sydney for the final part of our Australian journey. Until then …
IT’S A GREAT DAY TO BIRD
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