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Perth & Brisbane (pre-conference trip, June 2017) (1 Viewer)

Nohatch

Mad scientist
While booking flights for a work trip to Brisbane, Australia, an interesting option popped up: a promotional fare with Etihad via Abu Dhabi and Perth. Having never been ‘down under’ before, the chance to visit two extremes of this island-continent was too good to pass up. Initially I was supposed to have 2.5 days at each, but a late schedule change by Etihad cut short my Perth stay by over half a day. Frustrating, but it did provide the opportunity to have a decent stopover in the UAE. The trip was planned with help from two local Birding Pals (Ms Athena Georgiou in Perth and Ms Julie Sarna in Brisbane who deserve a massive thanks for all their help) and eBird for focusing my checklists (the bar charts are particularly handy as they help weed out the rare stuff and focus on what you’re likely to see – invaluable on a first visit to a new continent). Apart from my one full day in Perth, on which my Birding Pal showed me around, the trip was self-guided and done on foot in Perth and by rental car in Brisbane. Both locations are easy to navigate with excellent infrastructure (as one would expect) and plenty of online resources. I hope this mini-trip report will inspire to pay this amazing country a visit; feel free to message me with questions or if I can be any help planning your trip!

Joost


Pre-trip stopover in Abu Dhabi (19 June 2017)
Mid-June…not really the best time to visit the UAE and I learnt the hard way why the locals and expat community don’t venture out during the day! With the help of eBird and the friendly folk at uaebirding.com I had identified the Al’Ain area as a good place to see some of the local specialties. The drive over was easy on quiet and shiny new motorways and I arrived at half past 8. I first explored Wadi Tarabat (the gravel road was easy even in a 2WD car and led quite far into the wadi), then Jebel Hafit, the Green Mubazzarah and Ain al-Fayda. By mid-morning it was already scorching and there were not many birds around. Highlights of Wadi Tarabat were a pair of Egyptian Vulture low overhead, a Desert Lark and two small groups of Green Bee-eater which showed beautifully. Up Jebel Hafit I picked up my first Brown-necked Raven and a few more Desert Lark. The hotel grounds were a bit more productive with Purple Sunbird, (Pale) Rock Martins, introduced White-eared Bulbul and Common Myna, a pair of White-spectacled Bulbul and a splendid male Hume’s Wheatear. By the time I reached the Green Mubazzarah the midday heat made leaving the car decidedly unappealing. Having a surreptitious lunch in the car (because Ramadan) the only species of note that were added were no less than four Indian Roller and the very common Red-wattled Lapwings. Ain al-Fayda turned out to be a totally run-down affair with a mostly empty duck pond, hosting a family of Black-winged Stilt and a surprise Kentish Plover. On the way back to the airport I stopped off briefly at Zakher Lake – unfortunately it was way too hot to walk around the lake but this site looks pretty good for an early morning visit with plenty of distant waders and gulls. I spotted some of the Greater Flamingo and Little Grebe, but most of it was too distant to identify properly. All in all it wasn’t a bad layover considering the time of year, and it’s true I didn’t visit any coastal sites for Socotra Cormorant, terns etc., but I’ll probably give it a miss next time round. A total of 21 species seen of which 8 lifers and 3 introduced species.
 
Perth – Kings Park (20 June 2017)
I arrived in Perth around mid-day after a long but comfortable flight (yay for the A380!), checking into my hostel at half past two. I was due to meet some colleagues for dinner in Fremantle that evening, so my only realistic option was a late-afternoon walk through Kings Park. This is a piece of urban woodland in a stunning location overlooking the city and the Swan River. It was busy with joggers and families, but luckily birds were plentiful and confiding.

