Broome Roadtrip 09

One of the very special birds of the Stirling Range is Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo. They weren't hard to find. They flew past the Retreat each evening and I found the ones below in a bunch of trees on the corner of Chester Pass Road and Formby South Road just a few kilometres south of the Stirling Range Retreat.

Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo Calyptorhynchus latirostris

Purple-crowned Lorikeet

Restless Flycatcher Myiagra inquieta

Sacred Kingfisher Todiramphus sanctus entering nest hole

Wandering Dutchman eats Regent Honey

Or does he?

After our Culburra Beach experience we went searching for Rockwarbler in nearby Bomaderry Creek Reserve with a three kilometre walk through a gorge of beautiful environment but no Rockwarbler. A big dip. But did manage to spot a Brown Cuckoo-Dove on the way out.

Brown Cuckoo-Dove

An overnight stop with my cousin Edwina meant we were refreshed for the next couple of days in Capertee Valley looking for ... Regents Honeyeater. There were some Birdline NSW reports with an exact location where they had been seen in the last two days. We camped for two nights at Glen Davis; in the "village" itself with showers and shelters. Nice spot. Capertee Valley is very well set up for birding with info sheets available from the internet [click here] and locally. They have established 18 birding sites within the valley with advice on what birds are likely to be seen and visible roadside markers at these points. An excellent job indeed. Here are some of the birds we saw on our way in to the valley.

Brown Thornbill

Sacred Kingfisher with a BIG meal

Fan-tailed Cuckoo

The Regents had been seen 1.1 km beyond a locked gate going into the Capertee National Park. So we parked and walked. Lots of bird activity. Yellow-tufted Honeyeaters everywhere, Brown-headed, Yellow-faced, Striped, White-naped, White-plumed, Spinebills, Noisy Miner, Bell Miner but no Regent's. However, in the big tree at the nominated spot we saw Little Lorikeets. Boy, do they move fast. We were able to observe them for many minutes but it was a hard job. Taking photos was even harder.

Little Lorikeet

The next day we went back for another look. No luck again finding Regent's but here is what else was about.

Australian Hobby

Collared Sparrowhawk

Diamond Firetail

Grey-crowned Babbler

Red-rumped Parrot, male

Dutchman wanders into NSW

Having exhausted ourselves with Victorian birds [highlights: Long-billed Corella, Cape Gannet, Brush Bronzewing, Wandering Tattler, Southern Emu-wren, Striated Heathwren, Beautiful Firetail, Ground Parrot of 160 species seen in Victoria over 9 days] we ventured over the border to Ben Boyd NP to the south of Eden where we camped for the night. Robert and I went to check for Ground Parrot at a likely spot we had seen earlier in the afternoon near Green Cape Lighthouse. We heard plenty but it was just too dark. We decided a good strategy would be to walk through the metre-high heath and flush them. That would wait for the morning but there were other things to do so ... next time. We camped at Bittangebee Bay. Heath and Robert did some swimming and snorkelling and even spearfishing but the equipment wasn't up to the task so it was chicken stir-fry with lots of vegetables for tea. This diet became a regular evening meal. Easy to prepare and cook with just a wok and three big bowls to wash up and a few items of cutlery.

Birds seen the next morning before we left were Wonga Pigeon [have to push them out of the way in the campground], Brown Thornbills, Superb Fairy-wrens and Golden-headed Cisiticola.

Brown Thornbill

Brown Thornbill

Wonga Pigeon

Wonga Pigeon - what a delightful vent

Superb Fairy-wren, female

Golden-headed Cisticola

We moved on to the boardwalk at Merimbula, well constructed with a couple of nice side gullies. A life tick for me was a Striated Heron. Australian Pied Oystercatchers were resting on oyster beds made from industrial strength car tyres and it was a lovely day.

White-faced Heron

Striated Heron

Striated Heron

Eastern Curlew

Australian Pied Oystercatcher

Sacred Kingfisher

Magic. f8 and be there!

Bird Nerds in Queensland 13

Well, we are just about done with the first Queensland trip. After Maroochy Wetlands there was the trip back to Victoria but I was keen to visit the Wynnum Wetlands at Sandy Camp Road in the docklands area of Brisbane itself. After saying my goodbyes to Erica and the boys in the evening, I was up at 4am and on the road soon after to arrive about 5.30 to take advantage of the cool morning. Birding is not much fun after 9am. The intensity of the sun is uncomfortable at best. Here is a map of the area.

The area to the top of the image is now a large container terminal with lots of traffic movement. But the birds don't seem to mind at all. The orange hatching reputedly harboured a Black Bittern, the black circle is an Oprey nest, the pink hatching had a Rajah Shelduck and there were crakes in the dark-blue area. It is an excellent place to spend a few hours. In the four hours I was there I managed to tick 57 species. Here are some images.

Brown Quail Coturnix ypsilophora

Comb-crested Jacana Irediparra gallinacea

Chestnut-breasted Mannikin Lonchura castaneothorax

Australasian Darter Anhinga novaehollandiae

female Australasian Figbird Sphecotheres vieilloti

female Leaden Flycatcher Myiagra rubecula

Mr Leaden Flycatcher taking his turn

Magpie Geese Anseranas semipalmata

Sacred Kingfisher Todiramphus sanctus [pr male]

Pink-eared Duck Malacorhynchus membranaceus

Magpie-lark Grallina cyanoleuca

Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike Coracina novaehollandiae

Striped Honeyeater Plectorhyncha lanceolata. I never got to see it upright!!

Tawny Grassbird Megalurus timoriensis

White-breasted Woodswallows Artamus leucorynchus