My first Australian species was a Silver Gull picking through someone’s leftover sandwich in the high street – classy! A Singing Honeyeater at Elizabeth Quay felt more like it. Walking along the Swan River I picked up a nice selection of water birds: Pacific Black Duck, Great and Little Pied Cormorant, Australian Pelican, more Silver Gulls and (living up to its name) some Black Swans. Large numbers of Tree Martin were overhead and at the Old Brewhouse there were two nice surprises: a group of roosting Great Crested Tern and a pair of Pied Oystercatcher.
The ponds of David Carr Memorial Park held a couple of Maned Duck, Australasian Darter, Great Egret, Dusky Moorhen, Eurasian Coot and an unexpected Yellow-billed Spoonbill. A group of Australian Ibis passed overhead, and I discovered later on in Brisbane that these are a bit of a pest – how unlike the rest of the world! I also encountered my first parrots in the form of Rainbow Lorikeet (introduced to WA) and a grazing group of Little Corella. Passerines were represented by the ubiquitous [Red Wattlebird[/B], Australian Magpie, Magpie-lark and Willie-wagtail. Oh and Feral Pigeons and Laughing Doves of course.
I took the Kokoda Trail up to the Botanical Gardens, then the lovely Lotterywest Federation Walkway south to the Forest Drive. In addition to the aforementioned species there were plenty of Brown, New Holland and White-cheeked Honeyeaters, Silver-eye, Spotted and Striated Pardalote and Grey Fantails. Overhead were a couple of Australian Raven and lots of Welcome Swallow, and a single flyby Australian Ringneck (vastly outnumbered by the Rainbow Lorikeets). Final bird of the day was one of those moments where your brain makes an instant, but wrong, connection…even though my first though was “Chiffchaff”, it turned out to be a Western Gerygone. I’m sure the local birders would have preferred it to be the former…
All in all 36 species of which 30 lifers and 3 introduced.

And a highly recommended visit to the Little Creatures Brewery in Fremantle to end the day B :)
 
Considering it was June you did pretty well in Dubai - summer there is utterly brutal! Its a different story when its cooler, especially during migration. I can highly recommend Al-Mamser Park, which is close to the city and the airport.

Looking forward to rest of your report.

Cheers
Mike
 
Perth and surrounds (21 June 2017)
The morning of my only full day in WA is was picked up at 7 by my guide Athena, who had kindly offered to show me her two favourite local patches. We drove straight out of town (picking up my first Laughing Kookaburra and Galahs along the way) and up into the Darling Range, heading for the Victoria Reservoir. This lovely, quiet and accessible spot holds a good number of the region’s endemics, as described in this blog post (http://wabirdingblog.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/victoria-dam-perths-hidden-endemic.html). Things started off well with two different flocks of parrot: Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo at the start of the access road to the reservoir, followed by Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo at the car park. The rare Baudin’s didn’t show, although allegedly they’re seen regularly at this location. Singing and New Holland Honeyeaters were everywhere, as were Red Wattlebirds, but the first prize of the day was a stunning male Western Spinebill. I hadn’t even finished my cup of tea when it perched in a bush just 10 m from the car. In all we saw four of these little beauties during our three hour stop. Another nice bird seen whilst still on my tea was a male Scarlet Robin, but I missed out on Western Yellow Robin unfortunately. The walk down to the reservoir leads through fairly open woodland, in which we encountered a mixed flock of Yellow-rumped Thornbill and Weebill (I failed to get a good look at the latter unfortunately). Both species of Pardalote, Red-capped Parrot, Australian Ringneck, Western Gerygone and Inland Thornbill put in an appearance too. At the wooden viewing platform we picked up a couple of White-browed Scrubwren, before sheltering from a brief rain shower at the picnic area. One of our targets at the grassy ‘lawn’ at the foot of the dam was White-breasted Robin and it didn’t take long for one to materialise. It was soon joined on the ground by a small group of Red-winged Fairywrens which, on closer inspection, also contained an eclipse male Splendid Fairywren. And yes, those Fairywrens are that amazing…photos do not do justice to the intensity of the colours! We stayed at the same spot for over an hour, just letting the birds come to us and this strategy paid off. First a Western Whistler, then an endemic Gilbert’s Honeyeater, and finally a Red-eared Firetail which joined the Fairywrens and Robins on the lawn. On the way back to the car we found two Western Rosella, my first Australasian Swamphen and a Wedge-tailed Eagle on a distant thermal. A Fan-tailed Cuckoo was heard calling from across the valley but didn’t show itself. This fantastic little spot comes highly recommended and is a good call if you’re short on time and want to see some of the WA endemics!

A total of 36 species were seen during the morning of which 19 were lifers. My thanks to Athena for sending me some of her wonderful shots of taken at the Victoria Dam picnic grounds (Western Whistler, White-breasted Robin, Splendid Fairywren).
 

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Considering it was June you did pretty well in Dubai - summer there is utterly brutal! Its a different story when its cooler, especially during migration. I can highly recommend Al-Mamser Park, which is close to the city and the airport.

Looking forward to rest of your report.

Cheers
Mike

Thanks Mike! I knew it would be and yet somehow I was unprepared for it to be that bad - brutal is the word!

Joost
 
Following a great start at Victoria Reservoir, most of the afternoon was spent at Herdsman Lake. This well-known hotspot comprises a fairly large wetland right in the middle of the Perth suburbs. We accessed the mostly overgrown ‘lake’ from various points by car and on foot, including the nice boardwalk. Our first stop was at the northern side of the lake to search for the resident Buff-banded Rail. I’d missed this species on Borneo earlier in the year so was quite keen to catch up with it. It didn’t take long to show up and although it never left the undergrowth it did show pretty well. Another nice bonus was an immature White-bellied Sea-Eagle which had been wintering at Herdsman.
Over lunch at one of the picnic areas we went through the large number of waterfowl on the lake: Pacific Black Duck, Grey Teal and White-eyed Duck predominated, but there were smaller numbers of Australian Shoveler, as well as a single Musk Duck. The wind was picking up and apparently most of the ducks were sheltering deeper inside the wetland. Other birds of note were the large numbers of Great Crested and Australasian Grebe, tons of Australasian Swamphen, and a group of Australian and Glossy Ibis which were joined by a Yellow-billed Spoonbill and my first Straw-necked Ibis. I had fleeting views of an Australian Reed Warbler and we got lucky with a gorgeous male Splendid Fairywren at a little spot known to my guide. Along the boardwalk I picked up a couple more species, including a few Pink-eared Duck, Australian Shelduck and Rufous Night-Heron. Final mention goes to the beautiful Swamp Harriers patrolling the wetlands – I love harriers full stop and it was great to add another one to the list.
In all we saw 47 species at Herdsman (not counting some feral geese) of which 12 were lifers and 4 were introduced species.

For our final site of the day my guide had picked Bold Park, on the western edge of town and near the beach. The wind had really picked up by that point so birding was slow and some of the expected species had decided to call it a day. We did manage to add Australian Hobby and a small group of Variegated Fairywren, which reaches it southwestern limit here.

Unfortunately winter means an early sunset, even in (southern) Australia, so I was back in my hostel in good time for dinner. It had been a very productive and, more important, very enjoyable day sampling the birdlife of Perth. I can highly recommend the sites mentioned above, as well as my guide and Birding Pal Athena, who kindly drove me around and has an intimate knowledge of the area and its birds.
 
Perth and surrounds (22 June 2017)

Before catching an afternoon flight straight across Australia I had time for one more site in Perth itself. Without transport and with luggage in tow, my options were rather limited. However, Athena had recommended a stop at Tomato Lake on the way to the airport in order to pick up Blue-billed Duck. This was a good call as I didn't see any more of these pretty little ducks later on in Queensland. The park itself held a nice variety of birds - nothing as spectacular as Herdsman, but I did get close-up views of some Striated Pardalote and Yellow-rumped Thornbill feeding on the ground, as well as my first Rufous Whistler of the trip.

After checking in at the airport I still had a bit of time to kill so explored the area adjacent the access road. Not much of note apart from tons of New Holland Honeyeaters, a pair of Australian Shelduck on a pond, and three Australasian Pipit on a bare patch.

Not a bad way to finish of a whistle-stop tour of Perth with 35 species seen on the final day (of which 3 lifers and 3 introduced species). Next stop: southeast Queensland!
 
Perth and surrounds (22 June 2017)


Not a bad way to finish of a whistle-stop tour of Perth with 35 species seen on the final day (of which 3 lifers and 3 introduced species). Next stop: southeast Queensland!

Nice one Nohatch, Aus is just mindblowing I reckon. Can't help but mention (as you've been noting which are intros) that Kookaburra and Little Corella are also intros around there!
 
Thanks Larry, I agree the birding is top notch! And I did not know that about those 2 species...that means I'll have to knock Little Corella off the life list. Damn...but rules are rules, even if totally self-inflicted :)

Joost
 
Brisbane area – Lake Samsonvale/Samford/D’Aguilar NP (23 June 2017)

Prior to my trip to OZ I had been in contact with another Birding Pal – Ms Julie Sarna – who had agreed to show me around her local area on the first day in Brisbane. However, she had to cancel at the last minute and instead helped me devise a self-guided 2.5-day itinerary around the local hotspots. Most visitors to southeast Queensland make a bee-line for O’Reilly in Lamington NP, but I opted for a more rounded experience out of Brisbane. This consisted of the Lake Samsonvale and Samford areas on the first morning, followed by the Maiala area in D’Aguilar NP in the afternoon. The second day would then be spent in the Lockyer Valley, with the final morning spent in the city’s wetlands and coastal reserves. I was very pleased with the variety of habitats (and birds) this itinerary offered and in retrospect am glad I didn’t spend my entire time in one location looking for a handful of very elusive species. I’ll save those for next time :)

So on my first day I headed out of the city early, picking up the ubiquitous Masked Lapwing on the way, and after a short drive arrived at the Golds Scrub Lane cemetery. To my surprise a team of UK ornithologists were already on site netting and logging song birds. Taking care to avoid their mist nets, I spent the next hour or so birding the old cemetery and the lakeshore. Things started slowly with a group of Australasian Figbirds, some Laughing Kookaburra and Black-faced Cuckooshrike, and a pair of Bar-shouldered Dove. The Honeyeaters were represented by Lewin’s and Yellow-throated[/B], and both Rufous and Golden Whistler were present. The forest next to the cemetery held a few Rose Robin, lots of Silvereye, and a heard-only Eastern Whipbird.
On Lake Samsonvale itself were mostly species I’d seen already at Herdsman, but I did add my first Little Black and Australian Pied Cormorants. The long grass on the edge of the cemetery was good for Variegated and my first Superb Fairywren, including a stunning male in summer plumage. I also added Tawny Grassbird, Golden-headed Cisticola, Red-browed Firetail, a small group of Chestnut-breasted Munia, and a single Brown Cuckoo-Dove.
After saying goodbye to the ornithology group I drove back a few hundred meters along Golds Scrub Lane and parked in one of the many lay-by’s. The plan was to search for quails and such along the lanes crossing the grassy areas around the lake. I failed to locate any ground-dwelling birds, but did add my first pair of Pied Butcherbird and (tickable) Rainbow Lorikeets overhead. The trail continued along the edge of some woodland, and I was glad I followed it a bit further since it proved much richer than I expected. I addition to most of the species already seen that morning I added a couple of Eastern Yellow Robin, Striated Pardalote, a single White-throated Gerygone, a small group of Varied Sittella and a lovely White-throated Honeyeater.
On my way over to D’Aguilar NP I briefly stopped at the Samford Eco Corridor to look for Monarchs and such, but it was very quiet and I only added some Double-barred Finches to the list. Lunch was at Samford Lagoon, where I was told to look for Comb-crested Jacana. I could find only one, but it was a lovely spot for a late morning burger picnic. A few common water birds were present at the lagoon, including an Eastern Cattle Egret and a single Royal Spoonbill which was a nice surprise. I also had my first look at Sulphur-crested Cockatoo outside a pet shop, as well as Torresian Crow and Noisy Miner in the gardens bordering the lake. Then it was time to move on and spend the rest of the afternoon at Maiala.
 
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